Deb's Memorial Day Update

Meanwhile, back at Headquarters…

Friday, 5/26/00

Hey Everybody! Debbie here. Just thought I’d fill y’all in (that’s how they talk down here) on what was happening on HQ while the guys took care of business in Richmond.

I wanted to get this written before Bob moved on to the next log but it looks like I missed my window. It’s not surprising, given the time BK gets up each morning to write these things. In any case, here’s what the girls were up to while the guys concentrated on work.

First of all, Chris & I talked BK into getting the dinghy ready for us before they left. We were docked at Seapath Yacht Club in Wrightsville, NC, just off the Intracoastal and not far from the ocean. There were small islands all around us with beaches loaded with shells just waiting to be picked up. We were also looking forward to a dinghy ride to the ocean for a swim. Anyway, Bob took the cover off the dinghy, pulled the pole out from the middle and took off the extra bow cover and pontoon covers (*#!@*%!),and ran us through a quick lesson on how to use the dinghy motor & the hydraulic swim platform. They left on Wed. morning with plenty of “be carefuls” & “use your heads”.

The morning started out cloudy & windy (I hate the wind) and we looked at the dinghy with a little uncertainty. We had been talking by phone to my cousin Laurie Cunningham/Connors who lives in Wrightsville and had made a tentative plan to meet for lunch. We did some cleaning, a little laundry, and soaked up the sun while we waited for her call. She came by at noon, took a quick tour of the boat and then took us to a great restaurant where we had a table on a dock sticking out over a sand beach on the ocean. It was fun to see Laurie again and try to catch up on family. She was very busy with work and could only join us for a short time. As it was, her beeper called an end to lunch and she drove us back to HQ. (P.S. I had the very best Pina Colada so far on this trip!)

By then it was 2:30 and the sun had come out and was very warm, though it was still a little windy (I hate the wind). We had been having a problem with the cable on the boat and the folks at the marina took this time to try a bunch of different things to remedy the problem. Even as we looked longingly at the dingy, we allowed the work on the cable to continue. After all, it was Wednesday and West Wing was on!

Meanwhile the wind, which was bad all day, seemed a little worse (I hate the wind) and we decided to pack a cooler and walk to the beach. We headed out but found that it was going to be quite a hike, so we turned around and jumped in the dinghy (the heck with the wind). We were both a little nervous (ok-mostly me) but we finally got the dinghy floating and pointed toward the ocean. I must have looked very nervous because at one point Chris said, “We’re ok Deb, don’t cry.” We found the public dock, tied it up and crossed the street to the beach. Yahoo! We were finally there! It was 4 o’clock! We dropped our gear and ran to the water. The waves looked huge and in fact there were a few surfers skipping along on them. We swam, jumped, dived, got knocked off our feet, swallowed salt-water and generally had a blast until we were exhausted! We left the beach at around 5:45pm.

Earlier that morning, we helped a small day fishing boat into dock…just grabbed his lines is all. We asked how they did and the captain said they caught a mess of mackerel. He said he’d be back later to clean & filet them and we could have some if we wanted. We weren’t so sure…we thought, “Mackerel? How the heck to you cook mackerel?” Well, he showed up with a ziplock bag with about 8 filets just as Laurie was getting on the boat.

So after a great lunch with Laurie, a romp in the surf and nice long showers, we had a wonderful fresh fish dinner, compliments of a local fisherman, and Chris the chef.

The next day the guys were supposed to be back at noon so we could get in a half day on the water to move the boat north. But they called saying they needed to stay a little longer and wouldn’t get back till midnight. Hm-m-m…could this mean another dinghy ride? We had been talking to a local live-aboard about the cool islands around there and all the shells that were on this 8 mile stretch of beach and so we decided to do some beach combing. Chris had a work problem she had to sort out first and so the plan was to leave after lunch.

Thursday started out a much nicer day… warm, sunny and not very much wind (I hate the wind). And we both had much more confidence with the swim platform and dinghy operation. At least Chris said I didn’t look like I was about to cry! We spent the day motoring from island to island. We even got the depth finder to work. We swam a little and walked the beaches and picked up a bunch of shells. It was a great afternoon, something neither Bob nor Steve would take time from the journey to enjoy. Too bad, they’re missing out on some great stuff! I know, I know…we’re on a schedule!

We got back to the boat by 5:45 and squared everything away because it looked like it might rain. Then I walked down to the office to put in a load of laundry and to pay for our extra night’s slip. As I walked into the office I told Danielle (we were quite friendly with the marina people by now) that it was starting to rain. Bill looked out the door, said “Here it comes!” and slammed the door. Two seconds later I saw a bicycle and a lawn chair fly by the window! Lot’s of wind, lot’s of rain for about 15 minutes. I stayed in the office and Chris was stuck on the boat. She said there was lightning all around, the wind came up and then a sheet of rain washed over her. The dock hand came back from checking the docks and said, “Your friend is standing on the back deck with a big smile on her face saying, “This is so cool!” When the wind let up after a while (I hate the wind), Chris came by dressed in a yellow poncho & carrying a huge golf umbrella. She brought a poncho to me at the office! What a pal.

Meanwhile we had ordered a pizza to be delivered and a half hour later, right on schedule, here comes our piping hot pizza. BIG tip for the pizza guy! The storm at it worst, lasted only about 20 minutes. Then only sprinkles the rest of the evening but major lightning all around us all evening. So we settled in to watch TV and eat our pizza. A sad note: No West Wing!

We had called it an early night and at about 11:15, it started raining pretty hard again. I was laying in bed listening to see if the boat was going to be ok in the wind (did I mention I hate the wind?) when I heard a couple of light ba-booms on the boat. It sounded like the boat hit the dock so I got up to see if a line had loosened up and here’s BK & ST standing in the salon, dripping wet and breathing hard from their dash in the rain. They’re back! Everyone made a fast job of getting the boat shut down and we wend to bed.

I knew the next day would be back to normal, BK’s whirl-wind tour, but for a couple of days, we stopped and smelled the sea-breeze.

We had only one casualty during the storm. We had forgotten to check the cover on the radio on the fly bridge and it got wet. The speakers made some interesting sounds all night…pop-pop-pop! Hopefully, when it completely dries out it’ll be ok. We don’t have much luck with radios and speakers on HQ, do we.

Hope y’all are doing well back home. As BK says, Headquarters standing by…

Seeyabye------DK