The Morgan's Sailing Adventure

An Invitation To You!

2011-06-26T13:25:00.000-04:00

We'd like to invite you to check out our new blog, if you've already been through this one......

The Morgan's Northern Exposure

.... we'll be posting there from now on.....

North Country

2011-06-17T20:35:00.000-04:00

We had a pleasant and safe trip up to Ohio, all is well....very busy catching up..... wanted to say thanks again to everyone down on the coast for the fellowship!

A Note About The Adventure

2011-06-08T09:51:00.000-04:00

In the winter of 2005 we decided to buy a sailboat. That was six years ago. We've lived on the boat for nearly 5 years. In those six years we've (our entire family) had what we could loosely compare to a college education in sailing and all that it entails. Navigation, Sail trim, boat repair, seamanship, docking techniques, anchoring techniques, Coast Guard regulations, yacht restoration, canvas repair and fabrication, marlinspike, and weather are just a few of the many areas that we've been faced with on a regular basis throughout our time here on the water. We feel as though our experience in sailing as a whole has grown tremendously since the first time we nervously backed the boat out of it's slip. Of course, we've still much to learn.

We cannot adequately express our gratitude to all of those individuals that have been kind enough to spend time with us along the way. We've been given countless hours of advice, and had many a round table discussion and fellowship with some well traveled salty sailors, and have learned with many of them as the years have passed. They are in essence what has made this experience for us so enjoyable. Those individuals have helped guide our children through building their own sailing dinghy, gone fishing with them, led us through unknown waters, and unfamiliar channels, and enjoyed many an incredible sunset out on this salty water. They have encouraged us when we were feeling overwhelmed, or lost. They have showed us that even a family with not much more than each other, can follow a dream and succeed in acheiving that dream. They have enriched our lives, and they are our friends.

With all that being said, our journey on the boat is coming to a close. We will soon be packing our belongings into a truck and heading north to Ohio, to regroup and start new adventures in life. Ohio grandmother has been patiently awaiting some much needed time with her grandkids, and we are excited about the idea of getting back into a house, and firm ground under our feet. We're excited about gardening, and look forward to spending time up on the lake (Lake Erie) and have already geared up quite a bit for camping, and spending time with our friends up North.

On our sailing journey we've tried to make a good effort to take as many pictures as we could along the way. Our blog is mostly pictures, and we've tried not to bother writing too much, in hopes to keep it simple and interesting, sharing things we've seen with anyone whose interested. If you haven't already, feel free to browse our blog, and hopefully you'll get to experience a small portion of the places we've been on our adventures on the water.

We have said it before, and will say it again..... this is not about a boat..... this is not about sailing....
This is not about pictures or the beautiful water. This has been an experience that has brought our family out of a life of corporate mahem, traffic, cell phones, distractions, and has brought us closer to each other. We hope to share it with you!

Neighbors

2011-05-31T20:23:00.000-04:00

Our neighbor off our starboard bow....

took this this evening as the sun was going down....

2011-05-15T07:47:00.000-04:00

2011-05-10T07:08:00.000-04:00

A shot from inside the walls of Fort Macon
a few years ago

2011-05-03T21:27:00.000-04:00

Our boat earlier last month before all the traffic came in!

I

2011-05-01T19:36:00.000-04:00

I like the way Bridget sees photos

this is a shot she caught one recent evening

After The Storm

2011-04-30T20:01:00.000-04:00

We had 40 knot winds and a nasty lightning storm

come through two nights ago

This was filmed after it passed

2011-04-24T17:03:00.000-04:00

sailing to Ocracoke.... another picture from the past....

2011-04-23T08:15:00.000-04:00

Another shot from Budge!

2011-04-21T22:18:00.000-04:00

Took this last week, it was a full rainbow

and much brighter than it appears in the picture.

2011-04-17T19:59:00.001-04:00

The Ghost

2011-04-16T07:11:00.001-04:00

Taken at Indian Beach

many moons ago

2011-04-14T20:11:00.000-04:00

Last of the bridge sunsets....

we have a killer view

and it's been a beautiful day!

