2023-05-28 Week at the dock

We made it to Sojourns dock without issue.  Then the projects started.  Had a list of a few things to do, and had parts coming in the mail.

Our projects were to remove our starboard visor and reseal the window screws, as we had a leak somewhere.  Install a fan in the electrical cabinet that would come on with a temperature sensor, change the oil on both engines, re-grommet the sling seat, and a few other small projects.  

At the dock, with Sojourn, What If, Charm, and Breathe anchored out.  Too bad the crews of Sojourn and What If could not be there, but fun to have the boats together.

Forecast was for a cloudy, off and on rainy week, so good time for some projects.  Before the rain comes, the first item was our visor/window project, and other outside projects. 

Front visor off, and doing some cleaning and sealing before re-installing

Took out all the items from our bow lockers, and cleaned and re-organized. 

Dean also buffed the entire topside of the boat - lots of work.  Our sling seat had silver grommets - which looked great for about 3 months, then began rusting.   So we needed to remove them all - quite a lot  - and then put in new.

Dean removed all the sling seat grommets and replaced them with brass ones - the last silver ones rusted quickly, so brass will hopefully last longer.

Moved to inside projects during the colder, cloudy times

Kris working on her electrical project

Kris making even more of a mess in the electrical cabinet

We borrowed Sojourn's truck, and Kris and Monica made a trip to town for groceries.  Lots to put away.  You can see the small heater in the photo - getting chilly here.

The borrowed truck, on Sojourn's lot.  Very pretty place.  So kind of them to allow us to stay here.

We also put a new handle on our helm seat, and Dean mowed Sojourns lot for them.   We had one day, of just relaxing on the boat, as it rained most the day - and we also had the little electric heater going for about the last 40 hours we spent at the dock, as it was chilly.   Kris even put on pants

We left early this morning - as we have a two day weather window, with south winds, before they go back to east and north - so will push on motor-sailing for the next 100 miles or so north to Elizabeth City.  Have to make it to Norfolk by June 6th, as our son Derek is flying in for a visit.   

Icky morning to leave - rain and windy - choppy water.

Our buddy boat Breathe heading out with us

2023-05-21 Carolina Beach, projects and further north on ICW

We went in for Britts donuts, which are locally famous.  Must say, they were quite good, especially hot, right out of boiler and freshly glazed.  Kind of melted in your mouth.

Was already a line of around 50 people when we got there.

Enjoying the donuts

Started working on our shower pump project.  We were tired of the old system, so installed new pump and switch in shower to operate.  All went well, except we did this to eliminate shower water spilling into bilge, which old system allowed, only to find that water was still going into the bilge.   Found that our floor drain by the toilet in the bathroom had some failed sealant, and broken plastic part, and since this drain also used the shower drain line - it was letting water overflow into the bilge.  This is one spot where Manta catamarans have a issue.  There is no way to access the shower drain line.  So had to work only by access to this very small hole.

You can see that access is limited,  Kris can just barely get two fingers in the hole

Good think Carolina Beach has two excellent hardware stores.  Next day we went in looking for parts - also stopped at Post Office to mail a package.  Breathe went with - and Kris got a bit distracted leading the way, so we took a "scenic" route to the post office.    Stopped at the Publix, and got groceries - and then of course had to stop for lunch - McDonalds here we come.  Jason on Breathe is vegetarian, so they opted for another lunch choice.

Dean in front of the Carolina Beach sign

Our part we bought for the leak fix did not fit how we hoped, so next day back to town - and hardware stores, and also to a Thrift store Kris found online.  Jason and Monica came along, and Kris and Monica both found good buys at the thrift store.   

Nice little thrift store.  Kris found 4 shirts and a water bottle for $15, and Monica found a like new Helly Hanson windbreaker for only $5.

 Lunch again was a plan, so this time stopped at Flaming Amy's Burrito.   Excellent chips and salsa bar, and the burritos and other food was quite tasty.    

Delicious lunch, and neat looking place inside and out.

Back to boat, and this time our part purchased worked well to stop the leak.

Kris spotted some ducklings, with their Mom, so had to take a break and feed them some bread.

Those of you who know Kris well, know she has a soft spot for Mallard ducks.

Next day - another trip in, this time to take some items from Breathe to the thrift store for donation, and then to Publix to stock up on groceries, as no good grocery stores for the next two weeks that are as convenient.

Weather was turning icky, with no good window for an offshore trip north in the next week, so we decided to take the ICW.  Long day motoring against 20 knot winds, but made it all the way to our next anchorage at Mile Hammock Bay for a peaceful night.  

Chilly trip with cloudy skies and wind.  Pants came out later in the day.

   Next day brought a lot of rain, so we opted to have a boat day, and just relax inside and watch the rain fall, and fill our tanks.

Spent Saturday motoring again up the ICW to Beaufort, NC.  

Cloudy day on ICW, but not a lot of wind

Sun came out later, and so did the boats.  More and more boats the closer we got to Beaufort

Will motor up to Oriental, and will stay at our friends dock.  Duane and Karen on Sojourn are super nice, and let us stay at their dock - it is great, because we can use the address to get some parts shipped in.  

2023-05-14 Offshore trip and Georgetown, SC

Change of plans, so we left Sunday night from Cocoa Beach, FL to head offshore.  Joined by our current buddy boat Breathe, and a nice surprise Indie II, a Manta 38 we met in Georgetown Bahamas was in Cocoa when we arrived, and decided to join us for part of the offshore trip, as they were heading to Charleston, but we wanted to make it further.  This would be the longest offshore for both boats, so they were both keen on travelling as a group.

We motored from Cocoa Beach up to Cape Canaveral, through the locks, under the bridge and out into the briny blue.

Indie II in front, then Breathe, then us.

