Today all our thoughts are with everyone that this awful storm has affected. Our prayers go out to all those families. My thoughts turn to all the wonderful people who treated us like gold when we were in their home ports. Ocean City N.J. with Ed Mays, a cool guy who never met us before and opened his home to us. Or Freeport N.Y with Richie, Pat, Cody and a man's name I can't remember, who let us stay on their dock, use their car and brought us bagels every morning. Victor in Freeport who opened his home with showers and dinner for total strangers. The young lady in the Hampton's who brought beer for Carl and we shared a wonderful campfire on the beach and not to be forgotten all the fantastic people from Rosie's like, Sandy and Norm, Nancy and Ernie, Lee and Ledra, and Barbie and Maury plus Megan our old waitress, all who opened their homes to us. These are just some of the people who made our trip memorable and now had to weather the storm. I hope we hear from all of them and pray they did well, especially  those who live right on the water.. My heart is also with the crew of the Bounty, the terror they must have felt having to  abandon ship at 4:30 am and the brave captain that went down with his ship, making sure his crew was safe. The Bounty called our downtown pier it's home port for many years. Many a day I was down at the pier checking it out, never going aboard but always amazed at its size and wonder. This is a ship that will truly be missed by many and always remember as an icon of our sailing history. Let the fear of its sinking be replaced by the memory of the joy the crew felt being able to sail aboard her on the open seas of our wonderful country. As for us we await the seas to calm and the winds to die down to move us closer to our home port.

I only have one question, what are the odds of being in 2 hurricanes ,not just one but two. That's right we were in hurricane Beryl on our way north. During that storm we were on the outer edge of the storm and still had 50 mph winds and high waves. But the dock we were tied to wasn't that great and it was a rough one. I remember being worried about the boat across the dock coming over to our side. This time in Sandy we were in a much better hurricane hole and much closer to the storm. We had very high winds with little or no waves, but we still rocked a small amount. Carl had us tied to the dock with about 8 to 10 lines so we weren't going any place. This time we had a great clubhouse, wonderful shower and a fireplace to sit in front of when we got wet. Okay so most of the time, cause we were always wet. The winds were still blowing pretty hard yesterday and all though the night, plus add into that rain and that makes for some pretty cold conditions. Our first long cruise  and we have a few good stories with just the storms we have weathered... The marina had a car they let people use to go to the store so we got it and went to the town dock in Oriental. Once there we went to see how the boys were fairing and if they needed anything from the store. What did we find is that the dock was under water and they had moved the boat a few yards off the dock to keep it safe. The road in front of the dock was completely flooded too, glad we didn't stay. The only way the boys could come ashore was with the dingy and a line on shore.What a good story that will make for them. Since they didn't need anything from the store we said our goodbyes and headed to the market then back to the boat. The wet weather has made it so all we do is wipe water up, either from the rain or sweating inside the cabin. Today we tired to get as dry as we could. We went to the laundry and so did most other boaters so it took a really long time to get it done. We didn't have any Internet yesterday or today so I will post for both days now. Not really much else to report, other than the storm has moved north so maybe now we can move south tomorrow.. We will see what NOAA has to say about the waters we will be going to next. Don't worry if I don't post tomorrow, the Internet has been very sketchy at best. I will if I can.

Lets talk about the showers here. Yesterday as the rains began to fall we made our way to the showers and work out room. I was lucky enough to get the steam/shower, what a good thing. This shower had one large showerhead at the top an 4 other ones spray right at your body, then you hit a button and the steam starts coming in, boy is this great.. I want one of these at home. No really I do.. If I didn't have Bella with me I would not have come out of there all day...In the workout room right next to the showers they have a computer room with a cable hook up,so I posted on my blog. My air card in not working that well out here and neither is my phone. Back to the boat we went, dropped off Bella and headed up to the clubhouse to check on the storm on the weather channel. While we were there Carl tried to  teach me how to play chess. Only thing was he couldn't remember all the rules and the pieces were ducks and geese, hard to remember which piece is which..After we attemped to play a game and watched the weather again, it was back to the boat. I made dinner and we watched on of our grade B movies only this one was pretty good. Imagine that, we were surprised.. I took Bella out to go due her business and she ran so fast to get back to the boat, I thought she was gonna slide off the dock..Then we went back to the club house again and watched some television and Carl shot a couple of games of pool. Its really nice in there they even had a fire in the fireplace.. Comfy Cozy... The boat is very damp, and we have alot of wet items from all the rain. So the clubhouse is a nice change. Picture a sky lodge. As night neared the winds began to pick up. It had be raining off and on most of the day. Carl was outside tying up the wind generator and I helped him tie down the Bimimi. Most of the night was spent looking out at the storm and playing with the dog. Carl did a really good job tying the boat to all the poles in our slip. With the wind blowing as hard as it is,  we stay pretty much in the same space, some rocking around but not bad. As the night went on the winds picked up more and more. Now the winds are gusting pretty hard, the storm is ragging outside. I don't know how fast  the winds are, lets just stay we can really feel them. But that won't keep me from that shower again today..Carl picked the right place for our hurricane hole. Everyone please be safe in this storm and out of harms way..

