Bridgeton, NC

 Another very busy day at the boatyard!  Almost all of the sanding is complete.

Applied a first coat of epoxy paint to some of the sanded areas.

And Duane is servicing and cleaning up the propellers - we're going to try Velox prop treatment this time to try to prevent barnacle buildup.

Sorry, not many photos - really I was too busy and dirty to take many.

We were treated to pizza dinner by the crews of Charm and What If!  What wonderful friends!!

Bridgeton, NC

 Just lots of scraping and sanding and waxing.

Duane is doing all the scraping and sanding.  You can see him on the other side of the boat in his Tyvek protective suit.

 I'm doing the cleaning and waxing.  3 hull-sides ready for some primer paint on the bare spots.  Work in progress.

Bridgeton, NC

 Working hard on the boat, sanding and polishing....forgot to even take a single photo!  But you know the drill anyway.  Just lots of elbow grease.  

We came back to Oriental for the evening - Charm has arrived!  Kris and Dean are on their way south for the winter and stopped by for a visit.  Since Sojourn is missing from the dock, they'll stay for a while in our "spot".  

The two boats treated us to a wonderful dinner on What If - so nice of them!  Such a pleasure to come back from a hard day's work to great company and food I didn't have to prepare or clean up.  Great friends!!

Bridgeton, NC

Chilly night!  But we had our nice quilt to keep us cozy(thanks again Sharon!)  The winds were a little lighter so we decided to head on in to the boatyard for haulout.

The crew met us at the dock to "walk" the boat into the lift.

 

Getting into position to be lifted.

Out of the water and ready for barnacle scraping and power washing to get the slime off.

 

Hard to see but look to the lower left and you can see the yard hand doing the power washing.

 

And eventually they moved the boat into position where it will be for a week or so while we do the sanding/cleaning/painting ourselves.

 

Bridgeton, NC

Not so fast!  The winds were too high for us to safely and comfortably take the boat over to the lift so we just enjoyed a blustery day at anchor!

Bridgeton, NC

 We had a lovely uneventful trip to New Bern/Bridgeton.  Passing Oriental.

 

 

Some lovely homes on the shore of the Neuse River.

 

 Approaching New Bern.

We anchored near Bridgeton Boatworks where we'll be hauled out tomorrow.  It's too windy and exposed to stay at their dock overnight so we'll crank up and head in as soon as they're ready for us with the travel lift.  (Not really looking forward to it as the winds are forecast to be 20+knots and will make it difficult in tight quarters....)

 

As the sun set, the marina was cast in a lovely light.

 

And the city of New Bern has a pretty skyline.

 

Oriental, NC

 The boat is moving!!  We’re heading to New Bern for our haul out for bottom paint tomorrow morning. The appointment in the lift is at 9am - and the slog up the river is about 7 hours. So we’re motoring up on one engine (to save fuel). We’ll anchor tonight and go over to the marina in the morning. Beautiful day but not enough wind to bother with the sails. 

Oriental, NC

 What a difference a day makes!

The only thing that happened to us during Hurrrican Ian was some heavy rains, strong winds and very high water levels.  

The shoreline has a pile of debris that we'll need to rake up at some point.

 

I know, you're tired of hearing about my smilies - last one complete now!  So the sewing machine can be stored back on the boat.

 

Wow, what a beautiful day!

Oriental, NC

 We're riding out Hurricane Ian on the boat.  Literally on the boat since I can't safely get off the boat!

The water has been slowly rising over our dock.

 

The view back towards shore.

 

The boat deck is about 5' off the water now - too big a "step" for me to get off/on.  I will just occupy myself on the boat for the next 24 hrs.

Pittsboro, NC

 I spent most of the day with the HondaJet corporate PR department.  They had requested permission to do a "photo/video shoot" at the Asheboro Airport with their newest plane.

 

They arrived during the day and scouted out the airport environment.

Very cool camera mounted on a Honda Avalanche truck.

 

The main photographer got in some strange poses to get the "best" shot.

 They did several passes - takeoffs and landings. 

 

 

The truck "chased" them - filming at high speed down the taxiway while the airplane was on the runway. 

 

Here's my video of a takoff run.  You can see the chase truck at the end of the video.

 

 

And the sky was just beautiful as the sun set.

 

 

And it's a "wrap".  Fun day - the HondaJet folks were a pleasure to work with.

Pittsboro, NC

 Sorry to see my sis and her hubby leave this morning.  We had a great couple of days visiting with them and their adopted kitty - Kitten. She made herself right at home and is a real sweety.

 

We all went for a walkabout on the runway.  Quick selfie!

Pittsboro, NC

 Having a great time visiting with my sis and her hubby.  Robert came over for a cookout last night.  Fun times!

Oriental, NC

The non-skid patches on the foredeck are well past their useful life.  But they are a requirement since the area they are protecting is extremely slick!  With some hard pulling, they removed quite easily.

 

But left behind was debris and lots of adhesive.

 

So I got to work with various tools and acetone.  Eventually got all the sticky adhesive removed and the surface all cleaned and ready for application of the new treads.

 

I used a 4" tape that is especially made for this application.  I replaced the treads exactly as they were since there is some discoloration where the old ones were that I want to cover.

 

And a few hours of scrubbing and installing, all done for another 10 years or so!  (This is just half of course, but the other half is done as well...) 

 

Oriental, NC

 I finished the port side enclosure panels - got the "smiley" curved zipper put in the front panel so that we can easily open it up without completely unzipping the structure.

 

Here it is all opened up.  It turned out exactly like I'd planned - with extremely low "thresholds" so that we don't trip over the panels like we did with the old ones.

One more "smiley" to go on the starboard side then I should be finished sewing for a while. (Fingers crossed)

Oriental, NC

 I forgot to mention that Keith and Denise sent us home with a trunkload of veggies, as usual!

A couple of bags of peppers - too many for me to use fresh.  So I sliced them up and put them in the freezer for later use.

 

And back at the boat, I used some of their freshly dug red potatoes for a nice baked veggie dish.

 

And used the same hot oven to oven-bake this yummy okra. 

I didn't snap a photo, but they also sent us away with a nice box of canned goodies that we'll enjoy! 

Oriental, NC

 Good morning!

Finishing up the zipper on one of the enclosure panels.  One more to go.  (I have to wait on a delivery as I didn't calculate some material properly...)

Hendersonville, NC

 It's time for the McCraw reunion! 

 

Nice catching up with folks we haven't seen in a year now.

 

And this year it seems like even more food on the table than last year!

 

I didn't snap a photo of my huge meal, but I thought I'd show you the sample plate I had of desserts.  Wow, it was all yummy.  I shouldn't need to eat for a week, haha!

And always fun to find photos in the albums from past years.  We were all a little younger then!