Tuesday turned out not to be D-Day. We in fact spent most of the day moving back onto Strider from our rented apartment, and our boat was in complete chaos for at least another day after that. It took us both hour upon hour of cleaning, packing away, and various small repair jobs before we were satisfied that Strider was now good and ready. Finding the right spot for everything in limited and often awkward spaces was a real challenge - most other cruisers we have spoken to reckon it takes at least a year before one has worked out the best way of storing things. We also have to be extra careful to balance the boat properly - the large fridge installed above the starboard salon settee has in the past tended to make Strider list to starboard. So heavy items like cans and large tools are stowed mostly on the port side. For example, under our berth there are presently the following: a 100 gallon diesel tank, various spare lengths of cordage (ropes) and mooring lines, halyards and sheets (still ropes), a compressor, some extra bottles of dishwashing liquid, and at least 150 cans of cool drink. Of course I've had to make a list of where everything is - one couple we know found a lost can of beans years after stowing it away in a remote corner and then forgetting about it!

Our first evening back on Strider (still docked at Town Creek Marina) was fabulous, after living between four walls for so long, it was great to be back on board. We are now for the first time feeling really at home on our boat, after all the months of hard work. We spent most of the evening sitting in our cockpit watching the sunset over the creek and observing other boats coming and going.

However, for that first and the next night, we were really perplexed by a strange noise, a continuous, loud crackling sound we could hear only when below deck. Ferdi lifted the floorboards and peered into the bilges with a flashlight to try and identify the source, to no avail - it seemed to be coming from various parts of the boat. I thought it may be dolphins communicating with each other - we see them around us almost every day. Our perplexion was relieved a couple of days later when I read somewhere that the Neuse River area is full of krill - and the strange noise was these tiny creatures munching the algae off the hull of our boat! Seriously noisy eaters, they are.

Since a cold front had been predicted for the next few days, we decided we would postpone our departure and leave Beaufort on the back of the front, probably around Wednesday. On Saturday, we thought we may as well leave the dock and anchor out while waiting out the bad weather. I was a bit nervous about undocking with Wimpie no longer here to help, but our first two-person attempt went off without a hitch. We motored around to Beaufort Docks, but Ferdi decided the anchorage there was too crowded so we returned to Town Creek and dropped our new Rocna there. So far, despite winds of 20-30 mph the past two days, she has held fast!

So we now use our dinghy (with the smaller outboard, the 3.5 hp Mercury installed) to get to shore and back. Late afternoon Saturday we sped around to Beaufort Docks and had a beer with Phil and Anne, and after calling in at one of the other anchored boats, we returned to Strider. This novice made an incorrect knot while tying the dinghy painter to the boat - I quickly realized the crucial function of certain knots after struggling to untie my own handiwork!

At the moment, however, we are not even contemplating going ashore - the weather is too horrible. We are cosily holed up in our boat, spending the time reading, pottering about and catching up on emails (we are picking up on the Town Creek Marina's wifi). The rain and wind are due to subside by tomorrow.

(See new albums "At Anchor in Town Creek" and "Inside Strider" in the Photo Gallery).