We crashed early last night, and the waves were murmuring all night, causing a restless sleep. Funny, we’ve been on this boat for 5 months, and it’s the first time the waves really disturbed my sleep. It was rougher in Charleston on the outside of the dock, and certainly during the gale in Key West, but last night it sounded like people talking. I suspect it was simply the angle at which the ripples hit the boat. I finally asked Alexa to play a “Sleepytime” playlist, and we slept the last couple of hours listening to soft pop, rather than trying to interpret what the ripples were saying.

At any rate, we were up early – 4:50. It’s 6 o’clock now. We’ve eaten, walked, pooped, etc. There’s a crescent moon and a single planet to the left. There’s a faint glow starting to appear on the horizon. Not really pink or mauve. Not really orange. Kind of a peach color.

We’ll be off soon.

The prospect of reaching home is looming larger in my mind. I am thinking: “Just four more days. I hope nothing else goes wrong. Just four more days. I hope I don’t get sick. Or have a heart attack or anything. Just four more days. Don’t screw it up!”

We are safe and sound in Belhaven NC! I really feel like we are in the home stretch now…tonight and tomorrow, we are staying at marinas that we visited on the way south.

And we have just 4 travel days to go. Today is Easter Monday, so we’ll be in Rock Hall on Friday.

once we get to Rock Hall, I expect to hang around a day or so, just to get the boat cleaned up and to go over the service requirements with our Service Manager. We’ve got to make sure we’re ready for Maine this summer!

Well, this three-day weather delay turned out to be a lot better than I expected.

You may remember back on February 12, we posted a cute photo of Guinness with Annie and Martha, two women that Guinness met on the boardwalk in Key West.

Annie (who was a TWA flight attendant) lives near Beaufort, and we agreed to stop and visit her on our trip north.

Without making too long a story of it, Annie, Martha, and Carolyn (friends since high school), and their husbands, fiancé’s, etc, all live or vacation in Atlantic Beach, just 15 minutes south of Beaufort. So Guinness and I spent a lot of time at Atlantic Beach. Lots of fun; lots of beer, etc.

It was very windy and cold all three days, but Annie is a real beach lover, so we still managed to get in some beach time with Guinness. Check out that Carolina Blue sky.

Today (Easter Saturday) I’ve decided to stay one more day. I just don’t want to travel on Easter Sunday. I want to go to church. Then, on Monday, we’re back on the boat, preparing to resume our northbound trip. Just 5 more travel days remaining! We planned this whole delay so that we’ll have a smooth crossing of Albemarle Sound on Monday. I hope the weather holds after that…if it does, we should be back in Rock Hall Friday afternoon.

We had a very nice layover day yesterday. Our new friend Annie, whom Guinness met in Key West, stopped by with chicken salad and pimento cheese spread. Beautiful weather, so we drove down to the beach to let Guinness run and for the adults to enjoy a few cold beers at The Tackle Box. Then dinner at Aqua. Nice.

Guinness and I woke up today to a totally different day. Cold, completely overcast, rainy, and windy. The wind-blown waves are coming straight into the marina, and the boat is bouncing around despite extra lines and fenders. I am more uncomfortable sitting here writing this than I have been the entire trip. Feel like I could be seasick if the wind doesn’t shift direction and give us a break. Guinness seems pretty uncomfortable, too.

I think it’s time to put on my foul weather gear and go for a walk. Maybe go grocery shopping. Not a bad idea…The marina has a courtesy car, so I think we’ll run over to the PigglyWiggly.

Talk to y’all later.

I was going to leave for Belhaven tomorrow, and the day after that, cross Albemarle Sound to Coinjock, VA.

But I just decided to take a 3-day weather delay. More winds and waves coming in. So we’ll be here in Beaufort until Sunday.

Oh well, if we have to be stuck somewhere, there are worse places than Beaufort. Plus, there is very cold weather coming in Friday night. Low of 32 degrees. Yikes.

It’s warm and sunny and calm here today, but we have an appointment to have lunch with someone we met in Key West. We’ll keep that commitment and deal with the weather delay later.

Barring further delays, we now expect to be in Rock Hall on Thursday, April 8th.

Guinness and I both woke up in a very good mood today. We were rested; the forecast was promising; and we were looking forward to the next leg. Based on the forecast, we chose to take the outside route (in the North Atlantic) – from Wrightsville Beach Inlet to Beaufort Inlet.

The problem with going outside is that there are so few good inlets along this stretch of the East Coast. So that means that we are effectively committing to five hours in the ocean. Nevertheless, I’m putting my trust in the forecast. I am sick of the challenges of the ICW.

