We arrived at our summer home at the Marine Corp Air Station Cherry Point almost three weeks ago. Since then we have been busy, but not too busy to enjoy the Hancock Yacht Clubs annual Oyster Roast with over 40 people joining in.



Meanwhile the spring pollen from Elm, Oak, & Juniper Trees is keeping our allergies going and the larger Pine pollen, falls leaving a yellow covering on everything, inside and out. The water around us maintains a yellow flowing film.


We are in the opening round of our project to stop the leak coming from underneath the bowsprit. As you read on you will see why CALYPSO has much more waterline showing than when we first pulled in at the beginning of March.
But, before we could start on this project we first needed to recover our Jeep. Next, we needed to find secure storage for the many items we would remove in order to get the access we need.

After those two steps were accomplished without too much difficulty our first road block happened. Our Jeep had a broken Leaf Spring. How long could that be to repair, you ask. Well like most things in dealing with a boat project, longer than we thought!

It seems that the quickest way to fix the problem was to have the repair shop, Wayne’s in Morehead City, order and install an after-market lift kit. To do this however, the 20+ year old rusted bolts would need to be cut out and the new springs installed lifting the Jeep a modest 1 ½”. Our final word to Sean, the shop owner, was that we didn’t want to use a step ladder to climb in :)

With the help of a barrowed pick-up truck from Pete, on Esprit, we started the offload. This included both of our hanked-on forward sails, as well as, the storm sails & drifter stowed below. We emptied the forward storage bin of fenders, spare anchor rode, and extra teak. OK nobody has extra teak… it’s all just waiting for another project!

To help with balance we removed our SCUBA Tank & 100’ of 3/8” BBB Chain from the lazarette. Then we removed our forward anchors, a 20kg Bruce& 60lb CQR, along with another 300’ 3/8” BBB Chain. We now have 5” of hull showing that normally is underwater.


We stopped just short of removing the bowsprit as we travelled back to Raleigh. We are dog sitting for our daughter and son-in-law while they are away in Ireland, on business. We did ask if they needed someone to carry their bags but settled for 10 days with our Grand-Puppies.

Fair Winds and Quiet Anchorages,
Jeff & Wendy