The Beaufort anchorage in daylight

and the same at night

Beaufort waterfront daytime

and nighttime

and a couple cheeses...

We picked up a mooring buoy and hung out in Beaufort for two days, relaxing, and enjoying the weather. We took a shower for the first time ever in the boat, (all I can say is, "man that was cold") and ate some great food (because my wife rocks on the stove.)

We saw the wild horses on Carrot Island (part of the Shackelford horses that swam ashore from sinking ships many years ago)behind the anchorage, and in the morning a gull came to visit us on our dinghy.

You can learn more about the wild Shackelford horses at http://www.shacklefordhorses.org/

Day Two For More Dolphins

We headed out to Beaufort from Swansboro the next morning after Bridget made us a delicious breakfast. It was 70 degrees and beautiful the whole way. We saw some large ships in the Turnaround Basin back in Morehead on the way over, and when we arrived there were dolphins everywhere. We decided to row the dinghy out to see if they would stick around, and sure enough, they were swimming back and forth under the dinghy, and popping up right next to us. How cool! One of the dolphins had a deformed fin (in the picture behind me)

All This In One Day

There was a boat tied up with Christmas lights and a tree on an island across from where we dropped anchor in Swansboro. It was really pretty, sorry the shots so blurry, best we could do. Sunset as we round the last daymarker into Swansboro.

Foxy Lady.... with a little rust.

All of this, from Sunrise in Oriental to Sunset in Swansboro on our first day of the trip. Beautiful day too.

Bridges, Bridges and More Bridges

This is the Bridge to Emerald Isle, not far from where I used to live in Cape Carteret

This is the railroad bridge right after the big bridge going into Morehead City Turnaround Basin
This is Morehead City Turnaround Basin Bridge

This is the bridge on Adams Creek Canal

Pictures From The Trip

This is us leaving our marina Thursday morning, catching a beautiful sunrise on the water. We had just rounded the first daymarkers and were headed out, what a great start to a great first day of our trip. Captain Cecil, from Oriental, in Adams Creek giving us a portside pass.

Old ugly working boat along the canal.
The tugboats in Morehead City Turnaround Basin. Notice the Jeep in between the boats to get an idea how big they are. (Mom, remember these?)

Weather And A Change In Plans

Well, Santa has arrived. The boys are loaded down with a ton of stuff that they wanted, and they are happy. We decided to change our plans because the weather was not cooperating. We left on Thursday, (Wednesday was rainy, cold and windy all day long.) Thursday was beautiful, so we decided to head to another place we've never been by boat.... Swansboro. On the way down we were motoring the entire way into the wind, but not far into Adams Creek Canal, we found two very playful dolphins coming closer to the boat. Within seconds we could hear their blow holes off the bow, so we grabbed our camera (we got a digital camera for Christmas) and this video is what we got in between absolutely flipping out because the dolphins were right below us as we stood on the bow and watched. Occasionally they would swim sideways with their eyes looking right at us, and they swam with the boat for at least five minutes. Getting shots when your watching something amazing like that is not particularly easy.


This is the video, check it out.

Sailing Friends Up North

We got a package in the mail recently with a load of stuff from up north. Mom has mentioned several times about a friend named Emory that has been an encouragement to us for a while now. He used to own a Catalina himself, and even sent us a manual with parts listings and info that has been helpful. Our package had a Captain's Cover (hat) that was a delight to recieve from Emory, he used to wear it, and passed it on to us...so.... Peter.... I now officially look very Captainy!

Emory, I just wanted to say "thank you, mate" that was very thoughtful. We wish you fair winds my friend.

I also went to see my best friend Leon and his family in Winston today, who I haven't seen in a while. I left him my music equipment (guitars, amps, mandolin, etc) which he took care of until we could get back up to bring it down to Garner. We had a chance to catch up a little bit and it was nice to hear what he's doing with his music nowadays. I miss you Leon! Merry Christmas y'all!