Another Sunset

2011-04-13T06:30:00.001-04:00

Bridge Sunset

2011-04-05T20:05:00.001-04:00

Not my favorite picture in the world, but I posted it anyway today's shot

Gale Last Night

2011-04-05T10:02:00.000-04:00

Nearing 50 knots of wind last night, steady throughout the entire evening. Had to adjust the anchor rode to keep the chafe down. Lots of noise, hard to sleep. Looks like the worst of it is over now. The chop wasn't all that bad in here, but Victoria's boat was towed from further outside of the jetty, and Towboat struggled to get her nestled in over at the marina here at the anchorage. Water is down at least three feet (probably more). We set a proximity alarm on the GPS last night just to try to get some sleep.... got about 4 hours of sleep, spent the rest of the night keeping an eye on things. What A Blow!

Today's Catch

2011-04-03T07:43:00.000-04:00

Posted this before, but it started acting up (picture wouldn't show) so we're reposting it...

Dots and Dashes

2011-03-31T19:18:00.000-04:00

Can you guess what this is?

Bridget took this one of the navigational lights on the main bridge
it's actually red, green, red but the light on the right
ended up looking a bit gold in the reflection

4 Weeks

2011-03-27T07:58:00.000-04:00

After today we will have been on the hook for 1 month. The majority of this past month has been spent with pretty windy conditions, last night got up to 22 knots. We've only had to jug water once, utilizing the rain every chance we get (filled up last night, again), and looks like it's gonna be raining pretty much all of next week. So, overall, it's been much easier than we had expected.... spoke to my mom last night on the phone and she said that it was in the 20's in Ohio......Brrrrrrrrrr!!!!!! We're thankful that it's warming up a bit down here.

Bridget picked up two 5 gallon buckets, 3 bags of dirt, and a couple of tomato cages, and she's going to grow two tomato plants from the transom!!!! "There's only two things that money can't buy, and that's true love and home grown tomatoes"! (Good song)

2011-03-26T17:54:00.000-04:00

Max Sings Opera

2011-03-23T08:14:00.003-04:00

All I can say is..... GET READY!

Makin' the family proud!

A Chance At Play

2011-03-21T20:33:00.001-04:00

See if you can spot what's going on here.....

saw these guys in the afternoon, much more difficult to see

in the video, but we had to share it!

(4) otters playing on the sand

Morning Coffee

2011-03-19T07:27:00.000-04:00

Unique Boat & Supermoon

2011-03-18T19:58:00.001-04:00

This guy floated by this afternoon, in a unique boat hailing from PA, check out all those solar panels....

and if you haven't seen the moon, go outside and look up, suposed to be the closest to the earth it's been in (forever) tomorrow night! It's gonna be a blankets out in the cockpit night for us, enjoying this break in the cold weather!

Many Thanks

2011-03-17T19:13:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to say thanks to Joe, Cherie, and Larry, for coming out to the Silos last night, and being really supportive.... that was cool! Thanks y'all!

Peter and Gail Leave For Cuba

2011-03-16T07:00:00.001-04:00

Got a call from Peter yesterday afternoon....
they were several miles off the coast and headed to Cuba
they should be there later today. This is a shot from a few years back,
Gail and the boys having fun!
You can check out their blog @ jabiru5.blogspot.com

Japan

2011-03-14T19:26:00.000-04:00

We don't even have a TV and we're consumed by the horendous images of this catstrophy. We feel heartbroken, and are very taken back by the unbelieveable suffering that is happening in this country. We pray for them.... and our thoughts are with them now!

Lets Make The Most Of This Beautiful Day

2011-03-14T07:57:00.000-04:00

A steel hulled boat, at anchor right behind us.... stepped out in the cockpit this morning to a beautiful sunrise and thought I'd take a picture of our neighborhood.... am I sounding like Mr. Rogers?

2011-03-13T19:09:00.002-04:00

An old International work truck, parked outside of a sweet potato farm.....
rockin' the rust, another photo from a while back!

30 knot gusts

2011-03-10T15:11:00.002-05:00

Movie, originally uploaded by sailingmorgans.

