Allegria splashed back into the water after almost 5 weeks in the yard, but with a brand new paintjob on her topsides and bottom that has her looking really spiffy. We also accomplished all the routine maintenance items and a few other projects that had been languishing on the bottom of the list. One hold up was the new decal names for the sides of the boat. I had ordered them back before the end of the year and received them quickly, but didn’t check them . These are the third set we’ve ordered form this company over the years and all have been perfect. Putting these names on was one of the last things to do before our splash back into the water. When I dug them out and saw that we only had one name decal (we have Allegria on each side of the boat), I almost choked. I sent a quick email to the company and they quickly made a replacement set, but sent it by ground instead of by overnight as I requested. So that held us up a while, but did allow us to get to the bottom of the to do list.
At any rate, we are now back in the water and floating, so all in all a successful haul out. Our plan was to wait for a weather window to try to get as far north as possible, going out the Ponce inlet and around Hatteras, but the weather was not cooperating. So up the ICW we went. We spent a comfortable night in Daytona and then moved on up to St Augustine. We had the anchor up in time for the 7:30 opening at the Bridge of Lions and out the inlet we went and up to the St Mary’s River and Cumberland Island.
We spent a day boat bound with bad weather but had another good day following to walk the island and visit all the wildlife. We saw the wild horses, deer, turkeys, armadillos and had a great time walking through the oak forest. With all the old trees it seemed a perfect place for hobbits to be frolicking about.
We got a break in the weather and jumped out to head north and had a two night sail up to Cape Fear, and stopped at Wrightsville Beach for a day and a night. What a wonderful place with a great grocery, a wonderful beach and full of friendly people. From there it was an overnight sail up to the Beaufort Inlet and then back into the ICW and to anchor at Adam’s Creek. We wanted to stop again at Oriental but the docks were full so we passed it by and dropped anchor at Belhaven, where we are now. From here we move up to Norfolk over the next few days and then into the Chesapeake.
I have posted a few pictures in the Gallery so have a look if you have the time.