Here's another one of the boys.

Christmas In Oriental

Here's some of the boys in the parade in Oriental....

Bob's New Employment Opportunity

We had a Christmas parade in downtown Oriental, the boys got to carry a banner. Little did we know, Bob and Santa had worked out a deal where Bob would help the elves out and direct traffic for the parade so that Santa wouldn't get lost or caught up in traffic during the parade. This is his first year working for the big guy, but he did such a good job, and I gotta admit that he looked the part like any good company man should, so everything should go without a hitch next year.

"The benefits alone are unbelieveable... snow front property up north after retirement, (way North) shares in several toy companies, and his own personally assigned elf to do errands for him and Molly, along with a company reindeer as part of the pension program.

Here's a picture of Bob working for Santa....

Web Access In Garner

Well, we brought along the laptop just to see if we could get a signal in Garner, and sure enough we do. We took some pictures of the boys a while back in front of an old plywood river boat that has seen it's better day, and they turned out really nice...so that's one of the pics. Mom, I'm sure you remember where this is. I also have another pic that I want to post. I woke up one morning, had my coffee and got ready to go to work, and when I stepped out of the companionway hatch, this sunrise is what I saw. I immediately grabbed the camera and snapped the pic right off the back of the boat. I've always thought the view was beautiful down the river, but that just took it to a whole new level. Anyway, we'll post more later.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

The boys have wrapped up all their Christmas presents, they did it themselves, and the gifts resemble wadded up balls of wrapping paper with stuff inside.... they actually did well. Max and Noah are getting very excited. Tomorrow morning we head to Garner and we'll be back on Christmas evening leaving the kids at Grandma and Papa's for a whole week!!! A whole week... did I mention we have a whole week without the kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday, and we'll post when we get back, and try to get some stuff out on our 6 day sailing trip in the cold. Those of you up North, please stay warm, Mom, Bro, and Unk, we miss you tons, and we'll try to call. Our island friends, and Bob and Molly, wish we were there, and Merry Christmas. Those of you here in Oriental, thanks for everything, Ann and Doug, Jimmy, Mary Ann and Walt, Big John (the boys really like their pocket knives, and we've been through quite a bit of safety with them, they're taking them to Grandma and Papa's house to show them) Dan, Mary Jane and Mike, Larry and Sam, Neal and Elizabeth, and all the people at Sailcraft on the yard. We wish you all a Merry Christmas.

Here's some holiday pictures till we get back....

Weathering The Storm

We've been caught in 30 knot winds before, but it wasn't like this. I had to post this video.... sheesh!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXuzy0k9mZQ&feature=related

I Saw Three Ships

An English Carol from
the Victorian Era...

I saw three ships come sailing in On Christmas day, on Christmas day

I saw three ships come sailing in On Christmas day in the morning.

And what was in those ships all three? On Christmas day, on Christmas day

And what was in those ships all three? On Christmas day in the morning.

Our Saviour, Christ, and His Lady, On Christmas day, on Christmas day

Our Saviour, Christ, and His Lady, On Christmas day in the morning.

Pray, whither sailed those ships all three? On Christmas day, on Christmas day

Pray, whither sailed those ships all three? On Christmas day in the morning.

O, they sailed to Bethlehem, On Christmas day, on Christmas day

O, they sailed to Bethlehem, On Christmas day in the morning.

And all the bells on earth shall ring, On Christmas day, on Christmas day

And all the bells on earth shall ring, On Christmas day in the morning.

And all the angels in heaven shall sing, On Christmas day, on Christmas day

And all the angels in heaven shall sing, On Christmas day in the morning.

And all the souls on earth shall sing, On Christmas day, on Christmas day

And all the souls on earth shall sing, On Christmas day in the morning.

Then let us all rejoice and sing, On Christmas day, on Christmas day

Then let us all rejoice and sing, On Christmas day in the morning.

