Where are the Bahamas?..........from K

Talk about getting kicked when you're down:

We were anchored in the Swansboro basin bouncing around in a torrential rainstorm when all of a sudden WHAM!! We were hit by a loose sailboat! It took 2 chunks out of our shiny teak toerail and then bounced off. P & I were up in the cockpit in a flash armed with boathooks and an obnoxious horn. Alas, we had seen the boat's "boys" head off to town in their dinghy so we knew no one was on board. We called the closest marina to alert them and they sent the Coast Guard - big excitement! The CG secured the boat and asked about our damage, but we didn't want to get caught up in filing reports. Besides, we felt a little bit of parental affection for the three sailors. We had watched them the evening before load up their skateboards in their dinghy to hit the town. They had waved at us enthusiastically and when P suggested that they might be anchored a little close to us, they willingly pulled anchor and moved to a "safer" place. Talk about irony.

When they finally returned (reportedly from "the library"?) to their boat after its little adventure this morning, they were duly contrite and even offered to repair the damage to Senara. P gave them some admonishing Dad advice on anchoring and last we saw them, they were fishing/motoring down the ICW. Tooo cute!! P's not so amused. I love the interesting people we meet.

Tonight we're in a Camp LeJeune anchorage - surrounded by camouflaged marines, watercraft and "warthogs" - weird. When do we get to the Bahamas?

Senara bears scars from this runaway sailboat.

Full moon with the cirrus clouds announcing the pending storm last night

Marines fishing along the ICW banks at Camp LeJeune

Beaufort!.................from P

You can lick your ice cream cone while doing your laundry. Or you can borrow one of the big ol' Buick Roadmaster courtesy station wagons and drive to the hardware store. Or get a fish sandwich and a few beers at one of the many casual waterfront pubs or cafes. We did all of those things (big entertainment for us). I can see why Beaufort, NC was rated by Sail Magazine as one of the top 10 stopovers on the entire ICW. The city marina has floating docks with all the ameneties (power, water, cable TV) at your slip. Plus the fuel lines are run so that you can re-fuel without moving the boat out of the slip! These are the kinds of little luxuries that I so much appreciate, and are rarely found all in one marina. As a bonus, the mariners museum in Beaufort is the best one I have seen so far, north or south. And it is free admission! It's worth stopping just to gawk at all the gorgeous boats coming in and out of the marina. We had to leave because Senara was getting jealous. But we will definitely be back.

Clawson's Restaurant - you simply must get the Sea Bass Special. And be patriotic about it.

real heros................from K

I just finished Three Cups of Tea, and as many of you know because you recommended it to me, it is a powerful read. It's about Greg Mortenson, an American mountain climber, who stumbles into a poor village in Pakistan in the 1990's and is so moved by their generosity that he promises to come back and build them a school. Fascinating story cut short: he ends up building hundreds of school through worn-torn Pakistan & Afghanistan, despite being kidnapped, shot at, and dodging American bombs. He had every reason to halt his efforts, but yet he kept the image of the children's need and desire to be educated as his focus. Wow - what an inspiration!

Yet, this book reminds me of a story much closer to my own experience -- the story of Maison-Fortune Orphanage in Haiti. This is a school that P & I have supported and my daughter, E & I have visited. The orphange was started by Lefort, Jean-Louis, a Haitian man who as a young man had the good fortune to meet a sensitive Xavarian Brother, Cos Rubencamp. Brother Cos encouraged Jean-Louis in his studies and even arranged for him to attend Va. Tech. Jean-Louis returned to Haiti and began this orphanage with 3 children and it has grown to more than 100 boys. Jean-Louis is now in the process of building a separate school for girls. Much credit for this goes to our friends, the DiRenzo family who tirelessly push for support of the school at a grassroots level. So, if you can't read Three Cups of Tea in the next day or so, visit this website: http://www.maisonfortune.com/ It will remind us all how little it takes to help others and how much some people are willing to sacrifice - God has truly blessed them with a passionate mission. May we all be so blessed.

