we left norfolk first thing in the morning for a 6+ hour run to deltaville. i had been fighting computers all night trying to find a machine that i could use and in the end, while underway, i ended up using tom's new one. the trip was generally uneventful. the weather was great and the day was gorgeous. aurora was doing wonderfully on her first day as ship's pup. there were a LOT of crabpots out but in the chesapeake, the watermen place them in long lines that are predictable. when aurora was awake, i sometimes stepped out onto the side deck and held her in my arms so that she could familiarize herself with the sights and sounds of what is now going to be her life on the water. when we were across from gwynn island, we received a radio call from CJ, our friends joe and claire, who were out on their shakedown cruise - these are the folks with the new jack russell puppy, also named CJ, who is going to be aurora's best friend from now on, the same claire who sent me the email about the puppies. we said that we would see them in a little while.
when we arrived at regatta point, we were directed to slip #G-32, two slips down from our original #G-30 where we lived for almost two years - same starboard tie to the finger pier - i even used the exact same lines we used before that i had marked so that we were held in the same position every time. it's like we never left! only one of our former neighbors was around but it was nice to see them. we borrowed the courtesy car to pick up my car at norview and stopped in to see CJ and chatted for a while and compared notes on new puppies. CJ is a week older than aurora and quite a bit bigger but then again, aurora is just so tiny. that's basically everyone's comment when they see her - that she is so little! anyway, after that, it was off to return the loaner and then a trip to the deltaville market.
it is good to be "home" for a while in a familiar place, to have a car, to see old friends and to know where everything is. we spent the next day cleaning up and sorting things out - a trip to our storage unit and west marine and then cocktails with one of our neighbors. aurora came with us everywhere and did remarkably well although she got a bit underfoot while we were trying to clean up so she got put in the crate where she screamed until she finally wore herself out. she is only 8 weeks old and needs constant supervision and if i can't watch her constantly, she needs to go into the crate. potty training is going pretty well so that's a plus. and she enjoys our little walks and, like consuelo before her, she loves grass. the weather is wonderful - warm days and cool nights. still quite a bit of pollen in the air though.
spring in the chesapeake is lovely and we are glad to be back. we were gone for seven months. we left regatta point on september 17, 2014 and returned on may 3, 2015. we put 455.3 hours on tadhana's engine. a lot of miles there!
looking forward to heading south again in the fall, but in the meantime, our chesapeake cruising season begins :)
Monday, May 4, 2015
Sunday, May 3, 2015
aurora in her new home and the great computer saga.
after a relatively stress-free night where i thought, "well, that wasn't too bad!" things did not go as smoothly the next day. first of all, the weather was bad - wind and rain, just an altogether nasty day out overall. aurora continued to amaze me with the amount of poop that she could generate! after initially doing her thing on the pad all the time, she started to spread it far and wide. honestly, how could i have thought that it would be THAT easy?? WHAT was i thinking??? and during the day, she was NOT happy about being locked up in the crate and made sure everyone all over the world knew it, too. when the dell tech finally showed up to look at my computer, she was screaming so loud that i finally let her out and kept her with me. that's all she wanted really, and promptly fell asleep. that afternoon, norman came and got us and we went to petco where i got a few more essential things including a cute little harness, barely small enough to fit her, and an indoor potty training system - basically, a plastic tray, an absorbent pad and fake grass - plus some things to chew on. uncle norman held her the whole time so that mommy could have two hands. tom was off with the volvo people, an appointment he had made previously. we had norman over for dinner and things were generally good at home until it was time to go to sleep. aurora screamed all night long in the crate. and i mean, ALL NIGHT! she finally wore herself out. i have been through medical school - i can sleep through anything - but i still had to get up for her potty breaks. needless to say, i have been a bit tired and woke up late the next morning and when jim and talley powell showed up to pick tom up for an MTOA event, i was still in my bathrobe. oh well, right? same thing when norman showed up to give us the keys to his car since he was leaving for VA. i'm sure i was a sight.