A New Catalina In The Fleet

Well, our friends Larry and Sam have just purchased a Catalina 32. It's a beautiful boat, and they are really excited. Sam came down to do a little cleaning, and switch some of their stuff from their old boat, Mistral, over to the new one. The new boats name is Dragonfly. Very spacious cockpit, and the way Catalina takes advantage of the space down below is amazing, they really make the boat look alot bigger than it is. It's got the feel of a 36 inside, and the cockpit is actually bigger than ours, or at least it seems that way....how do they do that? Anyway, Larry is on his way down tomorrow to do some more work on board. I've attached two photo's of the Catalina 32.
I have spent quite a bit of time setting up all the waypoints on our GPS for the trip after Christmas. Over 200 points through channels, and open water avoiding about a dozen shipwrecks, and navigation through shoals and shallow water to get up to Bath, Belhaven, and Washington. Once the waypoints are in, all you do is follow the arrow, and look for day markers. However, last time we went to Ocracoke, I failed to mention that our GPS lost signal, and for about 3 hours we had to "dead reckon" everything by pulling out the paper charts and sailing from one day marker to another, to get the numbers and reference where in the world we were. It's a bit of a strange feeling when you're out so far that you can hardly see land, and suddenly you don't know exactly where you are. I think it's the challenge of shooting coordinated compass bearings and plotting them on the chart that makes it really fun! You really feel like a sailor then.
We are going to Raleigh (Garner) and will have Christmas there, with Bridget's mom and dad

because it's really difficult to explain how Santa shows up on a boat, not to mention the space is limited anyway. We love getting the Christmas cards from everyone, and I have to mention to Jen and John that Kaitlyn and Kiley are absolutely beautiful little girls! They are so cute. We went to Walmart to get some more pictures developed on Saturday but the machine was broken, so we wont be able to pick them up until Tuesday or Wednesday. If anyone has any suggestions on what we can do to make the blog more interesting, please let us know. My direct email address is sailingmorgans@yahoo.com.
The weather has been in the 70's but a front with 50 knot gusts is blowing in from the north, and the temperature is going to drop. Wind chill in the 20's....brrrrrrr. I hope it warms up for the trip. We'll see.

Kidless Voyage

Well, we're excited. We've got almost 7 days without the kids starting the day after Christmas, and we are planning a trip in the boat that will take us to three places we've never been before with the boat. We'll leave out of Oriental on Wednesday morning (weather permitting) and head to Bath, NC, http://www.bathharbor.com/Approximately a 10 hour sail from Oriental. Bath has a beautiful calm and quiet anchorage and a very quiet town. The pirate Blackbeard (Edward Teach) lived in Bath (among other places around) and used the town as a refuge when he wasn't doing pirate things. It is rumored that Blackbeard and the Govenor of Bath (Charles Eden) were trading goods for Blackbeard to use the town of Bath as a refuge. http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/maritime/Blackbeard/default.htm
From there we'll head to a beautiful waterfront town called Washington. http://www.elocallink.tv/vp2/vp3_show.php?switchMovie=washdownt&cid=429 Then on to Belhaven, and from there to Ocracoke.
We're factoring in two days for bad weather, and each day will consist of 4 to 10 hours of sailing. It'll be the coldest trip we've been on, but we're still very excited about it. Here is a link to information regarding each of our stops. http://www.capelookoutyachts.com/charters/pamlico.html

Bob and Molly

Yet another set of friends on their way out. Bob and Molly are heading west to hike the Arizona trail. IT'S 800 miles long! These two are completely restoring a Hinckley Sou'wester 34 and have built a wooden dinghy to boot, which looks beautiful in itself. Bob showed up one day at a potluck dinner with a banjo, (he's alot of fun, with a great library of funny songs under his belt) and since then we've been getting together here and there for some pickin'. Bob and Molly were professional trail guides from the Grand Canyon, and this hike is not for the average ground pounder.

