Getting Close to Getting Underway

     Here we sit, still waiting for my alternator. It was supposed to be done today but now they say maybe tomorrow. We can't even get very good TV reception here in this little town of Oriental, NC it's really out in the sticks I guess. We have at least had time to finish up a few odds and ends on the boat. I thought about my VHF radio being only a few months old so I called West Marine where I bought it and they said bring it in and they would exchange it. So, I got a new radio and have it all installed. I also removed my fuel transfer pump because it wasn't working and have another one on order which should be here tomorrow. So, I should be able to get that fixed before we leave. Then, if my alternator does in fact arrive tomorrow we just might be underway by Wednesday. That would of course depend on the weather. It's supposed to be Cold and rough for the next few days so we may just have to sit out the weather before we can get underway. Anyway, we are getting close to getting underway. It's going on two weeks and I'm really ready to go!

Repairs in Oriental, NC

     We've been here at Sailcraft Services in Oriental, NC since Friday, getting some things fixed. We got here late Friday, so the yard didn't get anything done before the weekend. On Monday the electrician came aboard and after doing some trouble shooting, determined my problems stemmed from a failed regulator on the port alternator. He removed it and sent it to the repair shop. I had my new anchor spliced onto the anchor rode I had left so that's taken care of. I also had a tech fix the water leak in my new generator. Hopefully now I won't get my bilges filled with water anymore. This is Tuesday, and we are still waiting for my alternator, and I'm also having some problems with my new VHF radio. The speaker keeps cutting out so they tell me there must be a loose connection inside the radio. That will have to be removed and sent to the repair shop as well. I sure hope we can get underway before the end of the week, as it's supposed to really turn cold here. Lows in the 20's by next weekend. The yard said they couldn't find anyone locally that would be able to fix my leaking steering system so I will have to wait until we get farther south to a larger city or something to try to get that repaired. The hoses I had made in Frostproof are leaking at the cylinder and the swivel fittings on the ends of the hoses have to be replaced.

Underway Once Again

     Our stay at the Wormley Creek Marina in Yorktown, VA was great. We got to see all our kids and almost all our grandkids. We got underway on the 31st of October and headed south. It really turned cold by Saturday evening when  we arrived at out anchorage in the north river just south of Coinjock, NC. The winds were really kicking up and we were swinging hard on the anchor. We were getting gusts to around 50 knots and the anchor was holding when as a result of the bow swinging back and forth, we parted our anchor rode and started to drift around 5:00 in the morning. We headed back north to Coinjock and tied up at the Midway Marina there. We stayed there until Tuesday morning waiting for the seas to calm down before attempting to cross Albemarle Sound. The crossing was a little rough, but not bad at all. We lost the AC from  our inverter about a fourth of the way across and I had to start our generator to finished our run to Alligator Creek Marina. I got someone to trouble shoot the problem and he couldn't figure it out so we are waiting here until he gets in touch with the manufacturer to see if there is anything he can do to fix the problem. I'm probably going to have to replace the inverter and that isn't going to be an inexpensive fix. I have a marine service yard in Oriental, NC standing by to splice a new anchor onto what's left of my line so I had to call them and tell them we wouldn't be arriving when I had anticipated we would. Now it's just a waiting game until we can get underway again. Otherwise, we are having a great time and are looking forward to our arrival in the nice warm waters of Florida.