New Bern, NC to Chesapeake, VA July 23-Aug 3, 2014

July 23-Aug 3, 2014

Joyce Bokor greeted us at the New Bern airport upon our return from Ft. Lauderdale and ferried us to Northwest Creek Marina where we boarded SaSea Sally to unload and unpack before a home-cooked meal at Joyce's home

nearby. Traveling with only soft-sided duffel bags (as we recommend our guests do), I unloaded my bag to find wet clothing, dampened (nearly soaked) by rains at one airport or another. Thanks, US Air! And we had to pay $25 to check it, getting nothing in return.

Joyce welcomed us into her home and served a delicious chuck roast dinner with trimmings, commenting on the pending blooming of her blooms-after-dark-once-each-three-months plant (we timed perfectly a night-blooming Cereus party for three). Extremely fragrant and awesomely beautiful with a seemingly fragile pistil-and-stamen configuration (hey, junior high biology recall...not bad, Sal!), we had fun positioning our photo shoot for the best angle while trying, at the same time, to keep our eyes open after a long travel day. Thanks, Joyce, what a memory! I'm glad the Cereus bloomed before total fatigue set in!

Following our five-day absence, we had need of provisioning which Joyce graciously provided Thursday morning. We beat the storm by minutes, then endured an afternoon of alerts, rain and, of course, winds. I worked in laundry processing at the bath house (most expensive yet with $3 wash and $2 dry...dock master Dawn did say the owner was eccentric), checked out the paperback library, then delivered a clean load of wearables to the boat between raindrops. Duke's mixture of edibles made dinner easy with a quick clean-up to end the day.

We awakened Friday to overcast which cleared rather quickly, enabling us to traverse the now-familiar route to Joyce's and back on our morning walk. Arriving back at the dock, we were greeted by a fellow boater who commented that we looked like a couple of fireflies; that's a good thing to avoid car-meets-pedestrian accidents. I was in neon green; Clay, neon orange. (Note to self: remember to wear these colors more often...I kinda like being dubbed a 'firefly'). We moved the boat in relatively calm waters to the downtown New Bern marina called Galley Stores and Marina. Don't know where the plural came from, because I experienced only one store, but it was a winner! The Galley Store housed the marina office as well as a gas station and convenience store, the likes of which we've not experienced recently. It was COOL! Gift items, a vast selection of wines, a beer cave, upscale deli sandwiches/salads/wraps/sides catering to the transient crowd, and an advertised wine-tasting event this evening (each and every Friday as a matter of fact) from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Joyce, come on over! Which she did! We sampled the wines and beers then moseyed over to highly-recommended Persimmons for dining on their back patio. This waterside restaurant onsite was first recommended by the dockmaster who I'm guessing moonlights as a city ambassador; he was quite knowledgeable as well as congenial; and I'm certain he works a crowd expertly. Persimmons' chef had recently won some notable cook-off which Joyce confirmed as a competition for the Food Network's Cutthroat Kitchen. The only damper to an otherwise delightful evening was Clay accidentally stepping on my left little toe as we departed the wine-and-cheese event which I would later discover to be broken. Ow-eee!

Custom Canvas fella arrived Saturday morning to add finishing touches to his day-before installation of windshield screens which we'd lost in a fierce storm approaching Charleston (see previous email for the dramatic interp if you desire; I won't repeat, but the memory is a permanent resident in my brain). Because Clay was involved with this and with pumping out, I was at liberty to walk solo, determining my own route this morning. Yay! Independence! Yay! I get to be me! (I admit, that is something I miss on this Loop...being me, with a Sally-determined day and not a Captain-determined day!) Nonetheless, I returned to collect Clay for a bike hike to the farmers' market where we purchased some fresh produce to back pack home. After lunch, we explored the town on bicycles, stopping at various retail and consignment shops, at Mitchell's Hardware, and at an olive oil shop where we purchased a yummy and quite popular Tuscan Herb organic olive oil. Last stop was a fish market which we seem not to be able to pass by without purchasing at least something!

