Time To Move

SHIP'S LOG:

I have spent a wonderful four days here in Wrightsville Beach and if NOAA had been anywhere near accurate, it would have been less. Indeed, I would have left this morning but I believed them and once again they were wrong! The promised winds showed up . . .sort of . . . .but the rain never came. I spent the day waiting but nothing!

In any event, I had a chance to spend some time with Vin & Anne. It was good to see them again and even though Anne never got a chance to cook me one of those "home cooked meals," the time was well spent and the visit wonderful.

I had a chance to do some maintenance on ABISHAG - oil change, filters, shroud tensioning, a little rewiring, replacing the raw water pump strut - nothing major ,, just enough to keep me busy and to make me feel that everything is good with her. ABISHAG has performed exceptionally well with far fewer problems and breakdowns than I had expected. I still get a lot of comments about how nice the boat is, design-wise, though it is tough for me to really appreciate it as I rarely see her from other than onboard. Still, I am comfortable with how things have been going and really have no complaints, though the list of projects to be done continues to grow. It never really ends so I don't worry too much about it. . . . as long as the water stay on the outside!

Ashore today I ran into two couples, one from Maine and one from Vermont, who are anchored nearby by and who are headed north like I am. I will be leaving tomorrow and if they are as well, we will probably travel in company at least for the day, perhaps longer.

If the weather, tide, gunnery practice and time allows, I will sweep past Camp Le Junne(?) and go straight to Swainsboro. I was unable to go ashore the last visit as the dinghy was holed and I was trapped aboard. It is supposed to be a rather interesting little village and I would like to take a look around. I may actually get caught there a day or so as the weather is supposed to go bad but then that is NOAA's prediction so you can take that for what it is worth.

I think tat the reason this return is going so fast is that the days are longer. When I was on the way down, I was usually underway by 9 and had to stop by 4pm. Now that i get up automatically at 6AM and sundown is almost 8PM, the 20-30 miles I used to do have become 40-50. So even with a couple of days spent here and there that I didn't spend on the way down, the mileage is eaten up faster. I would expect, without making the commitment, that I should be on the mooring at TYC by Memorial Day. I try not to think about it too much and try to just enjoy the day as each one happens. It almost seems like this has been going on forever and the idea that it is coming to an end seems rather far fetched. Who knows, maybe I'll get back and tun around and start back down the ICW. Maybe I'll become "a Looper!" Heck, all I know is that it is Wednesday and actually a little chilly and I am in Wrightsville Beach,NC, and that tomorrow I hope to make it to Swainsboro. And that is as long as that dance goes!