Take A Moment To Remember Our Soldiers!

Safely at Mom's place recovering from the long weekend in Savannah with the Combat Hel's icopter Pilot's Association (CHPA) crowd who gathered there. Why Dexter and I were not even close to going to jail during the visit....old age is cramping our style.

I found a new home at Kevin Barry's, an Irish Bar located at 117 West River Street in downtown Savannah. The place is simply "magic"! Great food, lots of adult malt beverage choices....and full of military folks.....real war fighting military folks and sometimes a few Air Force types show up too.

Yesterday was a very long day....we hit Kevin's shortly after Lunch for an ad hoc staff meeting and wound up finishing the day off about One in the morning. I can strongly recommend the Irish Stew and Shepherd's Pie.....and the half gallon of single malt whiskey provided. The music was provided by Frank Emerson....a very talented entertainer who sings a few songs in the evening along with about a hundred and fifty toasts. Every song requested seems to be his favorite one.....and despite a touch of Irish in him he does Scottish as well.

I tipped glasses with Privates right on up to a Brigadier during the course of the day and evening. Dexter wimped out about supper time.....which was good as I would have had to carry him home in a wheel barrel if he had stayed much longer.

It is an amazingly small world....flew with one of the guys in Alaska, and knew some friends in common with a couple of the others in the CHPA. After being a Life Member in the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) for many years.....I find this CHPA to be one more along the likes I can enjoy. They allow....and want crewmembers to join the association as well....and wish to include those wonderful guys in our activities and programs. Now all we have to is start spreading the word!

Early night tonight....too little sleep and way....way too much fun.....liquid style over the weekend.

As I left the Pub last night I got a big hug from some of the Bar Tenders......really made an Old Man's night I can tell you! One of the young lass's Ranger boyfriend has been seriously wounded in Afghanistan and is enroute to Landstuhl for treatment that will prepare him to travel home for his longterm treatment. I reminded Sara that a lot of us have him in our Prayers.....and her too. Having taken a similar ride home from Vietnam in 1970....I fully understand what they are going through and my heart goes out to them and all the other young folks that are paying the bill for our Freedom. It certainly moves one to see such strength in our young folks....they continue to do us Old Soldiers proud!

The Rumour Of My Passing Is Premature!

Where to begin....it has been way too long since I have posted here. Since then lots of interesting things have happened....some of which I will talk about.....and some I shall not under pain of death and dismemberment.

Cousin Robert, his neighbor Tony, and I drove up to Washington, DC and joined a half dozen other folks in participating in the National Tea Party. I thought it was more like a Million folks but the News Media would have one believe the lower number or attribute the actual number to the Third Black Family Reunion that was going on as well. As we all know now...our crowd was made up of Radical White Racist Rednecks and Bigots thus I don't see how the Media got the counting screwed up as they did.

Now that Letterman is involved in Staff problems and yet another CBS media type has been caught red handed with some questionable documents....(and Dan Blater has had his 70 Million Dollar law suit thrown out of Court), I guess the media again takes some hits.

Just heard Obama and Michelle failed to bring home the Bacon from Denmark.....thus I reckon there shall be some Chicago Political Machine backfires as a result. I wonder who all was going to get rich off the Olympics but now are scrambling to find other ways to bilk the Taxpayer.

Van Jones, a self announced Communist, got booted from the Obama retinue of Czars....the Safe Schools Czar turns out to be an apologist for Man-Boy homosexual activities (nope....not Campfires and Order of the Arrow rituals like the Boy Scouts) and has praised one of the NMBLA (think child molesters here). One cannnot make this stuff up....really!

Rep. Townes....who got a loan from CountryWide along with Conrad and Dodd....still refuses to order Congressional hearings on the matter.....funny about that!

Charlie Rangel remains under investigation for understating his networth, investments, and proceeds from transactions and business deals....but remains Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committe. No wonder....he doled out 2.5 Million Dollars to 119 Democratic Congressmen including three who sit on the Ethics Committee which is doing the investigation of his fraudulent activities. All the while, good ol' Charlie is trying to increase fines and penalties for the rest of us who cheat on our taxes. No Hypocracy there!

On the healthcare scene, despite the American public being against the Healthcare Reform, the Public Option, Single Payer and other changes.....the Democrats ( well as least some of them) continue to try to find a way to make this all happen. Are they completely deaf and dumb?

Congress has a whopping 16% approval rating.....at what point does one get fired from a job when the Boss Fellah lays an evaluation like that on you? Why do we keep voting the scoundles back into office?

Am sitting in Savannah attending a Combat Helicopter Pilot Association (CHPA) meeting....only about 30 of us here....enjoying the heck out of Savannah and River Street. Good Irish music, good Guinness....excellent food. So far....no lies told....only some slight prevarications!

Found a really nice bar on River Street....Perry's I think it is....will confirm that later. The second floor bar is filled with militaria from all services but has a lot from the 75th Rangers, 160th SOAR and other SOCCOM units. A visit to the place just to see all of the items on display is worth it alone but then throw in the live Irish music and good food.....it becomes a must stop.

More to come!

New but Failed Technology!

Now for the short version of a long story!

Gateway Laptops are a complete failure as Ion-izing Water Filters.....they treat the water good enough but don't last very long while doing so thus making them un-economical as a means to improving water quality.

The girls showed up late in the afternoon on Thursday and we pulled out of Beaufort Creek after finally untangling the anchor from an old mooring line we had snagged. The run out to Lookout was interesting....we got beat up pretty good with all sorts of stuff finding its way onto the cabin sole. Frady did fine until all that commotion started at which time he sought safer and quieter places. Katie snuggled him for most of the ride.....lucky fellow!

We spent a good weekend in the Bight, the girls surfed (what there was of it), braved the presence of a fairly large Shark, gathered clams and the like for fish bait. We caught a few Croakers and a pretty two foot long shark. The Curry I made on Saturday turned out really good.....brought tears to some eyes!

We dropped Katie off on Sunday and headed back to Edenton. Shannon was a great help running into the creek at night well after dark and while surrounded by Thunderstorms. I would have hated to do that by myself!

The day I drove Shannon to Wilmington....I returned to find the Deck Hatch over the dinette table to be un-dogged and the Laptop filled with rain water. It had drowned while I was gone.

A week later....with a nice new Sony laptop....back on line.

Rumours of my death are a bit premature!

Shannon drowned my Laptop.....and finally got the new one up and running a few minutes ago.

Will catch this up over the weekend!

Almost A Good Night's Sleep!

After getting anchored and sorted out for the evening....sat up for a bit watching the Full Moon shine and caught up on phone calls. Shannon and Katie are on schedule to arrive today for their weekend at Lookout. Both are bringing their surf boards.

Fell into bed....nice breeze blowing through the cabin....but did have to swap ends as the Moon was shining brightly on the pillows when I first went to bed.

About 1AM the tide changed and the boat swung about on the anchor and fetched up with a jerk that woke me up from a very sound bit of snoozing. I got up and checked all was fine....had a few minutes quality time with Frady and fell back in bed.

At 6:15....a single, agressive, irritating Fly found me. He was one of the non-biting kinds but pestered me silly until I finally just got up and started coffee. The irritating little bugger followed me into the main cabin and continued his aggravating ways. As always....if one persists in fomenting evil....there is a price to be paid. A rolled up newspaper cured the problem! Said fly is off to feed a fish in Beaufort Creek. There was no "words" said over his burial beyond "Do your duty for God and Country....support your local wild life!"

Marine Life in Beaufort, NC.

Awoke this morning and took the opportunity to clean boat....and sort out a bit of a mess that had accumulated in the past week or so. It makes it so nice when you can walk on carpet instead of dirty underwear and smelly Tee shirts. Frady was beginning to spend most of his time above decks as he sensed the presence of a Billy Goat down below I think.

Pulled into the Morehead Yacht Basin for fuel and had a nice visit with Mike the Dockmaster. Always good to see him and catch up on gossip. Looking at all the mega million dollar Sport Fishing boats I felt like the Klampetts in Hollywood. After fueling I motored over to Town Creek Marina with the intent to anchor there for the night. The sailing school was in session and had set up shop in the anchorage and channel right at the marina. Trying to stay out of their way....got Luna stuck on a mud bar. As the tide was rising.....about a half hour later I was off and headed to the Fort Macon Coast Guard station as my alternate anchorage. In a weak moment I decided to run into Beaufort Creek and spend the night there. After a couple of tries at finding a spot....I gave up and drifted off down the creek until I found the end of the line of sailboats and set the anchor, fired up the Gennie....and cranked up the air conditioners!

Now as to marine life at Beaufort....usual schools of bait fish jumping out of the water....some Porpoises snorkling around....birds dipping small fish from the creek....and two boatloads of the scuzziest floatsam I have seen ever. They were moored out on the creek in small sailboats....both of which looked like derelicts. One fellow made Charlie Manson look sane.....and just one look at him convinced me to find another place for the night. The other boat load were self appointed mooring monitors and boat handling critics. I suggested their time would be better spent if they showed some interest in a bar of soap and some hot water as their expertise at giving boat handling instruction suffered from a poor professional image.

