Six days had passed since we had installed and tested the new transmission but, unfortunately Hurricane Nicole kept us pinned to the dock. However, the weather finally began changing in our favour Saturday afternoon so in anticipation of an early Sunday morning departure we left the marina and moved to the town anchorage. Dagny had been secured with 8 lines running to various pilings so with the help of a couple of people we slipped the lines and headed over closer to town. Although the 6:15 alarm was a rude wake up call we were anxious to get going again and we were soon under way with coffee in hand. The 3 hour ride down Adams Creek toward the ocean allowed us to ease back into life on the ICW as we prepared for a long day of motoring. However, once we turned the corner at Beaufort the ICW runs just inland parallel to the ocean so we rolled out the Genoa and had a great motor sail all day in 15 knots of breeze. For the most part the sound is a mile or two wide but the narrow ICW channel isn't even a hundred yards wide and if you stray outside the channel it's only a couple of feet deep. However, we made great time, stayed off the shoals and covered 70 miles by 4 p.m., a tiring but rewarding day.

Although the 6 days we spent waiting for the weather to change could have been long we kept ourselves busy with various boat chores. I managed to get the last piece of teak toerail varnished plus Bev and I spent time waxing the cabin top that always seems to get neglected. Despite the fact that the traffic on the ICW was stalled due to Nicole's inclement weather, for the most part Oriental was warm and sunny. When the wind was light we would dinghy to the town Center for supplies and just hangout. Our almost daily walks took us along the shores of the Neuse River where we could admire and critique the beautiful waterfront homes. My friend
Henry, from our Etchells days, insisted we use his spare vehicle so on Friday, along with the crew of 2 Outrageous, we headed out on a road trip to New Bern.

Nicole had kept everyone pinned down as she slowly moved into the US, our worst weather was supposed to be Wednesday and Thursday but fortunately the storm moved inland and quickly weakened. However, out of nowhere on Friday we had sustained winds over 30 knots with gusts to 45, I think Mother Nature just wanted to remind us who was boss. But the time had come to leave, so we bid farewell to Matt the Harbourmaster, who had taken such good care of us and our new found friends at Whittaker Creek Marina. Our last night on the town was spent at a funky brew pub that had a great atmosphere, neat beer garden and golf cart parking for the locals.

Today's picture is of one of the carts. This would be perfect for Paul Laflamme to drive to karaoke night at HYC!