in any case, i took aurora out for a little walk that morning and wore her out so she was asleep and not in need of supervision while i tried to get the boat cleaned up. i can't tell you how many loads of laundry i did with those hopital bed pads! it was good to switch over to the fake grass which is supposed to live in the cockpit but for now, it is just inside the aft door. tom got back around 2:30 p.m. and we took her for a walk and another one at 5:00 p.m. we now have a pattern - take her for a long walk, wear her out, she goes to sleep quietly in the crate and we can go do our stuff! she has also been really good about peeing on the fake grass - that has worked out pretty well. poop is still hit or miss though but, come on, she had been with us two days? that has to be REALLY GOOD for an 8-week-old puppy!
the next morning, we left norfolk for deltaville and she also did fine with the engine noise, the boat movement, even wakes. and the only thing that caught her attention was when the radio came on. basically, she is sleeping through everything and that's good as i don't want cruising to be a traumatic experience for her.
okay, that was aurora's first day aboard. and now on to the next saga - my computer. the dell tech finally arrived to switch out the motherboard on my computer and.... a new problem was created. i went from a partially broken computer to a computer i could not use at all! i won't get into details - suffice it to say that on startup, it did not make it any further than the password screen. the tech put back the old motherboard and it did the same thing. he said he had other service calls to make and to call him that afternoon and he would try to fix it then. i called and he said that he had had a difficult day and so could we do it the next morning around 10:30 to 11:00. the next day, i finally called him at 11:30 when i didn't hear from him and he said that he would be over in 15 minutes. when he finally arrived, he switched motherboards again and inserted his disc that he said would fix the problem. it did not. he checked again and said that his disc needed updating. he also said that he was very busy because his daughter was going to the prom but he PROMISED me that he would come back in 2 hours so i expected him at 2:30 p.m. i finally called him at 4:30 p.m. - it went directly to voice mail - and then again at 5:00 p.m. and he texted that he was busy with his daughter's prom preparations and that he would come at 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. if that was okay? he did not arrive until 8:30 p.m. and he did not fix the computer. his explanation was that it had something to do with dell's datasafe software installed on the hard drive and that dell had a department dedicated to that issue and that i should call them the next morning except that the next morning was when we were leaving for deltaville! i can't even begin to say how frustrated i was with the whole situation. i had NO work computer. i don't work means i don't get paid. i tried firing up tom's old computer since i had work software installed on it but it was so messed up (which is why he bought the new one) that it was pointless. i dug up an old inspiron mini that i had and it will have to do for a while but it was so slow that while underway back to deltaville, i used tom's new machine. i called dell in the morning and guess what? we are back at mile 0 here! it was not a special number or a special department or a special anything - it is like nothing ever happened between when i first noted that my computer had issues and now! we are just back to the beginning. anyway, that is where it stands.
i suppose that in a way, it's a blessing. i can't work so i'm going to take a vacation and spend time with aurora because this is such a critical time for her.
link to: video of aurora
in any case, i took aurora out for a little walk that morning and wore her out so she was asleep and not in need of supervision while i tried to get the boat cleaned up. i can't tell you how many loads of laundry i did with those hopital bed pads! it was good to switch over to the fake grass which is supposed to live in the cockpit but for now, it is just inside the aft door. tom got back around 2:30 p.m. and we took her for a walk and another one at 5:00 p.m. we now have a pattern - take her for a long walk, wear her out, she goes to sleep quietly in the crate and we can go do our stuff! she has also been really good about peeing on the fake grass - that has worked out pretty well. poop is still hit or miss though but, come on, she had been with us two days? that has to be REALLY GOOD for an 8-week-old puppy!
the next morning, we left norfolk for deltaville and she also did fine with the engine noise, the boat movement, even wakes. and the only thing that caught her attention was when the radio came on. basically, she is sleeping through everything and that's good as i don't want cruising to be a traumatic experience for her.
