We left New Bern several days ago and headed for the
anchorage near the USCG ATON Station in Beaufort NC. Next day we went
offshore to Wrightsville and then a short hop to a mooring at Carolina
Beach. We waited four days for the weather to calm down a bit before we
continued to Deep Point Marina in Southport. As we arrived, we were
greeted by Curtis who picked up our lines and got us safely tied in slip
B-9.
We can't forget the great Haloween Party that
we were invited to attend. It was hosted by Janet and Dwayne of MV
Cadence, a really big Selene. The theme was 60 era hippies. Bob
lamented that it should have been 60 era nerds as he knew much more of
them. Nevertheless, the party was great, we stayed up to late, drank
too much, and then slept too long. Tomorrow we start unpacking the boat
and performing repairs that were already 'repaired'. We'll be back in
April for to start our really big 2016-2017 season unless ....
The rest of the 2015 was not too swell. We decided to
cancel our Southern voyage and meander back to Wilmington and get
healthy. That would be harder than we thought. Bob noticed that Ann's
Hyannis EKG was annotated with a possible heart problem. When we
arrived in Wilmington, we went through the medical process again. Blood
sugar, blood pressure, and irregular heart tests sent her back to the
hospital and she became the proud owner of a shiny stent. She still has
problems but medical professionals are slow to respond. Wonder why?
Boat developed a bit of a problem. During several
really humid days and cold nights, the boat had a mildew bloom ... and
classic blisters on the fiberglass cabin roof. First time in 20 years
we had such a problem. We now have to reconstruct the ceiling of the
main cabin. It will take several months. Hard to explain why. Maybe
we used the wrong kind of paint last time we de-sooted the ceiling.
Bad news continued. Samantha Jane, our 17+ year old cat,
was diagnosed with chronic renal failure (CRF). She has sailed over
22,000 nm with us over the years. We prayed to have her for the
Christmas holidays and our prayers were answered. But it would not
last, she refused her treatments and faded fast.
Doctor Ked told us to look in her eyes and she
would let us know. She did on 5 January 2016 and Dr. Ked and Miss
Lauren set her on course to the Rainbow Bridge the next day. She was
the last of our four legged crew. Sad times!