Oriental, NC

Rocks!  We have been hauling a few rocks down from our excavations at home to "shore up" the shore-line. The 1/2 ton pickup doesn't handle too many at a time!

Most of this rock was granite rip-rap from our old drainage pipe.  We picked it up and put it in a pile, then added to it with "native stone" as we did the major field work last fall.

 Tossed gently onto the existing seawall.  This stone is much heavier than the local sandstone-type rip-rap we've used in the past.  The heavier granite should protect the seawall a little better in storms.

 

On a completely different bent....we have some "soft" dive weights that I made several years ago using lead shot.  There are 3 five pound weights that are just not correctly shaped to be easily used.  Too long and narrow.  (We put them in weight belts and in our BC's - buoyancy compensator)

I don't have a small weight scale on the boat anymore and our "people" scale doesn't measure accurately enough.  But I remember weighing the original weights - so I can just do some division!

I want to make 5 - three pound weights out of the 3  - five pound weights.  Easy peasy. 

 I cut open the mesh covering and the plastic inner pouch.  Separated the 15 pounds into 5 bowls and made them all level with each other with 3 pounds each of lead shot.

 

Then I got out the handy seal-a-meal and re-sealed the smaller bags  (and made 2 new ones)

 

Then sewed the mesh protective bags back closed - doesn't need to be fancy since they're always hidden.

And they fit perfectly in the weight belt now!

 

Oriental, NC

 There's always something happening.....

You may have heard of pine beetles and their destructive force.  We've got several trees on the lot at Oriental that have been infected and killed by the nasty creatures.  

Duane wanted to take this one down in particular since it's closest to the little house next door.  Ed and Duane working together - Ed with the wedge/sledgehammer and Duane with the chainsaw.

Duane had cut the wedge in the tree with the chainsaw to make the tree fall the direction he wanted.  Ed used the sledgehammer to drive the wedge in and send the tree falling.  Timmmmbeerrrrr!

Always fun to watch trees falling!

 

Sawed it all into manageable pieces.

 

Then piled it up on the stump to safely burn.  Nice hot fire - getting rid of the beetles at least from that tree!

Oriental, NC

 I keep a running list of "to-do's" on the boat.  One item that has been there for some time is a cover for the instruments/electronics. 

 Lucky me - there is a boat right next door that has one already, haha.

So, I climb across the dock and go get What If's cover to use as a pattern.

 

I'll be using blue Sunbrella of course.  Just laid the cloth over to get a feel for the project.

 

Using their cover as a pattern I do a large rough cut, making sure to leave lots of room for the darts/pleats I'll need to take to make the odd shape.

 

Lots of rough fitting and pinning to make it fit.

 

A few very warm hours later all finished!

 

 

 

Pittsboro - Oriental, NC

We had a little sojourn from Oriental to Chapel Hill to take Duane to the eye doctor.  He had gotten a scratch on one of his eyes last week - and it was really becoming a problem. A visit Sunday to urgent care sent him away with a antibiotic ointment, but that was not helping at all.  His vision in that eye was blurry.  

So after a few days of no improvement we got an appointment at the UNC eye center.   It's just 3 hours driving, so not that big of a deal.  

He's doing much better now - they diagnosed a cut on his cornea that was healing with scar tissue, keeping his pupil from dilating.  He is being treated with steroid eye drops and drops to keep that eye dilated for a month.  Should be fine!

We stayed at the house for the night and got a few chores done.

Back to the boat now!  Looks a little lonely without What If.  They're still in New Bern at the boatyard getting their lightning strike repairs done.

 

 

 

 

Oriental, NC

 Much tugging and pulling on wires to route the radar cable from the rooftop into the cockpit.  The wire snakes thru the overhead arch tubing - down thru the guest cabin on the starboard side - and back over to the galley where it connects to the chartplotter in the cockpit.  About 50' of wire to travel the 10' straight distance....but that is what it takes to hide the wire.

The galley had to be torn apart to route the wire!

 

Galley all put back together in case you don't remember what it looks like normally!

 And the new chartplotter installed - the radar works as advertised - all the red blobs are trees.  We'll do a test run soon out on the river and make sure everything works normally.  Really liking the new touch screen. 