okay, that was aurora's first day aboard. and now on to the next saga - my computer. the dell tech finally arrived to switch out the motherboard on my computer and.... a new problem was created. i went from a partially broken computer to a computer i could not use at all! i won't get into details - suffice it to say that on startup, it did not make it any further than the password screen. the tech put back the old motherboard and it did the same thing. he said he had other service calls to make and to call him that afternoon and he would try to fix it then. i called and he said that he had had a difficult day and so could we do it the next morning around 10:30 to 11:00. the next day, i finally called him at 11:30 when i didn't hear from him and he said that he would be over in 15 minutes. when he finally arrived, he switched motherboards again and inserted his disc that he said would fix the problem. it did not. he checked again and said that his disc needed updating. he also said that he was very busy because his daughter was going to the prom but he PROMISED me that he would come back in 2 hours so i expected him at 2:30 p.m. i finally called him at 4:30 p.m. - it went directly to voice mail - and then again at 5:00 p.m. and he texted that he was busy with his daughter's prom preparations and that he would come at 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. if that was okay? he did not arrive until 8:30 p.m. and he did not fix the computer. his explanation was that it had something to do with dell's datasafe software installed on the hard drive and that dell had a department dedicated to that issue and that i should call them the next morning except that the next morning was when we were leaving for deltaville! i can't even begin to say how frustrated i was with the whole situation. i had NO work computer. i don't work means i don't get paid. i tried firing up tom's old computer since i had work software installed on it but it was so messed up (which is why he bought the new one) that it was pointless. i dug up an old inspiron mini that i had and it will have to do for a while but it was so slow that while underway back to deltaville, i used tom's new machine. i called dell in the morning and guess what? we are back at mile 0 here! it was not a special number or a special department or a special anything - it is like nothing ever happened between when i first noted that my computer had issues and now! we are just back to the beginning. anyway, that is where it stands.
i suppose that in a way, it's a blessing. i can't work so i'm going to take a vacation and spend time with aurora because this is such a critical time for her.
link to: video of aurora
 |
| i tried to make her oversized crate smaller by using books. oops, need more books! |
 |
| tom taking a photo of the norfolk sunset |
 |
she really is tiny |
the great dismal swamp and aurora
we left elizabeth city in the early morning and it was 41 degrees! brrrr..... after getting through the bridge into the dismal swamp, we immediately got boarded by the coast guard for an inspection. AGAIN? they were two very nice-looking young men who complimented us on the warmth and cleanliness of our boat. they said, "you should see some of these sailboats...!!" it reminded me of how people pack for going through customs, putting all their dirty underwear on the top so the officials would be so disgusted that they wouldn't bother going through the whole suitcase! is that what the sailboaters do? in any case, we were early for the south mills lock anyway so there was time for it and when it was over, we received our "good as gold" certificate. as the day progressed, it warmed up and turned out to be this beautiful spring day on one of the prettiest sections of the ICW.
the pedestrian bridge opened for us at the NC dismal swamp visitor center but we kept on going instead of stopping for the night. we had to wait for the bridge at deep creek and then eventually stopped at elizabeth's dock right before the deep creek lock for the night. our intention was to leave the next morning but since we had lots of time to get to norfolk, we decided to stay an extra drop dead gorgeous day. it was very relaxing and the surroundings were beautiful, not to mention the presence of unsecured wifi. it was nice to sit for a day. a southbound PDQ sailing catamaran turned off after locking through and joined us at elizabeth's dock.
the next morning, as i was talking to the people on the PDQ, robert, the lockmaster, came over and invited us to the lock office for coffee and doughnuts. this was around 8:00 a.m. with the first scheduled locking for 8:30. robert kept us there until noon since no southbound or northbound boats made an appearance for either the 8:30 or 11:30 locking. it really was a special treat as robert is famous for being the authority on the dismal swamp canal and for being just a great all-around guy and a wonderful character to get to know. we really had a good time and since no one was in a hurry to be anywhere, no one bothered to look at the time. the problem was that in the early morning, i had received an email from the dell tech asking if he could fix my computer that day instead of at the scheduled appointment the next day, and i told him that we would probably be at the norfolk yacht club at noon. unfortunately, i had left my phone on the boat when we went off to the lock office with robert. by the time we got back, i had a zillion emails and three missed phone calls and a text from the dell tech. it was noon and we were still behind the deep creek lock! and robert kept us until it got good and rainy - it was pouring when we locked through with the 1:30 group! only five of us northbound, no southbound.
