We have been really busy since the great race weekend. Our cousins get together to celebrate the fourth of July at a church campground on lake Norman. It's a great place to relax. We took our grandson to the lake for a day. Carson and his grandparents had a really good time playing in the sand, or in this case, mud sand mixture. We played in the water only a little while. I'm not sure how comfortable he is with water and the last thing I want to do is make him afraid of it, so we are taking it slow and easy. We look forward to lots of trips to the lake and camping and to the coast, as he gets older. Our plans for last weekend were spoiled by tropical storm Cristobal. We learned later that not coming last weekend was a good decision. The storm produced very little wind but lots of rain. We were better off saving our gas money.

Late last week I found out that I would have to work late into Friday night and probably very early Saturday morning. This is not as inconvenient as it sounds since I work from home but it did keep us from leaving at our usual "Friday after work" hour. It's always good to get to the boat even if for a short time. We knew that we probably would not get to go sailing because there would not be enough time.

You may wonder why we bothered to go at all. This time of year is hurricane season. Due to advanced weather forecasting, we know about approaching storms days in advance. My first official act every day is to check the tropical weather, weather on the coast where the boat lives, and local weather, where we live, in that order. If a storm were to develop the chances are good that we could get there in plenty of time to strip all canvas, remove all sails and generally get her ready for a blow. We will not be traveling to the coast for at least two weeks, nor will we be in a position to get to the coast in case a storm decides to visit. I would rather be safe than sorry, so we made the trip for the express purpose of removing everything that would create unnecessary "windage". We removed the little dinghy outboard, double tied to the dock and prepared Southern Star for bad weather.

Saturday July 26, 2008
I finished my work tasks before 7:30 and we left a little before 8 am. Sometimes, during the drive, we listen to a book on tape but many times we just talk. You wouldn't think we would have that much to talk about after 37 years of marriage, but we do. We did listen to "Click and Clack" on public radio. We took the highway 70 bypass around Clayton for the first time. It's a real time saver and it will be especially nice when traveling during rush hour.

Wilbur's Barbeque in Goldsboro was our choice for lunch. If you are a native of North Carolina, you are required to like pork barbeque even though it's not all that good for you. Further, you have to choose which kind your like. There are two varieties. Lexington style gets it's name from the town of Lexington, NC where it is so common. It is cooked over hickory and oak and typically has very little seasoning. Eastern style, found in sand-hills and costal regions of the state, is cooked pretty much the same way but they tend to add a tangy vinegar based sauce. I prefer Lexington style but Wilbur's is good too. The also make excellent barbeque chicken, which we both enjoyed for lunch. It was served with potato salad, hush puppies and a bowl for fresh turnip greens. It was a good, simple meal at a reasonable price. I am hard to please when it comes to food because Judy has spoiled me terribly.

We arrived at our dock at about 1:30 pm. We had made good time considering we had stopped a couple of times. Our friends Bill and Susan's car was in the parking lot but "Bona fide" was missing. We learned later that they were out for a day sail. All the usual tasks were to be done. We opened the boat and started the fan to get the stale air out. We unpacked the car and settled in for little rest. We had just commenced when Stefan and Marita arrived. They came over and joined us for a while. Nick stopped by for a chat. He and Jeanette had decided on a date for the annual Octoberfest event. We don't want to miss that.

Bill and Susan landed and reported very nice conditions on the sound. They arranged for someone to take of Molly and Moses, their two Labrador retrievers and had come down for the night. Susan caught a nice croaker but the puppy drum and Spanish mackerel must not have been hungry.

I always have a list of things to do. Some are vital and some are not as important. We brought a "wet / dry vacuum cleaner from home so that we could pump the last bit of water out of the fresh water tanks along with some crud that had been building up for years. The wet vac worked well and we soon had the tanks cleaned and refilled. This was the only task on the list today. The canvas would come off tomorrow.

Since we had eaten a hearty (read cholesterol saturated) lunch, we had (turkey) bacon lettuce and tomato sandwiches for dinner. We joined Bill and Susan for a time on "Bona fide" then all six dock-mates met in the Whortonsville Yacht & Tractor Club cockpit for an enjoyable evening visit. We never expected to meet such clever, outgoing people when we got into sailing. It has been the best part of the whole experience. As usual we stayed up way past our normal bedtime but we had a really nice evening. We slept well for the most part. It seemed to get hotter during the night. We had to rearrange the fan to get some cooler air circulating, but that was a minor inconvenience.

Sunday July 27, 2008
We slept a little later than usual. We had already decided to stay longer than usual because of our late start. We had coffee, bagels and muffins for breakfast. Sunday mornings are really relaxing on the boat. We usually start with a cup of coffee and some light reading. Then we advance to the second cup of coffee and breakfast when the spirit moves us.

Another task on my list was to apply an anti corrosion treatment to the ship's engine. You can imagine that a cast iron engine block would be prone to rust and corrosion in the salt water environment. It was a simple task and I hope it will help at least retard the corrosion and rust. Time will tell.

Bill and Susan left fairly early to relieve their dog sitters. Stefan and Marita went into town for breakfast. We started the process of packing up so we would have room in the cabin for the sails. The bimini canvas came off first, then the wheel and instrument covers. We took the mainsail cover off then the main sail. This is the hardest part of the process because of the jiffy reefing system and the pins that require tools to remove. The new headsail was next. Since having the sails off is a temporary situation, we did not carefully fold the sails, we just rolled them into two giant balls and kind of rolled them into the cabin. You don't realize how much canvas the little ship deploys until it's all in the confined space of the cabin and there is no room for anything else.

Other tasks were more mundane. The usual packing the car and preparing the boat for our absence was completed. We had planned a trip to town but when we realized how late it was we decided to skip it. We showered and left for home about 2 pm. We stopped at Wilbur's, for the second time this weekend, and had a late lunch. Judy's brother and sister-in-law live near Raleigh. Keith usually works on Sunday and is typically still working when we pass the area. Since we were running a bit later than usual Judy called Robin and arranged to stop by for a visit.

It was a nice weekend even if it was shorter than usual. The weather was nice and we got to see our friends and family. I will be a lot more at ease during our absence knowing I have done everything I can do to prepare Southern Star for bad weather.

Ready For Bad Weather


Here is a nice of Southern Star under sail. My Mom has been asking for a picture of our boat under sail ever since we bought it. I'm not sure she really believes we have a boat.

Under Sail (Thanks Bill and Susan)