 

Oriental, NC

 We had some visitors - former Manta owners - Rob and Sue from Punta Gorda, Florida.  They were traveling thru the area and wanted to stop and meet up with our little Manta enclave.  

Had a really nice afternoon chat on Sojourn.  They cruised the entire Caribbean so they had lots of stories.  Some about sailors that are mutual aquaintances. 

 

And later in the evening we headed into Oriental for dinner at an outside table at M&M's.  A nice visit!

Oriental, NC

 Off to Oriental with a pickup truck full of stuff as usual.  I picked all the veggies from our little plot to take with me.

 

First order of business at the boat is to replace the radar.  Our old one ceased to operate last year.  Lucky we had our buddies on What IF with us for most of the time with their working radar!

The old one is about 10 years old.  The manufacturer charges $1200 just to diagnose an issue and it's not something that we can fix on our own.  So the decision was made to replace with a new one.

 Duane removed it and it's very long cable that is snaked thru the stainless arch tubing.

 

And we ordered a new one - while we were at it - got a "bundle" with a new chart plotter as well.  (The chart plotter is working fine but nice to upgrade!)  We picked it up at the electronics shop in Oriental.

 

And after a bit of tugging/pulling/cursing....the new wire is snaked and we'll finish the install tomorrow.

Burnsville, NC

We had planned to fly the Mooney to the Spruce Pine airport - but as the morning progressed, the fog/low clouds were hanging around.  We had to make a decision whether to drive or not by 9AM - so we decided to play it safe and piled in the car instead.  Not as much fun.....But we were happy with the decision because flying in the mountains with low visibility is a way to get in trouble quickly.

If we'd had a few more hours, the skies would have been clear for flying.....oh well, we'll fly another day.

Visiting a bit early with Granny and Cordy.

A few helpers were setting up the benches and chairs an hour or so before the wedding.  

The venue was lovely - right beside the river.

 

All set up now, ready for the ceremony and the lovely bride!
 

Of course, I took no photos during the ceremony - visiting with Granny after the vows.

 

Richard and Miranda chatting with Debbie and Kyle.  Sorry for the pretty awful photo snap....but it was the only one I took at that moment....

 

And first dance as man and wife!

 

 After a fun meal that was a taco bar -(very vegan friendly!!) it decided to rain.  Like buckets of rain.  The grandsons all got together to escort Granny to her waiting chariot.....so sweet and they were so gentle with her.

 

And into the car for the long ride back home.

 
Most of the crowd (many with young children) departed pretty quickly as the rain set-in and was not stopping!   Nothing to photograph, but we help Kevin and Debbie with some cleanup and back to our hotel for an uneventful evening.  

 A wonderful beginning for a new marriage!

 

Burnsville,NC

 A quick preview of Callie’s wedding. I’ll post a bunch of pictures when we get home and I have my computer. Beautiful day, congratulations!

Pittsboro, NC

 I was at the airport yesterday - and the town is doing a bit of a makeover on the exterior of the terminal building.  Fun to watch.

The old siding was just terrible.  Painted faded plywood.

 

Nice new metal siding.

Halfway done, they'll come back and finish tomorrow.

Pittsboro, NC

 We've got Duane's niece's wedding coming up this weekend....and I have let my hair get a little wild....

 

Unfortunately, I forgot to pack the clipper kit that has my special #8 and #10 combs that allow Duane to "buzz cut" me perfectly.  So I put on my mask and went to the local Great Clips.  Luckily, the same lady who cut my hair 4 years ago - Maria - was there!   Feeling much lighter now.

Pittsboro, NC

Duane and neighbor Jim loaded the last of the big logs that are cut.  There may be more later but that's it for now.

 

I walked up the runway in the evening - a large flock of Canada geese were out - they let me get amazingly close.

 

But at some point one of them signaled that I was too close - and they all took flight.  Yuck - they leave quite a mess behind!

 

Pittsboro, NC

 The heat has finally broken a bit but it is soggy humid!  

Just more tree handling on a off-and-on rainy day.  Neighbor Jim came over to take more logs back to his saw mill.

 

Jim cutting the logs into 12' lengths.  Duane loads them on Jim's trailer. 

Not anything much exciting going on.....just normal chores.