A view from the inside....today's been blowing 30 knots pretty steady... just some footage around the boat from earlier when it was blowin' around 10

Good Morning from the Anchorage

2011-03-09T21:36:00.001-05:00

DSCN5122-1, originally uploaded by sailingmorgans.

Woke up this morning to a beautiful sunrise....looks like it's going to be a nice day!

The Rain Train

2011-03-08T07:09:00.000-05:00

So far we've been fortunate while at anchor..... we've been able to block our scuppers and completely fill our tanks with rainwater.... through the months of winter @ the dock, we've had to jug water to the boat with the help of (5) 5 gallon jugs , so we expected to have to do the same while at anchor..... however, a little bit of tape right before it rains on deck, and the tanks are topped off much quicker than we had ever expected, and no juggin'! This makes the boys very happy..... This is the longest we've ever been at anchor and things are going much better than we thought.... We have removed most of what we own from the boat and are cleaning (in spots that haven't been cleaned in a while.....yuck!)
The biggest issue is condensation through the cold evenings, and early mornings. We've had winds up to 40 knots, and the boat has done really well.... can't believe how much high wind has come through in the last week....sheesh! Looking forward to some warmer weather and a chance to open up the boat and dry it out! Another thing that we've found very useful through all of this..... The dinghy the boys built (with the help of Bob and Molly) has proven to be a real sturdy and versatile tool for hauling large amounts of stuff in one trip..... we can get all 4 of us and a weeks worth of groceries in the dinghy and to the boat with no problem.... as long as the wind isn't blowing 40 knots! I've recently started working for Laverty and Co. full time, and have had several boat projects come in that have booked us up for the next several weekends, so that's a real relief.... but we're still uncertain about whether or not we'll come out the other side of this winter with everything back in order.... time will tell). For now, we're doing it! We're thankful for a lot of support from our family and friends up north, who've been in touch with us regularly and have been very encouraging, and our boating friends as well.... we'll post more when more develops!

How Old Are You?

2011-03-04T20:19:00.004-05:00

Heading out of Oriental, there's this old farmhouse, long ago forgotten.... looking in the window on the bottom right, there's a lot of stuff, and a few antiques.... a bit strange....
How Old Are You?, originally uploaded by sailingmorgans.

Time To Reflect

2011-03-03T07:18:00.002-05:00

Time To Reflect, originally uploaded by sailingmorgans.

An attempt at art....

Breaking In The Anchors

2011-02-28T21:20:00.000-05:00

Threw out a second anchor and let out some extra scope..... Hunkered down for a gale.... everything went really well considering it was over 30 knots at times today....quite an undertaking getting to the boat today..... sounds like it's gonna get cold too..... this is going to bring some warmer weather behind it....I just know it!!!! BRING ON THAT SUNSHINE!!!!

The Marine Forecast In Detail:

Forecast Issued: 839 PM EST MON FEB 28 2011

GALE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM EST TUESDAY THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING

Overnight...Sw Winds 20 To 25 Kt...Becoming N 25 To 30 Kt Late. Waves 2 To 3 Ft. Showers With A Slight Chance Of Tstms Early This Evening...Then A Chance Of Showers.

Tue...N Winds 30 To 35 Kt With Gusts Up To 40 Kt... Becoming Ne 20 To 25 Kt In The Afternoon. Waves 3 To 4 Ft.

Anchorage Cam

2011-02-28T08:52:00.000-05:00

We decided to head to the anchorage yesterday, because it's supposed to blow up to 25 today (later on) and I figured it'd be easier to anchor without all that wind.....got a little fog this morning....sending this from in front of the Chapel at River Dunes....

you can see the nose of our boat sticking out amongst the 4 that are anchored to the left....

you can check out the live feed at towndock.net's anchorage cam...

Goin' To The Chapel

2011-02-25T08:40:00.001-05:00

DSCN5094-1, originally uploaded by sailingmorgans.