Perhaps later I shall take the Dink for a run and see if I can wear out my Fish Billy. It would improve the ambiance of the Beaufort Water Front and exorcise some demons that have been building up of late. The good ol' days of Nightsticks, Lead Saps, and ample opportunity to vent frustration through the use of Applied Psychology. Some people just need an ass kicking!

Cape Lookout tomorrow night!

Great Day!

Awoke at Oh Dark Thirty....had a quick cup of coffee and arm wrestled Frady over the bowl of cereal....I gave up and shared it with him.

Really foggy as I pulled into the Alligator River Canal but with lots of optimism I knew in my heart it would lift quickly as I could already feel a bit of wind stirring.

Wrong!

I got a couple of miles into the canal and it did get foggy....like really foggy....like hug one side and sorta see the bank as it slid by at three knots or less. The radar and chart plotter worked great and in an hour or so the fog did lift to a bearable visibility. Part of the run was like flying instruments in a helicopter.....let the autopilot drive and just punch buttons and monitor the radar and moving map.

The wind was perverse today. Every time it picked up to being usable for sailing and far enough off the bow to make it work.....there was a course change that put it right smack back on the bow.

Now anchored at Cedar Creek just south of the Neuse and getting ready for a well deserved dinner.

Cellular reception is fading in and out.....thus good reason to call it a night!

Next stop Morehead City/Beaufort for fuel and a slow day to catch up with boat stuff.

Underway Again!

Awoke to a foggy, damp, looks like it is gonna rain day....but it never did! Got up early and filled propane tanks, bought a bit of Dink Gas and hit the Bayside for Breakfast. Since Big Bill left the Bayside has lost it's allure.....I can cook an egg better than the folks running the place now. Seems the Church folk banded together and Big Bill hit the road....seems the kitchen was a bit crowded and it became a "She Goes or I Go!" deal and Bill went. That is bad news for those of us who enjoy a really good breakfast out sometimes.

Nice run today, all power and no sailing as the wind stayed politely on the nose all day....even when I changed course a couple of times. Go Figure!

Forecast is for the same winds for the rest of the week so this will be a motor trip to Morehead. After that it will be good sailing with the winds out of the Southwest....3-5 foot seas....but some chance of afternoon Thunder Bumpers marching in from the Gulf Stream.

Early night tonight as I want to be up and gone by daylight. Frady is on watch as he slept all of the day when he wasn't glaring at me with looks that could kill. He got over being shanghai'ed about dinner time tonight. Funny how that works!

Boats and Sailors need to be on the water and away from the dock.....things look better from out here!

I'm Going Crazy!

Some folks would say I have already gone crazy....some would probably argue I have always been crazy....but at last I, myself, think I am sliding over that line between being being merely annoyed and actually being driven crazy by politicians and the American Media.

Perhaps it was the several days of being cooped up on the boat with a bad head cold, compounded by the arrival of August with its soul killing heat and humidity that brought this on as I had plenty of idle time to contemplate the situation extant in American Politics. Reading the Winston-Salem Journal Editorial Pages surely played a part in my demise.

A few of the things that worked on my only nerve recently.

Harry Reid (D-NV), Senate Majority Leader blamed the Media for the deadline on the Obama Health Care Bill. I guess the Dimwit missed all the Obama Press Conferences, speeches, and Town Hall meetings where Obama urged haste and said the Bill had to be on his desk by the August recess.

Nancy Pelosi....pick anything that Witch said! God but she likes to call other folks "Villians"! It scares me I pray for the continued good health of Obama and Biden....but only because Nancy is in line for the front office! Where's Japan Air Lines when you need them, Clancy?

The Obama Health Care Bill itself.....Lord God Almighty...when the Democrats cannot agree on a Social Program structure and Bill then how can the Republicans be blamed for being the hold up?

Obama, clearly stating he did not have the facts, calls the Cambridge Police out following the arrest of Skippy Gates, then tries to weasel out of his gross mistake, and can not find it in himself to apologize for slandering the Officers, then compounds that by suggesting a beer or two will make things good.

Michael Jackson dies from an overdose of illegal drugs, the rotten little pervert, and the whole world mourns his passing and makes him out to be a Saint.

We get "Cash for Clunkers" and the government cancels the program despite millions of dollars of dealer advertising yet to be aired....then turns around and adds twice as much money to the program telling the dealers to keep selling cars, all the while knowing the new money has to be approved by Congress which might just not happen! What if we had not bailed out GM and Chrysler and thrown all those Billions of dollars into a "Buy a New Car Now!" program....would not quite a few taxpayers derive some direct benefit from that along with car dealers, mechanics, auto parts suppliers, detailers, tire shops, and the auto makers along with DMV licensing, property tax collectors, and others that feed off the auto industry? Perhaps the UAW would not have been as happy but then....oh....right....that is why!

Chris Dodd, up to his nostrils in ethics violations, gets Obama's express support for his re-election campaign in 2010. Remember the new Hope and Change mantra where Obama swore to clean up Washington Politics?

Charlie Rangel, also up to his nostrils in corruption and ethics charges, actually bragged "he" was the one who called for his own investigation by the Ethics Committee. Yeah, right!

Obama, anticipating his up coming staunch defense of Skippy, refused to rush to judgement on the Iranian government's gunning down protesters who were claiming rigged elections. Granted, most of the civilized world did take exception to the gunfire and murder. Must be Obama is a bit immune to those complaints coming from Chicago and the Daly Machine. After all, the Iranians were not interrogating terrorists guilty of truck bombing vegetable markets or masterminding the 911 attacks or cutting off Danny Pearl's head.

Right! Enough! Any more of this and I will be making up a hangman's noose and eyeing the yardarm on Luna!

When things get this way....I resort to a good dose of Michael Ramirez or Mallard Fillmore cartoons and the demons seem to fade away a bit.

Trip to Lookout delayed....lots of storms, wind, rain, and a pair of empty propane tanks on the boat. Grocery load out today, top off water tanks, fill the propane tanks tomorrow morning and away we go.

Frady missed on his timing and took off this morning at about 0430....having awakened me twice for morning chow. First time at 0355...which coincided with a head call. Then at 0425 when he nibbled on my hand and told me the half day old canned chow I put in his bowl was not acceptable and I would open a new can forthwith and with all due haste, deliver said fresh chow into his dining gear.

Cats are not demanding creatures....not at all!

Rainy Days!

The weather provided ample opportunity to catch up on some reading, movie watching, and completing the starter repair and doing a routine oil change/fuel filter change/raw water strainer cleaning. After all that it was grab several bottles of Dawn and a bottle of Pine Sol and clean bilge!

Next order of business is to fetch my canvas work back from Cedric's place in New Bern and install that.

After the rain quit and the Moon broke out, Frady and I went for a walk on the dock.

I have never seen that Cat so happy!

When I stepped onto the dock and suggested we go walkies....he started chattering and took off from the boat and galloped off down the dock with his kitty hooves clattering away. When he stopped....it was claw the dock time using all fours in pairs...first the front then the hind end....chattering all the while!

We did the usual round....down to the bridge and back. Naturally, Frady had to hit every finger dock and climb aboard his favorite boats to sniff around. On the way back he insisted on going cross country and not back track up the dock. The reason for that was he wanted to do a bit of tree climbing.

He bolted up the first tree and found it to be a bit cluttered up with limbs and vines....so he jumped down and took off to the second one. Up he went....checking out each limb and rubbing his chin over everything. A few finger scratches on a limb and he was attacking my hand. He loves that game! This being a smaller tree with skinny limbs ol' Frady had a series of what gymnasts would call "faults"....but managed to reclaim his position without completely falling out of the tree. Granted he did "Hang Ten" in a mountain climber way a couple of times.

After leaving the tree.....he was off like a shot to the boat where he did an over the lifeline arrival into the cockpit leaving skid marks as he tried to stop on the fiberglass deck. He was all head butts, leg jobs, and scratch my butt for the rest of the evening.

That was a good run ashore.

Frady enjoyed himself and I enjoyed watching him do so. I just love to hear him clopping down the boards at a high gallop with his tail up and right!

Where Does The Time Go?

Edenton being a small town is supposed to be a sleepy little place where time all but stands still. After all, Main Street could easily still be trapped in the 50's except for the cars and dates on the newspapers. I just noticed I had not posted here in way too long.

I anchored out in the bay for the annual Fireworks display....pretty good show for a small town....but not as dramatic as Ocracoke's. Seems their's lasted all of about four seconds when the truck unloading process went bad and the whole load detonated killing several people. Sad news that as July the Fourth is supposed to be a time of celebration and remembrance of our country's founding.

The next day when it came time to start engine and weigh anchor....I encountered a situation where it was more like cuss the engine and forget the anchor. I finally got the engine starter to do its thing and made my way back to the dock. The next few days were spent contemplating removing the engine starter and trying to figure out what was wrong. I finally declared it a solenoid problem and in a weak moment decided to replace the part with the starter mounted on the engine. Simple job right....disconnect two wires, one ground, remove two small bolts and remove the bad solenoid. Then reverse the process....simple...right?

