Saturday:
On Saturday morning we pulled up the anchor and couldn't get out of the South River fast enough! I am sure that if we were anchored there in better weather, we would have fond memories of the spot. It is really a nice place, quiet, undeveloped and very serene.

Our destination this morning was a quick motor across the Neuse River to Oriental, NC. Maxwell and I visited Oriental last year when we were on our boat acquisition quest. It is so different approaching from the water.

We were not initially intending to visit Oriental on our trip south. However, the electrical problems left us with no choice. My Dad was kind enough to drive through the night on Friday to meet us first thing when we arrived on Saturday. Once we made it to the anchorage in downtown, we inflated the dinghy and ferried the master electrician aboard. While Maxwell and He worked on all of our wiring woes I took the opportunity to drive about town. I hit the post office, grocery store and the hardware store. I have come to like the small businesses in these quaint towns. Like Deltaville's True Value, this hardware store has everything! The people are SO friendly and helpful. I was dubbed a "Water Gypsy" by the gray haired employee who I am sure has worked there for the last 30 years. I took this as a compliment and said, "Why yes I am!" I ended up there twice, and Maxwell once by the end of the day. That is not unusual for us when we are in the middle of the project.

Oriental was very wet ashore from the storm that had just passed. Two or three of the streets downtown had water standing so high that they were impassible. The fellas worked all day and had figured out most all of the problems. That was enough for us to take a load off with a stroll around downtown and dinner.

Sunday:
By 9:30 my Dad had figured out what was wrong with our wind generator and by noon we had a fix. Yeah!! Now we have no ground leaks and functioning wind driven power! My Dad was off back to Virginia by 1pm. I don't know what we would have done without him. Well yes I do, and it would have run us about $95 and hour! Thanks Daddy!!

The rest of Sunday was spent enjoying the elusive sunshine and warm air. We cleaned up a bit and relaxed in the cockpit until sunset. Once it was dark we went ashore for a shower. We happened to find a yacht club with open doors and nice bath facilities. I would be telling a story if I said that I thought it wasn't against the rules to be there...but, we really needed showers! And these were free!! Maxwell is adjusting very slowly to walking on the wild side. But afterwards, he was feeling much better.

Monday:
Another early morning on the move. We hoisted anchor at sunrise and made the half-day trip to Beaufort, NC. It is such a cool place! We anchored just off of the town docks in the heart of this waterside city. Our plans from here are to head offshore so we did not go ashore to explore. We didn't want to go through the trouble of preparing the dinghy. We will save that excursion for the second half of the trip on our way back North.

We rigged some new halyards and sheets and cleaned up in preparation to head out into the Atlantic for a leg to Charleston, SC. We cleaned up the clutter from the decks and started stowing anything that wasn't secured in place. After that we sat back in the cockpit and enjoyed the evening. The warm air and bustle of activity all around us excited us both for what is still to come in this adventure.

Tuesday:
Ok, so we said that we would sleep in to get some rest for this big step we are taking today but somehow I am wide awake at 5:30 thinking about our to-do list. Today we are leaving for Charleston, SC. It is our first open water experience! This is exciting and scary all at once. It should take us between 46hrs to 58hrs. This means sailing shifts and night watches, oh my! The time difference is variable of course because we will be sailing and depending on the wind, our speed will fluctuate. Our approach into Charleston needs to be planned so that we arrive in daylight and on the right tide. I know my Captain has this well under control.

While we are there we hope to visit with Doug & Sheryl, our friends we met who sailed on Prudence, a Southern Cross 35. Now they are the publishers of a great magazine Carolina Currents and have settled in beautiful Charleston. They have promised to be our personal tour guides while we are in town. Can't wait to see them again!

So at this point, we will be off for a few days on the high seas! Cross your fingers that it goes well and that we have steady winds. We love you all and could not do this without you!!

P.S. I have updated our SmugMug page with a few more photos and now they are in order! And, per your request Rob Lewis, I am working on the maps! I have updated our Lat Longs on this blog so you should be able to click the link on the right to see our current position.