The Road To Work

The Road To Work

Our road to work this morning sure looks nice.

630, the sun peeks up over the horizon, a fresh 15 knot NW breeze on the face and 300 miles to go to Norfolk!

We left Wilmington at 545 yesterday morning so we could ask for the 600 bridge opening on the river just north of Wilmington. It was dark! Terry Henry was waiting for us at the city docks and came aboard for the 5 hour trip down the Cape Fear River, through Snows's Cut and back up the Intracoastal back up to Wrightsville Beach.

We dropped him off on a dock just in time to catch the on the hour opening of that bridge, then settled in for the next leg of our journey to DC.

Rain had been promised and as soon as we dropped Terry off, it came with a roar. Sails had to come down, and we motored most of the rest of the day.

It is great to be back on the water again!

We got to a good anchorage just north of New River just at dark as a big rainstorm came barreling in. The crew decided to go ahead and take Goose in anyway. Halfway in the outboard quit, and it being easier than find the problem, Ryan broke out the oars and rowed them in and back out.

Luckily for them, I could take pictures from inside. Hehe.

We are just barely making way, waiting for the Onslo Beach Swing Bridge's 'on the half hour' opening. Awesome breakfast smells are wafting up from the galley. And the sun is fully waking up.

We sat on the dock in Wilmington for 31 days. Although docks provide great places for getting things done on the boat, (and for plugging in for air conditioning) much of the magic of living on a boat is lost. Another reason it feels so good to be out there.

Jim and Pat came to visit while we were there. Since Jim is a reader of the blog, it was cool to be able to show him what he had been reading about!

A lot got done while we were there. Fortunately, much of the work is now making the boat look better, and things to make her easier to live in, maintain, and use.

Things like digital voltmeters to see exactly what is going on. And 12 volts run to the cockpit for a new VHF radio, and power supply for the ipad so I can blog like this while steering. 😉

Shelly chose new fabric for the interior cushions while she was visiting her mom in Marion, and got the first two done the day before we left. They are going to look great!

And Yume is looking very ladylike with more coats of paint, varnish and oil on the teak.

Well, I hear the ringing of the bells for the bridge, so it is back to work. At least traffic is light this morning!

 

 

Wow. Time Surely Flies By!

Wow. Time Surely Flies By!

I had to look to see where we left we the last post and it was back in Myrtle Beach fixing things…

Well… Guess what we have been doing?

Hehe

First the good stuff. We had a very nice trip up to Southport, and then up the Cape Fear River to Wilmington. It is really amazing to sail in the same water that ships have since the 1700s.

But I had an engine… 😉

Wilmington was the largest cotton shipping port in the world at one time. They also built Liberty ships here during WW2 – 150 of them!

It is a really cool town and well worth a visit if you have never been. There is tons of history and they have done a very nice job of restoring and cleaning up the waterfront area.

We will be here for a couple more weeks. Shelly and Ryan are in Marion helping her mom pack up and get her house ready to sell. It is kinda quiet around Yume, but means I can tear stuff all up and work!

And I have. All the new flooring is in and looks great. We are just tickled pink with it.

This is a picture of the very forward bottom of the starboard fuel tank. It leaked again. I was so bummed I almost sat down and cried. You are looking at aluminum corrosion coming from the outside of the tank and working its way to the inside.

But after a day or two, I just opened it back up and found this. In Florida, I had cut into the middle of the tank, and left the forward part alone thinking it was ok. I was wrong.

In that hole next to the mast was a black water tank (sewage) that had to be removed, then the floor cut out, then the fiberglass, then the aluminum tank again in a different place. All fixed ( hopefully).

I have been puttering just making things better as this job progressed. The ac units have new cooling lines and have been cleaned up. The engine has a new air intake filter system. The generator engine wiring has been all redone and the alternator cleaned up and reassembled.

As we are at the dock, it is much easier to varnish so we are adding coats of varnish to the port toerails and handrails. And the mainmast got a new boot to stop water from leaking down into the boat.

Shelly sewed new cushions for a friend’s boat, and is looking for the right material to redo all ours. Then we will redo all the outside cushions.

Both of us are spending more time on paws4vets fundraising activities, especially with the Combined Federal Campaign. The plan is to keep moving north to be in DC for the late fall events.

I just hope we don’t freeze our fannies off before we can turn around and run south with the winter storms!

Ryan turned 16 last month. Amazing. We went out for Alaskan king crab and a good time was had by all.

 

I am getting to dislike pictures. Somehow I am starting to look my age. Why is it we have to get old?

The restaurant was right across the river from the battleship.

Very cool ship.

So we are hanging out here in NC, getting ready for the next phase which is moving to near Norfolk Va to the next event, then on up into the Chesapeake. We want to try and get to as many places as we can. Maybe up the Delaware River to Philly, then Annapolis, and the Potomac (right past General Washington’s home!) to DC where we could drop an anchor in sight of the monument to him.

How cool would that be?

Stay with us!

Instead of a picture of Goose to end this post – have you seen his new video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY-8IikJv8k

 

And a video of living on Yume – 1st 6 months!