I took the four days after Labor Day off to get as much of the bathroom remodeling project done as possible. Installing the new bead board wall went fairly well and we got a nice job. Judy’s painting was a challenge and took longer than expected but in the end it looks really good. If there is anything I dislike more than plumbing I can’t think of what it is right now. The worst day of the week was the day that I was going to replace a washer in an outside spigot. I put a wrench on the upper nut of and gave it a little twist to the left. At that point the entire assembly came off in my hand. Of course, to get to the plumbing inside the basement required removing everything on the built in shelves that inhabit that corner of the basement. I had little choice but to replace the spigot and all the pipes that went through the wall. The only bright spot in the whole episode was that I used solder sweat the new joints and they have yet to leak. I won’t be so hesitant in future now that I have the supplies and hopefully the skill to make these very inexpensive repairs.

The best part of the week was when my brother Jack and Vanessa came down to go sailing. We like to have them down at least once a year. Their visit last year was a total disaster because of hurricanes and broken stuffing boxes. They had already arrived in the area last year when I had to call and tell them that the trip was off. I really hated that but there was not much I could do. This year prospects for a good sailing trip were much better.

Friday September 7, 2012
Since I was off work, we left early on Friday. I wanted to experiment with an amateur radio antenna or two for the boat. We stopped at Kings in Kinston for lunch with plans for a light dinner. Jack and Vanessa left at about 3:30, just in time to end up in the parking lot commonly referred to as Interstate 40 out of Raleigh. I hope the delay did not cause too much heartburn.

We arrived at about 2pm. After the air conditioner was deployed and running I started my antenna experiments. I saw Nick in the parking lot and filled him in on my plumbing disaster. He had several stories of his own. He told me that “Away” the old Allied Princes at the end of the dock had a new owner. It was the same fellow I had spoken to a couple of weeks ago. We don’t yet know if “Away” will remain at Ensign Harbor or be moved to another location for refurbishing.

All amateur radio antenna experiments ended in total failure. I tried an 80 meter G5RV (wire) antenna first. I pulled the center of the antenna up as high as I could get it on the mast using a spinnaker halyard. My trusty antenna analyzer showed me that my lightweight antenna tuner could tune to a reasonable standing wave ratio (SWR) on almost any band I chose. Wow! This was great! Now all I had to do was hook up the radio (transceiver) and get on the air right? Wrong. As soon as I turned the radio on I knew I had trouble. The noise level on the radio was 20 to 30 decibels over S9. Amateur radio operators consider an S9 signal is a good strong signal. 20 decibels over S9 is a really strong signal. Anything over that is almost overpowering. The trouble I was having was the noise level was higher than what I would expect of an excellent incoming signal. My friend Hal had agreed to help me with a test at 6:20pm. I was able to hear him over the noise partly because he always has a very strong signal but mostly because I know his voice. Anyway, I knew it was Hal but I could not actually understand what he was saying. I also tried an 80 meter vertical antenna made for use on an automobile with exactly the same results. Oh well, back to the drawing board. Preliminary research indicates that marinas are notorious for high noise levels. This is going to be a problem for me because my intent was to use the radio mostly while tied up to the dock. Research continues. My dad might say, “If it was easy, anybody could do it”.

We had a light dinner of sandwiches and sweet potato chips. The marina was deserted except for the two of us. This is probably because the weather report was not stellar and lots of folks were down last weekend. Jack and Vanessa stayed in Kinston the first night. That makes a lot of sense. There are several name brand hotels in Kinston that have very reasonable rates. The hotels in Oriental are really cool, but a bit more pricy. Jack’s reasoning was that they would get to Kinston a lot earlier in the evening and it is only another hour to Ensign Harbor. Their second night would be spent at the Oriental Marina and Inn.

Saturday September 8, 2012
We were up early. The weather was warm, humid and absolutely still. I wanted to see if the time of day made any difference in the high RF noise level. It did not so I started removing antennas and amateur radio gear from the boat. I got all that squared away and Judy and I got the boat ready for “sea”. We were watching the weather closely. Internet radar indicated there were no storms headed in our direction. The forecast was for both chance of rain and wind speed to increase as the day went on. Jack and Vanessa called from Bayboro where they were just finishing breakfast at Charlie’s. They arrived a little before 10. Judy and I had decided that the best thing to do would be to leave grocery shopping until later in the afternoon and get out on the water while conditions were known good. We cranked up and left the dock shortly after 10. Vanessa did a great job of steering the boat out of Broad Creek. The wind was cooperating for the moment and wave action was light so I didn’t waste any time getting the boat under sail. Vanessa was a little less willing to steer the boat under sail but she took a turn at the wheel. I never really thought about it but I guess for most folks steering based on wind direction is a foreign concept but Vanessa did a great job. She sailed close hauled for a while and then as the wind picked up we eased to a beam reach. When you don’t have a destination in mind, you can pick your point of sail to make things easier. The wind steadily increased. I had purposely chosen a course that would allow us to go home on a broad reach because I knew it would be very windy when we returned and I didn’t want to sail close hauled with a lot of heel. We sailed for a couple of hours then headed back for the dock.

Judy served a late lunch of chicken salad wraps, fruit and chips under the shade of the cockpit canopy. Everyone was hot and tired. Jack and Vanessa went into Oriental to check in to the Inn, cool off and get showers. Judy stayed at the boat while I went into town for dinner supplies. When I am sent shopping for a meal it’s a good bet there will be fish involved. I went directly to the Oriental fish market and bought two big Mahi-Mahi steaks and a pound of shrimp that were so fresh they were practically wiggling. At the grocery store I bought a loaf of bread and long grain wild rice. Judy had prepared a cold bean salad earlier.

On my way back from town I noticed an ominous black cloud to the south. We were to get the northern edge of a nasty looking storm. I was in the shower when it arrived and Jack and Vanessa were already back from Oriental and on the boat. The arrival of the storm and the steadily increasing wind made me glad we had gone sailing early instead of later in the day. It was a glancing blow and the storm passed quickly. After that, the sun came out and the skies were blue. It is hard to believe there could be that much difference in an hour’s time.

Jack and I cleaned the shrimp and we cooked them on the new grill on skewers. We all polished the shrimp off with the aid of a little melted butter. When Judy was ready we put the Mahi steaks, treated with olive oil and “Old Bay”, on the grill. They were nice and thick but on a really hot grill it only took a few minutes. Dinner was excellent. I talked Jack into eating that last bit of fish because I was stuffed. I was very pleased with the new grill. It gets very hot very quickly and that is what I want when cooking fish.

We visited for a long while and Jack and Vanessa left about 8:30. It had been a great day and I think our guests enjoyed themselves. We managed to get a nice sail out of a day that was not at all promising as far as weather was concerned. There was plenty of wind but it did not overpower the boat. They were going to stay in Oriental another day. Jack’s only plan was to go swimming in the hotel pool. I think that is enough to plan on your last day of vacation.

Sunday September 9, 2012
We were up early and the weather did not look promising. We decided to head for home and stop by the “Provision Company” in Oriental because they were having a 30% off sale on apparel. I wear T shirts almost exclusively and it is good when I can find a bargain. I called Jack on our way over but they were enjoying breakfast at Charlie’s in Bayboro so we did our shopping and headed for home.