The Domino Effect

We've been working on a series of new projects, upgrades and additions. To all of you who know Steve, you know this is a non-ending list, actually it should be The List. I always think of it that way in my head, with capital letters. The List is Steve's way of staying focused on Work and Important Things. I give him a lot of grief about it, but it's really the only way the boat stays afloat. He is currently working on putting bookshelves behind our settees so we can unpack the last few boxes of things in the v-berth.

We've been exploring Oriental, there's quite a bit going on for a town of 900. The Old Theater has events 2-3 nights a week and we've been to most, so far. You can check it out here. Tomorrow is movie night, they're showing Home For The Holidays.

My latest list (small 'l') included scanning all the recipes I've collected over the last few years. Actually this wasn't on the list and I have to blame Anne Jackson for it even making the list at all. I was going through my pile of papers and came across the recipe for flour tortillas from Anne. I turned around to slide it into my recipe notebook on the shelf behind me. It wouldn't go in. I looked closer. I thought "Ohhh, @#*%, that looks....damp". A zillion thoughts ran through my head during those 3 dots, wet paper always being a bad thing. How did it get wet??? We have another leak??? Are all the books on the shelf wet?? It's full of all the good ones, including my Chris A Jackson autographed copies. One thing always leads to another in boat work, and now we have another leaking chain plate to re caulk, recipes to dry and scan, wood to dry. At one point I wanted to rename the boat The Domino Effect, for the way the things cascade into one another.

Small Town NC… Big Town Jazz

A beauty of staying put for a bit is the chance to get involved in local events. Last night was a real treat as a well known Jazz Quartet played at the Old Town Theater just three blocks from our temporary slip. This event provided an upbeat end to what was for us three full days of steady rain and wind, several books, and numerous games of solitaire below.
The theater, first built in 1945 has been restored to host local civic and cultural events as well as the performing home of the Oriental Repertory Company. The max capacity sign says 170…but that would have to be standing room only. With seats all the way to the rear being just 10-12 paces from the performers it is an intimate venue for the small group, in this case the Gregg Gelb Jazz Quartet.

The music was excellent. Pianist Steve Anderson displayed superb talent from the soft chord progressions supporting the group to fantastic solo improvisation. Gregg Gelb, quartet lead, is masterful on both tenor sax and the clarinet. It is the clarinet however, where true jazz soul came through as he shaped the tone and pitch to match the mood and interplay of the quartet. Gregg’s son Chris Gelb on drums was very impressive as he picked up key riffs and drove every transition forward in a style somewhat like what Buddy Rich did for the big band, but tailored perfectly to the quartet. He is an artist I expect to hear more of down the road. Paul Ingbretsen rounded out the quartet on bass moving so easily through progressions it belied the difficulty and technique required putting down the quartet foundation. Excellent night of Jazz…who’d of thought it would come right to our rail here in Oriental?

Settleing In

We've been back in Oriental for a whole week now and I'm back into my dockside habits. Things unstowed on the cabinets, jars and cans not clink-proofed in the lockers, shoes in the cockpit, lights on recklessly. It sure didn't take long.
We had the rental car for most of the week and did a lot of provisioning. I've had a little bit of panic, as if we're going to be snowed in here all winter and I had to have 4 months worth of food on hand. The beautiful sunny days this week are helping me to relax.
We also did some sight seeing, going back to Seymour-Johnson AFB, our first assignment 25 (!) years ago. Our daughter, Hannah, was born there. It's changed too much for me to recognize. The house we lived in is now a field. We also spent a day in Morehead City and took a walk on the beach. We rode on the car ferry, very odd to be sitting in the car on a boat.
The picture above is the Oriental Marina, where we're staying. We're in the bottom row, just about in the middle. The shrimp docks are on the top right. The boats come and go at all times, day and night. We made a stop at the shrimp store (below) today and got fixings for a shrimp and flounder chowder. This is a great town for walking and we've been walking a lot, no sidewalks but not really any traffic, either.

Home Again

We just returned to Celebration after almost a month and 4200 miles, on the road. We rented a car and went to Minnesota and North Dakota to see our families. It was GREAT to see everyone! All of our nieces and nephews are getting older and TALLER, pretty soon, my mom and I will be the shortest ones in the family. It was really wierd to be coming 'home' and need a map to get here though. Home has always been wherever we are and now home is wherever Celebration is, even if it's in the boonies of North Carolina.
We love road trips and had a good time taking the side and back roads across the country. Steve had never been to West Virginia, so we did a lot of meandering through the hollers. Beautiful country, the leaves are still changing color there.
We had a chance to stop at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH. Steve had been there years ago and always wanted to go back. It's a wonderful place and rivals the Smithsonian's Air and Space in DC. So much history, we could have spent 2 days there. The photo is from a nose of a B-29 and seemed appropriate, since we've been trying to decide if we should stay here in Oriental for the winter or go south for the winter.


We didn't actually flip a coin, but finally did decide to stay put. We really like it here and the marina is nice and the people are nice... lots of good reasons. We may have to buy another space heater, though.
Steve's Dad is doing well for now, his appetite seems to be getting better. He starts radiation today on some of the tumors in the bones in his back, a way to maybe get the pain under more control. Thanks to everyone for your concern and thoughts.

Fall in Minnesota. We stopped at the grocery store yesterday and found a wagon full of pumpkins outside. They were huge and shiny clean and $4.99 each. I almost bought one just because I could turn around and put it in our Hyundai. I almost bought one because I wouldn't have to drag it in a cart to the dinghy, hoist it over a side rail and then find somewhere to put it. I almost bought one because we wouldn't have to use it as extra seating. I almost bought one just because they were pretty.

