We left the Morehead City Yacht Basin docks three times today. First, we left our slip at about 0930 to go to the fuel dock for fuel and pump out. But the Coast Guard appeared just as we were exiting the fairway and beat us to the position on the fuel dock that is within reach of the pump out hose. So we docked further down and fueled up. But, by the time we were finished fueling and the Coast Guard had departed, Colin had a meeting he had to be in, so we waited. After the meeting, we left the dock again, moved around two boats and redocked for the pump out. Finally, at noon we left the dock one more time and headed up the ICW.

The unexpected advantage of delaying our departure was that the wind, which was quite feisty in the morning, softened considerably by afternoon. So we were able to put out our head sail comfortably in the Neuse River. We even put up the main sail and turned off the engine for a while - the first time we've been under sail power since the Gulf of Mexico.

Scourge has decided that his favorite place to sit is on top of the fabric cover to our companionway. After trying to dissuade him several times, we finally gave in. I found a piece of the heavy fabric used for boat canvas at a yard sale in Morehead City and sewed a hammock for him, which prevents his claws from tearing the fabric that keeps out mosquitoes and allows us to open the zipper far enough to get in and out easily. He seems to like it.

This afternoon, Evelyn and Leslie felt inspired to cook. As Colin and I were navigating into the Gale River to anchor, tantalizing aromas were wafting up from the galley. We enjoyed a dinner of biscuits, scalloped potatoes and onions, and vegetables cooked with lemon, followed by homemade Key Lime Pie (though that was leftover from last night). What a treat!