Oriental, NC

 Last post from Fork Point Road this year!  Jerry from BlueJacket came over for a nice visit yesterday - they're delayed for departure this year waiting on a new mast to be delivered/installed.  Hope to meet up with Jerry and Donna in the Bahamas later in the season when they get moving.

 

Ed and Cathy had us over for a "last supper" - good meal and a game of cards.  Will miss them for the first few weeks - maybe they'll catch up with us in late November!

Plan is to shove off around noon - the current plan is to just head over to South River for a sailing club meet-up/overnight.  Then head to Beaufort (NC) at first light for several days/nights offshore - destination Florida.  (This may change as we hone in on the exact weather details for the next few days).

Pretty view from the dock this morning....but looking forward to some clear water and warm air!

Oriental, NC

 Really getting down to short-timers!

Our American-made American flag had gotten tattered - but this is after an entire year.  (the cheap Bahamas courtesy flags shred after just a few months).

 

New one proudly flying.

 Sunrise this morning - the winds have calmed a bit.  Still looking good for southerly departure tomorrow!

 

Oriental, NC

 One of the last things on the departure checklist was to dive down and scrape the growth off the prop.  Our props don't have much anti-fouling paint on them since our experiment last year didn't work too well....most of the paint has worn away leaving the brass blades exposed and a favorite for barnacle growth in the murky NC waters.

But never fear, Duane with his trusty scraper blade will make quick work of it.  All suited up with SCUBA gear - ready to step into the chilly water.

 

It only took a few minutes  -  he came back to report that there was almost no growth on the props so we should get full power in a couple of days when we depart!

 

I did some cooking and organizing in the afternoon.  In case you're wondering, this is what a pound of bacon looks like "mostly" cooked and vacuum packed.  (I've got the freezer completely full and needed to reduce volume as much as I could).  I'll open these packages and re-cook-to-crispiness individual pieces as needed.  

 And in the late afternoon, the two Manta crews relaxed by the creekside until a rainshower ran us to shelter!

 

Pittsboro to Oriental, NC

 One last flight before we leave Pittsboro.  Beautiful day - a bit rough at low levels due to a huge wind shear at about 2000 feet but higher altitudes were pleasant.

 

Looks a bit brown-ish in the photo, but you can start to see the fall colors.

Back to the hangar - swept, organized and ready to lock up for the winter.

 

And the final straw.  You know it's real when the refrigerator is unplugged!

 

Back at the dock - looking forward to catching up on the past couple of weeks with Ed and Cathy!!   Still looking good for a Sunday shove off for the season!

Pittsboro, NC

 This should be the last "Pittsboro post" this year!!

I was hosting book club as my final evening last night.  The yard was cluttered with leaves so I got out the blower to take care of it.

Before

 

After

Before, different angle

 

After

Then I got the basement cleaned up and organized for the gathering later in the evening.

 

Forgot to snap a photo before Jean left - she's headed to the Galapagos tomorrow morning!  Can't wait to see photos.

 

 

A fun discussion of the book - which was a local "true crime" book Bitter Blood by Asheboro resident Jerry Bledsoe. 

We're reading a big Victorian classic next - Middlemarch!!  I'll read along and update the book club blog from the Bahamas.

Pittsboro, NC

 Last visit with Richard and Miranda before we head out - they chose a sushi place in Chapel Hill to meet.  Good fun - here are the appetizers.  Edamame, tofu and some yummy seaweed salad.  Forgot to take a photo of my actual sushi.  Oh well.  It was all very good.

 

Duane snapped this photo of us before we left.  Great to visit and catch up with them.

Pittsboro, NC

 You know departure from the house is immanent when the pantry starts to look like this:

The goal is to have no food in the house for critters to damage....

Pittsboro, NC

 This has absolutely nothing to do with sailing....but another last chore before we head to the boat.

We ordered a new vinyl cover for the self-serve fuel station at the Siler City Airport.  The computer screen is exposed to the harsh morning sun and needs protection.  Otherwise, it will soon be faded and eventually unreadable.  (Your similar local gas station screen is protected by the awning overhead).

The initial fitting showed that the electrical conduit was in the way of the velcro closure.

 

So we measured and made cut-outs for the conduit attach bolts.