Quite a bumpy trip out, directly into the wind for 7 miles or so, then we were able to turn north and start sailing.  Seas were not too large, but a bit confused, so a little lumpy, but had calmed down by the morning.  As we try to do on overnight trips - a nice morning treat always helps.

Had a few nice dolphin visits.  You can hear Dean whistle in the background on this one.

Really great in the gulfstream, adding up to 2.5 knots of speed at times.   

Charm was the fastest of the three boats, so we did hang back a bit with some sloppy sail trim to keep the same pace as our buddy boats - but it was nice to have the company so we did not mind.  It also kept our wave surfing speed lower, so a bit more comfortable of a ride at times to go slower.  We still made great time, averaging over 7.4 knots for the entire trip.

Had to clean off a few flying fish from the boat and inside the dingy in the mornings.  

Poor little fish, trying to avoid a predator, and ended up in our cockpit.  Did not see until the morning, and then the fish was quite dead.

Coming into Georgetown harbor

Georgetown is a cute little town, so we took some time to explore, and walk the streets.  Breathe joined us, and we had a good day.

Had to put this photo in.  We drug our son Derek through the Caribbean, and each island always had some old cannon.  He got tired of looking at cannons.  Now each time we see an old cannon, we think of our son and smile.

Nice clocktower in downtown, that still chimes

Well restored old buildings, with nice cafe's

Georgetown has many well kept up older homes

Always something interesting to see, beautiful gate here.

Nice fountain in waterfront walking path

We walked by a couple of old nice churches, one was open, and we were invited to visit by a church member doing some reconstruction on a statue insides, and on the second church, the priest was just opening and invited us in.  Gave us a nice tour and history of the church.

Inside first church.  Nice ceiling architecture.  Unfortunately, on this church the bishop sold off some of the original wood, and pews when the church was "updated" in the 70's.

Stained glass windows brought over from Germany

Second church had more original features kept, like the organ

Also had pew boxes - which had a lot of carved into the wood graffiti, some of it quite interesting, like one person complaining that the frost took three of his hens.

We stopped at a café for lunch, and to our surprise, got a text from our friends Ed and Cathy of What If.  They were in a car driving by, and saw we were in Georgetown, so stopped for a visit at the café.   Great to see them.

Left to right - Jason and Monica of Breathe, Kris and Dean of Charm, Cathy and Ed of What If

Kris enjoyed the humor of the sign on this bowl set out for dogs in Georgetown.  It reads "Water for your dog, or short people with low standards - we don't judge"

Next two days we motored north on the ICW, as offshore winds were not favorable for us. Then a short offshore hop up to Carolina Beach.  

Pretty section of ICW near first night anchorage

Had to have a couple bridges open for us.  Pretty little swing bridge

The further north, the more populated along the ICW

Getting into the expensive area in Myrtle Beach

Had a few go fast boats passing us

Breathe sailing along on a very calm offshore day

Now anchored in Carolina Beach, NC.  Will head in this morning for some famous donuts at a local shop here.  - Life is rough 😁

2023-05-06 Projects, projects, groceries and more errands

After a day of errands in Vero Beach, it was time to get busy on projects.  Our friends on Breathe had asked us for help installing some DC-DC chargers for their engines, as step one of the Lithium battery upgrade they have planned for in the fall.

Charm rafted next to Breathe in Vero Beach.  Being rafted together made working projects on their boat much easier for us.

Vero Beach mooring field early in the morning

Kris spent a few hours over the next 4 days installing the wiring and chargers for them.   Dean worked on a project on our boat - to have the toilets have the option of a salt water flush - as we learned when we were short on water with the watermaker broken, that toilets were the the largest consumer of water we have on the boat.  Sorry no photos - forget to take them when busy.

Treated to a nice view in the evening, watching a launch of a Falcon Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral.

Nice view, with reflection on water

Unfortunately, every night at Vero we were ran indoors due to no-seeums, which were out in force.  So evenings we cowered inside, randomly hitting ourselves when we felt their bite, but these little guys were impossible to see inside with dim light - so we mostly looked a little crazy randomly hitting ourselves.  Thankfully, itching was a minimum with the bites.

Kris continued to work on Breathe's project, and Dean worked on Breathe as well, assisting Monica with removing their mainsail for a sewing project, and helping Jason install a new water pump on their generator, and helping Kris pull wire through the boat.

We did find time to go over and see our friends Scott and Tina who own Sangaris - an Manta 42.  We met them in 2012 in the Bahamas, and they live in Vero Beach.   Scott had some issues with VHF whine, so we went to see if we could help diagnose that.  Found some bad grounding wires, so went back later to help again, and take care of crimping some large lugs on wiring for him, as we have a nice large lug crimper.

Sounds like lots of work - but were well taken care of with lunch or dinner out, mooring paid for, and use of Scott and Tina's car.   Excellent barter system.  We even got to have a nice lunch with Jason's parents who drove down -and were very nice people.

Our new brushes for the watermaker arrived, so Kris took the motor apart again, and cleaned it and prepped for new brushes.

Old brush on left which was in "good shape" and not the one we were cobbling together, still looks bad compared to new brush on right.

We were able to make time to go out for a nice dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, which was great fun, had a really nice time.

Left to right - Scott, Jason and Monica, Kris and Dean, and Tina

We finished Breathe's electrical project, and took Friday off - to run back to town, got some more groceries, and returned some Amazon packages, and did laundry.

Saturday found us moving again, heading north on the ICW.  

Breathe behind us on the ICW

Typical view on ICW

Osprey in nest on channel marker.

Still see lots of sunken or grounded boats from hurricane damage from a few years ago.

We plan on heading out to the ocean on Monday, for a two night trip up to Georgetown, NC, or further if weather allows.