as i was looking through my email, i found one from my friend, claire, with a hot lead from the richmond times on nine beagle puppies at mathews, VA, available immediately. so, after locking and putting all the fenders, fenderboards and lines away, i called the phone number on the ad and confirmed that a female beagle puppy was available. i found out where they were located and said i would call back. then i called our friend, norman, who we were planning to see in norfolk to ask if we could borrow his car. he said he would drive us there. aside from the time when the dockmaster at cocoa offered to bury consuelo in his garden if that would make things "easier," i have never had a meltdown about that whole situation. i nearly lost it over the phone with norman - the power of kindness and friendship just gets you right "there" sometimes, you know? i had been saying all along that we would wait until we got back to deltaville and settled, but dean snead, the beagle man in mathews, said that he could not guarantee the availability of puppies, etc., and i understood completely. everything just fell into place in a matter of minutes and i was completely unprepared both in practical terms and emotionally. the funny thing is that it would have been a way shorter drive from deltaville to Mathews! as it was, with the evening traffic across hampton roads, it took us two hours one way from norfolk. norman was already waiting for us at the marina and as soon as tadhana was securely tied and plugged in, we jumped into his car and off we went to look at beagle puppies. i might mention here that norman, his wife, betsy, and long-legged-hound-something, peggy sue, another of consuelo's buddies, and i go back a long way - a few years before i had even met tom.
when we finally pulled up at the colonial beagle club farm, mr. snead was giving the puppies their first set of shots. there were two females to choose from. i was surprised as i was expecting the usual tri-color beagles which, in fact, the mama beagle was, but all the puppies had a preponderance of black. the daddy beagle was there as well, and he was mostly brown. the bigger female had a really pretty face. the smaller female had some interesting markings. it reminded me of when i got consuelo - the same situation with only two females to choose from and the bigger one being prettier. i ended up with the littler one both times. with consuelo, it was because she made it pretty clear that she was MY dog. with aurora - that is her name - right now, i can hardly remember because everything just happened so quickly! i do remember tom saying that he liked the white tip on the beagle tail and that we "should get the one with the white flag." anyway, after all was said and done and i had written the check and handed it over to mr. snead and everyone was teary-eyed and had given everyone else a hug or a handshake, we were back in the car with aurora in my arms and peggy sue sniffing at her over my shoulder. we stopped at the tractor supply store and bought a crate, a tiny little collar, puppy chow and a stuffed toy so that aurora would have something to sleep with the first night. later, after putting aurora in her crate for the first time, we stopped for dinner before finally heading back to the boat.
back at home - and we didn't get in until past 10:00 p.m. - aurora didn't seem uncomfortable at all, hopping around playfully and sniffing everything. then she went into her crate by herself and lay down. i had to entice her out and have tom keep her busy while i made the crate smaller with a box and some books and put in a bath mat and an old pair of fleece pajama bottoms for a makeshift bed. she pooped and peed numerous times before i got around to putting down a pad. she actually did pretty well that first night even though we had to get up a few times during the night to poop and pee.
what a day it had been! between robert and aurora and everything in between, the day did not go quite as we had expected. it was exhausting but we had the best time, we now have our new little one, and everything will fall into place eventually.
the pedestrian bridge opened for us at the NC dismal swamp visitor center but we kept on going instead of stopping for the night. we had to wait for the bridge at deep creek and then eventually stopped at elizabeth's dock right before the deep creek lock for the night. our intention was to leave the next morning but since we had lots of time to get to norfolk, we decided to stay an extra drop dead gorgeous day. it was very relaxing and the surroundings were beautiful, not to mention the presence of unsecured wifi. it was nice to sit for a day. a southbound PDQ sailing catamaran turned off after locking through and joined us at elizabeth's dock.
