Back In The Saddle

New Bern, NC
35 05.91 N 077 01.95 W

Well we had a good week.   For five days, we hung out with family in Fayetteville, NC (Fort Bragg) and at Dave & Cathy's new house in Zebulon, NC.  We never did get in to Raleigh.  

Monday/Tuesday this week, Dave brought us back to New Bern.  Then, we let Libby take Dave's car while Dave and I enjoyed day sailing on the Nuese River.  We made it a short course on sailing and boat operations.   I think that Dave is ready to take Tarwathie out on his own with friends or family whenever he wants to.

Tuesday was an outstanding day for sailing.  We had 15-20 knots on the beam.  It was ideal.  We practiced with several sail combinations, both too much and too little sail for conditions.  Still, we were able to do up to 7 knots with all those combinations.  It was an excellent demonstration that more sail does not make you go faster.  

We pulled into Hancock Creek and dropped the hook for lunch.  By coincidence we were right next to Calpyso, the W32 that belongs to our friends Jeff & Wendy.  They weren't there, too bad.   We had a nice lunch and planned to have a nice nap, when extremely noisy Harrier jets started flying over low.  Well, Hancock Creek happens to be on the property of Cherry Point Marine Air Station.  That makes it nice to visit, but not nice for napping.

What now?  Well, there are more opportunities for family contacts this month.  Well, we'll learn more about the New Bern area, which seems very nice.  In addition, I have engine maintenance projects, and interior varnish, and repainting the interior of the dinghy, projects to do.  (This rare hiatus with a whole month at the dock, provides the ideal situation to work on the dinghy.)

Anybody who thinks that cruising is nothing other than enjoyment and fun, think again.   The list of maintenance projects is never ending.   After all, we use the few things we have intensely, so it should be expected that we wear them out fast.   Long before cruising, I recall telling friends, "If you don't enjoy working on the boat, you have the wrong hobby."   That's very true.  Fortunately, we don't mind doing our maintenance work at all.