Pittsboro, NC

I spent the entire day running errands...picking up some groceries for the house, supplies for the airports, getting a watch battery replaced for Duane, and getting my hair cut!!

I have just decided that the long hair look is not going to be good for me anymore.  

The stylist was happy to take some before and after photos.

 

 

I was not liking the white hair around my face and red hair at the back look....

 

My head felt like it was in the clouds, so light!

 

And Duane can continue this in the future with the clippers.

Nothing else photogenic for the day!

 

 

Pittsboro,NC

 After a bit more visiting with my sis and her hubby, I drove on eastbound to check in at the Asheboro airport for the first time in six months. All was pretty much like I left it!  Amazing how that works every year.  Then on back to Pittsboro.

I met Miranda later in the evening at a Greek restaurant for a nice catch-up dinner. She’s doing well.

Concord, NC

 Time to get moving back to Pittsboro for me.  Duane is staying in the mountains to support and help his parents for a while.

I went out to breakfast with my mom/Keith/Denise, fun at IHOP!

 

My sweet mom!

 

 

Then back to Mills River to raid their greenhouse....

 

 

Love picking all the fresh veggies....

 

Beautiful garden, just getting started for the season.

 

The view back to mom's house from the garden.

After a short visit with Granny, I drove in the dreary rain east to visit my sis and hubby in Concord for the evening.  My goodness, I've had a whirlwind of travel lately.  Chilly and misty outside, not my kind of weather!  But fun visiting.  

Mills River, NC

 Just hanging out in the mountains…rainy and chilly. The view is not spectacular today. 

Pittsboro to Mills River, NC

 You know you've been gone a long time when you get home and the calendar on the wall looks like this!

With Ed and Cathy's help, we made quick work of unloading the minivan.  Loads and loads of laundry ensued.  

We were treated to a nice Mexican dinner out, good fun as you know we haven't done much restaurant dining in the past 6 months!

 

In the morning, we parted ways yet again.  Ed and Cathy took our pickup to Pennsylvania to pick up a boat part.  Duane and I drove separate cars to the mountains for a visit....and again, we were treated to a nice dinner by Keith and Denise along with a visit with Mom.  No photos were taken, just a nice relaxing time.

Oriental, NC!!!

Final day of the 22-23 winter season.....

My breakfast served to me at the helm.

 

Really starting to feel like home down the River Dunes channel.

 

Topped off the diesel tanks to limit condensation over the summer.

 

And we were cheerfully greeted by our best buds Ed & Cathy at the dock on Fork Point Road.

 

Since we were so early in the day, we made quick work of unpacking the boat of the leftover provisions and clothes (and dirty clothes!)   We all loaded up in the mini-van for the trip to Pittsboro.  Ed & Cathy are going to take our pickup back to Oriental for us hauling our lawnmower....so starts the summer season!

 2734(mostly) magical nautical miles traveled....

Fun meal out with Ed & Cathy in the evening.  Stay tuned for more adventures although they won't be sailing adventures for a while!

 

Adam's Creek near Oriental, NC

 Up at first light again.....leaving Wrightsville Beach.

 

And out the breakwater.  The seas were fairly flat.

 

And did I mention that it's cold!!!! Brrrrr!  Had to dig deep in the cabinets to find sweatshirts and long pants.

 

Uneventful passage offshore all day motor sailing to Beaufort, finally.  This has been by far the longest "trip home" we've ever done due to weather delays.

Always feels like we're getting close when we enter the Beaufort/Morehead port area.

 

And it really starts to sink in when we pass these silos.

 

We motored on northbound on the ICW until sunset  last minute passing this doublewide barge. Glad we didn't pass it in the narrow areas as it would take up most of the ICW width there!

 

Last sunset of the 2022 2023 cruising season as we'll be back at our dock on Fork Point for the summer.  Looking forward to meeting up with Ed and Cathy on What If, they're already tied up at the dock!

Wrightsville Beach, NC

 Just another day on this trek homeward....up early for a pretty sunrise.

 

The port was busy even at that early hour.

 

A couple of hours into our day....the storm clouds caught up with us....

And the 30+ knot winds made the decision for us....we decided to pull in and anchor at Wrightsville Beach.  Not a lot of miles added but we'll be able to get a long day in tomorrow offshore to Beaufort finally!

Southport, NC!!!

I have to back up to Ormond Beach where we left off Wednesday.  We had the anchor up at dawn again....

 

The plan is to go out the St. Augustine inlet and head towards Beaufort, NC  -about 3 days/nights.

I had been noticing that for over 100 miles I didn't see a single Trump flag!  Strange because this area was covered up with them last year when we came thru.  (I eventually did see exactly 3 Trump flags in over 200 miles.)  

 

But here's a really weird one that I saw while looking for Trump flags.  This flag says SHUT UP KAREN.  Really?  Why?

 

Just a pretty reflection along the way.  I haven't really complained here....but the currents were almost entirely against us for days on end.  We were averaging 4.5 knots (with one engine).  Not our normal  6 knots for the same setting.  Very disappointing speed.

 

This bridge opened just fine for us....more on that later.

 

Some sculling boaters in calm water.

 

This is a non-descript photo....but the bridge in the background was CLOSED for repair!  To go around it would mean about 8 extra hours of motoring.  We anchored at about 1pm to wait.  The bridgetender told us that they were targeting a 4pm fix to an electrical panel that had failed.  Eventually several other boats in the same predicament anchored near the channel with us.

 

Finally they announced a test opening and then opened us to transit about 5pm.

 

And then to add insult to injury, about an hour later we were told that the St. Augustine Bridge of Lions was having hydraulic problems.  They did allow us to go thru with only 1/2 of the bridge open.  Once thru that bridge, we're free to go to the ocean!

 

Out the St. Augustine inlet just as the sky was turning dusky.  Full sail up although there was not much wind.  We were expecting the wind to fill in overnight and didn't want to have to raise the sails out in the open water at night.

 

You may have read news reports about the "weed" that will be washing up on the Florida coast this summer.  This is some of it....a real pain when you're trying to fish as it gets caught in your hook.

 

A pretty sunset.  Seas were bouncy part of the time, not terrible but just enough that you had to make sure you had a good hold on something for each step you took 24/7.

 

As you may have read on the emails, we were hoping to make it all the way to Beaufort,NC but there is a strong weather system coming that will cause the seas to be nasty....so we had to stop about 100 miles short and do the rest in the ICW.

A freighter leaving Southport, NC as we were approaching. 

 

And sunset approaching the anchorage.

 

As we followed the channel into Southport, another freighter was leaving.  I looked up his destination on the AIS  - they're heading to Cuba.

We'll be slowly making our way to Oriental now, maybe seeing What If and Bluejacket that are now in Beaufort!
 

Ormond Beach, Florida

 We were up at dawn again...thru the first railroad bridge....this one stays open almost all the time so no need to call a bridge tender.

 

And before you knew it, the sun was peaking out.  So nice vs. yesterday's rain.

 

I'm at the helm so Duane brought me breakfast   Impossible Sausage and a bagel.  Yum.

 

Down the peaceful Haulover Canal.

 

And the bridge opening for us....

 

Just after the bridge we were treated to several groups of manatee.  So cool to see their lumbering snouts and tailfins.  Strange creatures- we were careful to run at idle speed near them.

Long day with slow speeds due to fighting current and headwinds.....approaching Daytona.

And last bridge of the day....

If you're not bored to tears with the repetition, tune in tomorrow!  Hopefully offshore tomorrow for a long run to NC.