It had been over a month since we had spent time at the boat. I was beginning to suffer from brackish water withdrawal. Many times we have plans for the weekend, or at least intensions, but not this weekend. We had arranged to meet our friends and former dock mates Doug and Sheryl in New Bern for lunch on Sunday, but other than that, this was to be a typical weekend on the water. Many modes of travel measure the number of miles traveled or the destination reached. Sailors are lucky. We are where we want to be as soon as the sails are raised.

Friday July 27, 2007
We left high ground at 4:30 as usual. We know from experience that this is not the best time to travel, but we have learned to deal with the congestion. The traffic was unusually heavy and when we reached Raleigh so we took the northern route, which takes us though Greenville, NC. If we could avoid the ever present slow moving vehicle on the two lane highway south of Greenville the trip would be shorter by 30 minutes. We made the trip in 5 hours flat and after stopping for dinner. We ran into rain several times on the and were dreading getting unpacked in the rain. Our worries were unfounded because the weather at Whortonsville was clear and surprisingly cool. We unpacked and turned in without deploying the air conditioner.

Saturday July 28, 2007
We eased into the day because we didn't have an agenda. We noticed that the turnout was slim at the dock for a summer weekend but we were pleased to find our friends Chuck and Tish were down for a few days. After listening to the weather report, we decided to go for a short day sail before the weather closed in. At about 10 am we left the slip and headed for the sound. We exercised the diesel, which ran flawlessly. The wind was fair but not great. It was maybe 6 knots from the southwest. We had a nice easy sail for an hour or so before the wind died completely. We were thinking about making some lunch when we heard thunder. If you are a regular reader of this log you know that we are timid about bad weather. We were watching the little black clouds all morning but they are common this time of year. The thunder made the decision for us, and we headed for the dock. A little squall followed us home. We were in sight of our slip when the downpour came. I rained just enough to soak the mainsail and all he canvas, then stopped. We backed in and tied up without incident. The pause in the storm did not last long. We got the shore power connected but did not have time to deploy the portable air conditioner before the rain returned. The best place to be during a thunderstorm is tied to your dock. We ate lunch and watched the storm go by.

After lunch the rain stopped. We set up the air conditioner and let it start working while we went into town for a few boat related items. I spent the rest of the afternoon working on improvements to our lazy jack system. I had raised the mainsail so it could dry and it was a good time to work on the project. Our lazy jacks have been a great improvement to the boat. We can simply drop the sail into the lazy jacks, which cradle it on top of the boom. This eliminates the need to gather the sail and tie it to the boom. The only flaw was that the original version had only three sets of lines to cradle the sail. This project will add the fourth line to control the aft end of the sail better.

When finished, I headed for the bathhouse for a shower and Judy started dinner. When I returned I started the grill and we were eating grilled salmon and brown rice in record time. After dinner we visited with Nick, Jeanette, Tish and Chuck on the porch. After a lively discussion that lasted way past bedtime, we retired to a cool dry boat for a very pleasant night's sleep.

Sunday July 29, 2007
We eased in to Sunday morning and enjoyed instant oatmeal with coffee on a nice cool boat, then started getting ready for departure. It takes a while to prepare the boat for our absence and pack the car. We left the dock before noon and headed for Doug and Sheryl's marina in New Bern. We stay in touch with Doug and Sheryl by email but have not seen them for months. These are our friends who are going to head south in November for the adventure of a lifetime. They will be on an extended cruise of the Caribbean Sea. Sheryl prepared a delicious lunch and we enjoyed a great visit. Doug recently had his first article published in "Carolina Currents" magazine. I think he is an excellent writer so I asked him to autograph our copy. We will miss them when they leave but we hope to see them several more time before their departure. We stayed as long as we could and left mid afternoon.

Doug, Sheryl and Prudence

I am glad to report that trip home was long but uneventful. This was a great weekend of sailing and visiting friends. Our little ship is in great shape and we are enjoying her more than ever. Many more adventures are planned. If you read these words, please leave a comment on the sailblog or sign the guest book on our home page. It will make my day!