 |
| the view from my desk |
 |
| same view at sunset |
as i was looking through my email, i found one from my friend, claire, with a hot lead from the richmond times on nine beagle puppies at mathews, VA, available immediately. so, after locking and putting all the fenders, fenderboards and lines away, i called the phone number on the ad and confirmed that a female beagle puppy was available. i found out where they were located and said i would call back. then i called our friend, norman, who we were planning to see in norfolk to ask if we could borrow his car. he said he would drive us there. aside from the time when the dockmaster at cocoa offered to bury consuelo in his garden if that would make things "easier," i have never had a meltdown about that whole situation. i nearly lost it over the phone with norman - the power of kindness and friendship just gets you right "there" sometimes, you know? i had been saying all along that we would wait until we got back to deltaville and settled, but dean snead, the beagle man in mathews, said that he could not guarantee the availability of puppies, etc., and i understood completely. everything just fell into place in a matter of minutes and i was completely unprepared both in practical terms and emotionally. the funny thing is that it would have been a way shorter drive from deltaville to Mathews! as it was, with the evening traffic across hampton roads, it took us two hours one way from norfolk. norman was already waiting for us at the marina and as soon as tadhana was securely tied and plugged in, we jumped into his car and off we went to look at beagle puppies. i might mention here that norman, his wife, betsy, and long-legged-hound-something, peggy sue, another of consuelo's buddies, and i go back a long way - a few years before i had even met tom.
when we finally pulled up at the colonial beagle club farm, mr. snead was giving the puppies their first set of shots. there were two females to choose from. i was surprised as i was expecting the usual tri-color beagles which, in fact, the mama beagle was, but all the puppies had a preponderance of black. the daddy beagle was there as well, and he was mostly brown. the bigger female had a really pretty face. the smaller female had some interesting markings. it reminded me of when i got consuelo - the same situation with only two females to choose from and the bigger one being prettier. i ended up with the littler one both times. with consuelo, it was because she made it pretty clear that she was MY dog. with aurora - that is her name - right now, i can hardly remember because everything just happened so quickly! i do remember tom saying that he liked the white tip on the beagle tail and that we "should get the one with the white flag." anyway, after all was said and done and i had written the check and handed it over to mr. snead and everyone was teary-eyed and had given everyone else a hug or a handshake, we were back in the car with aurora in my arms and peggy sue sniffing at her over my shoulder. we stopped at the tractor supply store and bought a crate, a tiny little collar, puppy chow and a stuffed toy so that aurora would have something to sleep with the first night. later, after putting aurora in her crate for the first time, we stopped for dinner before finally heading back to the boat.
back at home - and we didn't get in until past 10:00 p.m. - aurora didn't seem uncomfortable at all, hopping around playfully and sniffing everything. then she went into her crate by herself and lay down. i had to entice her out and have tom keep her busy while i made the crate smaller with a box and some books and put in a bath mat and an old pair of fleece pajama bottoms for a makeshift bed. she pooped and peed numerous times before i got around to putting down a pad. she actually did pretty well that first night even though we had to get up a few times during the night to poop and pee.
what a day it had been! between robert and aurora and everything in between, the day did not go quite as we had expected. it was exhausting but we had the best time, we now have our new little one, and everything will fall into place eventually.
 |
| meet aurora - the newest member of tadhana's crew, ship's pup |
belhaven to elizabeth city
we left belhaven before sunrise knowing that it was going to be a very long day with the wind on our nose the whole time and part of the time with no internet either. from the pungo river past dowry creek and into the pungo river-alligator river canal which is, literally, a ditch and then into the alligator river, past the alligator river bridge and marina and into the notorious albemarle sound which was not too unkind but it wasn't all that pleasant either. not to mention crabpots strewn all over in random order. it was a relief to get into the pasquotank river even though it had its share of crabpots as well - at least it wasn't as rough. we finally pulled into elizabeth city and it was very windy. we were the only boat at the free dock that night. I never even got off the boat. we were just tired and beat up after a very long day. about the only real thing of any interest was watching some young men in the park practicing what i guess were parkour moves. it was cold and windy and just not a good day to be outside.