These are the pictures from the day before that I was not able to post yesterday.

As we left the town dock in Oriental N.C. headed to the other side of Oriental to a safer dock, the sky was gray and overcast. When we got out into the Neuse River the wind and waves were already kicking up. Glad we were moving as early as we had, as I'm sure it will not be getting any better later in the day. We arrived at River Dunes Marina at about noon, and were given an inside slip which is great.. Right away we started securing the boat, took down the jib sail, all flags , tied the dingy on the back of the boat, etc. We will take down the Bimini when the winds pick up a little more. The harbor we are at is 25 miles from the coast and seems to be good hurricane hole, we hope...The marina is beautiful, not the kind of place we would normally stop at, very high end.. But since we are here after Oct.1st the rates have dropped to only a $1.00 per foot which is great since we will have to be here a few days. They have a wonderful club house and a fine dinning restaurant upstairs with a bar. We stopped at the bar for a drink but we will not be eating here. Not that the food wouldn't be great its just way out of our league..not when we have PB&J on the boat..After we had a couple of drinks in the bar we went downstairs to play a game of pool. It was obvious to anyone watching we hadn't done that in a long time, lets just say we sucked.. I mean really sucked...The first 2 games we each won by default, yeah were good.. Want us to teach you how to play.. After we were done making dummy's of ourselves on the pool table headed back to the boat and hit the hay. Today we still wait to see what Sandy will bring us..

When we got up in the morning and looked outside we saw that a Island Packet that was at the free town dock was leaving. Not being people who would miss an opportunity we quickly pulled our anchor and headed straight for it before anyone else came. Once we tired up to the dock we were happy to see that 3 guys we met in Elizabeth City, were docked on the other side. Cool we already knew our neighbors.. Jeremy, Leo and Andy what nice guys.. We had a muffin and a bagel from the little coffee shop at the dock and walked around a little bit, then it was time to see if we could use the free bikes to ride to the post office and grocery. We were in luck they had plenty of bikes so we could have two, one had a little cart attached to it, which was great to carry back things and for Bella to ride in. Unfortunately I did not have my camera on me so I didn't get a picture.  Just picture our little princess in a carriage..this is the life...Bella did pretty good,she did jump out once then she figured out what was going on. But on the way back to the boat, I took the sidewalk and Carl was in the street(he had the bike she was in) and she tried to get to me. Needless to say I got in the street behind them like I had been before and she was fine. All the way I was telling her what a good girl she was..Back at the boat we were talking to the boys then went and got an ice cream. Jeremy said a guy with a cannon was gonna come by later and shoot it off  at sunset for them. So we hung around the dock most of the day.Christian was the man who made the cannon, came over. The entire cannon was made out of used sailboat parts and he made his own black powder. When he shot that thing off it was really loud. Andy ( one of the guys on the other boat) and I were making food for dinner that we were all gonna share. It was a complete veggie meal, and boy was it good. Two of the guys on the boat were Pestatarian like me. Stories were shared as well as laughs and talk of the up coming storm. Back on our boat we talked of what we  would do and we headed to bed.This morning a check of the weather made the decision that we would move to a better, more secure Hurricane hole.We called and got a reservation then headed out. Looks like we will be hear for a few days. I will write more tomorrow, lots to do to get the boat ready.. Not to worry, all will be well....

