I reclaimed my first mate from the working world on April 15th. It rained for nearly a week and when we found a weather window we headed for the coast. I had laundered all the covers from all the boat's upholstered cushions and loaded them back into our small trailer for transport. We took cleaning supplies everything we would need for the boat's annual scrub down.

Tuesday April 21, 2015
We left at about 8am. We drove separate cars because Judy was to stay at Matthew and Amber's house when we returned, to attend a conference on the weekend. We stopped to leave the car and to greet everyone but since everyone was working we did not stay late. I had wanted to get some sailing in and figured we could get to the boat in early afternoon, clean her up and strike out on a short adventure the next day. Boy was I wrong. By late in the day we had done just enough cleaning that we could get the cushions back aboard and fix some dinner. We were worn out. I did manage to put down carpet in the quarter berth that we planned to use instead of the cushions that had been there since we bought the boat. I think it will work better than setting everything on cushions and worrying about getting them dirty or wet or both. I did not anticipate having to move the cooler safety strap which is now about 4" too high. The weather was spectacular although we were too tired to enjoy it when we quit for the day. My "radio over IP" setup worked well again. I acted as net control for the Tuesday evening session as a substitute for m y friend Hal.

Wednesday April 22, 2015
We spent the day cleaning the boat. Judy stayed inside and I did the exterior. I don't use a pressure washer anymore because it tends to remove gel coat as well as dirt. We cleaned lockers and decks all day. With a lot if effort we got her looking good. Judy helped me do the first part of re-bedding the coach roof sail track. We still have an annoying leak in the area and are trying to fix it. My "radio over IP" setup did not work so well the second night. I was not able to access either of my computers at home and my friend Carl was not able to access my automated radio station either. We had salmon patties and rice with fresh asparagus for dinner and a nice visit with Nick and Jeanette in the cockpit. Charlie joined us for a while. I think everyone was tired, I know I was. The party broke up at about 10.

Thursday April 23, 2015
The more I thought about not being able to access my home computers, the more worried I became. Judy called her dad and asked him to go by and check on the house. As it turned out, the house was all locked up as we left it. We believe there must have been a power outage that lasted long enough to take my aging laptop computers off line. My friend was able to access my automated radio station. Had he tried it during a power outage it would not have responded.

We had some breakfast and went for a walk. We debated whether we should take the boat out for a sail. The weather was fairly nice but it was cold and the wind could not decide what it wanted to do. We finished the sail track project and had some lunch. The sun was out although it was fairly cold. We decided to take the boat out at least long enough to get the engine to running temperature. I wanted to make sure everything was working after replacing the fuel and oil filters and the impeller especially since I had removed and replaced the entire raw water pump. It engine did not want to start at first. This is typical behavior after fuel filters have been replaced. It would be nearly impossible to get every bit of air out of the fuel lines during the "bleeding" process. She would crank but acted like she wasn't getting enough fuel to run. After about 5 tries she cranked and ran just fine. I guess all the air finally got through the system. When we got out to the lower Neuse the wind had decided it did not want to blow at all. It was just as well because I was too tired to sail. We turned around and headed back to the slip. We were gone over an hour which was plenty of time to get the engine up to temperature. So far so good. I checked the engine several times while it was running and there was no evidence of leaks either fuel or water.

Judy wanted to go to her favorite antique store in New Bern. She is always on the lookout for some antique piece of furniture or other. Since we were going to be pulling a perfectly good perfectly empty trailer home she wanted to see if she could fill it up.

We were glad to see our friends Richard and Frances had arrived. After our salmon patty dinner we went over to their boat for a visit.

Friday April 24, 2015
The weather was still great but we needed to get Judy back to Cary for some play time with Jonas before her conference on Saturday. Before we left we helped Richard and Frances move their Catalina 36 to the slip next to ours. The crosswind presented some problems but we got the big boat into the slip without major incident.

The trip home was uneventful. We stopped at Wilbur's for lunch and then on to Cary. Jonas was really glad that his "Gram" was spending the night. When I got home I found my driveway blocked by heavy equipment and my mailbox knocked down. I had to wait for the work crew to move out of the way but was able to pass. The crew is installing a water line from Albemarle to Concord. Turns out our driveway area is solid granite just below the surface.

It was a good trip. We got a lot done on the boat. The next trip will be more fun.