As we were preparing to leave St Augustine I called my sister Chris Mckeel and we made arrangements for her and her two boys David and Alex to come visit us in Beaufort, SC. The boys have never been aboard a large sailboat and were very excited to see their cousins and the Omarsea. As timing proved good we were able to celebrate Stevie's 9th birthday with not only the Mckeels but also my Mom and Uncle Hal Richardson. The day was great and though we were unable to do any sailing the kids enjoyed numerous rides in the dinghy, sleeping on the boat in a tent on deck with Stevie and a trip to the fuel dock the next morning to drop everyone off for their ride home. We were forced to leave Beaufort early due to a weather system coming in from the west. A good thing we departed on Saturday. The winds were fair all the way to the mouth of the Cape Fear river in North Carolina where the storm caught up with us. Anchored in the canal behind Carolina beach we experienced 60-80 mile per hour winds that ripped the bimini top off the cockpit and caused our anchor to drag repeatedly. We were in protected waters here on the canal and I can only imagine what it was like for anyone caught offshore in such weather. A fine how do you do from my old home state of North Carolina!