Back to the boat Saturday late afternoon, we welcomed Joyce aboard for a grilled "surf and turf" (burgers and shrimp skewers) dinner and more conversation; we seem not to run out of either words or food to share. What a nice friendship! During dinner, Joyce tried to convince us to stay another few days so as to enjoy a Sunday night event of which she is fond (I don't recall specifics); her attempts to demote Oriental fell on the captain's deaf ears (and, yes, another testament to aging ears!) But Captain Clay had Oriental on his mind...the Sailing Capital of North Carolina. Described as a "tranquil, yet friendly inner coastal village offering fishing and sailing charters," go to www.oriental-nc.com/ and tell Joyce what's not to like about this Looper destination...or at least Clay's destination.

Knowing we had a stretch of waterway ahead without opportunity for provisioning, Clay and I borrowed the courtesy car Sunday morning for a roadtrip to WMT. Now, we've had courtesy cars of all sorts, including one in Florence, AL (how is it so EASY to remember the BAD STUFF?) with ants crawling across the dashboard (see Fall '13 email...yes, we've been aboard THAT long...for a dramatic interp), but this courtesy car was unique of a different sort...a funky truck. There was no functioning gear PARK, and the interior rearview mirror was a dangling pendulum as we drove the 4-5 mile stretch to Wally World. But it was wheels, and it worked. Back to the Galley Marina to unload, unpack and stow, we departed without dock help by singling up our lines and forged onward with storms brewing toward Oriental, NC.

A three-hour cruise had us arriving at the sheltered port of Oriental mid-afternoon. A pool, a restaurant, a tiki bar, a resort-type atmosphere with Adirondak chairs carved with seaside motif...I really wonder what's not to like? I swam many laps which translated to fewer minutes (you can guess the pool length), processed for Clay-requested dinner at the onsite restaurant called the Toucan, then returned to  unsettling news of Aunt Shirley's transfer mid-eve to Springtree Rehab, followed too soon the same later eve by an ambulance-transfer to University Hospital with a resulting heart attack.

Monday morning Clay and I walked the pretty waterfront street of Oriental, popped into a lone retail store featuring boating equipment/attire/paraphernalia, then wandered up the steps and into The Bean coffee shop for a fresh whole wheat bagel. When declining the toasting of said bagel, I was told by the welcoming clerk, "Oh, it won't be very good; it's frozen." I frowned but purchased and toted home a frozen whole wheat (appeared rye) bagel because I didn't have the heart to deny this engaging clerk of the #1 restaurant on TripAdvisor; check out www.thebeanorientalnc.com. It was actually a darling, unique, happening spot!

We arrived back at the boat to a call from Uncle Woody that Shirley "isn't going to make it." With news such as this, Clay and I spent much of the remaining morning investigating flights and planning our return trip to Ft. Lauderdale (FLL). Overwhelmingly saddened, I texted Barb, "My presence is here (boat), but my heart is there (FLL). The S3 is unusually quiet today." The captain made the call to forge onward in hopes of docking in the waters around Norfolk, VA, the next port with any real opportunity for travel connections. With storms, and thus rather fierce winds, in the New Bern area urging us north, we cruised at a steady pace and reached Dowry Creek Marina, Belhaven, NC early eve. Clay chatted poolside with the locals while I swam repeated lengths of this delightful marina. And, of course during the day, we received periodic updates on Shirley's condition.

Tuesday morning I found opportunity to pound the pavement while Clay de-bugged the deck and fly bridge; this was our first real encounter with bugs that plague us in the Midwest...a touch of home we can well do without! We departed late morn, arriving some six hours later at Southshore Landing (anchorage) on the Alligator River; we were putting in longer travel days in hopes of reaching our Norfolk-area marina sooner than later. This day's cruise was an unusual one in that we experienced widest of wide and narrowest of narrow waterways and were twice buzzed by some stealth-like military aircraft that were either: a) playing with us; or b) having fun at the expense of our ears (and nerves) while on routine practice runs. LOUD with a capital L-O-U-D! 