Wrong!

It was a job....spelled J.O.B! You could see the thing....you could almost touch the thing...but getting your fat fingers and a tool into a postion you could do something...now that was another whole kettle of fish. A mere day later and the job was complete. Not to mention some blistered paint work from some very sailor like language. Frady even left me to it as he was afraid to be within earshot as his delicate young ears were being hurt.

Job done...up to the cockpit...hit the key...and.....Nothing!

Next step...remove the entire starter....no problem he says. Two days spent thinking how to get an eighteen inch long, seven inch diameter starter out of a twelve inch long, three inch hole.

I wimped out....called Thomas Grant. He looked at it a bit...said it would be a long process but he thought he could do it. Thirty minutes later he says open the hatch and lets take this thing to the overhaul shop! He is part magician I firmly believe!

On the way we stopped by his house and inspected his pool parlor named the "Dog House" located behind his wife's home. Evidently Thomas finds much need to hide out back for some reason thus the name of the place. He has a very nice hideout....a proper Pool Table of his own and a beautiful Snooker Table owned by a friend. I have been awarded local status based upon his invitation to join in the Wednesday night pool and bull shooting.

We tracked down Joe Alligood by phone....told us to drop the starter off at his house in Edenton and he would work on it on Saturday. Short version.....my faith in mankind, small towns, and good folks remains solid. Joe is one of those guys that make life so much more enjoyable.

I retrieved the starter on Sunday morning from Joe, installed the thing in the afternoon and Luna is now ready for sea.....after I clean the bilge, clean water strainers, and fuel filters.....and grow some more knuckles and hide on my hands. Next time I will exercise great wisdom and call Thomas again.

Saturday night I did a pub crawl....hit both Sean's and the Waterman's. Edenton is the only place I know of where you can hit every single bar in town, have a drink in every place, and still drive home legally sober. At the Waterman's....I spied three lovely ladies at the bar....and thought one of them was the Post Mistress of Edenton. I was half right....she is one of the two in town. The trio were good fun and exercised good judgement and gulped their drinks down and fled my company.

That seems to happen a lot these days for some reason. Perhaps I need to invest in either deodorant or plastic surgery!

Cruising North Carolina

Frady started Shannon's training program in earnest this weekend.....as noted by the Kitty Treat Session. Shannon thought she would just be able to dump a small handful out on the floor and the Cat would happily munch away. She learns quick that young lady! From what I heard and saw of Frady.....she must give a great Kitty massage....he was purring big time!

Motored up the Alligator River and on into Edenton.

Today was all good fun cleaning the boat up and getting up close and personal with the aft Head.

While cleaning the shower and head I noticed the Pot was a bit loose on its mount and in a weak moment decided to tighten the thing up. Much harsh language, watering eyes, and all sorts of interesting sights later....I got the job done. Who would guess the only way to tighten the "metric sized" bolts was to completely disassemble the whole unit. As soon as the nut was off the bolt (they mount upside down) the bolt fell out of the hole into the base of the Potty. That meant taking the whole thing apart....turning the Pot upside down and bolting it back together....after finding a Ten MM box end wrench and socket. So instead of a nice afternoon nap....I got to learn all about the inner workings of a Marine Head (as in toilet). The other Marine Head would not take but a minute to sort out as there is not much to them. Actually as I think about it....there isn't all that much difference.

I did take the opportunity to hit the Bayside Cafe for a double order of their wonderful homemade biscuits (Just like Grandma used to make) and some great Sausage gravy. Frady took off to parts unknown for a bit of shore leave.

Pouring down rain now.....and it seems like a great time to sign off and go hug my pillow!

Gone Sailing!

Pulled out of Edenton on Thursday morning bright and early.....well early anyway! Ran hard all day long and ended the day at Slade Creek southeast of Belhaven. Alas I had to motor the whole way as there just wasn't any wind. For a change the Albemarle Sound was almost devoid of crab pots....I only saw a few thousand and almost got to run a straight course....well at least not a completely random zig zag as evertime before.



Friday I pulled into Clubfoot Creek just after One O'Clock having weighed anchor at half past Five in the morning. The Sun Rise was one of the best I have ever seen! The Sun was filtered by some morning mist and low cloud that allowed for looking directly at the perfect Orb glowing brightly in gold and flame orange as it rose above the grayish hued tree line and the molten lead colored water. Definitely makes one glad to be alive! Frady elected to stay in bed thus missed such a glorious start of a new day.



Young Shannon came aboard that afternoon and went out for a bit of sailing despite the weather being a bit wet looking. We no sooner got all the sails up....first time for Shannon....than the weather took a very bad turn for the worse. We managed to get the sails down without any major disaster but were definitely way late in doing so. Shannon turned to and did a very good job of securing the mizzen sail by herself and the main sail after I had lowered it. I needed to be on the helm as the winds picked up to forty knots as the rain poured down. She was jumping up and down hooting and hollering having the time of her life.....me I was just shivering in me sea boots wishing I was at anchor in the creek with a cold beer in my hand.



In time the blow moved through and we headed back to the creek for our dinner. Jeff and his girlfriend stopped by for a drink after the rain stopped. I am pleased Jeff has found such a lovely young lady and they both seem to be very happy together. As Jeff works a one month on and one month off schedule on the oil rigs in Brazil.....I very nicely offered to stop in on his girlfriend just to make sure she did not get bored or lonely. Jeff politely refused my kind offer!



Harold Pope sold his boat to a fellow that I ran into here at Edenton.....guess Harold will be buying a Trawler now....as he thought his sailboat too slow in travelling to the Bahamas. He will probably do the same with the trawler and then buy a Sport Fisher and really roar down to the islands.



Buck and Vickie of the Victoria Gayle were down and had two of their dogs along.



Wayne and Wezzie showed up in Sunday from their trip to Cape Lookout aboard Sea Prompt.



The Porpoises were in the creek by the droves....several pods swam under the boat and gave us a good show. Shannon grabbbed her surf board and went paddling after them. Later we rigged up a tow rope for the Dink and I towed her all over the creek while she stood on her surf board. She took a couple of really good face plants in the process but finally did really well.



After Shannon departed Sunday Afternoon, I departed Clubfoot Creek and anchored out at Green Mark 23 just north of the Bay River south of Hobucken. The anchorage was a nice place and had a good view. Early Monday I was again underway and ran the ICW north through the Alligator River Canal and ended the day at north end of the canal just south of Swan Creek in nine feet of water. The wind picked up for the last few miles and would have made for perfect sailing had I not needed to anchor for the night.



So....here I sit in the Alligator River....hitting the internet by means of my Blackberry....ain't technology great!

Fighting for Freedom!

I lived in Iran for just over two years back in the late 70's just as the Shah was being overthrown by a popular uprising led by radical Islamic Clerics. Today I see another popular uprising amongst the Iranians seeking freedom from the tyranny of radical Islam. Again brave people are willing to risk death to seek their freedom.

Photographs of young Neda ,shot down in the streets of Iran as she protested the election results of the past few days and having done so under the threat of death by the oppressive Islamic Regime of Iran, should be all over the TV screens of this country. Not the portrait shot of a beautiful young Persian woman but the blood covered face of her lying dead in the street is the one that needs to be shown. That is the price young people around the world are willing to pay in the cause of freedom. Her death is so typical of that part of the world. She was killed more for being a Woman than she was for protesting especially because she was not wearing a Berqa and had the audacity to insult Islam by wearing jeans and showing her face in public.

Apologists for radical Islam need to pay attention here and see what they are supporting when they do not actively denounce the barbaric acts of repression and other acts of human rights violations. Is this yet another attempt to establish a democratic free society we will abandon out of the lack of politcal will our elected leaders? Is this to be another Hungary, Kurdistan, or Southern Iraq?

We never heard about the Afghans that stood against the evil of the Taliban at grave risks to themselves. A Doctor in Kabul who is a painter and who painted water colors over oil masterpieces that were doomed to destruction otherwise. He did this knowing being caught would result in a very nasty death at the hands of the Taliban religious zealots. Several employees of the Afghan Film Archives did much the same. The Taliban had decreed that all film....every single reel of the national archives must be burned. The employees undertook an effort to protect the master films and only allowed the copies to be burned. They then hid the masters in a store room and then plastered over the doorway, disabled the wiring for the lights in that part of the building, and thus prevented the Taliban inspectors from finding the stored masters. They also faced immediate death had they been caught protecting the films.

We have young warriors of our own that are doing incredible things and demonstrating great acts of courage but yet we hear of Gay Marriage protests, our nation being accused of being cowards regard to racial matters, and all sorts of other insignificant issues but we never hear of the courage of our Troops in the media.

How many Medal of Honor recipients go unheralded by the media? How many accounts of courage are ignored? When things were going wrong and the situation was bleak, we heard all about it. Never once did our media stand up for the Troops and tell the real story.

We sit here now being threatened by North Korea that places Hawaii and Alaska in reach of their missiles which could be armed with a nuclear warhead. Fortunately, we have a missile defense system that came to us by means of previous administrations that the current one wants to do away with.