when there are four or more transient boats at the free dock, elizabeth city hosts a wine and cheese party. since we were the only boat there that night, there was no party but the next morning, one of the elizabeth city rose buddies had put a couple of roses on our forward deck. we thought that was really sweet :)
when there are four or more transient boats at the free dock, elizabeth city hosts a wine and cheese party. since we were the only boat there that night, there was no party but the next morning, one of the elizabeth city rose buddies had put a couple of roses on our forward deck. we thought that was really sweet :)
Saturday, April 25, 2015
ocracoke island, NC
when dave back at ball creek told us that ocracoke was only 33 miles away, we decided to go. for some reason, tom had manteo on roanoke island in mind - we lived there for a while - and forgot about ocracoke (so many places to visit!). anyway, so we went. crossing the pamlico sound was generally unremarkable and uneventful except at the very end when 1) the wind picked up considerably, 2) the depth sounder was showing half the depths of what was written on the chart, and 3) my computer started acting up. my ONE AND ONLY computer, i might add, since i had a hard drive failure on the other one a couple of weeks ago and it has not yet been repaired. all i know is that all of a sudden, my screen dimmed and when i checked the system tray, it showed that the laptop was running on only battery power even though it was plugged in. the breaker for the DC outlets had tripped, too. anyway, after trying a few things like plugging elsewhere and changing the charging cable to another 12V adapter and then finally to a regular wall outlet adapter, still no go. the battery icon was showing 83% and so i just shut the whole thing down. i had to help keep watch anyway as the entrance channel to ocracoke was unfamiliar territory. we got into silver lake with no problems and docked at the national parks service docks. there were only two other boats there and with tom's senior pass to the national parks, we got a pretty hefty discount so that was nice.
once we got settled, i started seeing to my computer. i wasn't panicked yet as tom's old computer still had my work software in it, otherwise, the situation would have been pretty dire (as far as work was concerned anyway). as it turns out, i had five days left on my laptop's warranty! i called dell and explained the situation and the tech asked me to remove the battery, plug in the computer and fire it up. well, it worked so that was a relief. i was told that they would send out an on-site tech to replace the battery and charging port. what? send someone out to ocracoke island?? that would have been something considering that wherever this tech was driving from, he/she would still have a greater than 2-hour ferry ride one way! in any case, the computer worked fine plugged in with the battery removed so i wasn't too concerned about when and where the repair was going to take place. after several phone calls, it was finally decided that the tech would meet us in norfolk in a week. we will be anchored at lafayette river then but can meet the tech at a friend's house nearby. anyway, so that was that for that! things could have been a lot worse so i was cool with it.
so... on to ocracoke island which is a totally charming place. tom and i had been to the island before back in 2008 when we lived in manteo. we had come by car, taking the hatteras ferry which is on the other side of the island from the the ocracoke village. at that time, it rained hard all day so we really didn't get to go around much plus we had to catch the ferry back. this time around, it was extremely windy but dry at least. our marina was right by the ferry dock so we got to watch that show often. tom and i love workboats of any type and ferries are no exception. we just like watching them do their jobs.
we brought out our bicycles and went around town, around silver lake to the ocracoke lighthouse and to the british cemetery. we went to the beach (spectacular) and we even went inside the gift shops! we also took a little hike at the springer's point preserve. i worked mornings and nights and reserved the afternoons for exploring. it was very relaxing and we had a fabulous time. it's too bad that dell decided that coming out to ocracoke would have been too much of a hardship - we certainly wouldn't have minded staying longer! it is just that kind of place. maybe they were afraid that the on-site tech wouldn't leave once he/she got there? hahaha... about the only thing that we didn't do was eat out although we did check the fish markets - why is seafood so expensive??? i'm glad that we had our fill of shrimp and clams at mcclellanville!
in any case, we enjoyed our stay in ocracoke but aside from my computer needing fixing, tom also has work to do in norfolk so we had to leave. the weather was also starting to deteriorate so i'm glad that we had a couple of really nice days in that beautiful island.
we left ocracoke on april 25, 2015. the weather wasn't bad although the forecast called for rain in the afternoon. pamlico sound wasn't uncomfortable at all but it was not flat and the day was grey. at that point, we knew that we we were going to cross the sound to the pamlico river and then to the pungo river but after that, it was either belhaven, dowry creek or onward to stage for the albemarle sound crossing. it was hard to make a decision - tom kept checking the weather but even the meteorologists were having a hard time calling it, plus somewhere in the middle of pamlico sound, we lost our internet signal so it was kind of hard to check the weather. we ended up stopping mid-day at belhaven since we hadn't been there before and we would at least have some protection at the town dock if the weather got nasty.
