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.