Little jaunt to pick up Jerry and Donna's boat

Jerry asked Duane and I if we wanted to tag along with him as he needed to pick up their boat, Bluejacket, from Wayfarer's Cove Marina this morning.  Sure!  Sounds like fun!  A bit of a dreary morning, but we weren't concerned.  Always fun to see all the boats in for maintenance at the boatyard!

They had Bluejacket in the slings ready to "splash" when we got there.

Jerry (in the blue/white striped jacket) looks on to make sure they don't damage the pretty boat!!

Going down - only a few inches to spare on either side of the slip.

Almost down!   It was an uneventful "splash".  (Although we like the marina, we can't haul out here because our boat is about 21' wide.  This slip and travel-lift only allows a boat around 20' wide).

 Underway almost immediately....the channel going out is not for the faint of heart!!  I drew the red line where we had to squeeze!!   Jerry handled it like the champ he is!

Had an uneventful but pleasant motor/sail back to home dock - just around the corner from Sojourn!

Were greeted by Donna and Jim & Bentley (Salty Paws) for help with the lines on arrival.  Salty Paws is staying at Jerry and Donna's dock before they head south in a few weeks.  We'll likely run into them in the Bahamas sometime this winter.

Jerry, Donna and Bluejacket!  Lovely!!

And walking home past Salty Paws - with Shanty on deck to greet us!

Salty Paws at the Oriental Front Porch Music Festival

Over the weekend we went to see our fellow-Manta cruisers Jim and Bentley on Salty Paws sing at the annual Oriental Front Porch Music Festival.  Good fun in the village - folks volunteer their porches - and tons of musicians volunteer to entertain throughout the weekend from the porches.  Met a couple of friends in town - so a good afternoon!

And here's a fun little video clip of them - "Waltzing with Bears"...

New galley faucet

We replaced a yucky galley faucet back in Kemah, Tx when we bought the boat.  I just ordered one that seemed about the same size with the "integral pull out  sprayer."

Well, I have HATED that faucet pretty much from day 1.

It had a spray that was razor sharp, splattering everywhere unless you trickled the flow to nothing....not very useful.

And, the worst part was the short "throat" of the faucet.  Admittedly, the existing hole for the faucet is too far away from the sink itself.  While washing anything, the tendency was for water to splatter up onto the counter beside the faucet.  Like, lots of water.  So, for 2 years I have been wiping pools of water on the counter under that faucet.

So, the replacement was on the list of MUST DO'S before this years trip south.

Went to Lowe's and found a tall faucet with a big "arc".  This one is sooooo much nicer!!  It has a soft spray and the best thing is - my counter stays completely dry like it should!

Yay!! I'm a Ham!!!

Up early today to do my last bit of studying, then off to the Oriental Town Hall for my exams.

The 3 required Ham examiners arrived and we got down to the business of the first the Technician and then the General Ham tests.   Enjoyed the  whimsical dragon which is front-and-center in the oriental City Council meeting room where they set up for the test. Don't see that every day!

After much paperwork,  I used the two #2 pencils and non-programed calculator to make my way thru the 70 questions on the 2 tests.

I missed one on the Technician test and two on the General - not too shabby although I would have liked to score a perfect 100 of course!  (You are allowed to miss 9 questions on each test for a passing grade)

Got my certificate - will have to wait a week or so for my call sign to be published.

Then I'll be able to set up the SSB (Single Side Band) radio on the boat to send/receive email and give position reports no matter where we are in the world!!  Stay tuned - you'll get an email from me soon with the new address to use when we're on the boat.

Been busy studying!!

I haven't been doing anything lately....except studying!!!


Not my favorite thing to do, but I'll be sitting for my Technician AND General HAM radio license on Saturday. 

Wish me good luck!  Frank would be proud, wouldn't he?

Home for a bit

Didn't want you to think we'd fallen off the face of the sea.....

Just at home for a bit, will be back to the boat in the next few days.  Fall apparently is approaching even  though the temps in central NC are crazy warm.  Leaves are already falling.....

Mom is at the boat for a visit!!!

Mom is making a 1083 mile visiting circuit a bunch of relatives!  What fun!!

It's our turn to host her - started with a nice evening meal of She-Crab soup made with the last of my  Bahamian crab claws and Mahi-Mahi/tuna on the grill.

Then today we had a leisurely breakfast and got ready to depart on a little sailing trip.....just out into the river and down to Oriental.

Arrived and anchored just outside the crowded little Oriental anchorage.

Dinghied into the dock and had a nice meal at M&M's restaurant.

Back in the dinghy for a little ride over to Pecan Grove to check out Glory Days and Island Girl (previous boats we've owned, side-by-side in the marina).

Sojourn anchored beside the bridge in Oriental.  A little choppy but Mom was a trouper getting on/off the boat.