Spent part of my day yesterday working on the front stairs of this place..... thought I'd run back over this morning and take a picture of it.... The Chapel @ River Dunes

Wheels On Both

2011-02-22T05:18:00.001-05:00

Wheels On Both, originally uploaded by sailingmorgans.

I don't know what it is about old houses, or old cars, or abandoned things, but they always strike a curious feeling when I see them. This was no exception.... found on a backroad a few years ago.... I noticed recently that this car is no longer there....maybe someone has decided to try and restore it....

Fidelis (Faithful) Spinnaker

2011-02-20T06:39:00.002-05:00

Short video of our spinnaker out....

it's quite a circus to get this up and inflated

attach and run sheets,

rig pole, run uphaul and attach,

attach downhaul to pole

raise spinnaker

attach pole to sheet

raise sock, and inflate....

piece of cake!

Morning Mist

2011-02-17T07:34:00.000-05:00

Stepped out to take this this morning...
Upriver the mist is starting to lift as the sun comes up
It's gonna be a beautiful day!

A While Back

2011-02-15T18:59:00.000-05:00

My brother with the boys @ Dowry Creek Marina....
they were having fun!

George Pollard, Jr. (1791–1870) was the captain of the whaleship Essex and Two Brothers, both of which sank

2011-02-12T06:48:00.003-05:00

He was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, the son of a ship’s captain, at a time when the principal industry there was hunting sperm whales to harvest the oil contained in their blubber and spermaceti. By the time he was 28 he had served on the Essex for four years in the capacities of second mate and first mate.

In 1819, Pollard was appointed captain of the Essex by the owners, Gideon Folger and Sons, and preparations were made to set sail for the Pacific Ocean in August of that year. Other members of the 21-man crew included Owen Chase as first mate, Matthew Joy as second mate and six other Nantucket men. Those included Pollard’s seventeen-year old cousin Owen Coffin with whose care and protection Pollard had been entrusted by his aunt, Nancy Bunker Coffin. To fill out the crew, others had to be recruited from Cape Cod and Boston; these were inexperienced seamen and were known as “green hands” by the Nantucketers. An account of their epic journey was written by Nathaniel Philbrick in In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex.

Four days after leaving Nantucket the ship was struck by a sudden storm and suffered a knockdown, having been rolled almost ninety degrees onto her side. Two of the ship’s whaleboats were lost and another was damaged. This mishap was caused in part by miscalculations on the part of Pollard and his officers, and in part by the inexperience of the crew. Pollard declared the damage was so extensive that they should return to Nantucket for repairs, but Chase and Joy persuaded him to go forward to the Azores and hope to replace the whaleboats there.

After a difficult passage around Cape Horn, the Essex arrived in the Pacific Ocean in January 1820. On November 20, 1820, in a remote area of the ocean, some 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km) west of the Galapagos Islands, the Essex was struck twice by a huge sperm whale, estimated to be 85 feet (26 m) in length. With only three shipkeepers and the crew of Chase's whaleboat on board to repair their damaged vessel, the Essex began taking on water following the second collision with the whale. The crew abandoned the sinking vessel, taking the navigational equipment and Pollard's and Chase's sea chests with them. Meanwhile, Pollard and Joy were hunting smaller whales near the ship, and on their return found the Essex had capsized. The crew chopped off the masts (a necessary move that would enable the ship to stay upright for a longer time) and outfitted the whaleboats with sails and masts using the Essex's spars and sails. They also hastened to retrieve what provisions they could and divided them equally so that each whaleboat had 200 pounds of hardtack, 65 gallons of freshwater, and two Galapagos tortoises. The crew was divided into three whaleboats commanded by Pollard, Chase, and Joy and set sail with provisions estimated to last them 60 days. Pollard, Chase, and Joy set up a council to decide which direction to sail in. The closest islands were the Marquesas Islands, about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) west of their position but in those days the inhabitants there were believed to practice cannibalism. Pollard suggested sailing to the Society Islands, which were further away but presumed to be safer. However, on the grounds that very little was actually known about these islands, Chase and Joy disagreed, proposing instead to sail south far enough to pick up a band of variable breezes that would take them to South America. Once again, Captain Pollard reluctantly yielded to their arguments.