On The Road Again

The view going through WV, no water in sight.

Our Daughter, Amanda and Steve cleaning shrimp in the milk house.

Some of the barn cats, enjoying the sun.

It was 30 degrees or so, this morning in Arlington, MN. About 40 degrees below my comfort zone. There's snow on the ground from yesterday, which is actually very pretty with the green leaves still on the trees. We've left Celebration in Oriental, NC and are road tripping for a month or so. The leaves are changing all across the country and it was a beautiful drive. Say what you will about West Virginia (you know: you can't see the players, but you can hear the banjo's) but it's spectacular in the fall. There were huge billboards there saying "Carbon Neutral: Coal", that left us a little confused. I understand coal IS carbon, not to mention the fuel used to mine and then transport it.... I suppose if you say it out loud often enough, someone might believe it. Heck, there may be some government grant to follow.

Steve's dad, Mike, has had prostate cancer for the last 14 years and has been doing chemo for the last 2 or so. It hasn't been working for the past few months and we went with Mike and Jean (Mom) to the Mayo Clinic on Monday to see what options are still available. Not many, as it turns out. So, a lot of discussion on pain management and staying comfortable. So, we will see.

One of Mike's enjoyments has always been good food. With his appetite waning lately, we took the opportunity to find some shrimp right off the boat in North Carolina, brought them here on ice and had a small feast for lunch Sunday. A hit I might say as one after the other was dipped in garlic butter and disappeared.

Next week: off to North Dakota, where it was a balmy 19 this morning, to see my parents. I'm hoping for an Indian Summer.

Good Friends, Great Times

Jason, John, Steve, Lynn, Roberta, Anne, Laura, Chris

The canal, just after sunrise.

There were 10 of us at dinner last night. Doing the ICW going south, we have ended up going as a pack. We are all aiming for the same anchorages and end up bunching up at the bridges. Last night we were at the free docks at the Great Bridge bridge, just past the lock. We all made trips to the grocery, some to the laundromat, some to the package store, the fabric store, the dollar store. We hosted a bread making session and Anne demo'd tortilla rolling. We ate the fresh bread and tortillas, had some wine and all went out for Mexican. We ate some more, some more than others (John), and had great margaritas. We raided the rosemary plant on the way back to the boats, had a dramatic reading by the one and only Chris A Jackson, had some more wine and of course, a lot of lively talk.

This morning we left for another day of motoring down the ditch, although at the moment, we do have the genoa out. We are all in a row: Jason and Laura on Blue Blaze, John and Roberta on Freedom, Celebration, Anne and Chris on Mr Mac, and Sam and Carolyn on Malaka II. It's a nice looking row of boats: a Panda, a CSY, an HR, a Bruce Roberts, and an Island Packet. We're keeping some very good company these days!

Norfolk

It was exactly 3 months ago today that we first came into Norfolk. As we were sitting sipping a small glass of wine last night, it felt like we never left (except for the 30 degree temp difference). The tugs are still going through constantly, pushing barges, pulling barges, tooting to each other. I love watching them. We are making our way south pretty quickly, a dock awaits and a land cruise to MN and ND. Time to go see the families, it's been too long.

N 36 deg 50.743
W 76 deg 17.929

Going South

The Gam was a success and even with a rainy Sunday morning for the flea market, the dinghy dock was 3 deep, more than 60 in all. I think this is the most I've ever seen in one place. We saw a lot of familiar faces and boats in our week on the Rhode River and met a lot of people we hope to see again along the way again. It was very hard to watch the mass exodus Sunday and Monday.

Lynn, John, Roberta, Steve

We fetched Solomons today, (Tristen Jones says that sailors don't arrive, they fetch) and who should we find but John and Roberta on Freedom! More old friends from St Pete. We missed them on the way north, but they couldn't get away this time. We had a Herr-Adura tequila toast to absent friends and a wonderful dinner aboard Freedom. I don't know how Roberta did it on such short notice. We're all leaving in the morning for parts south so it was an early evening. So good to see them again.

N 38 deg 19.948

W 76 deg 27.469

Gam Time

Steve, Kim, George, Anne, Chris

The boats have been arriving in a steady stream. We got to the anchorage in the Rhode River on Monday and were one of four boats, this morning there are upwards of 60 masts around us. Last night there was a dinghy raft-up on the little island in the middle of it all. A BYOB and appetizer get together. We had a great time with old friends Anne and Chris of Mr Mac and new friends Kim and George of Adagio, which happens to be an HR 41, just like ours. Sorry: to the non sailors, that means we have the same boat. We had them over for a tour and got one of Adagio, too. It's like having twins who married and moved apart. The hair and clothes are different but underneath the bones are the same.

It's wonderful to see Anne and Chris again. We haven't seen them since May in Key West. They left St Pete just before we did and made it to Massachusetts, where they got to spend the summer with Anne's family. Chris has had another book published and brought us a copy. Chris is author Chris A. Jackson, a Fantasy/Science Fiction writer extraordinaire. Actually they both are, Anne is in cahoots, I mean, collaborates on some of the books, too. The new one is Scimitar Moon, a pirate tale, and yes, I was up until 4 this morning reading it. Two thumbs up. You can find all his/their books at their site. You can also follow their sailing fun from the link on the right. Now, if I could just get him to sign the darn book.