Had a fun, fast downwind sail back to the home dock - passed a few pretty fishing boats on the way.
Beautiful almost-fall day.

Settled back at the dock - relaxing evening.

Back at the boat

We're back at the boat for the first time after Hurricane Dorian.  No damage to the boat except one of our very snuggley fitting instrument covers apparently blew off.  Last year for Hurricane Florence, I had removed all the covers.  This year, I apparently forgot to do that.....I guess I'll be ordering a new one.  We keep the covers on anytime we're not sailing to reduce the sun damage to the instruments.

Beautiful sunrise this morning, calm day but the mosquitoes are out in force for some reason  - strange since it appears that the area is extremely dry.

We have a bunch of limbs and debris to clean up....and we're both suffering from a yucky head cold.  May not accomplish as much as we wanted to.

Looks like the storm water came up onto our entire lot, bringing other people's dock boards and lots of leaves/pine needles.    Our concrete dock is holding up like a champ!  (Knock wood).

Back to the boat

All packed up at home, dinghy in tow.  Back to the boat to "un-hurricane-ize" it! 

Trip to Rensselaer

We flew to Rensselaer, Indiana to attend Duane's Uncle Paul's funeral.  He was 86 years old and lived a very full life!!

Here is a photo of Paul and Christine when they visited us in Boca Raton in about 1992.   We had a great visit with Granny/Cordy, Paul/Christine and Maxine.  The boys were just toddlers, visited the Everglades, had a great time with them.  He was a great guy and his huge family is the nicest you could ask for.

Took off in a bit of a hazy morning.   Over the southern foothills.  Trip time is about 3 1/2 hours.

Getting closer to Indiana the fields start standing out.

Downtown Rensselaer.

The Mooney parked at the Jasper County (Rensselaer) Airport.  A great country-airport, basically in the middle of a corn field!  Friendly manager and good fuel prices!

Had nice visits with the family.  Great to see so many of them that we haven't connected with in several years.

We stayed with Laurie and Frank - all the "McCraw kids" in one place.  So nice of them.

We needed to get to the airport early because there was some weather moving in from the west.  Said our goodbyes and had an uneventful flight home!

Pumpkin

Just getting the "list" whittled down at the house for our planned departure in just a little over 5 weeks!  The list is getting pretty small.

Tonight I used some of the Candy Roaster pumpkin to make a savory soup.  There's just a hint of a fall chill in the air so this was very seasonal!

Deck work

We left the deck at the house  with half new, half old decking boards.....

Time to finish up that project.

Off with the railings, new deck boards placed....

Working our way around the house, some new railings as well.

Ticking off the list of "house chores" before our fall departure!

Long weekend trip home

We had the McCraw reunion on Sunday and we spent the weekend at Mom's.

On Saturday, we visited our friends that have the big boat washed up on the road in the Abacos.  They have a summer home in Lake Toxaway, just a short drive from Mom's house.

Here is Will and Rita - such nice folks!

Their lovely summer home tucked away on the shore of Lake Toxaway.  Even though it's about 40 minutes from my childhood home, I can't recall ever going there.....

Their view of the lake.  We sat out on their patio, had a wonderful lunch and caught up on the "news" from Scotland Cay.  Rita is flying out Monday to see the damage firsthand.  They do have some photos from a caretaker "on island", so they know that their house is damaged but probably repairable.  Good news, we're keeping our fingers crossed for them!

Like in the Abacos, Rita does some lovely gardening!!  Of course, some of our veggies at lunch were from the garden and fantastic.

They kindly invited us to go for a ride around the lake in their power boat.

The lake is lovely - and a mix of 60's style ranches right next to "Mc-Mansions".  Everything is neat and tidy.

Was a great afternoon with them, and we hope to hear from Rita about the Abacos in the next week or so.

After Lake Toxaway, we went to Duane's folks for visiting and a nice dinner.  They feed some "stray cats" that are pretty close to pets.....and they also feed a family that's not quite feline....

And on Sunday, we attended the McCraw reunion. 

The obligatory family photo.   Amazing we corralled everyone!

 A pretty good turnout!

And great food in abundance, of course!

Back to Mom's house....she really has it looking nice!

 Flowers all around!

The new pool deck obviously saw lots of use this summer.

Pretty, almost fall view from the house.

Mom asked Duane to prune the apple tree sprout....it's left over from the old apple tree stump that fell a year or more ago.  She's just pleased that there will soon be a new apple tree in the same spot!

And lastly, I went home loaded down with goodies from Keith and Denise's.....the Candy Roaster pumpkin will be baked and then frozen.  Jams, pickled okra, pickled beets....yum!

And what looks like the last of their sweet corn. 

And wonderful tomatoes!!  A great trip, lot's to do in one weekend!