After the ferry left Silver Lake so did most to the sailboats and cruising boats headed toward Oriental N.C. We of course were just after the crowd. It was the first night, in a long time we were able to leave a few port holes open while we sleep. The weather if finally getting warmer.. YEAH....The winds were not favorable so it was a motor all day kind of day. The seas however were calm which makes for smooth sailing and a easy day. We had 40 miles or so to cover today before we arrived at our destination. About midday I was in my swimsuit getting some sun and Carl had his T-shirt off and was in shorts. We love the south....I guess that's why we live there... We got to Oriental and dropped our hook , had some lunch and took the dingy to shore.Never ones to go ashore hungry, that always cost money. And we have to watch our budget, like most other people doing the same thing as us. We went to the local watering hole and had a few drinks, and met some really nice people. While Bella met 3 other dogs and had quite the big time playing with all the other dogs. After a couple of hours of fun it was back to the boat where we had dinner and called it a night. Today we will decide where we will be spending our time waiting the storm out.

It was a chilly morning as we stopped to fuel up before we headed out. Bella got her morning run about in and we were off. We had hoped the wind would be in our favor, but alas no luck. Our compass point was to close to the wind to sail, but we did put up the main just in case it switched, and it does keep us from bouncing about so much. It was a short day on the water as we had only 20 miles to traverse. We arrived at Ocarcoke N.C. before noon and set anchor, had lunch and headed to shore. Carl got the dingy out and he chose to row in since we were so close to shore. On shore we ran into Dick and Nancy a couple who had passed us the day before while sailing to Hatteras, who were also docked by us last night. They have a trawler and have being living aboard for the last 7 years, lucky them. I'm so jealous... Anyway they had bikes and had already rode around the island and were getting ready to head back to there boat, so they asked us if we would like to use their bikes.. Well we all know the answer to that.. Yeah baby, that would be awesome. You rock.. Save our shoes today...They also gave us a map of the island, life doesn't get any better than this... Off we went with Bella in tow on the leash, or show I say with Carl in tow as she was pulling him along, why didn't I want to hold on to the leash again.. First stop was the British grave yard where 4 soldiers were buried from WWII when their ship was sunk off the coast by a German submarine. They even had soil from Britain brought here. Then we took the back roads to the beach, it was a lovely ride though the neighborhood. Until we came to the bike trail,or should I say anything trail, since we passed a couple of horses going by. The beach was magnificent with all the 4 wheel vehicles on it,only thing was there was no surf.. Carl didn't take it well and drew nasty words on the beach, see for yourselves..Back in town we returned the bikes to Dick and Nancy with our thanks and stopped for a beer at the local pub. A guy named Happy was cleaning some fish and I went over to ask what kind of fish it was, he told me Sheepshead, had I ever tasted it. I said no and he gave me two fillets enough for us to have for dinner..He had caught lots of them with a net, and he had a whole dock cart full. One of the things I said to him is we have great names both make you smile..And smile we did.. I offered to buy him a beer but he said he had plenty in his cooler. Carl and I headed back to the boat and I pan fried the fish and it was terrific.. Thanks again Happy..Bella is wore out, all that running today did her in , she is just laying on the couch.  Today we head inland and keep a close eye on the storms headed this way.

Two days in a row we got out of bed early and got a start on the day. I made grits for breakfast and we got ready to head out and hitchhike to the island. We checked the surf report and the wind was all over it and it was closing out, so no surf today. Still we were hoping to go to the Wright Brothers monument.We walked up to the main road and put our thumbs out it didn't take but about 10 minutes and we scored a ride all the way to the monument. That was about 15 miles, what a good way to start the day. Yeah we couldn't beleive our luck, a painter and his crew had picked us up and took us all the way there.This was a awesome place, they had a huge  monument, a life size sculpture of the plane and the people, markers that showed where they had done the flight, plus replica's of the buildings they had there. I didn't realize they had made 4 flights on Dec.17,1903  and had gone 852 feet in 59 seconds. Inside the museum they had a lifesize replica of the plane made out of  the original materials. I am gonna try to post pictures differently today. Well that didn't work I was hoping they would post below my words. We left the Wright Brothers museum and got picked up by some newlyweds who had seen us there and dropped off at a local surf shop called Sceret Spot. After leaving there we walked 4 blocks to check out the waves, just as we thought no surf. Next ride we got was a taxi van. The lady told us not to tell her boss or she would be in trouble, our lips are sealed.. She dropped us off at Jockey State Park, the largest sand dunes on the east coast. Off with our shoes, to feel the sand on our feet, and to make walking easier..The dunes are 5 miles long and I don't know how high but the the first hill had me breathing hard. It made you feel like you were in the Sahara Desert. Sand for miles plus a great view of the ocean and city below.The only thing we needed was carboard to slide down the hills. They have hand gliding lessons here, so that tells you how high they are..Bella loved it too, what a great place to run around.Out to the road we stuck out our thumbs again and got picked up by a man who didn't speak English.  He took us to the Dollar Tree so I could pick up some shelf safe milk. As we were leaving there and were getting out the sign Carl had made us, a man asked if we are going over the bridge, and says he will give us a ride if we wait. Wait we did, we couldn't believe our luck.. We loaded into his SUV and he took us all the way to our boat.. That's right, right up to the dock..Oh happy day... This was an end to the perfect day.. We were able to see all we wanted to and got real, I mean real lucky with rides. I think having Bella with us helps, and the sign didn't hurt.. Back on the boat it was an early night after a full day of smiles as wide as the ocean. Heading out at 7:30am we had to make 47 miles today. I knew the day would be wonderful as as soon as we reached the channel we were surrounded by dolphins. Not just a couple, but a whole pod, maybe 10, they swam on both sides of the boat. Sailors say its good luck , so I knew it would be a good day at sea. Soon after that the winds picked up and we set sails.. Sailing healed over at about 6.5 knots and moving right along. I even got a picture of the boat sailing. We reached Cape Hatteras by late afternoon, got a dock and a shower. Here we stay until we leave this morning. Sorry I didn't post yesterday, but the water is very skinny in Pamlico Sound so I had to help with finding markers and by time we were in deep enough water I didn't have any internet..