On December 20, near starvation, the crews of the three whaleboats reached Henderson Island but after seven days decided that the island did not have the resources to sustain them and they reluctantly set sail again. Three of the men opted to remain on the island and were eventually rescued by the trading vessel Surry.

Sailing east towards South America, Pollard and Chase had seen Matthew Joy's health decline. He was transferred to Pollard’s boat and shortly thereafter died. Obed Hendricks was given command of Joy’s boat, and the three boats sailed on until during a gale one night Chase’s boat became separated from the other two. By January 20, 1821 a crew member, Lawson Thomas died just as the boats of Pollard and Hendricks had come to the end of their provisions. It was at this point that in order to survive their ordeal the men resorted to cannibalism. As other crew members died their bodies were eaten in turn until only four men were left alive on Pollard’s boat. One of them, Charles Ramsdell proposed that lots should be drawn to determine who should be killed so that the rest might survive. Pollard at first resisted this suggestion but then gave in to the majority. The lot fell to his cousin Owen Coffin and he was shot and his remains were eaten. After the death of Barzillai Ray, Pollard and Ramsdell sailed on and were rescued on February 23 by the whaleship Dauphin and taken to Valparaiso. There they were reunited with the survivors of Chase’s boat, Chase himself, Benjamin Lawrence and Thomas Nickerson, cabin boy of the Essex, who had been rescued by the British merchant ship Indian.

Upon his return to Nantucket on August 5, Pollard had to face Nancy Bunker Coffin who was distraught at the idea that Pollard was alive as a consequence of her son’s death. Pollard was given command of the whaleship Two Brothers and this voyage also ended in disaster when the ship ran into rocks off French Frigate Shoals and sank. This ended Pollard’s whaling career. He made a single voyage in a merchant vessel and then spent the rest of his life as a night watchman on Nantucket.

Chase and a ghost writer wrote an account of the ordeal entitled Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex. This was published soon after the return of the survivors, and was an inspiration for the Herman Melville classic, Moby-Dick. Much later, Nickerson wrote his own account of the voyage The Loss of the Ship Essex Sunk by a Whale and the Ordeal of the Crew in Open Boats. His manuscript was lost for nearly a century, but was discovered, authenticated and published in 1984.

(a painting of The Essex leaving Nantucket August 12th, 1819)
Artist A.D. Blake

Washington Picture

2011-02-11T08:17:00.002-05:00

Bridget took a walk while in Washington,
NC and brought this shot back with her....
not far from the waterfront....

Noah Finds Gar

2011-02-10T09:41:00.000-05:00

Noah wanted a picture with this fish @ the aquarium....
I've seen these (much smaller) hanging out under the docks
near the haul out dock on the boat yard in the summer
Cool Fish, Cool Dude!

Being Green

2011-02-08T15:14:00.000-05:00

A few years back we were in the gazebo, and kept hearing these frogs chirping,
but couldn't figure out where it was coming from.... after a bit of investigating,
we found these two hanging out on the sign for the pool.....
the camera doesn't do closeups well..... but thought it was still worth posting

The Blue Yonder

2011-02-05T15:26:00.000-05:00

Noah has created this one....

the second in the series

Buster's Britches

Drake The Dragonfly

2011-02-04T17:03:00.002-05:00

This has been Max's week.....

the debut of his comic strip

Buster's Britches

Max Sings "Homework"

2011-02-01T11:29:00.000-05:00

When Max was not much older than 3,

we did a recording with a little drum machine,

and my Fender guitar, and Max sung this little ditty....

I thought it'd be fun to share,

They sure are growing up fast!

Cool Yahoo Find.....Check this out...

2011-02-01T00:50:00.002-05:00

Simply Done

2011-01-30T10:42:00.000-05:00

Bridget took this during a recent trip out....

Happy Birthday Budge!

2011-01-24T19:55:00.000-05:00

Today was Bridget's birthday! This is a shot of her
checking out a little baby sea turtle the boys found at Cape Lookout
(it's important to note that the sea turtle was set free shortly after this photo)

Happy Birthday!!!!!!