Al Qaeda leadership have announced they will use Nuclear weapons on us if they can obtain them and are keeping an eye on the Pakistani arsenal with the hope of taking control over them either by seizing them or working in conjunction with a Radical Islamic Regime should it take over Pakistan's government. That comes as no surprise to anyone with a grain of commonsense.

Yet, we have people in power in this country that still do not accept the real threat Radical Islam poses to the world in general and to us in particular. I guess a Nuke going off in the middle of New York City might get them to tweak to the danger but only after it has happened.

Iran is working at getting nuclear weapons and threatens the security of the Middle East and our forces there and the current administration thinks talking is the right way to handle them. Brave Iranians are dying in the streets as they seek freedom from the tyranny of the Radical Islamic regime that is in power there, and our President doesn't want to interfere with domestic issues in Iran as it might prevent some sort of dialogue with the Regime there.

How many people are we going to allow to be murdered by the Radical Islamist's before we finally decide enough?

Dinner was early.....great Tomato sandwiches and a couple of cold Heinies then a boat ride. Fired the dink up and rode out into the River to watch fish feed. That has fed a hankering to do some fishing. Really enjoyed watching the wake of the boat as I headed into the Sun as it set behind the Cyprus trees. The wake was glittering like diamonds as the sunlight reflected off the spray. The fish were in shallow water and were surface feeding, cutting the water with their fins as they fed. The cloud was brewing up a storm out to the east and north but the western sky was clear mostly with some scattered clouds reflecting the golden sunlight. While admiring the sight I watched the FedEx Feeder Cessna Caravan make his afternoon takeoff headed to Raleigh or wherever the Hub is in this area. He left just in time as the weather was definitely going to get lumpy and wet in a bit.

The run back in was good fun.....smooth as glass....sun just below the horizon....and the boat tearing along at twenty five miles an hour. Add in the curves of the channel and the fun of weaving along through the cyprus trees and houses on the opposite bank and it made a fitting end to a lovely day.

Quick run to Winston-Salem coming up and then provision the boat, shanghai Frady, and it is off to see the Wizard time. Might even take the boat out for some saltwater fishing and hang out at Wrightsville Beach for a week or so.

Frady Caught Stealing My Breakfast!

I turned my back on my bowl of cereal this morning just long enough to pour the tea.....and when I turned around....I caught a felonius feline filching my breakfast. Mind you this was after he had been properly fed and watered just a few minutes before! He has now gotten to the point he will sit on the galley counter and monitor the opening of a "fresh" can of Fancy Feast.....no left overs for this Cat!

He spent the night on the foot of my bunk last night as it was a very stormy evening with lots of lightning and thunder. Of late he has been much happier sleeping in the walk thru companionway rather than listen to the air conditioning fan in the aft cabin.

After his morning chow and half of mine....he assumed his normal position on the port side settee....and got into sleeping as only cats can do.

Glad To Be Alive Day!

June 17th each year I take time to contemplate yet another year of tromping around God's own green Earth and think back to events on that day in 1970. Each of us has that special day that reminds us of how Fate, Luck, and the laws of probability figure in our lives. Ernie Gann, in his book "Fate is the Hunter", discussed this at length. In order to be an Aviator, one must know Gann!

The events of that day in 1970 were most interesting and proved to be as intense as any before or since. I managed to get shot down twice in one day which for a Chinook pilot was a real trick. We had taken the war into Cambodia in pursuit of the logistical and headquarters bases for the North Vietnamese Army in that area. It was the start of Monsoon season which provided us with lots of bad weather, rain, and low cloud. The usual routine was takeoff just before Dawn, fly up to our operating areas on the border and fly until dark or just after. We were supporting the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 1st Air Cav Division units in an area north of Tay Ninh and south of Bu Prang.

The first bit of fun that day happened while we were engaged in moving an artillery unit to a site just north of Katum. The weather had deteriorated a bit and we were forced to fly lower than we liked but had to continue the move as the choice was to finish the move or return the unit to its original location. We could not stop the movement in midstream as the unit being moved would not be able to defend itself or accomplish its mission if split into two parts.

We were hauling a sling load of 105mm howitzer projectiles and several boxes of fuses for the shells when we flew over an NVA unit of some sort and took hits from a 7.62 mm machine gun. The rounds started hitting us in the nose of the aircraft and worked their way aft with some hitting the sling load of ammo and fuses. Evidently, the fuses exploded which caused a lot of fire, smoke, and fumes to enter the aircraft. The explosion caused the aircraft to nose over and begin diving towards the ground which was not far away due to our reduced altitude. Both the Flight Engineer and I hit the cargo release to jettison the load and the other pilot and I both hauled back on the cyclic to stop the dive and by doing so over controlled slightly. We went from seeing nothing but trees in the windscreen to seeing nothing but gray clouds. I got the aircraft under control, realized we had lost power from one of the engines and had a flight control hydraulic failure. Fortuitously, Katum airstrip at the base of the Special Forces camp was close by and we made an emergency landing there. Alas, as we were landing we got tangled up in the barbed wire perimeter fencing and dragged up several hundred yards of barbed wire, trip flares, and claymore landmines. The infantry guys who had just finished putting that stuff together were not very amused at having to do it all over I guess.

Enjoying my adrenalin high.....read that as having a drug induced fit on stupidity....I walked over to a Cav Gunship team....an OH-6 Loach and two AH-1 Cobra's....and announced I would show them where some bad guys were that had just shot my aircraft up. They agreed that would be good sport and I climbed into the Loach and off we went with the two Cobra's tagging along behind. As we made our second or third orbit at tree top level in the area where the shooting had taken place, my adrenalin induced fit of stupidity faded to the point I comprehended the error of my ways. Luckily, the Cav guys could not spend long doing this ad hoc bit of flying and returned me to my aircraft. One does not have to be insane to be a Loach pilot but brother it sure helps!

We replaced the hydraulic line that had been damaged, topped of the reservoir with fresh fluid, cranked up the good engine and burned off enough fuel that we could do a single engine takeoff and flew the aircraft back to our base at Phu Loi.

While we were there we encountered two other crews who had taken hits and had returned for some needed repairs. One crew had a very narrow escape.....a round had severed one of the two hydraulic input lines on an aft rotor head servo....and creased the other. That was a million to one shot and if it had severed the second line the crew would have died without a doubt.

Lucky days can be shared it seems!

We swapped aircraft and took off for our afternoon mission staging out of a Special Forces camp known as Bu Dop. We flew a couple of flights that were pretty short and then shut down as the weather had gotten really bad....low cloud, rain, and poor visibility. We were waiting around in the hopes the weather would improve before we had to head home.

While we were setting there, a 1st Cav fellow asked me if I could fly three loads for him as his aircraft had departed for home at Phouc Vinh due to the inclement weather. He was in tears and explained he had guys that were almost out of ammo, food, and water. I inspected his three loads and they were as described them....bullets, C-rations, and jerry cans of water. As there was always some rivalry between the Cav and real aviation units like ours I offered to fly for the guy.

We hooked up the first load and headed north into Cambodia to the LZ where the Cav troops were. Due to the weather and the destination being a mountain ridge, we climbed into the murk and contacted the Ground Controlled Radar (GCA) controller at Bu Dop and got navigation vectors to the LZ. We were in almost solid cloud and at times could see straight down through small holes and see the jungle.

About halfway there we got hit by a .51 caliber AA Machine gun. The round made one heck of a "Bang" when it hit....especially being so close to me. The round came into the aircraft on my right side, angling up from the rear edge of the chin bubble, striking the pedal under my left foot removing the pedal, and exited out the left side of the chin bubble. My first impression was of thinking "What the Hell happened?" My left leg was jammed back under the seat, the aircraft had taken a huge jump, and almost instantly I was sitting in a fire. The round evidently severed some hydraulic lines when it removed the pedal.

At this point....things got a bit intense. We were in cloud, on fire in the cockpit, and somewhere over Cambodia in a mountainous area occupied by thousands of bad guys. We had a quick Chinese Parliament over the intercom and determined we were still flying, had flight controls, no longer had the slingload, and decided to find a place to put the aircraft down. We could not do so and finally elected to climb back up and try to return to Bu Dop.

The fire finally burned itself out, we got picked up on Radar by the kind folks of Bu Dop GCA, did a radar controlled approach to the runway and landed safely.

I was treated for burns and a shrapnel wound to my leg and was evacc'ed to Bien Hoa Field Hospital. Later I was transferred to Camp Zama Army hospital in Japan and finally to Fort Bragg.

That is why I consider June 17th, my Glad To Be Alive Day along with the luckiest day of my life!

This June 17th was another lucky day....Shannon called and wanted to meet for lunch in New Bern. I threw on my go to town duds.....grabbed some canvas items that needed some attention by Cedric the Canvas Man....and hot footed it south. We had a good meal at Ratty's....walked the docks at the Sheraton....hit a couple of flea market shops....introduced her to Cedric as being my wife (but later admitted otherwise) and had a good time talking. John Townsley called and commented about this post.....he and I flew together when he was a door gunner and crew chief in my unit and is the guy that organizes tours to Vietnam where I met Shannon a couple of years ago.