The morning got off to  an early start. I walked Bella while Carl readied the boat to leave, the weather was right and we  headed to Manteo, N.C. at the outer banks. We had a great day to sail,the winds were on our starboard side  at 12 knots and the sea were about 2 feet. Once the sails were hosted we were off, sailing at a good pace. We heard someone calling the sailboat we had been on the night before and thought nothing of it, just enjoying hearing them on the radio. Not long after that the Coast Guard boat came steaming up to our boat on the port side. I waved as they came along side. They hailed us on the radio and asked when the last time we had been boarded by the Coast Guard was? Carl told them never and they said prepare to be boarded,as they were sending 2 men over to do a safety inspection. To maintain our course and speed and they would match us. Carl told them that we had had a Safety Inspection sticker on our mast from the Coast Guard. They asked when we got it and Carl told them in April and they pulled along side to check it out. Once they were satisfied, they pulled away saying have a nice day and we thanked them for their service. As they left we heard them hail another sailboat  right behind us,that had been at the dock with us the night before, and they boarded them. It appears they were boarding all the sailboats in the area, this was very unusual they don't normally board sailboats.It took them about 30 to 45 minutes to complete an inspection, and we were glad to not have to go though that. The safety inspection sticker Carl had gotten before we left our home port really paid off.... To say the least.. But of course it doesn't cost anything to have a Coast Guard inspection done on your boat, but it did save us time and bother.That was the most exciting thing to happen today. The rest of the day proved to be just an easy day at sail. We arrived at Manteo to the free dock they have here, only no party to welcome us, but still free...We walked around the little town dock area and enjoyed all the art. This town has many art studios. They  also claim to be the earliest town in America, we are not sure seems like other towns have made the same claim.They say they founded in 1585. However, they do claim to have had the first American born on our soil, Virgina Dire  I think. Then they became the lost colony, as no one know what happened to them after their first year. The town was named after an Indian named Manteo, who was the guide to Sir Walter Raleigh.Today we head to the beach to see what we find..