Who's The Ham?

2011-01-23T15:36:00.000-05:00

Taken earlier this past year, the duo trying to figure this one out....

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

2011-01-22T17:29:00.002-05:00

It's been snowing all day and we are up to about 4 inches!
This was the view from the gazebo earlier today!

South Winds and Northerly Sailing

2011-01-21T12:44:00.001-05:00

During our last trip back from Cape Lookout we had favorable winds to sail

(instead of motoring) the majority of Adams Creek....

this is a short video of the boat quietly making its way up the river

you just can't beat shutting down the motor, and enjoying the peace with wind in the sail

Boys On Deck

2011-01-20T20:10:00.000-05:00

This is a shot of the boys on deck last time we were @ Ocracoke...

This Week

2011-01-20T19:24:00.000-05:00

We have a lot of different shots from down at the waterfront,
but this one was taken this week

Bridget's Photo Goes Public

2011-01-19T12:21:00.001-05:00

We received a request from Call Inc., a ministry based website, to use Bridget's photo.
The photo is featured on the homepage for the site, and is referenced in their artwork page as well.
The photo was taken on an early morning walk she took a while back near the waterfront
Click the picture to see the website, and her beautiful shot
found @ www.callinc.org

Four Dinghies

2011-01-19T09:58:00.000-05:00

No, we're not referring to us....although the term probably applies.....

....another shot found downtown....

Still Anchorage

2011-01-18T13:59:00.000-05:00

A few of the boats lying at anchor down at the town waterfront
I thought I'd take a walk down and see if I could get a good shot in
and this is what I found....
sometimes this place makes it too easy

RC Morgans

2011-01-18T12:19:00.001-05:00

A speedboat and a submarine,
getting ready for a test run in the pool.....
boys will be boys
'' )

Cold Winch

2011-01-17T18:27:00.000-05:00

A recent snow visited us and had the town hunkered down for a short while......
this is a shot of one of the winches onboard.....covered with the snow....

Twilight's Last Gleaming

2011-01-08T11:37:00.001-05:00

A picture we caught from the Englehard waterfront

Field Trip to Aurora

2011-01-08T02:12:00.002-05:00

After school yesterday, the boys and mom decided to take a field trip to the Aurora Fossil Museum. You can dig for fossils there. We came home with a large piece of mica, a small fragment of a geode, about 20 shark teeth and a couple of new photos......it was a good day!

Max's Photo

Moments Like This

2011-01-07T06:10:00.000-05:00

I know it's a lot of sunsets, but it's moments like this that we love..... this was taken as we sailed / motored to Bath, NC during our Thanksgiving vacation..... the lights on the bank are from PCS Phosphate, an extremely large Phosphate mine near/in Aurora, NC..... it reminds me of an old world city skyline..... sure was a pretty sight!

2011-01-07T04:37:00.000-05:00

Another shot of Fidelis
Washington Waterfront

Sunflowers And Jellyfish

2011-01-06T11:07:00.000-05:00

Max and Noah report on an interesting find while in Ocracoke during our last trip.....

They love finding unique creatures in the water

Another Noah Find

2011-01-06T10:30:00.000-05:00

He found some old anchor chain here at the boatyard

Noah's Picture

2011-01-04T20:58:00.000-05:00

Noah took the camera with him today and found this shot
@ the beach

Fun Up Front

2011-01-02T21:01:00.001-05:00

They were having fun getting wet when this shot was taken.....

2011-01-01T21:26:00.000-05:00

A Few Years Back

2011-01-01T21:00:00.000-05:00

The Dynamic Duo

Handsome Fellas

Photo From Somewhere Near Manteo

2011-01-01T20:52:00.000-05:00

Another shot from our trip out during Thanksgiving week.....

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T09:25:00.000-05:00

We wanna wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Ocracoke Ferry.....Thanksgiving Week

2010-12-30T18:37:00.000-05:00

Bridget caught this shot right before the ferry left for another run.....