Anytime you hear from old comrades in arms.....and get some hugs from a very pretty young lady is a darn good day! Poking fun at Cedric who is a very gentlemanly English fellow is good sport as well.

Heck....even Frady came running when I pulled in at the boat in Edenton....but then he was looking for his dinner....matter of fact I bought Shannon's lunch....hmmm....maybe there is a correlation there?

Gremlins and Crab Pots

The week has been spent chasing the Gremlins that haunt the electrical system.....and it seems to be about a tie so far. The Generator is up and running...does fine for an hour then odd things begin to occur. The Gremlins are much like Frady....turn your back for a moment and they will try to eat your lunch for you.

A quick phone call to Scotty Harrell resulted in Thomas Grant showing up at the boat to help me with the troubleshooting on the generator problem. Naturally, the generator behaved itself while the Gremlins hid and snickered.

After a quick shower I went down to Sean's for an adult malt beverage or two and got to gaze into the Blender Bosun's eyes....that is worth the trip all by itself! Alas, she tried to whack off a finger while slicing some bread but soldiered right on afterwards. I would have passed right out and had to call for an ambulance if it had been me.

In a weak moment, I wandered into the back bar at Sean's when I heard refrains of "Okie from Muskogee" playing on the juke box. In a weaker moment, I stayed.

Well into the evening, coin games started much to the entertainment of Erin, Cindy, and Jeannie.

They were held mesmerized by one particular magic trick performed by one of the patrons who was in time convinced to give up the secret to the trick in return for a one quarter cut of the next ten years tips the bar tenders would get.....or somethng like that as I remember it.

While talking to Thomas yesterday, he laughed when I made mention of how many crab pots there are in the Sound. He says in a few weeks there will be far more than now....as if that could be possible. The Albemarle Sound is supposed to a real haven for soft shell crabs and folks make very good money crabbing. A bushel (about forty crabs) fetches One Hundred and Twenty Dollars which makes for a good paycheck when you can pull pots every third day and generate about Sixteen Hundred Dollars per haul.

Now if it were not so much work.....Time for a nap and study this crabbing thing!

Trip North and Memorial Day!

Pulled anchor bright and early on a lovely morning in Clubfoot Creek and headed North by East.

Enjoyed a nice cup of Tea while running into the wind such as it was but near Bay River the wind was showing a bit over ten knots and up went all the sails and the clattering old Perkins was given a rest. Shortly fired up the stove and fried up some bacon and made a good BLT for morning chow. I motored sailed for the short canal run then up went all the sails again and made good time around Belhaven and pulled into Slade Creek at a reasonable hour. The Quick Set anchor did it's thing and fired up the grill to do three chicken breasts.

While I had my back turned my little shipmate Frady grabbed one off the platter for himself and tucked into his poached grilled chicken without giving me an invite or thank you. Seems he has a fondness for my chow as he bears watching when the cereal and milk are set down for even the least time.

The day was such a pleasure.....good wind...full sails....Missisippi John playing....and no where North Carolina gliding by at a stately rate. When I cross that final Bar I know what Heaven will look like. Alas chances are I will be wearing asbestos clothing praying for a cold day and looking for a bit of ice water and not cruising such fine waters.

The second day out I ran to Little River off the Albemarle. I understand now what "SO" means on a nautical chart. Simply put it means "soggy bottom" which rejects "Quick Set" anchors by mysterious means. I wore out the electric capstan winch and my arms trying a half dozen times to get the anchor to set. I finally ran deeper into the river amidst a few odd million crabpots to a gorgeous spot tucked behind Long Point. I was getting a bit anxious as it was rapidly getting dark and I was running out of options. The anchor set immediately and life got good again.

The next morning arrived as pretty as it's predecessor! The run out Little River in mirror like calm water was interesting as I found the only lane mostly clear of crabpots. Unlike the night before when it was hop scotch, mine sweeper, and spin the wheel all rolled into one.....the morning run was almost boring. But then....I got into the Albemarle Sound again! There are fine mansion like homes lining the banks of the sound and I know these folks don't run Crab Traps and in the absence of working folks houses, I really wonder who owns these zillions of pots.

Upon arriving at Edenton, Frady immediately dove under the dock at the fuel dock and did not appear till the next morning. He stopped by to confirm the day's menu, downed his breakfast, had a quick bath and disappeared.

Young Shannon called and made reservations at Chez Luna. I did a panic clean up of the boat and myself finishing just in time for her arrival. We grilled steaks, fired up the blender, and enjoyed a nice night on deck chatting and ended the night looking at a Bill Murray movie which spoofs Jacque Cousteau. Half way through the movie we got a scare! A heck of a howling and screeching came from the cockpit where Frady was on the Midnight to Four watch.

When Shannon and I got up where we could see what was going on....young Frady was telling in Cat Slang the ground rules for Cats on Luna to what looked like his twin. As best as we could make out Frady was telling the other Cat he (Frady) was on a very good lick and did not desire any freeloaders, moochers, trespassers, or competition thank you very much.

Why can he not do this to Pooches? Must be a translation issue!

Bright and too early for Shannon, we hit the Bayside for breakfast and sought the answer to the missing biscuits that had been reported by some folks that had been given my rave review of the treats at the Cafe. Bill finally awoke from his nap and suggested he had been swamped with business the day the couple had stopped by and had been unable to do the biscuits as he normally does. He more than made up for that this morning I must say. I even got Shannon to eat half of one after her five course meal. She being a starving Co-Ed ordered half the menu beginning with a foot high stack of pancakes, a pound of bacon, and a quick dozen of eggs. She must have hidden half of it behind her ear.

So good news....Biscuits remain in place at the Bayside Cafe, Frady is enjoying his shore leave, Shannon had a bit of boating, and I got to enjoy her company. I sent her home with a care package of Beef Curry in a casserole dish. I opined a nice Peach Cobbler in the returned dish would be a fair trade. She prides herself on being a "Baker".....perhaps we shall see!

Today is Memorial Day...and was a marked by the very kind thoughts some friends and family sent me by e-mail. Those kind thoughts mean a lot to me and remind me of just how lucky I am.

If wealth is measured by the number and quality of your friends then I am rich beyond my dreams.

While reading my younger Sister's note, I was taken back to my departure from home for my second tour in Vietnam. She and my folks were there to see me off and I can still see that as clear as the day it happened. Tusser (sister) was old enough to understand what it was all about and I have to admit it was a hard thing to stay all happy and upbeat despite knowing what a year away from home in that place was all about.

We all remember those who are serving but we overlook the families who have to wait it out at home with all the worry and never knowing when that sad message will arrive saying their loved one is not coming home as prayed for.

Remember those who wait and think what a poor trade a Flag is for a Loved One.

We have troops fighting in many places of the world today and there are families paying the price for our Freedom. Thank them when you can.....both those fighting and those they have at home.

Ungentlemanly Conduct and the Art of Generator Science!

To catch up on the past week or so events.....I am guilty of "Ungentlemanly Conduct" but plead the best of intentions as an excuse. I set off from Edenton despite a weather forecast that fell a bit short of perfect. Way short as it turned out!

I found myself weaving in and about zillions of crabpots in the Albemarle Sound while beating into the mild wind forecast by the Guessologists. The Weather Guesser's must be very optimistic folks as I found the wind to be a wee tad stronger than forecast and the sea state a lot different than they opined. When I turned south into the Alligator River I discovered Luna could rear up and almost whinny before plunging into waves stacked up on top of one another. The ride was akin to driving cross furrow in a Tobacco Patch. Frady was not amused.

It is said "A Gentleman never sails to wind!" I must be a very crude lout in that case. Luna actually took some waves over the bow as the wind peaked at between 35 and 40 knots for a stretch. I made it to the north end of the Alligator River Canal and anchored in the lee of the shore and had a nice night....after donating my Thirty Five Pound Danforth Anchor to Davy Jones Locker. The rope rode I had it attached to parted as I backed down to confirm the anchor was set.

Next day was more of the same....beat my way to Clubfoot Creek and anchored across from Matthews Point to discover the Generator would not power the battery charger. Next morning with a really ugly weather forecast for an extended Nor'Easterner, I decided to head over to Oriental and hide out at SailCraft Marina. That also allowed "Bob the Electrical Guru" at Sailcraft to wave his magic wand over the Generator/Charger problem and cure that one for me.

It was old home week there.....ran into Ray and his family....they live aboard a 36 foot sloop and home school their two Son's. Earl and Karen off"Temptation" were back from the Bahamas, Jim and Susie were there working on their boat "Skat". Buck dropped by to visit Jim and Earl....and yet another couple from Matthews Point was there for a quick visit for TV antenna work.

Earl, Karen, Jim , Susie and I played Mexican Train Dominoes and tippled a few fine drinks aboard "Temptation". I felt like the "Klampetts Come to Hollywood" when I go aboard that boat! "Temptation" is a very pretty Endeavour 42 and looks like brand new! She makes one want to put on underwear!

