Sylvia
11/16/2010

4 - 16 November. 2010

After recouping from our 51 hour passage, we settled into enjoying the lovely South Harbour Village Marina. On Friday, my nephew Bob came up from Myrtle Beach to spend the day with us. We had a lovely lunch in the town of Southport - several miles from where we are. Then we came back to the boat and sat in the cockpit in the sun and watched the boats go meandering down the ICW. It was great to be able to spend some time just relaxing and catching up. We then spent several days enjoying the warm weather and the lovely environs while doing laundry and cleaning up.

We met a fellow, Daniel, at our lunch with Bob in Southport who came by the next day and gave us the name of a local marine Jack-of-all-trades. Bill wants some help with a couple of things so it is good to have a recommendation. We also met another local, Bob, who was walking his dog along the dock. He returned later with his card and said to be sure and call if we need a ride anywhere. Then while I was doing laundry I met Kathy. She and her husband are living on a power cruiser here in the marina and will be heading out the first of December for several months. They moved on board eight years ago and did a long cruise intending to buy a condo when they returned. But they decided they liked living onboard and it is now 8 years for them. They have two cars here and again I had an offer for a ride to the grocery store or wherever. We just continue to meet the nicest people.

On Wednesday, I was down below when I heard someone yell "Bill". I looked out the portlight and saw Artful Dodger motoring by. I rushed up on deck and we had a quick conversation - yelling over the water. Patrick and Karin were on their way down the ICW, of course, and David on Firecrest was following behind. I got to call to him as well when he motored by. It is amazing how excited one can get when someone you know goes by. They told me that Nemea was going outside from Beaufort and should be through in a couple of days.

My brother Bruce and his daughter Sandy drove down from Ashville, NC and spent Wednesday evening and Thursday here. We had a lovely drive through Southport and then over to Oak Island. Sandy lived in California for many years and was familiar with the Pacific but had never seen the Atlantic. She enjoyed the walk along the Oak Island beach and the sound of the waves on the Atlantic. Bruce found a couple of wild kittens who were very happy to get some cold French fries.

When we returned we heard that Nemea had called the marina and were only some minutes away. I got some fun pictures of them motoring down the ICW toward us. After they were settled in and hugs and kisses had been shared, they needed to go to Wal-Mart's for engine oil and some groceries. My brother very kindly said he would take them. What a guy! So Bruce, Bill, Louise and Jean-Denis went shopping while Sandy and I sat in the cockpit and enjoyed the weather, boats going by, and each other. It can't get much better than this.

Bruce and Sandy left late afternoon and then we joined Louise and Jean- Denis for a lovely steak dinner on Nemea. After the fine meal, a couple of bottles of wine and hours of interesting and fun conversation we bid them good-night and a possible good-bye. They were waiting for another Canadian boat that was coming in the morning and then they thought they might all just continue on down the ICW and find an anchorage for Friday night. We had rented a car for Friday with plans to drive into Wilmington to pick things up at West Marine and so we would be gone when they left.

We did, however, see them the next morning and it turned out that their friends had had a rough passage and they thought they might be ready to stay at the marina for the night. They wouldn't know until later in the morning.

We rented the car and took off for Wilmington and did our rounds - West Marine, Kohl's, an art store. I needed to get some clothes that fit better and Bill wanted to get some materials to do some cosmetic fixes on our Somvyl overhead in our quarters. The seams aren't the best and he is sure he can make them less noticeable.

When we returned Nemea was still here so I took Louise and Lisa, her friend, to Wal-Mart's. Louise's grand daughter's birthday was coming up. She wrapped the gifts up later that evening and brought them over so I could get them to a post office in the next few days. So we had another good-bye with Louise and Jean-Denis. It was kind of hard to have them leave since they are soon heading over to the Bahamas and we don't know when we will see them again.

When we came back that evening, I picked up some mail and wandered down the dock toward the boats. Louise was talking to a couple on another sail boat. The woman said "Hello, Sylvia." I looked at her and her husband and thought "I know them". She said, "We had you to our home for dinner." Then the penny dropped. It was Joe and Joan our wonderful hosts in Quebec. They had picked up their boat, Branwyn, in the Chesapeake and were heading south. What another wonderful surprise seeing them again. They are headed down the coast and we so hope we connect up with them somewhere along the way. They didn't think they were going to the Bahamas this year so it is a real possibility we will see them.

The next morning the Canadians all took off. That has been a regular occurrence for us. There have been a great number of Canadians coming in for the night and then heading on down the ICW the next day. One night there were at least 9 Canadian boats tied up with us. I hadn't seen that many Canadian boats at once since Nova Scotia.

The last several days Bill and Tom Heatherington have been working on some of the to-do list. Bill got the electric current washer installed on the autopilot so that it doesn't go crazy every time we flush the electric head. There are now manual switches that will override the automatic bilge pump switches. They have been busy and very frustrated the last two days trying to get the small Arco electric winches so that inserting the manual crank handle will disengage the motor. If we ever lose our electricity we need to be able to use those winches manually. There has already been one call to Australia and after they get back from the store there will be another one today.

Kathy graciously took me to the post office and the grocery store this morning so our larder is full and Louise's grand daughter will get her birthday presents. We have spent time at the Dead End Saloon and Joseph's Italian Restaurant which are both right at the end of the docks. Both have very good food and very friendly staff. Bill and I and Tom and his wife are going to Mr. P's in Southport on Thursday. The weather has basically been very good. We had a couple of days of cold winds and I felt like I was back on Lake Superior but that only lasted a couple of days. Then things warmed up and it has been lovely - warm and clear skies except for the early morning fog a couple of days ago. That just provided me with an opportunity for some great foggy sunrise pictures.

We haven't decided when we will move on but I have started looking ahead at the NOAA weather forecasts. It may be as early as the middle of next week or we may stay a little longer. Although it will probably cool down some it will be nothing like it was and has been in Minnesota.