A Surprise Invitation

Blackbeard Sailing Club, (see map)
N 35 03.766 W 076 56.912

We were just about to leave the public dock at Oriental yesterday when one last email arrive in my in box. It was from Les. Les is a fan of this blog and he wanted to meet us. Les very kindly invited us to come here to Blackbeard Sailing Club and to stay free for a few days. What a great offer! We accepted.

Blackbeard is located on Broad Creek off the Neuse River between Oriental and New Bern. It was an easy sail to get up here. The sailing club is large. I guess there must be room for 130 sailing vessels here. I don't see any power boats. The sailing club is also full of cruisers with interesting stories to tell. I hope we can add a few of our own.


People keep stopping by to ask if we need anything or if we need a ride anywhere. North Carolina hospitality is really tops.

Today, Libby and I took advantage of being tied up to a dock the first time in a year or so to do some projects. We moved the dinghy on to the dock, and we used fiberglass and resin to repair and reinforce structural parts of the dinghy that have been showing cracks. That chore needed to be done someplace where we could get the dinghy off Tarwathie's deck, and not put in in the water and a place where we didn't need the dinghy immediately to get back on board.

I also carried ashore the Danforth anchor that we fished out of the river in Beaufort, SC. There I painted it with a coat of so-called "instant galvanizing" from a spray can. I don't have much confidence that this coating will last long with the anchor in use. On the other hand, I don't have anything to lose by trying. After the coating dried, I attached it to the rode in place of our other Danforth anchor. We'll see how long it lasts rust free.

Later today or tomorrow, I want to go up the mast. I have a new anchor light to install, and a steaming light bulb to replace, and I need to lubricate the sail track. Thanks to Blackbeard's hospitality, we can get these chores done.

Yesterday we met Dave and Lee. Dave works as a yacht broker in Oriental. It's possible that Libby and I met Dave in 2005 when we traveled the country looking at 14 Westsail 32s.

I also met Ed on the vessel Esperance. Esperance is a 41 foot boat built in Formosa (Taiwan). She has lovely carvings in the woodwork below. She must also need a tremendous amount of work to keep up with the varnishing and bright work. Ed is a widower, and he has time to spend on her.