Cheryl's Notes:

We have now been in our home slip for over two weeks. We have spent our time cleaning up and clearing out the boat. We have removed over 300 lbs of books, equipment and unnecessary junk off of the boat. Our water line looks better already. We decided that if we haven't used it in the last year, it is not needed on the boat.

We have also spent the time repairing and upgrading the boat's systems. We replaced our leaking hose, rebuilt our head and bought a new generator. We are buying spare parts for the journey south and we are studying our charts and guides. We had a party in the lounge on Sunday for all of the southbound cruisers, so we were able to pick the brains of those who have gone before us. We have one month left to get things done.

We did come home to a real smelly problem. The Neuse River has experienced an ongoing issue with low oxygen levels due to pollution. We have had over 50 million fish die in the last three weeks. It just so happens that Northwest Creek, where our marina is located, has had a disproportionate number of the dead little suckers. The fish that are affected are menhaden. There is a high concentration of them in our creek. We have dead fish floating everywhere around our boats and the docks. The hottest days seem to be the ones with absolutely no breeze, and the fish just float there rotting. With no breezes to clear the water, the air also becomes quite malodorous. Every time we get a good strong wind to blow the dead fish out of the marina, a new school of them swim in and we have a new batch belly up. Hopefully, there will be an end to this cycle soon.

On a final note. We forgot to mention the final tally on our cribbage games. After 10 weeks, it was Cheryl 39 wins to John's 38. We passed the lead back and forth several times, but the student surpassed the teacher on the final night.

John's Notes

I'm amazed that absolutely nobody made a comment about my beard. I think we posted several pictures of me with one and I thought for sure that my sister would comment. Cheryl told me that it made me look ten years older. I reminded her that I am actually that and more. So, to keep peace around the boat I shaved it off after we were back for a couple of days. Now, according to Cheryl, if I would just act my age..............

Seems like it has been months since my last entry. Since we have been home, there is nothing fun to write about. Who wants to hear about rebuilding the head, repairing hoses and spending yet another two boat units or more. Just seems like it never ends. There are several projects that just won't get done before this next trip. Maybe next year. Cheryl keep raising her eyebrow every time I add something to the list that I consider a "must have."

Today we had our engine looked at by a professional. It's not that it needs anything. During our Chesapeake trip our engine hour meter hit the 1000 hour mark. It's running fine but I still wanted to have it checked out. After an initial review the engine looks to be in good shape. I was shown how to easily repack the stuffing box and what to look for symptoms of pending problems. This guy is really good. He looked at our Raycor filter and we decided to replace it. First, the current one is not ABYC approved. Our boat was one of the last built before they changed the standards. Second, the filters for our present system are about $35 each and difficult to replace. The new one will be mounted in a location where it will be easy to work on and the replacement cartridges are about $11. We also found out that our tachometer was about 500 rpms off. No wonder people with much smaller engines keep passing us. We will adjust that later this week when the new RAYCOR is installed.

I had a diver down last week to clean the bottom. He says that it's not in bad shape considering that it has been over two years since it was done (actually three years, but we didn't put the boat in the water that year). We have almost 5,000 miles on that bottom. He scraped barnacles for about a hour and then advised us to raise the waterline about four inches when we haul next year. Because of the work involved with the raising the waterline, that will take a one or two day job and turn it into about a week. Cheryl is probably already looking forward to spending some of that time in a hotel. Hard to live on the boat when she is sitting on the hard. We did that for our last summer in Bayfield and it wasn't fun.

We bought a Honda 2000 generator. We were going to add solar this year also, but we both agreed that the Honda gave us the most bang for the buck for this upcoming trip to the Bahamas. We can consider adding solar next year. We monitored our energy use this summer and it wasn't bad. About 75 amp hours if we watched lots of TV or movies. If we didn't, less than 60 amps. Our new generator can put that back in a couple of hours each day.

We are looking forward to receiving our new WIFI booster antenna. Sure hope it works. It will allow us to stay aboard the boat and use the WIFI from surrounding areas. At least that's the plan.

I also have a Sony shortwave receiver on order. We won't be able to transmit but we will be able to get up-to-date weather reports from sources like Chris Parker. Then there is the benefit of maybe getting Viking and Packer games and news from around the world. I don't think I have room on our stern rail for "Follow-Me TV." Well, Cheryl doesn't think we do. I keep thinking that we can re-arrange somehow. Again, next year. Secretly Cheryl would love to watch "Top Chef " ,"America's Next Top Model" and "Project Runway." I'm holding out for "Deadliest Catch."

The "To-Do" list is down to less than 20 items. Stay tuned.

As you can see from Cheryl's last note, she did indeed surpass me in total games won. She neglected to mention, however that she skunked me twice while I had her for four skunks and a DOUBLE SKUNK. All things considered, wouldn't all those skunks count for something? Reminds me of a joke I heard a few years ago about the Russian Gran Prix. There were only two cars in the race, the Americans and the Russians. After the race the American press reported that they had won the race. The Russians took a slightly different view and reported that THEY finished second while the Americans struggled to finish next to last. Just depends on your point of view.