Mike
10/22/2009, Oriental, NC

October 20th, 2009 Oriental, NC
After coffee I looked into the projects that we needed to complete while here in Oriental. The water maker needs to be wired and the fresh water line needs to be installed from the pump to the tank. I need two hose clamps and a fuse holder at the store today or tomorrow.
Installing Rick and Linda's radar in place of ours will take a little more effort but should be worth it. When I started the project I was immediately faced with a problem. The cables entering the back of the old head unit were would not turn. They are plugs that have a collar that screws then in tightly. I couldn't budge them. I got out vise grips and dosed them up with solvent, but they were not going to move.
So we would be using the new cable and not the old. Stringing wire up and down the mizzen is not what we call fun, but we've done it before.
Steve came over a little later and hauled me up the mast to remove the old scanner. It took two trips but eventually it was down. We had some lunch and then went for a ride to find a piece of starboard to attach to the existing mount to accept the new dome. After a couple of stops we drove to Deaton's, who cut exactly what we needed.
Back at the boat I worked out the lay out... four bolts to hold the starboard to the mounting bracket and four to hold the new dome to the starboard. Once again I faced a problem. The bolts that hold the dome to the starboard go through the starboard from the bottom and then into the base of the dome. The length of the bolts is critical and with the ¾ inch starboard, the ones that come with the unit were too short. To compound the problem, two of the holes had to go through the starboard and the mounting bracket, which made them another 3/8 of an inch longer.
The mounting bracket had to come down to get some exact measurements. I walked back to Steve and Kim's condo, explained the situation and walked back with Steve who hauled me back up the mizzen. With the bracket in hand it was easy to figure out the length of the necessary bolts so it was back to the hardware before it closed.
Enough work. We hung out at Steve and Kim's ... where Kathy had spent the afternoon doing laundry, and ordered two for one pizzas from the Silos. The pizza was excellent and we fed four for a little under $13

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Mike
10/22/2009, Oriental, NC

October 19th, 2009 Broad Creek to Oriental, NC
It was clear this morning for the first time in days. The wind was still blowing form the NW at about 20 and it was cold, but the sun made things seem a little warmer. We only have about 10 miles to travel today so there was no hurry in leaving this morning. I made breakfast burritos and sometime around 10 am we finally got underway.
It was a nice broad reach down the Neuse River to Oriental and we arrived at about noon and pulled into a slip that Steve had somehow organized for us.
After heating some water, I took a shower and got things shipshape. At about 3 we walked over to Steve and Kim's place to collect our mail. We ended up spending the remainder of the afternoon and most of the evening as well. Making some sautéed soft-shelled crabs in herb sauce and tossing it over some linguini. It was ok... but the crabs were a little chewy. I may just be getting tired of them.

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Mike
10/22/2009, Broad Creek, NC

October 18th, 2009 Alligator River to Broad Creek, NC
The wind continued to howl all night from the NW. The alarm didn't go off so we weighed anchor closer to 8 than 7am. It was cold. Our new wind gauge has a wind chill calculator and it didn't hit 40 degrees all day. Some of you know that I don't believe in wind chill, but I must say that living outdoors day after day in damp, cold windy conditions begins to make a case.
We motored through the Alligator Pungo Canal, hoisting the staysail a couple of times to take advantage of the few open areas where some wind was present. Mostly we motored. After 20 miles we hit the Pungo River and were able to sail along nicely. Kathy and I had discussed stopping a Belhaven for a day to get off the boat and walk to the store, but it was too miserable to go anywhere out of doors.
Turning the corner we checked the time and decided to cross the Pamlico and continue south for a while. The winds were at 20 but mostly behind us so the trip across relatively open water wasn't too bad. Coming out of the Pamlico and into Goose Creek we met a shrimper. We were under sail maneuvering through a narrow spot when we decided that a game of chicken was in order. As I moved to the starboard... out of the channel he aimed right at us and matched every move I made. Finally, he backed off when we were about 50 feet away and I had no more room.
We were aiming for Bear Creek just out of the canal and into the bay river, but when we arrived there it was still daylight so we motored out into the Neuse for a couple of hours, finally turning into Broad Creek for the night. The Neuse was rough and winds were at 25 to 30kts with higher gusts. At times the wind was blowing spray off the breaking waves. On bare poles and with the engine idling we ran at 8 knots for an hour before making our way into Broad Creek to get out of the wind.
The engine keeps our cabin reasonably warm, but we like to cook in the oven when it's this cold. I tossed in a sweet potato and later some ham which we had with the last of the broccoli. It made a very nice dinner after a long cold day.

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