Fidelis/Ocracoke/Thanksgiving Week

2010-12-30T18:32:00.000-05:00

Recent Adventures In Washington

2010-12-30T18:23:00.000-05:00

We recently visited Washington, NC on our Thanksgiving week vacation....
this is Fidelis tucked in on the waterfront, which was much more pleasant than I had ever imagined.....
really well layed out, nice bathhouse, and if you like brickwork, this is a great place to find it....

Christmas Day

2010-12-25T10:57:00.000-05:00

Fireplace Yule Log Video @ Yahoo! Video

So, all the presents are unwrapped, all the paper has been taken to the trash cans..... and Budge is extracting the family turkey from the brine it's been sitting in for the last 3 days.... soon to be in the oven, filling the boat with yummy smells, and providing an extra amount of warmth! Can't wait. Thanks to our family and friends for all the wonderful surprises..... the boys are completely thrilled!
Here's our fireplace for the day, while we listen to our Christmas music...HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS!

Another View of Our Tree

2010-12-21T20:47:00.000-05:00

Our Christmas Tree

2010-12-21T19:08:00.000-05:00

Deep Breath

2010-12-16T21:28:00.002-05:00

So, pictures have been saved, Facebook is now closed, and a bit of a sigh of relief... It was honestly starting to feel a bit strange.... glad to be free of it. So we've got all these pictures now.... some of which haven't been posted to our blog.... soooooo, I'm sure we'll be figuring out what to do with what, soon.... for now, let's not forget Peter and Gail (as well as Perry and Susan) should be getting closer to the keys.... Last we heard they were in Vero (Velcro) Beach, looking for some warmer weather.

Merry Christmas everyone....it's only a week away (almost!)

Old Bell @ The Old Church

2010-12-15T12:47:00.001-05:00

From the oldest church in North Carolina.....Bath, North Carolina
Thanksgiving week

2010-12-15T12:46:00.000-05:00

This is one of the bricks in the oldest church in North Carolina, which we visited while on Thanksgiving vacation, in Bath....

a lot of the inscriptions were so old, they were nearly unreadable....

Recent Activities

2010-12-11T08:55:00.003-05:00

Just "recently" went out on Facebook and let everyone know that I'm going to shut down our Facebook account.... it's funny because I just recently had a conversation out here on the dock with big John about Facebook and the security settings, and not long after that they went and made a few new changes that sent me over the edge.... my wife had deleted her account just a week before, so that may have been a little incentive as well.....
Anyway, I said all that to say this.....we're probably going to be redirecting our attention back to our blog, just to "keep everyone in touch" with our whatnots and happenings. Hopefully we'll have a few new friends checking the blog out from time to time....

This blog needs an update anyway!

Another Sunrise

2010-10-16T07:19:00.002-04:00

So over the years we've posted many sunrises.....as I was walking to the bathhouse this morning, on the way there I found myself saying I should head back to the boat and grab the camera, before it's gone............so I did....

Sad News About My Favorite Trawler

2010-09-14T18:18:00.003-04:00

This morning I was checking emails, with my daily cup of coffee and ran across this message, which shed light on something that I did not know about, and was sad to hear....

Here's the email....

Subject: Thanks for the pictures of my dad's boat "Miss Melodie"
Date: 13th September, 2010

Hey, I really appreciate the pictures you've taken of the "Miss Melodie." The boat was owned by my dad, Steve Raynor, and named after my mom. Just recently the boat caught on fire, on the way to Pamlico Sound and was a total loss. Dad and his crew made it off the boat safely. We don't have many pictures of the boat before the fire and I know your pictures will make him happy. If you do have any more pictures of the boat could you post them please. Again, thank you so much for posting those pictures, and for you kind comments about the boat.
Heres a link to the story of the boat fire:

click here for the story

Casey Raynor

Anyway, this trawler was indeed my favorite of all I've photographed... and I had made note of that in several of the sites that I had posted it on.... Casey ran across it on flickr.com....

The story also has pictures of the boat fire...

Here's to Miss Melodie, it's crew, and the Raynor Family.... She was a beauty!

