On to New Bern NC October 15-20

Once back on board, we had some nice sunsets at AYB as the weather cleared after Matthew.  Our view from the wall at Atlantic Yacht Basin.

We also did some maintenance while we were awaiting all the yard work on the boat to be finished. 
Varnishing is so much fun!  And Julie oiled the teak chairs too!

Water is still high.  Tug LeeLoo is on the right at the free dock across the canal from AYB.  We had a nice dinner with Nancy and Carey on Thursday night as they were pushing on Friday morning...

But the traffic is starting to migrate south now that the bridge is back open.  Big boats coming through.

 



So, the repairs were finally finished and we were on our way on Saturday the 15th. A little fog at first light.

 



The reports for the ICW were all OK for the areas we need to traverse to get to New Bern.  Carey and Nancy aboard Tug Lee Loo left on Friday and we hoped to catch up with them again.  We left at first light in order to make the 8:30 opening at the North Landing Bridge and travelled slowly with one other sailboat to make the bridge at the planned opening....this is when the ETA function on the chart plotter is really nice.  It was a long day, 92 miles, (remember we travel at 9-10 MPH) to our anchorage at the end of the Alligator River near the canal portion of the ICW heading toward Oriental.  It was a wonderful remote anchorage and a full moon to boot!  A little grilling at sunset.

 

 The full moon rising....one other boat 300 yards away....

We got underway before 8 AM on Sunday to travel to Broad Creek near River Dunes Marina where
we stayed on our way north.

 

It was almost dead calm, a really nice day for travelling. 



Given a one night stay, we anchored out near the entrance channel to the marina and Carey and Nancy had already anchored nearby.  We launched the dinghy, picked them up and toured the area and the marina.  We visited with Parker and Martha aboard Otter, Al and Jane aboard Inspeyered 2 while touring the marina.  They were all in River Dunes Marina for the hurricane.  They lost power there for a couple days but all weathered the storm fine.

 

The marina entrance is just to the right in this photo.

 

 Another nice sunset.

 And a full moon rising.

Monday was another beautiful day of travel.  We arrived at New Bern Grand Marina (after waiting for the drawbridge to be repaired so it could open!!) and got settled in, washed the boat, etc. 

That evening Dick and Pat aboard Dream Catcher gave us a ride over to Ralph and Linda's (Mazel Tug) home for a bit of a reunion.  Chris from Davali and Nancey and Carey from Tug LeeLo were also there. We met Mazel Tug, Davali and Dream Catcher on the free wall in Joliet IL aver 13 months ago only a couple days into our Loop.  Another small world story...
Thanks so much Ralph and Linda (especially Linda who is recovering from very recent hip surgery) for a wonderful evening!  It was so nice reminiscing with everyone!
A little history on the Union occupation of New Bern during the Civil War.  Lots of history here.

Tuesday my brother Larry and sister in law Eileen and her twin sister Darlene stopped by for the day. They were visiting Darlene in NC and took a little road trip to visit us....thanks for driving over! We had a great time at lunch at Morgan's Tavern, taking a trolley tour of the city and then dinner at MJ's Raw Bar.  It was so great to see everyone.  It is always so nice to have visitors from "home" especially family!  With one of the local bears....

Wednesday we helped Carey and Nancy get their boat over to a local boatyard for some maintenance while they are away visiting family.  We'll miss travelling with you Nancy and Carey!
Thursday was a bit of a work day.  Did some waxing, spot touch up varnishing, cleaned the grimy grill, we each got haircuts and I took apart the air intake hose on the genset so I can get a new one (it has deteriorated from age and is falling apart).  I am hoping this is why it decides to stall occasionally...We'll try it a few days as we travel to see.
The weather has been in the mid to high 80's since we have been here...nice Fall weather!
The bridge at the Socastee River south of Myrtle Beach is still closed as of this writing but we are hoping it opens for our travels next week.

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