Good News and Bad

Surf City USA, N 34 25.723 W 77 32.742

The good news is that we had a very nice dinner Monday night with our new friends Dwight and Karen. They had wonderful stories about sailing in the Caribbean, especially about how nice the Dominican Republic is. Libby and I were fascinated and our tastes for heading southward were enhanced. I think Dwight and Karen enjoyed telling the stories as much as we enjoyed listening. Via storytelling to fellow cruisers, they could relive those memories and whet their appetites for becoming cruisers once again.

The bad news is that on Tuesday morning I tried to replace the zinc on the propeller. The water and air were relatively warm. I put on my wet suit, mask and snorkel and dove in to do the job. I was determined to do everything possible to avoid dropping the zinc or the allen wrench. I was impractical to tie safety strings on them. Unfortunately, I never inherited my father's genes for doing fine work with my hands. Despite my caution I dropped both the wrench and the ($35) zinc. I resurfaced spouting a few choice words. I'm very reluctant to pay $250 to have Tarwathie hauled out for 30 minutes to install a zinc. I mean to try again but this time I'm going to rig a safety net below my work to catch the things I drop.

The good news is that we had two splendid days motoring down the ICW toward Southport. Our goal is to be in Southport to meet Walt and Teresa on Saturday. The winds are unfavorable for going out to sea so we're using the ICW. We've never been on this particular stretch of the ICW before.

The bad news is that the weather forecast this morning brought warnings. Tonight we'll have 35 knot winds and tomorrow we'll have 45 knot winds (50 mph, 80 kph) from the SW. There are no good anchorages with shelter against SW winds within reach. I called all the marinas in Wrightsful Beach, today's goal. They were all fully booked. I had to start calling marinas further and further north. Finally I found one in Surf City, about 5 miles in back of where we just passed. We'll be here two nights until the bad weather passes. Friday, it will be a stretch to make it all the way to Southport to meet Walt.

The good news is that our son David is on duty at his base for the next near in Kuwait, near the Iraqi border. David says that it is fairly comfortable where he is. The description of the place sounds fairly safe. Hopefully, there will be no combat nor any bombs there.

The bad news is that our youngest granddaughter Victoria, is in the hospital suffering from some kind of infection. Her parents say that it is not serious and that she'll be out in two days. Still, she has enough pain that they are giving her morphine. Poor Victoria. Our hearts go out to you. We wish there was something we could do.

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