Set Them Free

2010-09-04T07:22:00.002-04:00

The boys found a baby sea turtle @ Cape Lookout last time we were there..... let the little guy go shortly afterwards.... They almost look like little wind up bath toys......

Cleaning The Hull / Caught a Sea Turtle

2010-09-01T07:43:00.002-04:00

We beached the boat at Cape Lookout (had a long weekend so we sailed out and spent the weekend watching the Hurricane on VHF and having a blast). The boys caught a baby sea turtle, and shortly thereafter set it free..... Here's some pictures.....

Dragon Boat Race Debut

2010-08-23T06:50:00.004-04:00

This past weekend was the 1st ever Dragon Boat races in Oriental....what an intense row that was....

I was on Teach's Crew, we had a parade, and the boys dressed like pirates with their friends Blake and Bailey and were in the parade too....it was an intense competition. Our boat didn't place well, (Deaton Boatyard won the competition) but it was a blast.... here's some pictures of the practice the day before the big race..... towndock.net will show more pictures of the event in a day or two....

Budge Makes A Cockpit Mat

2010-07-20T18:17:00.002-04:00

This is a Napoleon Knot....the latest addition to the cockpit floor near the companionway.....I tried to do this last night, and on four different tries, I couldn't "wrap my head around it".

Beaufort Weekend

2010-07-20T08:46:00.003-04:00

We went to Beaufort and hung out for the weekend. Were able to anchor really close to the bank of Carrot Island where the wild horses are.....here's a picture....

Went Out w/ Perry on his Catamaran....

2010-07-05T19:42:00.002-04:00

Had a blast....check out this short video....

Charter Fishing And The Big One!

2010-06-10T11:36:00.004-04:00

My friend Russ invited me out on a charter fishing trip (inshore)....We left Wednesday morning and headed out for a fabulous day catching many Speckled Trout and Drum ( and a few Croaker)....great fun....fish were delicious.....

Crewed To Ocracoke on a new Catalina

2010-06-02T13:59:00.002-04:00

Weekend Journey With Friends

2010-05-25T21:15:00.002-04:00

Left for Cape Lookout from Oriental on Friday Morning, with Peter and Gail, Harry and Melanie, and Joe and Cherie. Finally had some beautiful weather, lots of fishing, snorkeling, swimming, and fun had by all. Sailed most of the way back. Looking forward to doing another trip with our friends soon!

South River Beach

2010-05-16T16:30:00.004-04:00

Weather has been full of fronts packed with threats of thunderstorms, cold evenings (a few down in the 40's) and high winds. We decided to head across to South River, where we anchored off of a quiet beach. We enjoyed some swimming, cool breezes, grilled some hamburgers, and watched a beautiful sunset. Fell asleep in a pile of sails on the deck under the stars. Fantastic sail over there....

Max decided to do some acrobatics in the riggin.....once we got anchored.

Life is Good!

Aurora Fossil Museum

2010-05-05T16:18:00.006-04:00

Max, Noah, and I decided to take a trip to the fossil museum this week. Together we found close to a hundred shark teeth digging in the pits...here are some shots of the boys goofin' around in the museum...as you can see we had a lot of fun!

Spring Has Sprung

2010-04-13T18:21:00.002-04:00

Well, after a "colder than usual" winter, we are intensely cleaning the boat, and getting into areas that haven't seen a bottle of bleach in a while. Removed our Loran C system (it was taking up valuable space on the Nav Station)....rebuilt our head, repaired our macerator, installed our cockpit table, and did a whole bunch of little things to the boat that are too numerous to mention. Bridget made a canvas compass cover for the Binnacle, and has gotten rid of a number of things that have been on the boat without much use.....they say "if you don't use it in 6 months...get rid of it" and that's seeming to apply to this quite a bit. We've kept some wonderful company with friends that live here at the marina, and have had a lot of fun with the boys. We took them to see Fort Raleigh on Roanoke Island, and Jockey's Ridge.
Anyway, we're coming out of hibernation now, working on getting the boat into shape.

Will post some photos soon...

Snow in Oriental!!!

2010-02-13T15:21:00.003-05:00