Almost a year later...

Lots has happened since we moved our boat into her new home in slip W-2. First, we slipped a line and, as our dockmaster said, "rubbed paint" with our next door neighbor. The president of our yacht club. What a way to meet.

Once that was cleaned up, we decided to install air conditioning. Well, I decided I wanted AC, and Bob decided he was willing to install it. I thought the installation was a breeze--but then I spent most of the installation at home in the REAL AC. Bob thought, who was on the boat doing the actual work, didn't think it was so easy. It was awful, but he did it anyway.

The AC made staying at the dock a reasonable idea--all through the summer. We spent a week aboard with our friends the Stepnoskis, including some time in Ocracoke during the worst of the heat last summer, and we weren't miserable! In Ocracoke we did the usual--rented bikes, ate slushies, went to the beach. Then we did something new--we let the kids go parasailing. Oh, and I went too. Abby and Allison went up first, then Kevin and I. It was fun, but maybe a bit dull. Great view, though.



After a blisteringly hot sail over, the trip back to Oriental was...just as hot. At first it was blowing and rolly and bumpy. And, of course, on the nose. After an hour of this joyride, Kevin was feeling quesy and asked how much longer. When Bob replied "Eight hours" I thought Kevin was going to faint. But he cheered up when we started playing word games. Then the wind died a bit and we hid behind Point of Marsh for some more settled sailing.





The next day we began the odyssey to Cape Lookout--motoring down the ICW, braving the Beaufort Inlet, then anchoring in windy conditions. Oddly, that night we were cold, no kidding, c-o-l-d. The next day we saw the lighthouse (Bob is still convinced that was bad idea), the wild horses, and sailed into Beaufort.


Later in the summer we spent a week at the dock working while Abby and her friend Bethany took sailing lessons in Oriental.We also learned that the AC intake can suck up all sorts of things. Bob whistled taps over this little guy.



We bought a new dinghy from some retiring cruisers in Charleston. Abby and Bob sailed her on the initial voyage around the harbor. Bob wants to name the boat "Swallow", but we have temporarily named it "Timeout" after an infamous picture in our family photo album. Here is the new photo:




Here's the iconic photo from New Zealand.




This fall we spent two lovely weeekends on the South River. Bob used the snorkel-doodle to replace the zincs while dolphins frolicked MUCH too close.The next morning we took the dinghy up a small creek off the south shore of the river and saw an alligator. This is NOT a picture of the alligator.