The rain kept us in the cabin for most of the morning. I cleaned the galley and scrubed the head, while Carl helped a couple of boats tie up that came on the dock. Carl had Bella with him, she was jumping at another dog who didn't like it, and the dog turned on Bella and grabed her by the neck. Bella wasn't hurt but she did learn her lesson. I hope she won't try that again very soon.. We again met a young man with his grandma checking out the boats at the dock, Garrett and Sarah. Carl was talking to them when I brought up the trash to throw away. Again we invited them inside to see the boat. We love showing the boat to young kids and they like it too. They stayed aboard for a while when they had to leave to check out the museum. Garrett had just read about pirates, so it was quite fun for him. Pictures were taken, Garrett played with Bella for a time and then they were gone. They forgot their camera case so I ran it across the street to the museum to give it to them. Then Carl studied the charts and then we went and got the city bikes to ride around town. We wanted to take Bella but the baskets were not stronge enough to hold her. We rode the area for about a couple of hours, and found two great things. First we found a place that not only would trade us DVDs 2 for 1, good deal, so 5 new movies, then the same place had a chair I love. The chair is the first one I have ever found that would match our livingroom furniture, only problem is I have no way to get it home. It won't fit in our boat and shipping it would cost $200 and thats more than the chair costs, I can't do it. So if any of you are headed this way and you would bring it south for me let me know. I would give you $50 to bring it down for me but it is out of the way, its in Elizabeth City, N.C. I will post a picture of the chair. Just thought I would mention it, you never know who is headed this way. Carl and I continued our ride until we found a Dairy Queen, they  had 1/2 price malts so for $2.50 each got one, umummmm good.We returned the bikes just in time for happy hour at the dock, the daily wine and cheese party.We meet a few new people and then we were invited on to  Lisa and Tim's boat for cocktails. Linda and Lee were also there, it was fun... Then it was back on our boat where I made white bean and kale soup and we tucked in for a early night as we are leaving today.They call this town the Harbor of Hospitality and have a cool marker  that tells the story of how that began in the park right in front of our boat. Today we head over to Maneo, N.C. just inside the outer banks..

All hopes of leaving today were dashed when we woke up and it was heavy fog, with the possibility of thunder storms. We did have a nice day yesterday even with the rain, we went to the museum.This was a very nice museum we stayed there looking, reading and enjoying all it had to offer for about 3 hours. They covered everything from the British landing, to today. They had a great display on the Coast Guard, Civil War and everything about this area.We were very surprised to find out that North Carolina was not only where the Civil War started but also where the Coast Guard began.The first Coast Guard air station was located in this town do to the German submarines off our shores during World War II. We love learning all we do visiting all these places, we are getting quite the history lesson. And to think I didn't pay attention in that class when I was young, or maybe I just forgot all this. After that we called for the van to pick us up for the grocery store, we didn't need much but I wanted some fresh  bread. What a great service this is, they pick you up in the parking lot in front of the dock and drop you right in front of the store.Then they watch for you to finish and pick you up at the front door and take you back to your boat. No charge what a great deal.This town definitely takes care of the boaters who stop here. Back at the boat the couple from the boat next store, Tim and Lisa came over for a beer before they went out for dinner. They are from Ohio but keep their boat in North Carolina. That's  a long way to go to sail their boat, but they said they hope to retire here. I made fish piccata for dinner and we watched a our grade B movies and I talked on the phone. Again today we sit and wait to leave, as the fog is still pretty thick, even with the sun up. Maybe we will use the town bicycles they have for free it it doesn't rain all day..

Carl started the day by cleaning the outside of the boat. From passing though the locks we had this ugly mess on the side of the boat and brown water line from being in the cypress water. So while he hopped in the dingy and got to work I walked to the laundromat and what a walk that turned out to be. The ladies at the visitor's center told me it was about 4 blocks down how hard could that be to find? Well when you a dork like me trying to find it maybe they should have told me it was across from Taco Bell. I was on the wrong side of the street, first wrong move and the sign on the building wasn't very good. So pass it I did, with about 20 lbs of laundry on my back also carrying a bag of soap and bleach. I walked about a mile till I got to the post office and asked where the laundromat was and they told me about a half mile back by the Hardees, next to Taco Bell.. What I walked this far for nothing. I know I need the exercise for this is plan stupid.. I felt like a recruit doing a morning march with my full gear.. All I needed was a cantor, Left, Right,Left...Anyway by time I got finished and returned to the boat, Carl was done with his chore too. I had heard there was a bakery down the street and we wanted fresh bread for dinner so we gabbed Bella and headed that way, only to find out it became a campaign office for some local running for office.  Just what kind of day am I having?...We decided to walk around town and check it out. We did find $1.00 chili dogs which made Carl real happy all he could say was yummy..We dropped Bella back at the boat and headed over to the museum, only to find out it was gonna close in 30 minutes and it was huge. .It is by far the best free museum we have seen, so we will go over there today. Back on the dock for the wine and cheese party, the tourist lady told me I was the first person who ever said they walked past the laundromat.Carl had picked up a map of the local waters and all the men clamored around while they talked to a local boater about the waterways. I left Carl to the other men and I went and got Bella out so she could walk around and play with the dogs. When she finally seemed tired, it was back on the boat.  I made dinner while Carl found a crazy movie like an old one with space monsters, pretty funny. Today we check out the museum and plan our escape for tomorrow..