We are back...and underway - DC to ....?

Jupiter's Smile was docked at the Gangplank Marina in downtown Washington, DC and we borrowed Dad and Mom's car most of the summer and Fall of 2010, to be able to drive the 20-30 minutes from the marina to their place in Springfield, VA.

Mother and Dad had 24/7 help in their apartment for almost five months from Care Experts and hospice care for about two months.

With Dad is Ophelia.  She, "T" and Janet were Dad's legs, his eyes and helped him and us in so many ways. 

Tom provides some soothing tunes

Dad with his family - Larry, Barb, Jay, Betsy, Mother and Tom

Barb and I almost left on November 15th, but decided not to.  The weather was perfect.  The tide was right, but it didn't seem right to leave just then.  My Dad passed away 18 November, 2010.  

Dad's passing was made as comfortable as possible and he didn't appear to suffer.  In medical school he had won a prize for his knowledge of anatomy and so he had directed that his remains go to the George Washington University Medical School.  This was one of his many ways of "paying it forward."  

All this pithy, family stuff seems to be out of place in a sailing blog, but think about it...... 

After a family gathering to remember the good times with Dad, we departed for a dash to Wilmington, NC with a few stops along the way.  The morning after our first anchorage, we discovered that the motor on the windlass (raises and lowers our anchors) had quit.  Our chain weighs about a pound per foot and the anchor weighs 44 pounds.  I hauled in the one hundred feet of chain by hand.  We only anchored one more time before we pulled into Salt Pond Marina in Hampton, VA to visit with  Jim and Pat Wharry (S/V Shamrock) at their home.

Pat & Jim Wharry - wonderful friends!

The next night, in the Dismal Swamp, we tied up at the rest stop on US 17.

Yes, this IS a highway rest stop!

 - could it be the only rest stop in the US for cars, trucks and vessels underway?  Our mast is the second "pole" from the left.  One can just see our RADAR on the mast.

Cold weather was closing in and we needed to "get South" as soon as possible.  Along the way we took a side trip up the Neuse River to New Bern, NC.  We visited two pairs of friends, Ben and Barbara Watford and Arne and Bev Myrseth.

We had met Arne and Bev on S/V Scandia briefly as we were all going to the Bahamas. They were almost everywhere we went in the Bahamas and we grew to enjoy their fun loving ways more and more.  Barb said "how are you today?" in Norwegian and Arne answered her and went on to expect a conversation.  That phrase was all Barb knew and we have laughed about that meeting often.   Our last meeting was at the Annapolis Sailboat Show last October and we learned that they had a home in New Bern.  They said we should stop by for a visit.  Did I take a single photo?  No!  Here's an old one.

xxxxxx

Ben Watford was my high school chemistry teacher in Smithtown, NY and the only teacher to attend the reunion back in September.  He said that we must stop and visit on our trip south bound and we did.  We had Ben and Barbara aboard for cocktails and then left for dinner in New Bern.  We went to their home the next afternoon.  Ben is a golfer, potter, Model A Ford owner and an author while Barbara, also a retired teacher, does her best to keep him in line.  I hope I am quoting him accurately, "I still own every book I have ever read."  His high-ceiling library is walled floor to ceiling with full bookshelves of every genre.  We had a wonderful visit recalling past history and hearing charming tales spun by the master story teller.

Ben can only hold this serious expression for a few seconds before he gets a twinkle in his eye and his dimples begin to show.  The man is mischief personified.

One of Ben's works and a gift to me.  Thank you for teaching me and for being my friend.

The story of growing up poor, black and self-motivated

We arrived at Bennett Brothers' Boatyard and Marina in Wilmington, December 2nd and went to Tom and Vickie's in Wrightsville Beach.  Barb and I are so thankful for Tom and Vickie's generosity and hospitality, staying with them for four weeks.

Tom & Vickie's home (porch under construction!)

 During that time we had a short, but important list of things to service and repair on the boat at the boat yard.  Unfortunately, the weather turned "unusually" bitterly cold soon after we arrived and that hampered our bottom painting and Tom and Vickie's window replacements, but we both proceeded to get projects finished.

Larry, Jay, Barb and Mother

We all returned to Mother's for Christmas, had a nice holiday....

Larry, Aunt Janet, Terry, Tom, Vickie, Jay, Barb, Mother and Amanda

Mother, Barb, Jay and Vickie ..."did you remember to go to the bathroom?"

and headed back to North Carolina

This is northern North Carolina!

the day after the area was visited by more cold, snowy weather

The roads were pretty dry, but the wind was blowing snow across them

When we arrived back at the boat, the power was off inside and the temperature had fallen to 28 degrees (INSIDE!).  No damage was done except to the handle of the swim platform shower head.  I have fashioned a fix for that.  The MaxProp had been serviced and installed (it looked like jewelry - I hated to have to put it in the water - out of sight.) We were ready to get back into the water and headed toward a warmer climate!  

Barb had met Beth (of S/V Nightingale) in the laundry room and her husband, Stephen, suggested that we all head south together.  I had said I wanted to go as fast as possible - meaning an offshore passage from the mouth of the Cape Fear River to....whenever we got tired.  As we left the river's mouth behind we set a course for the Georgia/Florida border, St Mary's Inlet and the mooring field in Fernandina Beach.