While on a walk downtown, I ran into Styron Sherrill, who was leaving his office at Fulcher Seafood. He was being led by his five month old Chocolate Lab who was one very pretty fellow. The dog was on a leash.....one of those extendable things....but instead of being clipped to it...he had the end in his mouth which is the way he does leashes according to Styron.

After the Nor'easter calmed down, I went back to Matthews Point and met up with Randy and Rob from R&R Diving, who cleaned Luna's hull and inspected the zinc's. Randy reckons the zinc's are fine even after having been on the boat for eight months. I think I have the electrolysis problem sorted out finally. Joe from the "Big Kahuna" was down working on his boat and joined me for dinner at anchor in the creek. Taylor and Peggy (she of the knee dancing to the blue screen of death fame) stopped for a visit. They are still gushingly in love since marrying in October. Jeff and Mary Ellen were prepping for a week long trip on "Precious Cargo" along with his yellow Lab and her white Boxer. Jeff is starting a new career as a City Police Officer at Emerald Isle. Mary Ellen, his girlfriend is a travelling nurse and seems quite a keeper!

Plans are to fuel at Matthews Point and then begin a leisurely return to Edenton. The weather forecast is for pretty weather but with low winds....from behind me this time thus it should be a more gentlemanly trip northwards.

Husband Winning Biscuits!

Life is good again!

I have found an excellent breakfast place and it is within walking distance of the boat....even by my standards of distance which means like not very far at all. Bay Bridge Marina and Cafe is on the other side of the Highway 17 bridge and caters to Bass Boaters and other low clearance craft due to the height of the bridge. The very same people that keep "waking" me when I was tied up to the Tee Dock on the creek.

Bill and Denise run the Cafe and put out some excellent chow! They make home made, just like Grandma Cooper (Miss Luna who my boat is named for) used to do. The old standard of "being able to catch a Husband" in judging biscuits applies here. They are that good!

They gave me a sample of the strawberry shortcake they are making for lunch today....home made biscuits, fresh strawberries, and homemade whipped cream! I shall be there with Bells On for lunch today!

I urged them to hang up a sign that requires the guy getting the last biscuit to kiss the cook.

You best make sure which day Bill makes the biscuits as he is a rather large manly fellow and I don't think I would care to try to kiss him! As good as those biscuits are.....that might be a rather steep price to pay! Now Denise on the other hand.....no down side to that!

I noticed something rather odd on the counter.....a huge Urn looking glass jar that had "Tips" written on it for some inexplicable reason as it was completely void of anything but a bit of dust. Must be the Bass Boaters are cheaper than Cruising Sailors....and that would be real trick to pull off!

Ol' Frady must be on the mend sure enough....he was absent without leave again this morning so I reckon he is able to get out and roam. Amazing what a Two Hundred Dollar Vet bill can do to improve his constitution.

He let me put some ointment on his hurt leg and with a bit of protest I was able to get the pain killer into him by squirting the stuff into his mouth using a syringe. As to getting the pill medicine into him.....yeah....Right!

The boat is fueled, watered, filled with propane, greased, checked, and all that is left to do is get some groceries, Cat Litter, Kitty grub, and do laundry....then ready to get underway tomorrow assuming the weather is no worse than forecast. Sounds like strong winds and some Thunder Bumpers might be around for a couple of days.

Live music at Sean's tonight.....and another chance to enjoy looking into the Blender Bosun's eyes! Sean has the best Reuben Sandwich.....nay, the second best Reuben Sandwich I have ever had! The old German place on Park Road in Charlotte had the best hands down but Sean's loses by just a smidgen.

Busy Day!

Bright, clear, cool morning when I got up....had a cup of Tea and started the day off trying to get a pill into the Cat....gave up on that as a lost cause but did get the pain killer squirted down his gullet without losing any of my fingers. Ol' Frady is a pretty mellow fellow with the pain killers working on him! The leg shows improvement already both in the wound and his being able to put some weight on it.

I made several trips to the gas station ferrying diesel in jerry cans to the boat as the marina fuel pump is still out of service. In between the trips I spent about an hour on a treasure hunt with a neighbor. Seems he had a steering cable failure and in the process of replacing the broken cable....he managed to drop a pair of pliers down inside the binnacle stanchion. With much effort, a bright light, and a lot of squinting....you can almost see the pliers way down at the bottom of the hole but retrieving them is turning into a multi-day effort. Yes....a wonderful boat project to be enjoyed!

The boat is fueled and watered....going grocery shopping in the morning after filling the propane tanks and I will be ready to get underway on Thursday morning. Live music at Sean's tomorrow night and I don't want to miss another opportunity to gaze into the Blender Bosun's eyes. That beats the beer, chow, and music by a mile!

Late in the afternoon I put the Dink into the water and took a bit of a boat ride. I rode out through the Edenton Channel to get another look at it and just enjoy the view of the town and this part of the Sound. On the way back I ducked under the Highway 17 bridge at the marina and continued on up the creek. What an incredibly pretty place. Water smooth as glass, dark as coffee, Geese, and Cypress trees on all sides as the creek winds it way around. I turned around at the next bridge but could have made it under with no problem. I understand this creek meanders on for another fifteen to twenty miles before it gets too shallow and narrow to navigate. I will make that trip when I get back from Clubfoot Creek next week.

What A Mom's Day!

The clan gathered at my niece's place near Fayetteville for Mom's Day. Bridget and her husband Wayne, put on a great meal, Granny Pat did a cake to go along with my older sister's Birthday Cake and nephew Tommy made off with every bit of cake left over....which wasn't much after his devastating attack on the cakes at lunch time.

I was treated to a bit of exploring by my Niece's older Son Joel and his buddy Caleb. We took a short ten mile forced march through the wilds of Cumberland County, climbed a mountain, circled around a really pretty fishing pond....eased through a derelict house trailer site and eventually found our way back to the Cake Crumbs.

Walking with Joel and Caleb reminded me of growing up in Winston-Salem with all of the great outdoors at our back door step. Tommy Whitlow, Jimmy Hutchins ,and I had the time of our lives hiking and messing about the woods and Salem Creek. What is now strip malls, four lane roads, and housing areas were just farm land and timber when we were growing up.

I got back to Luna right at dark to be met by a black flash and the clatter of cat hooves on the dock.....as Frady was very glad to see the Ship's Cook back on duty.

About an hour later.....he fell into the cabin howling and screaming....hissing and really sounding like the World was coming to an end. A quick investigation discovered he was working on knocking off part of his Cat Life Ration. From all appearances, it looked as though he might have had a compound fracture of his left hind leg as there was a six inch long scrape and a puncture type wound bleeding a bit on the inside of his leg. We spent a long, long, night....him hurting and me worrying.

I took him to the Chowan Animal Hospital and was standing in their door when they opened. After a bit of wait they got him into the examining room and did a check of the leg. I must admit the Vet has some awfully good reflexes....as Frady was well ahead on strikes but had not made contact. He was at a bit of a handicap as he could only use one hind foot to brace and I had hold of him around the head and neck.

When they took him back for a visit with the X-Ray Tech.....I could hear his protests all the way in the front office. Frady was not amused by the bedside manner back there. After a few minutes one of the Vets showed up with form for me to sign so they could sedate Frady as they had run out of courage and welding gloves.

The good news is the young lad has some cuts and abrasions.....no broken bones but does have some really sore muscles and tendons. He will be hobbling around for a week or so.

If he would put on his "Visit the Vet" warface when confronted with dogs.....I would change his name to "King Fish" as he would sure never have to run away. Hell....he scares me when he gets into that mode! Way back at the start of this Blog I recounted my $300 dollar visit to my own Doctor after ignoring Frady's request to leave him be!

So....a bit of rain today, an ailing Shipmate, marina fuel pump broke down.....so time for a nap as I did not get very much sleep last night. Frady is already sacked out having sorted out the Vet Crew and organized the Ship's Cook for dinner in bed.

Saturday in Edenton

Nice windy day in town today!

Yacht club had a rummage sale going on at the downtown marina, the American Legion had the annual Hog Fest in session at the Fairgrounds.

I did a recon of the local area looking at For Sale signs and getting an idea of the lay of the land.

At lunch time I stopped in at Sean's for an ice tea.....gazed into the prettiest eyes in town....belonging to the "Blender Bosun". One could get lost in them! Made small chat with the folks there until I had tanked up with tea and set out to make the rounds.

I wound up on the boat and nursed a blender full of Rum based Lime drink....read up on the destruction of a Russia bound convoy PQ-17 during World War II and chatted with all the passers by.

About Sunset, the Canadian Geese started the daily Flt-Ex evolution....circling around and makinjg water landings in the middle of the marina. The Goslings are growing like weeds....we have three bunches of them now....all different sizes.

Am off to Fayetteville tomorrow to my niece's place to celebrate Mom's Day....back tomorrow tonight. Monday will start prepping the boat for a trip down to the Neuse River, New Bern, and Clubfoot Creek for a Saturday meet up with Joe Earl and Karen and whoever else shows up. I will be back about mid-week and start some local exploring to find good sailing ground for next month's Full Moon period.