the magenta line........from P

I have had to readjust my sensory expectations. On our other long distance cruises, especially the northern leg of this adventure, we have flown the canvass (OK actually a mylar-dacron composite) 75% of the time. We will only grudgingly fire up the iron sail when it's time to roll up the real sails and pull into port, or when we have to beat straight into the wind to make time, or when there is some emergency, minor or otherwise. So far this trip is different. I now know why the intracoastal waterway (ICW) is affectionately, and sometimes not so affectionately known as "the ditch." Today was a great day because we actually hoisted both the mainsail and the genoa - and sailed fast in the Neuse River - for about three hours. But this was a special exception, because we have been motoring for a hundred and fifty straight days. Maybe that is an exaggeration - we actually had another great two hour sail across the Albemarle Sound on Friday. Otherwise we run the motor probably 90% of the time. You have to. The canals that connect together all the various sounds and rivers are just over 100 feet wide in some places, and you have to keep the boat in the middle 50. My GPS/chartplotter shows a thin red line running down the middle of the ICW channels all the way from Norfolk to Florida. It is pre-programmed into the chart function of the GPS and it is amazingly accurate. If I am on that line, my depth sounder shows 12 to 16 feet. If I move off that line by just a few yards I show 8 to 10 feet. I dare not experiment much further. So in the canals I am fixated on this little line, described in our cruising guide as "magenta." All day my head bobs up and down from the GPS screen to the water just ahead (we have been repeatedly warned about floating logs and fallen trees). I think I have just figured out why my neck is sore. All the while, the iron sail drones along at 2,000 RPM. I am finally learning to embrace it. I do love my new engine - it fires right up with the touch of a button and it is as dependable as the tides. It also runs 1.75 hours on a gallon of diesel. These are good motoring thoughts. Also, the fall colors in the woods - framed by the cypress stumps and scalloped mud shoreline - make for incredible scenery as you think about the gallons of diesel. And listen to the sound of the engine. And dream of sailing. Maybe soon.


Better keep it straight. Lots of submerged stumps and "dead heads" along the perimeter.















Some fellow ditch runners. It's fun to travel in a
pack











Our bowsprit



















This sure beats the office.

Wine & Words - what else?.............from K

This is a much different trip going south - cold!! We spent a rainy night tied up in Coinjock and then a lovely night on the hook in the Alligator River - I kept looking for alligators until P showed me the chart and I realized that the river LOOKS like an alligator, not full of them (false advertising!). We were able to sail for a few fleeting miles, but for the most part we are motoring through the ditch. I'll be glad when we get to Beaufort and can sail on the outside.

Tonight, we are in the lovely little - slightly depressed- town of Bellhaven. We walked into town to Wine & Words cafe and bought some used books and had a delicious tapas lunch. Interestingly, we met a couple related to the family that bought Middle Ground Lighthouse next to the M&M Bridge Tunnel. They invited us to sail over and see the renovations when we get home. They don't realize that we will come...

where's the sun & fun?.....................from K

We've been tied to the side of the canal in Great Bridge since Monday waiting for the nor'easter to blow through. Today we're gonna motor down the ditch in the rain regardless. Our goal is to make it to Coinjock. Doing the ICW has honed new skills for us like keeping our boat "still" while waiting for a bridge to open. P's getting pretty good at jockeying the boat around, adjusting to the push of the current and dodging other sailboats who are in the same predicament. It reminds me of trying to get a herd of frisky horses to stand still in a line - there's always one who has to antagonize the others.
Despite the cold, wet weather, it's good to be back on Senara. We brought a friend this time - Mr. Heater (the actual name on the box!). He's getting a workout - and so is our raingear. I'm dreaming of a ray of sunshine tomorrow...

get yer ball!.............from P

I laid in my V-berth bunk this morning thinking about playing ball with Abby. She was our little heinz-57 terrier, multi breed, born on the streets of Baltimore, family pet of 12 years. Yesterday morning we delayed our departure because we had to finally give it up and take Abby in to have her put down. She was suffering from liver problems, pancreas problems, and she had become senile. She would get lost in the kitchen and just stand in one place and shiver. Around 4:00 AM yesterday morning she fell down the steps. No broken bones this time. Thinking she wanted to go out, I carried her outside and stood her up in the yard - she walked over to the wooded area and got tangled up in the briars. She used to own those woods. Now she couldn't find her way around the vines. She stayed frightened and frozen much of the time, picking a spot to stand and shake. So we decided it was time. I laid awake this morning remembering playing ball with her for hours, walking through the woods, our every-morning and every-evening routine, and yes our overnight sailing trips where she would sleep on her pillow on the floor next to our bunk. Around mid-day, after we had buried her, we were walking out of the garage to board Senara for final departure. Glancing around the garage my eyes landed on her yellow doggie life jacket. It was a tough morning.