"A Ship is always safe in the Harbour, 

but that is not what ships were built for".

Good Ol' Friendly Washington: We knew it was time to leave Washington when the local River Road traffic started laying on their horns and waving. We were becoming a local attraction. A small peddling parade of sorts...and it was time to stop. Store owners and random strangers were presenting their business cards to the point where my wallet became so plump it would no longer fold. White ones! Blues ones! Bold text! Glossy finish! We have seen it all - but the one thing they all the had in common was: 'call me if you need a ride'. Obviously every card was received with genuine gratefulness but the reality was McCotter's was way out of town and we could not possible call someone for a ride without inconveniencing them terribly, plus the bike rides kept us sane.

The Produce Guy: That is what we called him. A few years younger then us, he must have been living in the Pig. He would be stocking produce no matter what time or day we came. You would hear: 'Hey Guys!' as our Piggly Wiggly friendship flourished more each time we passed under the giant laughing swine head. The bike ride was more times then not a fight against a head wind. Huffing and puffing, rosy and red, sticky, stained and sweaty are all accurate descriptions of our appearance. The frozen food section was the quick fix solution which also led to harmless flirting with the ice creams: fancy seeing you here mint chocolate, oh you would heavenly hash, maybe in another life time Haagen Dazs.


It only started to get awkward when the salvation army bell ringer arrived. The staff member would be fashioning a Santa hat and armed with a bell - putting Quasimodo to shame (if you were lucky some enthusiastic employees would sport a great red cape with white fluffy trim). Our frequent departures from the Pig became an organized effort with assigned tasks to maximize efficiency. Nick would take charge of the bike lock, while I became the frantic food packer. Foot traffic was low around the Pig so the bell ringer would promptly strike up with one foot out of the door and would not stop until we had far fled the scene. Not to speak out against holiday donations, but the Piggly Wiggly was no place for our charity.


The Great Escape: a tad less climatic then anticipated. Our new and shiny exhaust part arrived and Nick set the piece in place - the puzzle was complete! We did our rounds saying farewell to our McCotter friends before the big launch. We decided our first cruise would be to the free dock in downtown Washington. The small trip was to take an hour of motor sailing because the winds were quiet. Anyways, this all irrelevant because we never made it to downtown Washington. In truth, we barely made it out of the bay before raising the white flag and returning to the dreaded slip with our heads in our hands. I knew something was up when Nick emerged from the depths of the cabin telling me not to worry but there seemed to be a bit of a leak. A leak? What kind of leak? What I saw below deck could be compared to a ride you would find at water world. It was an elaborate display that would make any child long for their bathing suit and water wings!! The propeller shaft was severely hemmoraging- and the salty seas where filling up the bilge like a bathtub. Long story short, there was a quick fix solution. Dan the Man came aboard and tweaked the propeller shaft. To prevent leaking we now have to motor at a low throttle - a motivation for us to us the winds whenever possible!

'The Sailing Capitol': Our first day of real sailing was to the town of Oriental. A nautical themed retirement community dedicated to sailors. Old men stroll up and down the water front to share their sailing tales and comment on a boat or two. While still posted in Washington Nick found a windy weather system coming through, so we mounted the GPS and prepared to ride her out. The winds were high, the water a little choppy, but when the sails were raised the Beast took hold and flew! We had a great steady course averaging about 5 knots from sunrise to sunset. Nick had the pleasure of introducing me to the sensation of heeling over. A few times I was forced to alert the captain with screams and curse words as I am still warming up to the feeling of living life on a 45 degree angle. When the sun started setting we decided to anchor in a bay for the evening. We arrived in the small town of Oriental early the next day and were pleased to meet many friendly folk who linger for conversation at the local coffee shop - The Bean.

The Power of Pressure While waiting for the exhaust to come, Nick and I began experimenting with the pressure cooker to pass the time. I will inform you that this machine continues to stun me at its ability to create all kinds of treats. So far: fresh corn bread, canned salsa and chocolate walnut crunch cake have successfully come out of this magical metal pot! More to be explored, but below are some hard photo evidence of a few pressure cooker possibilities.

Putt Putt Beaufort, Putt Putt: the motor diaries. We had to motor for a large chunk of the day because this section of the inter-coastal water way is more or less a narrow windless ditch. We probably could have swam to Beaufort faster but that was not the point. We decided to do a mini detour which was going great until we got to the 13 foot bridge when we needed 40 ft mast clearance. We were introduced to the bridge master on the radio and were excited to hear the bridge would open just for us! We waited around for a bit when it went quiet. The highway traffic had come to a halt and out from the silence a wailing siren filled the bay accompanied by red flashing lights. During this elaborate disruption, our mule of a motor slowly putted it's way through the bridge as we made the Friday night commuters late for dinner. On the other side a calm waterfront anchorage with cheerful Christmas lights awaited us.

Tomorrow we plan on getting some serious miles under our belts and get to Wrightsville beach...offshore!
Over and Out

Em&N