Closer to Home Now!

We left Beaufort with Beryl right on our heels, so decided we would skip Oriental this trip, and get as far along as we could. After two days we were ready to head up the Dismal Swamp into Virginia, still running ahead of Beryl. We learned later that the Dismal Swamp had caught several boaters in a fallen tree the previous Friday, so we were glad we avoided that mess! We met up with another catamaran, Nati, at the tie-up by the Deep Creek Lock. We rafted up with them, then joined them for Mexican food at a nearby restaurant while we waited for the bridge and lock to open. Then flew through Norfolk, and a last-minute call to Hampton Public Piers got us a place for the night. This time, Beryl was a helper - the winds were the only reason we made it to Hampton before the marina closed, and with high winds and strong current, we needed the help to tie up!
  The next day was rainy but not windy, so after a morning of oil changes and cleaning the water filters on the engines (the Swamp had filled them with debris) we set off for Cape Charles, VA, across the Chesapeake Bay from Hampton. Arrived around 4:30, fueled up, then docked and met up with Dave Steward and Hania for wine and then dinner. A fun evening!
  Today we decided to head north, so we are now on a mooring in Solomons, MD. We have a rental car reserved tomorrow for the weekend, so will head home to collect mail and say hello to our condo after 5 months away. It feels good to be so close to home!

Back in Beaufort, NC



Dawn over the marshes

Beaufort docks at night

After three pretty long days starting at dawn and ending near dusk, we made an average of 83 miles a day to get us up to Beaufort, NC, where we once owned a house and still have friends. We splurged and came into a slip at the Beaufort City Docks, right in the middle of the action. Our first day we rented a car and drove up to Sea Level, where we had built a vacation home. We first looked in on old neighbors Colleen and Ray who, unfortunately, are no longer in their house since it was ruined by hurricane Isabel and then Irene. They are renting a nice place and hoping to be able to win a lawsuit against the insurance agency to get enough money to tear down the old house (that Ray build himself) and rebuild. However, they are both getting up in age, so we're a bit worried for them.

The house we built in
Sea Level, NC

Bill, Pat and Carol, and Colleen
(seated) in our old kitchen/dining area

We took them to lunch at the Sea Level Inn, which used to have a very nice (and large) restaurant. Now, it's just a cafe, basically in the space that used to be the registration lobby for the Inn. The rest of the Inn has been turned into condos, mostly sold to fishermen who come down on weekends. So, one big disappointment there. Together with Colleen we then visited our old house, where very nice people (Carol and Patrick) now live. The house looks just the same, including the furniture (we had sold it furnished), the paint and paper on the walls, and all the curtains I had made. It made us feel very good to see it. Buzzing cousins who joined us there for a reunion will recognize the living room and dining area furniture.
Back in town, we've enjoyed just bummin' through the lovely town of Beaufort, eating lots of good food and listening to good entertainment every night from the bars. The winds have been high from Beryl, but are supposed to diminish tonight, so we plan to continue north tomorrow.

Florida to Georgia

Farewell to the Bahamas -
the remnants of our
Bahamas courtesy flag!

We're making tracks, although slower than we'd like. The weather has kept us in the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), which means battling tidal currents and bridge openings. More important to our progress has been that we've been facing daily severe thunderstorms that either have caused us to drop the hook or slow us down as we wait for better visibility. But, at least we're able to make some progress.

A music box at the
Lightner Museum

We spent an afternoon and morning in St. Augustine, with a memorable breakfast (Southern Benedict - shrimp and grits cake topped with spinach, poached eggs and bacon grave - just a few calories) at the Old City Inn, and a short visit to the O.C. Lightner Museum. He was a collector and publisher of antiques and hobbies magazine, and he collected EVERYTHING! Very cool.

Our frayed flag, and a cool
double rainbow as a
thunderstorm goes through.

The croquet playing
field in front of the
Jekyl Island Club

It takes an engineer to
design a footstool at the helm!

Following Scott and Tina on
Sangaris (another Manta, like ours)
through the Bridge of Lyons in
St. Augustine.