 

Next we wanted to include some signage that helped the pilots see  the on/off switch.  I pulled out some old "dry transfer" lettering.  But it would not stick to the piece of plastic we'd planned to use. 

So we went to Walmart and got some vinyl stick-on letters.

 

The cut-outs lined up perfectly.

 

All nice and tight with the velcro closure.  Note the clear "pocket" on the right that I will use to protect the lettering.

Lettering in place.  (I'm using my Singer Heavy Duty machine - it's not as robust as my industrial machine I have at the boat....so I struggled a bit with the stitching thru heavy vinyl and velcro).

 

Next we wanted to spruce up the switch and make it more visible.  (Believe it or not, pilots have trouble seeing this switch on the side of the unit even though the screen tells them to "turn on the switch to your left".)

 

A good coat of red paint does the trick.

 

All done!  Hey Bill!!

 

Turned out nicely!

 

Mills River - Concord - Mills River - Pittsboro, NC

 After visiting Duane's folks, we headed down to Concord to visit my sister and her hubby.

On the drive, I tried to capture a little early fall color.

 

Had a fun, relaxing evening.  Mexican take-out for dinner, then we watched some "Redneck Liberal" videos late into the night.  That guy is a hoot!  

The usual posed photo....

 

We had a little detour in that we'd forgotten Duane's Ipad at Mom's house.....so we decided that since we had plenty of time and nothing much planned we could just drive back and pick it up. 

Had a nice quick lunch visiting with Mom again - then on our way back to Siler City to pick up the Mooney from it's annual inspection.  No surprises - back at home now to get organized for departure in a few days.

Mills River, NC

 We are making a run to the mountains for a short visit before we head back to the boat.

I was expecting the leaves to be turning fall colors, but it's apparently a little early for that.  The familiar pretty view from Mom's house.

Had a nice visit with Mom!

Also had a good afternoon visiting with Duane's folks - then on to my sis's in Concord.  More later!

Pittsboro, NC

 It's feeling like fall here, for sure.  I thought I'd show you in photos...but the color really not that intense here yet although lots of leaves are falling.

 

We're heading to the mountains this afternoon for a short visit, I expect we'll see much more color there!

Pittsboro, NC

 It's time to pack up the meat for the trip.  

As usual - the vacuum sealer is hard at work.

 

Tedious but oddly satisfying process!

Pittsboro, NC

BRRR  - it's getting cold!!

I worked at the airport - and visited with the mechanic for a few minutes.  

Our airplane is in for it's annual inspection and they're just finishing up.  (Note that the plane is sitting on jacks, not on it's wheels).

 

 We've got dental appointments for our regular teeth-cleaning this week, a final trip to the mountains for a visit, then we will be southbound before it gets too chilly!

Oriental to Pittsboro, NC

 Nothing to report today - most of the chore list is complete.  We left mid-day for what will probably be the final drive of the year back to Pittsboro.  Beautiful skies! 

On a side note - here's a different perspective of the patch sewing yesterday.  A photo Cathy took of us during the process.

 

Oriental, NC

 Another busy day!

First, Duane went up the mast partway to replace a fraying bungee cord. 

Do you see that blue sky?  It's the first we've seen in days and days.  Really cheers you up after all that grey overcast we've had.

Next was a chore we've been putting off simply because it's tedious.

One side of the main sail has a couple of areas that have chafed all the way thru to the batten (stiffening rod sewn into the sail).  It chafed because there was a cracked plastic protector on part of the rigging - we replaced that so it shouldn't happen again.

 

The 5x8" patches we installed are soft leather.  We stitched them using an awl - Duane on one side of the sail and me on the other side.  

 

 Duane does pretty work (I was just on the other side of the sail completing each stitch.)  These two patches took about an hour to stitch!

We made one last trip to mow the other lot but that was certainly uneventful and quick as the grass hadn't really grown much lately.  We'll haul the riding mower home for the winter.

 
Busy day next to us as well.  Ed & Cathy got their sails back on- first the jib.  

And then the main - with a little help from Duane, Kris and Dean.

 And we were treated to a fun taco bar in the evening aboard Charm.  Great conversations, strangely segueing from sailing to pet ducks to Abigail the Roller Skating Miniature Donkey.  We ending the evening after dark when the mosquitos decided they were hungry!