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We are now 2 hours into the trip, and it’s sloppier than forecast. The waves are supposed to die down as the day progresses, but it hasn’t happened yet, and we have three more hours to go. I am regretting my decision.

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This entire 3,000 mile trip has not been easy. The ICW can be narrow, and shallow, full of annoying boat traffic, and fraught with shoaling – areas where it is shallower than indicated.

In contrast, the outside route can be tough, as well. On Guinness, the boat, and me as well.

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OK, those three earlier sections were dictated live, while we were underway, and they give some insight into what my mood can be like when we are all alone on the ocean and it’s rougher than I expected.

In contrast, the last 1-1/2 hours of today’s trip were absolutely placid. The seas finally calmed as predicted, and we enjoyed the sights of beaches and flocks of seabirds.

After we feuled and docked, we had the usual routine of a hasty lunch, and making the boat and ourselves presentable. The boat was filty; the pollen south of here is epic.

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Tonight we had a lovely dinner with Lee and Mary Pucell. Lee is a Lafayette classmate, and it was very nice to re-connect. Here’s a really cute photo of Guinness doing some photo bombing.

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Now, it is 8PM, and we are listening to Joni Mitchell’s BLUE album…one of Rolling Stone’s 10 Best. “Oh, I am on a lonely road, and I am traveling, traveling, looking for something. What can it be?” Maybe friends are the answer.

As I write this, I am having a yummy glass of Apothec Dark, and Guiness and I are intermittently playing “Get the Possum”, in which I throw the possum (the world’s ugliest squeaky toy) down the dock, and he fetches it with much barking and drama.

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So I’d have to say that today is sort of a capsule view of the entire trip: some ups and some downs; some pressure and decompression; some anxiety and fun.

I just thought I would post a comment about how much fun it is to start the day with a delicious hearty breakfast. Guinness and I are at the Gulfstream restaurant. Watching the sun come up over the ocean.

Enjoying poached eggs over corn beef hash, grits, bacon, OJ, coffee, and water. Plus rye toast. Yummy! Ready to tackle the day!

AND the waitress just brought Guinness his own strip of bacon!

Life is good.

We are still at Jane’s house, enjoying our weather delay. Yesterday, we went down to the beach several times to let Guinness exercise. It was blowing so hard that the wind-blown sand actually stung your legs.
This morning, Monday, it’s cold-just 55°. I haven’t been this cold since I left Jacksonville in March.
Today, we will just straighten up the mess we made of Jane’s place, enjoy the brisk weather, Uber back to the boat, and plan to depart tomorrow morning for Beaufort NC. (That’s Bow-fort y’all)

Today was a long day – almost eight straight hours. The ocean was much too rough so we took the ICW all the way, and there were several spots where the water was very skinny, but we made it to Wrightsville Beach. The bad news is the next two days are going to be blowing really hard and we are going to stay here an extra two days.
The good news is that my sister Jane has a house nearby in Carolina Beach. So tonight I am sitting on her deck looking at the moon reflecting on the ocean. In the picture above, you can see the moon at the top, partially obscured by the clouds. In the middle of the frame is the reflection on the ocean, and below it are the dune grasses.

You may remember that I holed up here in March when I had the flu. So lucky that these incidents always happen in Carolina Beach

I had to juggle my schedule but that turned out well: I am still going to get to see my friends in Beaufort. So once again, all is well. I’ll keep this brief because I forgot to bring my laptop to Jane’s house and I’m dictating this into my phone

Exhaustion. That’s the only way to describe my state when I got to Jane’s house last night. She lives in a section of Carolina Beach called Pleasure Island. Facing east. Right on the dunes.

As I alluded to in my last post, we tried to go outside yesterday but it was very rough, so we wasted about half an hour going out the Little River Inlet, and then turning around and coming back to the ICW. Our trip north coincided with low tide, and we touched bottom at least twice. So all in all it was kind of an anxiety laden trip

When we finally got to Wrightsville Beach, we refueled; did a load of wash; washed the boat (it was filthy from the gravel lot at our last dumpy marina) checked the weather; decided to stay in Wrightsville Beach for two extra days; flashed on the idea of staying at Jane’s place; scheduled an Uber; and grabbed a fast hamburger at Poe’s Tavern. It was the first real meal I had had all day.

Arguably the best burger and fries ever!

Then I threw some gear together, met the Uber, and made it to Jane’s place; took Guinness for a walk on the beach; and CRASHED!

So this morning, I am thinking that this two day delay may have been something I really needed. Today, I just hope to enjoy the beach with Guinness. It is cool, humid, and overcast. So not breathtakingly beautiful. But good enough!