Thoughts are the Chowan River will be the spot for that as the Albemarle Sound is chock full of crab pots and drift nets which would be a real hazard in the dark as they are a big pain in the hind end during daylight.

A Run Ashore!

This town called Edenton is a very interesting place....with some very interesting people!

I am a key card holder at the local American Legion having made my first visit there and enjoyed the company of a fine group of Veterans. The place is upscale and the Post seems quite active in local events, sponsors a couple of youth baseball teams, and puts on several good fund raisers in the form of Cook Offs and the like. This weekend is the Hog Cooking contest and I hope the rain holds off so it will be a huge success.

After the Legion, I wandered down to Sean's in Downtown Edenton, had a good Cheeseburger with a Pasta Salad then gathered up my courage and got my pocket knife close to hand for a visit to the Bar. A young barefoot fellow was playing a guitar and playing music about two generations too new for me. I was let down he did not know the forty six versions of "The Chicken's Last Walk To The Wood Pile" but then not many do.

I enlisted one crew member for Luna while sat at the bar....fair young Anne who works at the place. One interesting bit of news fellas....if you want your nails done...Wednesday night at Sean's. A couple of ladies provide manicures to all and sundry. Only in Edenton at Sean's can one watch a hockey fight on TV while getting your nails done with a glass of Guinness in the other hand!

The night was complete when I arrived back at the boat to find Frady very glad to see the Chef return. I wish he could talk....as he arrived clean, dry, burr-less, and without any cobwebs on him....which makes me wonder just where the Heck he has been for a day and a half!

Shannon suggested I might be spending quite a bit of time in Sean's the day we had lunch there.

Shannon as usual is pretty perceptive!

Another rainy day....reckon I will do some reading and vacuum the interior of the boat and try to get the ten tons of cat fur off the upholstry and carpet. That will upset the Cat's siesta I am sure!

Now We're Cooking With Gas!

After a cup of tea this morning and waiting for the deluge to end.....I worked up my courage and decided to tackle the Gas Grill problem yet again. Within a few minutes of taking things apart link by link and checking for gas flow....I determined the problem was the regulator between the tank and the grill control valve. We are now cooking with Gas again!

I ran the generator for a while and finally got it to charge both house and start batteries.....and hope it was just a time delay issue for the Generator to warm up and start producing current or else I have an intermittent problem. For the time being all is in order.

For lunch I hit Sean's downtown to discover several wonderful things....two of them are the wait persons....they have Guinness on tap....and live music tonight after Eight PM. I enjoyed a great Reuben Sandwich and conversation with a lovely lady who was after my money as it turned out. Nothing new there! I will see if I can retrieve some of it this evening.....perhaps a game of Horses or Ship's Captain and Crew might work.

After lunch I dropped into a Real Estate Office where I did not have to take a number to be served.....matter of fact I thought I was going to have to call the SWAT guys to free me. Ronnie Sawyer the Agent was very helpful and invited me around to the American Legion for a beer or two dozen. I shall take him up on that today.

My last stop in town was the Library.....what a nice place! The Used Book sale was on....got a double arm load for Eleven Dollars...checked out two. I will certainly add this place to the must visit list.

Thus....a very good day today!

Now if the Cat would just show up again! He is off on a ramble again.

The Gas Grill Saga Continues

I was up early yesterday and removed all the above deck plumbing for the propane system and carried the bits out to Western Gas for their Service guy "George" to work on. I enjoyed a great cup of coffee and some interesting talk with the two Ladies in the office while George did his thing in the back room. After about an hour, with two new tank connectors, a bit of new hose, and one hose cleaned out with a burst or two of high pressure air.....I was billed a wee sum (actually) and sent back to the boat to re-install the lines. Frady rode along to make sure I found the place.

Hooking the hoses back up to the manifold proved to be interesting (in cruiser lingo that means lots of sailor language and high blood pressure). The kind fellow who had installed the propane system had hidden the manifold inside a water proof plastic box which meant a regular box end wrench would not work. He also bored the entrance holes in the bottom of the box offset from the connections so the hoses were crooked when hooked up.....which made getting them attached a real pleasure. (NOT!). I dug out my crow's foot wrenches, battery powered drill and hole bits, and proceeded with the job. That is after re-charging the battery as both of them were flat. That did not become apparant until the drill bit came into contact with the plastic box.

In the end....it all came together with properly located holes for the hoses, and the connections all done up nice and tight.

Then.....time to light the grill and get the thawed steaks out of the Fridge.

One small problem....the grill does not work at all now!

This is a simple system....even a Dull Third Grader such as myself should be able to sort this out....really! I flew helicopters, right?

Anyway....I at least have something to ponder while running the blender for this evenings Sundowners.

This morning upon arising from my slumber, I discovered Frady had left me a Trophy again....another bull frog. I hollered for him as he was no where to be seen....and in just a minute I spied him crossing the road from the wood lot on the far side. He ran the whole way back to the boat taking a wide detour from the flock of Canadian Geese that live up at slip 64. He got his five minutes of quality time and still smells of Apple Shampoo from his bath yesterday.

I've decided to quit worrying about him getting whacked by a car on the highway....he is enjoying his roaming and as I have done much of the same all my life perhaps I might as well accept he is doing the same. I reckon sailors just enjoy a good run ashore when they can.

The Cat Is Back!

Ship's Cat Frady went UA yesterday.....he missed morning muster and was put on report for being Absent Without Leave. He arrived in time for Evening Colors and was duly recorded as being back aboard. He was covered in cobwebs and dirt which suggested he has found some interesting places underneath the docks that needed exploring. The good news is he was not converted into a "Sail Cat" out on the highway.

Several interesting people appeared on the dock today....some had boats here and others were boaters just taking a wander around the docks looking at the boats moored here. One fellow was a Blimp Mechanic working for a company at Elizabeth City and who owns a 32 Foot Westsail Sloop he is restoring up in Jersey City, NJ.

The couple who own the Hunter Sloop next door were down giving the boat a bit of a bath. Well, the First Mate was.....the Captain spent time with me discussing the progress the Mate was having on the boat scrubbing. Gail, the Mate, who I thought to be the Captain's daughter turned out to be his wife. Captain Barry has done well for himself in my opinion.

After a while I stated that I could not stand around and watch a woman work.....so I went below and got tucked into my lunch and a finished a book by John Sandford entitled "Hidden Prey". Sandford tells a great yarn and I have read about a dozen of his books so far.

Next on the reading list is "Duffy's War", about Chaplain Patrick Duffy of the Fighting 69th Infantry during World War I. It appears to be an excellent historical account of the 69th's fighting in the trenches along with telling Duffy's story. I can see crossover's between the book and the James Cagney film....."The Fighting 69th".

Up early tomorrow morning to take half the propane system into the gas dealer for his service guy to replace the tank connectors. This is yet another chapter of the never ending saga of the "Grill Doesn't Work Right" saga.

I have found a way for a young person to make a golden living.....become good at Propane, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration for boats. Add in AC and DC electrics.....and they could earn a very good living if they did good work and showed up when promised.

Sundowners tonight.....frozen margaritas!

Touring Edenton and the Surrounding Three Counties

Today started off looking like a day to get something done. Several simple, easy, nothing to it boat repairs, put on the sail covers, remove some the fishing lures from the boat rods, and have an easy afternoon.

What was I thinking?

No boat repair chore....no matter how innocent looking works out like you plan unless you really goof something up.

I quickly sorted out the Aft Shower drain.....a clogged strainer in front of the diaphram pump. Ten minutes and all done on that. Then in a weak moment I decided to finally sort out the Forward Shower sump pump plumbing. Why do I do these kinds of things to myself?

For almost two years now I have avoided this job.....it is in an awkward place to work, and I use the Aft Shower so I was not too bothered by the problem. The problem.....whoever the Moron was that designed the shower sump system plumbed the shower drain line through a diaphram pump and then tee'd the pump output into the sink drain line level with the sink drain outlet.

I am just a dull third grader but I know water will seek the path of least resistance....usually down hill. In this case, when you turn on the shower sump pump, the pump makes what looks like "Old Faithful Geyser" out of the sink drain. In the past I tried using a check valve between the Tee and the sink drain but there was not enough "Head" to open the check valve thus the sink would not drain. I removed the check valve and reverted to Plan B....which was ignore the problem.

Plan C was implemented today. That was to install a ball valve between the sink drain and the Tee thus allowing me to close off the sink drain line.

I scoped out the work....made up my parts list...checked it twice....measured once...and set out to the hardware store in town. The good news was they had what I needed and it is only a mile to the store. Upon getting into the job I determined I should have checked the list and measured twice instead of what I did earlier.

This should have been an omen.....but as most boat jobs take at least three trips to town I was not fussed. The hardware store did not have the one part I needed....a simple pipe thread to hose barb plastic fitting size 3/4". They do not stock them. Nor did the building supply place but they did point me in the direction of Nixon's Hardware.

That kicked off the three county tour.

