News from Ben and Krystl

Ben, Krystl and Amber are in Carriacou. They say it's very laid back and friendly there. They went as far south as Grenada and are now headed back up. They converted their dinghy into a sailing dinghy and are headed to Sandy Island. Wish we were there guys!

We miss you!

They sent a couple photo's.....check it out.

Saw This On Ellen This Morning....

Unbelievable video of Dolphins .... check it out....


http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1041454/dolphin_play_bubble_rings

Found This Today.... Thought We'd Share It

On the water everything is clear. It is a gift for the soul; a clarity born of sea and salt air that touches the small inner voice within us that has been too long silenced by the chaos of life. It is a gift that heals; that gives us power to rid ourselves of confusion, worry, guilt, and regret; that gives us faith in ourselves and our dreams. But if we refuse to heed the gift of clarity, if we deny the inner voice that tells us who we are, then we will wither and die before our time. For when we kill the dream within us, we kill ourselves.

We may be breathing, and the blood may be flowing through our veins, but it is not living. It is merely busy-ness disguised as living – from children who are shuttled from one organized activity to another without a single moment simply to be themselves, to play, or to let their imaginations run free, to adults who scurry from store to store, buying whatever their money or credit will allow in the false hope that material acquisitions will somehow deaden their pain. The pain may go away for a while, but it always returns. For nothing can satisfy a dream unfulfilled, a life unlived.

On the water everything is clear. It gives us power to climb the wind and soar.

You want to be happy? Then find the wind, find where it’s coming from and where it’s going. For it is only when your boat has a bellyful of wind in her sails and her hull is ripping through the sea, and the salt spray is stinging your face, that you will know you’re alive. You will know who you are and where you’re going. You will know your dream.

Valerie Wilcox

Hunker'd Down

Hey folks. We've been hunkered down in the cold....sometimes getting down in the 30's at night. Espar heater has been keeping the boat at a toasty 70 degrees. Peter and Gale are still in Green Turtle, not sure where Ben and Krystl are right now, big John is back from the Bahamas, coming to check on his boat this week, and has anyone heard from Andrew and Sharon or Aussie Jim?
Bob and Molly have been having a good time on the trail. We were worried that they'd be freezing to death, but they sent an email and said they're having fun. We recently upgraded our batteries to AGM's (absorbant glass mat) and have almost tripled our amp hours. We've got plans to remove and rebed all the portlights on the boat, refurb the binnacle, and we've purchased a new boom vang because our old one had seen it's better days.
Also on the list a leaking drain tube in the anchor locker, servicing the Espar, and all the cushions on the entire boat are pretty much shot, especially now that we're living aboard.
Anyway, all is well in Oriental land....

We miss all of you!

Sidewalk Sailboats

This man is amazing. 3D sidewalk art done with chalk. So real! Check out more of his work at this website. http://www.saturn9.ws/gallery/v/andy/sidewalk/

Up and Down The Creek

Strange weather lately. Lots of rain. Lots of cold, but still beautiful.

Rainy Day Aquarium

Saturday was a little gloomy and rainy, so why not go to the aquarium. This is a video slideshow of some of the pictures we took....

Someone took a goat (or sheep) with them on the ferry.

Here's the video...

Warm Days In January

Sunshine and close to 70 degrees. Doesn't seem like January.

Found this picture, thought it was cool.

I can remember coming here on weekends, before we had the boat. I remember going down to the dinghy dock downtown, and watching the boats in the anchorage, and thinking to myself, man, I'd love to be sitting in one of those boats right now.

Wouldn't have it any other way.

Went for a bike ride today around town, took some pictures. The boys had fun while Budge was at work.... it was a day out for the guys!

Jellyfish In The River

One of the many jellyfish we've found pulsing in the water. This one was hanging out around the dock looking like it has recently digested a fish. Yummy. These guys are not something you want to run into, in the water.
Cold, cold, cold. Record lows for us. New Bern was in the teens last night. Supposed to warm up next week, with warm weather starting Sunday.

Happy New Year!

Well, not sure what the problem was but we got an error message from Blogger saying that that they were trying to fix the problem, so maybe it's fixed.

We spent the New Year with Larry (pronounce Laawey) and Sam on their new boat, and had a great time. Their every diligent super programmed eager unmanaged "wrinkles gone wild" guard everybody with her viscious yawn (if she's mad at you she yawns you before she bites you) (I know Sam, she doesn't bite) (Hope those puncture wounds on your arms are getting better Larry) guard dog Daisy was doing her job as usual.

We had a good time!

Now the cold is here, and our Espar heater has somehow broken down, so we're dependant on our backup electric heaters, until we find a fix for it. Brrr.

Technical Difficulties

For some reason we have had a very weak signal lately, and have not been able to post any photo's at all on the blog. As soon as we figure out the problem, we'll get everything back on track... Sorry for the inconvenience.

Working Boats On The Way Home

A few more boats we passed on the way back. We had a great time. Picked up the boys in Kinston, and here we are. Another place to check off our list of places we've been in the boat. Swansboro's a quaint little town that's beautiful by water. We enjoyed the whole trip, and we both missed the boys quite a bit, and were happy to see them.

If you haven't seen the video of the dolphins, check it out on the next page...... that was the highlight of the trip.

The Foggy Journey Home

Well, the only thing left is to head back home..... In the fog and rain. At some points we were navigating completely off GPS and depth sounder without being able to see any markers to tell whether we were inside or outside the channel.

There was a very thick patch of fog that blew through, and it became difficult to tell the sky from the water, the water was so flat and reflecting the sky. Even though it was wet, it was beautiful. While waiting for the Beaufort drawbridge to open, we met a couple from Illinois that were traveling from Florida back north. Once we passed through the bridge, more dolphins swimming right next to the boat, within 10 feet. That's the last dolphins we saw on the trip all the way home.