May is always a busy month for us but it seems that all months are busy lately. Last time I was down I took two leaky ports out of the boat and brought them home to re-glaze. That is quite a job and I do not enjoy it. The boat was left with aluminum sheeting and duct tape covering the two gaping holes in her coach roof and could not be left very long in that condition. We hope that Carson and Jason will come with us next time so I wanted to make sure the projects are completed.

Friday May 3, 2013
This was a standard weekend trip. We left home shortly after 4:30 and stopped at the American Road House in Asheboro for dinner. Good, fast, cheap and hot is the trick for a successful restaurant and this one has it all. The weather forecast was not great but we were not planning to go sailing. The main goal was to replace the windows and wash the boat if possible. We knew our friends Ken and Jan were going to be there but we were surprised when Jan called us while we were on our way. She wanted to warn us of a high water event. The winds had been blowing for several days out of the East or Northeast. As stated many times before, the Pamlico Sound does not participate in a lunar tide but is somewhat affected by winds. A sustained easterly wind will push water from the sound back into the rivers and creeks. At its worst, Nick has to turn off the electricity on the dock. Jan was concerned that we may have to wade to get from the car to the boat. She reported that the water was within 8 inches of the dock. We decided to continue. We have had to wade before and many times the winds will diminish after dark. By the time we got there the wind was still howling but luckily the water was down from earlier levels. We unloaded and boarded without incident although the boat was high enough above to make loading heavy objects a real challenge. Judy turned in before I did. I was checking my email when I heard what I thought was a small explosion. The ship's fresh water pump came on. I reached up to the electrical panel to turn the water pressure off when I heard the bilge pump come on. Not good. The bilge pump only ran once and I was pretty sure what had gone wrong. By that time it was nearly midnight and I figured it wait until morning. The wind was still howling when we went to sleep. It was very overcast and seemed cold but the temp was actually in the mid fifties.

Saturday May 4, 2013
The weather was still murky on Saturday morning but it was not raining. The water pump turned out to be about what I suspected. A hose had come loose from the output of the pump to the pressure tank. That is what I heard the night before. We have had a lot of fresh water pump issues. I keep a spare pump on board just in case. One of these days I will spring for a decent pump but for now we just deal with it.

I started installing the windows. Cleaning the area where around the window to get a good seal is a real chore. The duct tape also left some residue that had to come off as well. I got one of the windows done before lunch and one after lunch with help from both Ken and Judy. I was completely finished in time to go into town with Judy for some minor supplies before dinner. When we got back to the boat it looked like it would rain at any minute. I had time to fill the fresh water tanks before it started. We dodged rain on our trips to the bathhouse for showers. Judy made one of my favorite meals of salmon, rice, asparagus and crusty bread. It was fabulous! We invited Ken and Jan over after dinner for refreshments. The weather remained about the same. It was windy and overcast with a few rain showers thrown in for good measure.

Sunday May 5, 2013
Judy was up early but I slept a bit late. We were in no big hurry. Breakfast was left over crusty bread, butter and honey which was a nice change from our usual cereal. Judy took the curtains down to bring them home for cleaning. While she was doing that, I had the privilege of pumping the "crapper", not a job I enjoy but somebody has to do it.

I had promised Ken that I would give him a complete description of my window resealing process. Serendipity and Southern Star are "sister ships" so his windows are just like mine. I gave him the standard disclaimer that my method is not proven, but at this point none of my resealed windows are leaking so it can't be all bad. We left for home a little before noon. The weather was just as murky as it was when we had arrived on Friday night. We usually stop on the way home for a decent meal since we are in no big hurry. We stopped at King's in Kinston and enjoyed southern fried chicken. The rest of the trip was uneventful but we never saw any sunshine.