July 2006 Vacation Cruising in Coastal North Carolina
END OF VACATION SUMMARY

We are back home now, preparing to go back to work tomorrow. Our timing could not be better, as a tropical storm off of the coast of North Carolina has just earned the status of receiving a moniker. Beryl will be passing just off the coast in the area we just spent the last two weeks. Any earlier arrival of this weather would have sent us scurrying back to our home port immediately. Fortunately, Ashiya is safely tied up in her slip, and we are enjoying our first taste of air conditioning in two weeks. Life is good.

Some summary statistics from our trip:

Distance traveled: 262 nautical miles (301 statute miles for all you landlubbers)
Nights at anchor: 11
Nights at a marina: 1
Nights at a free public dock: 1
Nights at home port: 2
Total engine hours: 41
Total hours under sail: 22
Storms weathered: 2
Days of beautiful sunshine: 15
Times we dropped/lifted the anchor: 6
Tall bridges we went under: 6
Draw bridges we went through: 2
Swing bridges we went through: 3
Gallons of bottled water consumed: 27 gallons

All in all, the planning, provisioning, ocean sailing, nighttime sailing, motoring on the ICW, anchoring in tidal currents, etc, etc. were great experience for us. The opportunity to live a simple life on a simple boat (albeit for only a fortnight) served to reinforce our desire to keep working, saving, and preparing ourselves in an effort to make it possible for us to do this for a period of at least two years, rather than just two weeks. Perhaps it is time for us to start shopping, in earnest, for a larger boat.

Stay tuned, dear reader. The adventure is only just beginning!