Heading north, we stopped at Fernandina Beach (love that town), then at Jekyl Island, where we took a quick bike visit to the historic estates. This morning we headed into northern Georgia, where we are anchored next to friends Tina and Scott on Sangaris. There is a named tropical storm (Alberto) heading our way, so we may hunker down here a few days until it passes through. Then we will continue north.

A Last Great Day in the Bahamas

Lunch at Green Turtle Club
with Tina and Scott

A cool gate on a property
on Green Turtle Cay

We had our last day at Green Turtle Cay, and saw it all with Tina and Scott on a golf cart. They showed us places we would never have found (last year they were looking at properties, so had discovered all the interesting 'roads').

We found these painted palm branches
hanging on a garage. Couldn't
resist shooting them all individually!

This one reminds me of a mahi-mahi

 Returned to the US, leaving Saturday and arriving after 22 hours at Ft. Pierce, FL on Mother's Day. We celebrated with a giant rum drink called Voodoo Juice. We're now slogging north, and should be north of Melbourne tonight on our anchor.

Love the expression on
this 'face'

Enjoy the pix!

This hermit crave enclave was
nestled in a rotted tree trunk.

What a fierce expression

 A flirty female fish - my favorite!

Back in New Plymouth, a visit to Vert's Model Boat Shoppe

One last sundowner at Sundowners in New Plymouth,
Green Turtle Cay.

Slowly Heading Home - to Green Turtle!

Green Turtle, Abacos

With Ivy Roberts, a Green Turtle
resident and our museum guide.

Ye Olde Gaol in Green Turtle

Miss Emily's - she makes a great
Goombay Smash!

After a great dinner with friends -
Can you tell we've been eating well?

After two weeks in Marsh Harbor, we finally got the engine repair done, so headed north to Green Turtle Cay. Its main settlement, New Plymouth, is among the best preserved of the original Loyalist settlements, and it hasn't been over-commercialized, so it's a great slice of Bahamian life. We met up with fellow Manta owners Tina and Scott from Annapolis yesterday, and had dinner at Sundowner's. Today, after a fierce thunderstorm this morning (including water spout and what felt like / looked like a microburst) we dinghied our bikes to shore, and spent the day riding through town, seeing the museum, and taking a long ride from Black Sound (where we are moored) to White Sound, at the north end of Green Turtle. White Sound has all the newer clubs / resorts, while Black Sound is closer to the Settlement of New Plymouth. Both are cool!

Getting a breath of air on the
foredeck, with interesting skies!

Stormy weather is predicted for the next few days, so we'll stay put here until it lifts. Enjoy the pix!

Stalled in Marsh Harbor (which ain't a bad thing!)

We limped into Marsh Harbor on one engine - a minor problem this time and purely a maintenance issue (a part that is now 16 years old gave way). We found an excellent mechanic who knows our engines / sail drives, and he came out last Thursday, poked around and knew what part to order. He also had a way to get the part here faster than is usual, so we thought we'd be on our way late last week. However, the part came in Thursday (a week from diagnosis) and our mechanic had to fly to Omaha that day for his daughter's college graduation, so here we still remain.

Abaco Inn for a great lunch overlooking
 the very calm Atlantic

Now here is where it makes so much sense that we have a dinghy with a 40 HP motor on it! The forecast for the weekend was very little wind, so Saturday we dinghied from Marsh Harbor to White Sound on Elbow Cay, to Tahiti Beach, to Lubbers Quarters for the Cracker P's Full Moon Party, and then back to Marsh Harbor. About a 20 mile round trip without a hitch. And lots of fun, so it really didn't matter where our boat was at the time.

An intentional grounding - the owner
cleaned the prop and hull in sand.

On Sunday we took the dinghy to Hope Town on Elbow Cay for one last Breakfast with the Benedicts at the Hope Town Harbor Lodge, then met up with friends on another Manta (Singaris, from Annapolis) for drinks and snacks on our boat. All in all, a great weekend.

Don't know if you can see the moon
coming up over the horizon at Cracker
P's Full Moon party.

Our mechanic was back today, and stopped by, but left to make a jig, so with luck we'll be fixed tomorrow and on our way. From here we'll start heading northeast through the less populated part of the Abaco chain, getting ready to make the crossing back to the US. We got our visas extended today for another 30 days just to give us a bit of breathing room getting back. All is well!