Change of plans

The rain has delayed our departure from Ocracoke Island for another day or so. This morning when we went to pull anchor at 6 AM Anna asked if I’d seen the radar yet because if I hadn’t I should come and take a look. There was a large red thunderstorm forming just to the north east of Ocracoke, just the direction that we had planned to go. The Admiral made an executive decision and overrode the Captain. So, were here for another day. As you can see the rain had some large hail and high gusts too so it turned out to be a good decision.

Life with grandkids

The Snow Goose has become considerable smaller over the course of a week. We have 3 grand kids on board who are 9, 11, & 13 years old… and they leave their stuff everywhere! It takes a constant gentle demand by me that stuff get put away and not left lying around wherever they happened to drop it. Other than that, the kids have been a lot of help and are shaping up to be good little sailors. We are leaving Ocracoke NC today headed north towards the Dismal Swamp!
Megan and Caity by the Ocracoke lighthouse.
Ray and I on the Atlantic beach.
We ran across this fellow on the way to the lighthouse. It's a Nutria, a native "rat/beaver" from South America that is now an invasive species in the USA.

Hiking

I’m contemplating my next adventure in life, hiking the Appalachian Trail. This is something that I’ve thought about doing since I was in my 20’s and now, with the time and the physical strength to do it I’m think that next summer might be a good year to pull off the hike. I’ve started to get the backpacking gear that I will need for this adventure and will be bringing it back to the boat for this upcoming fall/winter when I’ll be practicing carrying the pack down the beaches of the Bahamas in preparation for the hike. The Appalachian Trail stretches from Georgia to Maine, 14 states and over 2170 miles. I’ll let you know more about this upcoming trip as the fall and winter go by and the step off day approaches (roughly, March 15th, 2012). We plan to leave the Goose in Deatons Marina in NC so that anna will have a place to live while I'm gone.

Life in Michigan

It’s cold!!! The nights are in the 50’s something that we haven’t had to endure for the last month. I might even have to put on long pants for the first time since I was here last time. The drive up to Michigan was over 1300 miles long but we broke it up with a stop in KY to see the kids. We have returned to Michigan to pick up three grand kids who will become crew for the next month as we bring the boat up from North Carolina to Washington DC. Other than that, one of my granddaughters and I are going hiking this weekend then back to the boat!

Cars

In preparation of going back to Michigan, we had to retrieve our car (the Blue Max) from Virginia where it’s been stored all winter. Deaton’s Marine offered to let us use their loaner car for the 350 mile drive up there. It was an event filled trip starting with a lake forming under Anna’s feet on the passenger side of the car (the A/C drain backed up) and ending with replacing the rear tire. On the trip back, Anna (who was now driving) complained of the car shaking so bad that she couldn’t drive it over 55. I checked it and the rear tire had begun to rip itself apart!

So, I changed the tire and we limped down the road to the nearest WalMart and 15 minutes before they were to close we bought a new tire.


Of course this turned our 6 hour drive into a 9+ hour return trip and we didn’t get back to the boat until well after midnight. Cars, you just have to hate them.

Marina life

For the next month we have decided to leave the Goose in a slip at Deaton’s in the town of Oriental NC. Oriental is a sleepy little town that must have 10 marinas and considers it's self the "sailing capital of North Carolina". Downtown Oriental & a couple of the nice houses in town.


These were just pretty.

We’re planning to drive back home to Grand Rapids and pick up 3 grand kids who will help up crew the boat north to the Chesapeake and beyond. For now, I am doing small projects around the boat and adjusting to the heat. It’s been about 90 every day. We’re thinking of sewing up a “boat sun awning” that should help cut some of the heat off from the boat. If that doesn’t work, then it’s to Menards to buy a $100 AC unit and set it on the deck, blowing into the main area to try to cool things down a bit. Deaton’s is very protected and a great place to leave the boat but in return for the great protection you gets very little wind. At the dock and a view of or neighbors.

Life onboard

I thought that I’d show you what we have to do when we need to go out to the store for a gallon of milk.

Get the dinghy down and blow it up tight.
Find the backpack and put in an extra bag for all of the other stuff that you will buy.
Dig out the bike and load it into the dinghy. (One mile is an easy walk but it’s hard to carry much back).
Say good-by to Edie and head to shore. Set the bike up and off you go. Find the store and lock up your bike.

Finally, load up and ride back home.Back into the dinghy, back to the boat and put everything away…total time 2+ hours compared to a 15 minute trip up to Meijer’s.
Hope that you enjoyed my trip to Piggly Wiggly!