Week of April 28th

At the Boat Hospital, Carolina Inlet Marina, NC

At anchor, Wrightsville Beach, NC

This will be known as the week that wasn't. As planned, we left Wilmington Marine Center for Carolina Inlet Marina to get hauled for a wheel tune. For the unaware, this means some pitch needed to be taken out of our props because there is too much "stuff" on our boat and it wouldn't go fast enough. By Tuesday, we were back in the water with full intentions of moving north after a delightful evening at Wrightsville Beach, a favorite anchorage of ours. But, that was not to be.

While sea-trialing the boat after the wheels had been tuned, we noticed a small vibration...not bad but irritating. But, we continued on to Wrightsville while Steve talked with our engine guru, Tom DeMann. The engine tech was to be on our boat in the morning, Wednesday, so we dropped anchor and prepared to enjoy the rest of the day.

There is a fresh fish market near where we anchor so after getting the dinghy down, we loaded Sidney and headed for the market where we picked up some Wahoo for the grill. As often happens, as we were leaving the market, Steve looks over at a nearby fishing boat and says "don't we know that guy?". Of course, I said no but after looking again, it turns out it was Daniel, a guy who attended Chapman's with us in 2002. Now, how about that as a coincidence! He was in the process of restocking his boat to head out for another few days of commercial fishing...by himself about 50-60 miles offshore in 4-5 foot waves. Not for us!! After dinner, we took Sidney to shore and walked him on the beach. Idyllic...sun setting, a nice breeze, and plenty of running room for Sid. Topped off the nite with a scoop of ice cream from a local outlet.

Wrightsville Beach is a major resort and vacation area in these parts so there are plenty of little restaurants, coffee shops and junk stores.

Wednesday morning we take Sidney to shore for his "duty". Off to the beach...so good to be able to walk him and enjoy the ocean at the same time...or so we thought. It seems we didn't read the sign correctly...not only are dogs not allowed on the beach April-Sept. but when they are allowed, they must be on a leash. Busted by a Beach Officer on both counts. We apologized, leashed him up, and headed back to town. Their signs are kinda strange in that they are big, for sure, but misleading unless you REALLY read them. They start out with a big NO followed by all the no-no's...including no dogs allowed. Well, all we saw was "dogs on the beach April-Sept" and "on a leash all other times". Completely missed the NO!! No ticket so the day was not ruined and we did have about a mile or so on the beach before we were "caught"!!

Duane arrived to finish the throttle repair and deliver our 2nd set of wheels. Further discussion regarding the vibration and we're heading back to Wilmington on Thursday...bummer big time! Another nite on the hook isn't so bad.

Arrived back in Wilmington and Friday Duane is back on the boat. Finds the alignment is just fine but there are bigger problems to come. Seems our port transmission is giving us fits. Final determination: replace the transmission. That process begins on Monday and if our travel Angels are with us, we should be back on the road, again, by Thursday or Friday. Remember, this is a boat and we're in a boatyard...anything can, and usually does, happen. While I'll try and remain optomistic, I'm also pragmatic.

The good things: we're healthy, we're with our engine guru and not in the wilderness somewhere, and the weather is wonderful.

So, while Steve digs through our holds cleaning and organizing, I clean and wax the stainless, a job I put off until it HAS to be done. Next is the cockpit, or the rear of the boat, since I haven't cleaned and waxed it in quite a while. It's our major living area outside so hard to do when the rest of the boat is waxed. Great way to get a tan! And, yes, kids...I put on sun lotion every two hours.

Once we do get out of here, we will be deadheading (major straight through) to Norfolk so we can get Steve on the plane May 17th. Hope all is well with each of you. Any comments on this blog are welcome...just email us at cdernie@aol.com. Happy Days.

Manatee off our swim platform...Miami

Sunday, April 22, 2007

The "day before departure" has arrived. With clear blue skiies and warm temperatures, we ready the boat for her trip down the Cape Fear River to Carolina Beach where she will be hauled for final maintenance. The leaky injector pump was deemed to not be an issue thus all the Turkey needs during her final check-up is to fine tune the wheels and tighten up the throttle mechanism. After all is finished, we will head up the NC ICW towards Beaufort NC and our next destination, Oriental NC.


The past few days have been spent in relative quiet. The boat had a new coat of 3M Performance Wax applied to the upper decks and gunnel, the inside had another cleaning, various and sundry items were put back into their normal storage quarters and Sidney got his grooming for the week. One can always tell when that happens as there are little balls of hair floating all over the boat basin. Honestly, I can't figure out how he can lose so much hair and still have such a heavy coat left on him! And with the onset of warmer temperatures, he'll lose even more. Thank God for vaccum cleaners and specialized hair brushes for dogs!


This morning was an interesting morning as we saw our first alligator. Small though it was, it was confirmation that one really does need to keep the dog within sight at all times. The gator was sunbathing on the edge of the basin nearest our boat. By the time I got our camera, he was out of sight. So we headed off to the grocery store to provision for our next week without sight of fresh fruits or veggies.