well, poor little belhaven is a town that is struggling to come back but i'm afraid that it is a long way from it at this point. i feel bad for places like that - they remind me so much of the chesapeake bay's Eastern Shore. we walked around town a little. we made the mistake of going into the museum. it may have been that no one had been there in so long that the attendant felt the need to follow us around and talk incessantly! and the items in the museum consisted of stuff from one woman's house - some of it was pretty weird like the jars of dead things preserved in formaldehyde hahaha....
the rain finally came in the afternoon but it was very light, not the nice boat-wash kind of rain and not only were we a bit salty, we were also a bit muddy. since i wasn't doing anything at the moment, i went out in the rain and hosed down the boat. the chamber of commerce person came over to say hello - she said she always greeted the new boats at the town dock, which was really sweet, her coming down in the rain and all. they are trying... but i'm afraid that belhaven is going to have to do a lot more to bring people in to their town. and, of course, now that we are all safely tied up and plugged in, the rain has stopped and the wind has dropped, i don't have work and there is no place to go :)
once we got settled, i started seeing to my computer. i wasn't panicked yet as tom's old computer still had my work software in it, otherwise, the situation would have been pretty dire (as far as work was concerned anyway). as it turns out, i had five days left on my laptop's warranty! i called dell and explained the situation and the tech asked me to remove the battery, plug in the computer and fire it up. well, it worked so that was a relief. i was told that they would send out an on-site tech to replace the battery and charging port. what? send someone out to ocracoke island?? that would have been something considering that wherever this tech was driving from, he/she would still have a greater than 2-hour ferry ride one way! in any case, the computer worked fine plugged in with the battery removed so i wasn't too concerned about when and where the repair was going to take place. after several phone calls, it was finally decided that the tech would meet us in norfolk in a week. we will be anchored at lafayette river then but can meet the tech at a friend's house nearby. anyway, so that was that for that! things could have been a lot worse so i was cool with it.
so... on to ocracoke island which is a totally charming place. tom and i had been to the island before back in 2008 when we lived in manteo. we had come by car, taking the hatteras ferry which is on the other side of the island from the the ocracoke village. at that time, it rained hard all day so we really didn't get to go around much plus we had to catch the ferry back. this time around, it was extremely windy but dry at least. our marina was right by the ferry dock so we got to watch that show often. tom and i love workboats of any type and ferries are no exception. we just like watching them do their jobs.
we brought out our bicycles and went around town, around silver lake to the ocracoke lighthouse and to the british cemetery. we went to the beach (spectacular) and we even went inside the gift shops! we also took a little hike at the springer's point preserve. i worked mornings and nights and reserved the afternoons for exploring. it was very relaxing and we had a fabulous time. it's too bad that dell decided that coming out to ocracoke would have been too much of a hardship - we certainly wouldn't have minded staying longer! it is just that kind of place. maybe they were afraid that the on-site tech wouldn't leave once he/she got there? hahaha... about the only thing that we didn't do was eat out although we did check the fish markets - why is seafood so expensive??? i'm glad that we had our fill of shrimp and clams at mcclellanville!
in any case, we enjoyed our stay in ocracoke but aside from my computer needing fixing, tom also has work to do in norfolk so we had to leave. the weather was also starting to deteriorate so i'm glad that we had a couple of really nice days in that beautiful island.
 |
| ocracoke lighthouse |
 |
| silver lake and tadhana in the distance |
 |
| swan quarter-ocracoke ferry |
 |
| some kind of barge with reef balls |
 |
| close-up of reef balls |
 |
| ahhhh..... the beach! |
 |
| more beach |
 |
| the trail at springer's point preserve |
 |
| and the trail led to the beach on pamlico sound |
 |
| someone carved a racoon on this old dead tree stump |
 |
| sunset over pamlico sound |
 |
| we did not check to see if they had eggplants |
we left ocracoke on april 25, 2015. the weather wasn't bad although the forecast called for rain in the afternoon. pamlico sound wasn't uncomfortable at all but it was not flat and the day was grey. at that point, we knew that we we were going to cross the sound to the pamlico river and then to the pungo river but after that, it was either belhaven, dowry creek or onward to stage for the albemarle sound crossing. it was hard to make a decision - tom kept checking the weather but even the meteorologists were having a hard time calling it, plus somewhere in the middle of pamlico sound, we lost our internet signal so it was kind of hard to check the weather. we ended up stopping mid-day at belhaven since we hadn't been there before and we would at least have some protection at the town dock if the weather got nasty.