Good news is that they'll be back once they finish, in several months. I've attached an old Hinckley add, and a map of the trail they'll be hiking. We really look forward to seeing them again soon.

You can find out more about the Arizon Trail by clicking here... http://www.aztrail.org/at_about.html

Wondering What The Inside Looks Like?

Well, went and got some more pics developed. These are of the inside of the boat. The Catalina has a 12 foot beam (which means it's 12 foot wide) and it has a 5 and 1/2 foot draft (which means it has that much boat under the waterline, mostly keel but alot of cabin too) so most of the time that we spend down in the cabin is technically spent below water. The first one is from the center of the boat looking back towards the companionway entrance. The second one is looking from the companionway forward on the port side (left side) in the salon. The third is the starboard side (right side) and you can see the V-berth at the bow of the boat. The last one is of the boys room or aft berth, their bed is tucked away on the right side of the picture. Anyway, gives everyone an idea what we're living in.

We have pressurized water, hot and cold, gas stove and oven, we have a toilet(head) shower and electric for everything from microwave to fancy coffee maker by Keurig to a flat-screen tv and playstation for the boys, which they rarely use. When we finally do leave and head south, all that stuff will be taken off the boat, because we won't be using shore power a whole lot, we'll be anchoring most of the time. We even have our own little Christmas tree!

Peter and Gale arrive in Green Turtle, Bahamas

Well, we got word that Peter and Gale had some problems getting to their destination. Their transmission failed enroute, and according to the "word on the street" they had to sail into port without use of the motor. They are in Green Turtle, and we've located the yard where we think they are having repairs done. I have attached an aerial view of the island to give everyone an idea where they are. You can click the photo, (as well as any other photo on this blog) to get a bigger picture. Notice the beautiful water around the island, lots of coral, and evidently it's a great dive spot. At least they are there and safe now, so hopefully everything will be ok.

Max and Noah are carrying a banner in the Christmas parade today, and the entire village of Oriental has something going on just about everywhere. We're behind on getting pictures developed, (God we need a digital camera) but as soon as we get them going we'll post them.

Today it's 70 degrees, so we did a big cleanup on the boat this morning, and it looks alot better. Gonna be a nice day.

English Women

Max and Noah have certainly missed Amber. This is sort of a strange lifestyle, because alot of the people that you meet and get to know, eventually leave. They met Amber a few years ago, (actually Max did) during a birthday party for Krystl under the gazebo. Max tried to show her some of his fishing "moves", and she really wasn't all that impressed. Since then, they've become very good friends, and the boys sure do miss her. The boys are doing great in school, and seem to really enjoy it this year. Max told me he likes school better down here, because they have two recesses down here. Not long ago, Noah caught a "Drum" that was big enough to eat, and of course, he was happy to eat every bit of it. A few days later they pulled up the crab pot and found another Drum, which they also ate. We're getting pretty good at cleaning fish.

We've been able to harvest some oysters on occasion, which makes a great meal that the boys absolutely love. Max and Noah had their first sleep over, with "Luke", around 10 years old, that stays in a condo right here at the docks on the weekends that they come down. He's a great kid, and he really enjoys the boys. His mom and dad are great too. Max is possibly staying with one of his school friends Friday night, (Blake) who's father teaches sailing at the Oriental Sailing School.

Attached is a picture of the boys with Amber.... having fun under the gazebo.

Landfall For Everyone

Well, after 11 days at sea and 1391 miles, Norn has landed in beautiful St. Maarten, Philipsburg. Here's a few photos of the harbor where they are roughly. Kristl said it was ranked up there as one of their best trips so far. Some leaky portlights, and 3 days with no wind having to motor, but by Sunday, it was blowing 20-25 and they were getting 6.5 to 7.5 knots! That's fast for their boat.

Good to hear they arrived safe, now they can really enjoy some new land. Wooooohooo!

You can see Sint Maarten, Philipsburg, on Google Earth.