Once we leave here, we'll travel about 50-60 miles a day which means we'll be in Oriental in about 3 days barring any unforeseen issues with mechanical issues or weather. We met a retiring Marine Corp officer in Miami Beach just before we left. John was taking his newly purchased Island Packet sailboat up to Oriental where he lives with his wife. We'll, hopefully, tie up to his dock and spend a couple of days checking out the area. Steve is not terribly fond of the heat and humidity of late spring and summer in this part of the country but I don't mind it at all. Oriental is on the Neuse River just west of the NC Outer Banks and just a short trip either north to Norfolk VA or south to Beaufort NC; both are easy trips to the ocean. And, there is great fishing so what's there not to like!


Once there, we will search for an open wifi connection but, if none is available, we'll talk when we can. Take care for now.

Week of April 15th

Though I said this wouldn't be done, after reflection, decided that it would be easier to post weekly summaries rather than try to remember (I'm getting old!) everyone I want to send emails to.
This blog will be our story of traveling the Great Circle from Miami Beach Fl, up the Hudson River, through the Erie Canal, across Lake Ontario, through the Trent Severn Canal, the Georgian Bay, North Channel, down Lake Michigan, across to Chicago, to the Illinois River, the Mississippi River to Cairo then onto the Ohio, Cumberland and into the Tennessee River, up the TN River to the Tenn-Tom Waterway, down the Tenn-Tom to Mobile, home for the holidays, then on to our berth in Miami Beach.
We started our Adventure April 2nd from Miami Beach FL with our friends, Rick and Joan Bullock, aboard to Charleston. While uneventful, Mother Nature prevented us from traveling outside. Other than 2 days, we have been on the ICW. Nice but slow. We made a few stops along the way, including Cumberland Island and Savannah. On Cumberland, we saw a gaggle of Wild Turkeys (name of our boat) but no wild horses. In Savannah, we tried to have dinner at Lady and Sons (of Paula Dean fame) but were unable to get a decent time for a sitting. The town is laid out around many lovely parks (reminiscent of Denver) and is noted as the first planned city in the US. We loved the antebellum homes and old live oak trees covered with spanish moss.
We reached Bohicket Marina after 10 days of cruising where we dropped Rick and Joan off. They live on John's Island on a golf course. We were here nearly 3 years ago and how the landscape has changed. Of particular note, Freshfield Farms. A must for anyone traveling through here. It is near the intersection from John's Island to Kiawah Island noted by a traffic circle. Not only is there great shopping but it has a grocery store to die for! If I would have bought everything I wanted to, the boat would have sunk! True to a fine grocery, there was a Starbuck's.
After two days of visiting and meeting their newest grandson, Jackson, we headed to Wilmington NC and the Wilmington Marine Center where we are currently at the dock. Mother Nature had again been displaying her curious nature hitting us with 35-40 kt winds with gusts to over 50 so we tied up in North Myrtle Beach for the weekend and tried to wait her out. Monday brought continuing winds so, since we were somewhat protected by traveling on the ICW, we left the dock and headed to Wilmington. All was fine until we hit the Cape Fear River at Bald Head Island. Here, the tide was going out and the wind was howling making for unruly seas. So, we buttoned all the hatches, put on our weather gear, and headed up river to the Marine Center. It was a fun ride, for sure! And you know it was a bad day when there weren't any other boats on the water! But, with our travel angels at our side, we made it here safely.

Here, we are getting our 800 hour engine maintenance done. This maintenance is extensive including cleaning of all major engine parts and search for any potential engine issues. Afterwards, we'll go to another marina where we'll have our props rebalanced and alignment done. Hopefully, we'll be ready for the Loop without concern for major engine issues.
Meanwhile, as you all know, I am not at all fond of cold weather. So far, we're still wearing long clothes and warm jackets. There have been a few days of "warmer" weather but nothing where we can drive the boat from the upper helm station. And, after reading blogs of past adventurers, it doesn't look like this trip will be much warmer until mid-July. The good part is that we'll have less sun exposure which will make my kids happier.
Sidney continues to loose his hair in massive quantities meaning I have to vacuum everyday at least once. What would we do without him? He doesn't mind boating as long as there isn't any big water. In these parts, Steve is always careful to remind me to watch out for alligators!
Time out: We'll be here for a while. Seems we have leaks in our injector pumps. Always something! Don't know what this means in terms of time delay but for sure we'll be here until next week. Bummer!! Our only concern is getting Steve to Norfolk to catch a plane to OK on May 17th...it's Bull Sale time at the Ranch. Guess we'll have to rent a car to go shopping and revisit Wilmington!! Oh well.......
Until next time, thank you for sharing our adventure. We'll try and keep you posted on a weekly basis, and include appropriate pictures from time to time but will be dependent on WiFi availability. Canada, in particular, is going to be a dead space unless we find marinas with wifi capability. Hope you enjoy.