well, poor little belhaven is a town that is struggling to come back but i'm afraid that it is a long way from it at this point. i feel bad for places like that - they remind me so much of the chesapeake bay's Eastern Shore. we walked around town a little. we made the mistake of going into the museum. it may have been that no one had been there in so long that the attendant felt the need to follow us around and talk incessantly! and the items in the museum consisted of stuff from one woman's house - some of it was pretty weird like the jars of dead things preserved in formaldehyde hahaha....
the rain finally came in the afternoon but it was very light, not the nice boat-wash kind of rain and not only were we a bit salty, we were also a bit muddy. since i wasn't doing anything at the moment, i went out in the rain and hosed down the boat. the chamber of commerce person came over to say hello - she said she always greeted the new boats at the town dock, which was really sweet, her coming down in the rain and all. they are trying... but i'm afraid that belhaven is going to have to do a lot more to bring people in to their town. and, of course, now that we are all safely tied up and plugged in, the rain has stopped and the wind has dropped, i don't have work and there is no place to go :)
Friday, April 24, 2015
ball creek, NC
we met dave and sandy when they cruised through the chesapeake a couple of years ago, when we were still living at regatta pointe in deltaville, VA. our common denominator was the rosborough boat - they had one and i used to have one. we also shared mutual friends in craig and tammi, also rosborough owners. we got together with dave and sandy when they came through the lower Bay and stopped at deltaville and we hit it off right away. they are former sailboat owners and very experienced cruisers. at the time, they had a sweet yellow lab named misty who had to be the largest yellow lab i had ever seen - misty was a BIG girl! she was also quite old but she was a boat dog and where they went, she went, too, kind of the way consuelo was with us. it's how dog people are. dave and sandy lost misty on that trip and i remember thinking how terrible it must have been for it to happen while cruising and so far away from home - to have to make that return trip minus one member of the crew, which is the situation in which tom and i find ourselves now. in any case, they talked about maybe getting a smaller dog because, really, it is much harder with a big dog that you have to muscle on and off the boat, especially when they start getting older, but, not surprisingly, they ended up getting another yellow lab, sadie, who is now 2 years old, and she is a sweetie :)
dave and sandy came to see us at vero beach and we got to meet sadie then but it was a very short visit so it was nice to pass by their place this time and stay for a little while to get caught up. they have a beautiful place on ball creek and tom and i spent a couple of extremely relaxed days there while spring was springing, grass was growing, and birds were singing. the nights were wonderful, too, with very little light pollution so that the moon and stars were so bright in the very black night. it was like being anchored! but more than that, it was the pleasure of the company of a couple who have become good friends :)
let me just say that it would have been easy to overstay at this marina - free dockage and electricity and wifi, courtesy car and driver to the grocery and for running errands, homemade dinner two nights in a row and sandy even folded my laundry because i didn't get back for it fast enough! we really enjoyed our brief stay with them. we will be back!
dave and sandy came to see us at vero beach and we got to meet sadie then but it was a very short visit so it was nice to pass by their place this time and stay for a little while to get caught up. they have a beautiful place on ball creek and tom and i spent a couple of extremely relaxed days there while spring was springing, grass was growing, and birds were singing. the nights were wonderful, too, with very little light pollution so that the moon and stars were so bright in the very black night. it was like being anchored! but more than that, it was the pleasure of the company of a couple who have become good friends :)
let me just say that it would have been easy to overstay at this marina - free dockage and electricity and wifi, courtesy car and driver to the grocery and for running errands, homemade dinner two nights in a row and sandy even folded my laundry because i didn't get back for it fast enough! we really enjoyed our brief stay with them. we will be back!
 |
| tadhana at the ball creek marina |
 |
| early morning fog on the water |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)