Successfully anchored, Clay went about installing new door screens and breeze boosters (tents for hatches) to make our sleep hours cool. Well done, Captain Clay! Your first mate appreciates your efforts! On the other hand, you knew she'd be gone (or at least ticked) unless you made those efforts!

Unfortunately, we got the call around 10:30 p.m., advising us of Shirley's death.

Up early Wednesday, we had an easy anchor lift and day cruise to Midway Motel and Marina in Coinjock, NC, our last North Carolina stop before crossing into Virginia. Coinjock is highlighted in much of the Looper literature, and I've yet to figure out why...maybe it's the unique name...and only the unique name. The name is unique! During these daylight hours, we encountered a myriad of problems/inconveniences: my Nordic Track skiier pulley (arms) developed a glitch which put me to the test of reconfiguring the mechanism (check); Clay's beer can validated my warning that the back third of the frig freezes items (put beer in defrost mode on countertop; check); the fly bridge data display unit went blank (not good! after troubleshooting thru plans a, b, and c...reboot; check); and auto pilot, which was temperamental at best yesterday, behaved admirably today. With daylight hours remaining, Clay buckled down at the computer to fine-tune our travel plans; to detail a comprehensive list of routine maintenance tasks for the marina folks; and to play catch-up with correspondence and research. I did a laundry load and attempted to swim the serious-swimmer-unfriendly pool which I quickly aborted. Oh well, I got a good hydrotherapy session for my body's joint and muscle fibers. I continue to be amazed at my ability to look on the bright side of things (see aforementioned 'oh well' on not getting to seriously swim); for a dot-i-cross-t person (anal, according to sis-in-law Cindy), this Great Loop experience has relaxed my intensity to a serious degree. I have truly adopted the "There's always a Plan B, or C, or D..." attitude...out of necessity!

We departed Coinjock Thursday morning and made slow, steady progress toward Chesapeake, VA where Clay had decided to dock the SaSea Sally for our month's absence upcoming. We arrived early afternoon, a shorter cruising day than I'd anticipated, which gave us plenty of time to settle in, to acquaint ourselves with this boat yard marina, to check out nearby retail and outskirts-of-Norfolk amenities, and to begin packing and preparing for nearly a full month's absence. Because of the rather remote nature of this location, Clay (I swear he'd make a good travel agent!) employed his thinking-outside-the-box capabilities to mastermind an effective, efficient and cost-effective plan for the time of our absence, pre-, post-, and during. Amazing all the details one has to consider when boating and without alternate means of transportation other than feet/bicycle.

We spent a rainy Friday and a rainy Saturday in a relaxed mode of prepping for departure. We whittled down frig contents; made acquaintance with a couple from Kona, HI (Pelikana) who had Mizzou connections; repositioned the boat in a spritzing drizzle from the face dock along the waterway to the shed, refueling and pumping out in the process; connected with Enterprise for a rental car for our transportation to Richmond, Va, from which we were flying on Sunday; and finally dined late Saturday eve with our new friends after a WMT run for their provisioning. I experienced another first on Saturday in the AYB laundryroom (hint: we're talking colored water again!); as I transferred our white sheet set from washer to dryer, I noticed they were no longer white, but a splotchy brown. Thank goodness the pre-wash colored items far outnumbered the whites, so the damage was minimal. Clay diagnosed the discoloration from backflushing the marina's well water system. I must applaud AYB for their integrity in promising to replace the damaged items; my attempt with Oxi-Clean on the smaller items was unsuccessful.

Sunday, we were up early and off for our Richmond-to-Ft. Lauderdale flight on Southwest. We will be in Ft. Lauderdale thru early afternoon on August 12th at which time we will fly home for a two-week visit with family and friends in Missouri. 

SaSea Sally Adventures will continue August 27th when we return to the boat at Atlantic Yacht Basin, Chesapeake, VA, toting sister Sus along. Clay is gonna have his hands full with the two of us; but we're gonna have so much fun!