I finally found Nixon's and fell in love with the place. A young lady behind the counter was eating a snack....a can of Potted Meat with a couple of crackers. After a bit of getting to know one another and her Mom along came a second young lady who escorted me to the plumbing department. Alas, no fitting to be had. We returned to the counter and discussed ordering one. Mom called the distributer and after a short chat she asked me if I could use a white plastic one instead of the gray plastic one I had shown her. Well.....errrrr......sure!

While waiting for Mom to sort out the ordering thing.....I noticed a couple of old farmers sitting on the church pew. Please to remember this store is out in the middle of no where.....and supplys all the farmers in the area. A very interesting place to shop I might add.....most anything you can want and lots of local color.

Remembering my North Carolina History....I started a conversation with the two Farmers. First I made an inquiry as to whether there had ever been a big ol' lie told on that bench. They looked at me like I was from New York or somewhere and allowed there had not. I smiled and said perhaps no lies but a bit of harmless prevarication perhaps. That got a smile out of both of them.

Rising to the moment I opined all them hard core down east Democrats must be awfully uncomfortable lately with the ways things have been going up in Washington. From the looks I got from that comment I sure hope I don't run out of gas or have a flat tire out in that neighborhood!

Anyway....the young lady led me to the spray gear department and Hello! There were dozens of the fittings I needed.....in white. Thus, I still have to drive hundreds of miles to get a single item to do a boat chore! At least I had fun doing it.

While studying the empty bin in the plumbing department I struck up a conversation with a fellow who was also walking around looking for the Holy Grail....in his case a plug and a small brass fitting. Seems he is rebuilding an old wooden boat and is enjoying himself immensely. In time I hope to see that old boat and spend some more time chatting with him.

This being in a small town where everyone seems to know everyone else is enjoyable.

Now.....Chicken Madras Curry bubbling away on the stove, the rice is done, time to toast some Paratha's and enjoy dinner. Perhaps a blender full of slushy lime based Rum drink after dinner and see what kind of trophy Frady Cat brings in tonight.

Dockside at Edenton

The boat is clean, washed, cushions cleaned, ropes, lines, rodes, and strings coiled, washed, and hung with care, dishes washed, heads scrubbed, bunk made, my own hide bathed, and if I can get my hands on the Ship's Cat....he is next on the scrub list.

I did not do the tour of Edenton as I was busy entertaining myself with the scrub brush and water hose most of the day. Tomorrow perhaps I shall venture forth and look for the laundromat, hardware store, propane repair place, and perhaps stop for another fine Reuben Sandwich at Shannon's favorite Meatball Sandwich Shop.

If the weather cooperates it is also time to raise the sails and give them a good scrubbing to get all the Dirt Dobber Nest mud stains off the canvas. Those rascals delight in building nests inside the stacked sails and when you raise the sails you get showered in dirt clods. The good news is they don't sting but calmly fly off in search of a new home.

Frady has turned into a trophy hunter....while enjoying the last few chapters of "The Last Stand of Fox Company", the story of a five day fight in Korea in minus 25 degree weather at the Chosin Resevoir, I was presented with a Bull Frog. Frady spent ten minutes chasing the Frog all over the boat....he would reach a paw out to touch the Frog and off would hop the critter seeking a place to hide. The Ship's Cat tired of that fun and went to his dry food bowl for a snack and I was able to get to the Frog to heave him over the side back into the creek.

Alas, the Frog Croaked!

Where Did The Summer Go?

After a short couple of hours playing Tug of War with Ma Nature getting the boat tied up snug to the dock I enjoyed a hot dinner below while listening to Frady get and off the boat at least a thousand times. He is certainly happy to be ashore again and is exploring his new domain.

No dogs so far but there is another Marina Cat that does not seem aggressive but was interested in making his acquaintance with Frady.....but all Frady would do is his Hissy Face complete with bare fangs....actually "FANGS"!

All evening long he would bounce onto the boat...jump down into the cockpit and peek around the Hatch opening and wait for his head rub and the occasional Kitty Treat.

Along with cleaning up the boat and myself today.....Frady is in for a bath and dosing with Flea medicine.....hopefully I will come out of that with all my parts intact!

I awoke this morning to find it cold and foggy with absolutely no wind what so ever. Perhaps I should have taken a day in Cape Lookout after all!

Now off to explore Edenton....that should not take very long

Wrightsville to Edenton

Monday morning I was up bright and early having slept like a log. Young Shannon shared dinner with me at the Texas Road House in Wilmington and dropped me off back at Luna. I do enjoy her company especially when she gets to jabbering....which means you do a lot nodding yes....and shaking your no's....as there is no way to get a word in edgewise when she gets into topics like Peruvian Mummies and clay shards found at Fort Fisher.

The trip outside went great with a light wind and following sea. I saw a few Porpoises, one school of Bonita looking fish tearing up the water. Alas, I did not have my trolling rigs in the water or I might just have had some fresh fish for dinner.

I made better time than I thought and ran all the way to Cedar Creek off of Adams Creek (The ICW) just south of the Neuse River. It was a very long day! Originally I was going to spend the night in Cape Lookout Bight but the weather report called for the Cold Front to get here a day earlier than planned.

The run up the Neuse, Bay, and Alligator Rivers went fine. I anchored just outside the end of the canal with two other boats but they were so far away it was like being all by yourself. I awoke to some dense fog but was out of it in just a few minutes then the wind picked up and the road got all lumpy for a bit. Don't let anyone fool you.....there are not a million crab pots in the Alligator River and Albemarle Sound.....there is at least twice that many.

I wonder why I never see flash orange, yellow, pink, or green floats on the crab pots. Whoever the dullard is that decided to use Black floats needs his hind end kicked!

As I pulled into Edenton I discovered my fancy dancy Raymarine Electronic map does not cover that part of the water. Gad Zukes....it was paper map and radar for navigation. Being the wizard I am....I found the Edenton Marina and discovered the wind was blowing directly off the Tee Dock. Being a single hand sailor, that presented a bit of a pickle. How does one approach the dock and pickup a stern and bow line before getting blown off the dock. I did know better than to get off the boat before getting the lines attached to the pilings.

Scotty Harrell, the owner of the Marina, came down to welcome me and found himself being a dockhand for the afternoon. He is quite the gentleman and I look forward to getting to know him. Perhaps I might reconsider this Tee Dock and take up a standard slip further into the Marina.

So....the first trip of the season went off without a hitch assuming one discounts dragging anchor and cruising the anchorage, breaking a toe, catching no fish, and running aground in Adams Creek (got off with a judicious bit of sail), and spending two hours getting tied up to the dock in Edenton. Amazingly, I only had to make two passes at the dock before getting a line around a piling. Then the Tug of War started!

Now for some well deserved dinner!

At Sea and Underway!

Saturday was spent shuttling the Pickup to Edenton and a good day was had. Young Shannon kindly ferried me back from up there. While we were having a quick tour of Edenton, we had a very nice lunch and found a bar that had live music one night a week so there is in fact some night life in that booming metropolis.

The Electronics guy never showed on Friday but the Chart plotter and Radar works fine so long as the fish finder is disconnected from the system.

Pulled out of Wilmington at 0930....after shanghai'ing poor Frady. He smelled a rat when he discovered the pickup missing and no amount of treats was going to get him inside the boat. A quick Habeas Grabus on him on deck and down below he went definitely in protest.

I let him out of the lower decks when safely underway on the Cape Fear.....and after a bit of hyperventilating and a whole lot of petting, scratching behind the ears, and hugging.....he settled down and enjoyed the ride.

After getting to the Masonboro Inlet, I took the boat out and scouted out the channel.....no problem getting out of there. Lots of deep water....fairly straight channel....just a zillion boats.

Passing by the Coastie Station at the end of the channel.....I noticed a Coastie using a huge telescope....and probably an NVG scope there as well. He was looking for drinking boaters from the look of it. The State Fish Cops were going gangbusters in the narrowest part of Banks Channel.

The anchorage has about a dozen boats anchored here.....a very nice Canadian boat pulled in just after I anchored. Well actually it was an average boat but the helmsperson was beautiful. Here I sit with just my buddy George Raymarine for a helmsperson. Life can be so unfair at times!

Weather is forecast to stay good for the next few days thus will still do the outside run. I talked to Joe Earl and he is near GeorgeTown, SC. and making good time. He said for about four hours yesterday he had a speed over the ground of Zero Knots.....he said it was a very strong current.....but I reckon it more like some very shallow water. He and Jim can find those shallow spots....that is why I always defer to their experience and follow them!

Sundowners will be great tonight.....pretty place this anchorage.

Update!

After posting the blog....and making sure the boat was secure....I elected to take a wee siesta. I awoke to the sound of someone breaking into the boat....yelling something about his anchor was dragging. I jumped out of bed....grabbed me spectacles....to confront this evil fellow. As it turned out...Luna had toured the flotilla moored in the Wrightsville Anchorage while I had my eyes closed.

It was me that was dragging and not the insane guy pounding on the side of my boat. He made like Blackbeard and boarded Luna jabbering away with some Indian greeting and offering Yoga lessons and demanding cold beer while he made comfy watching me man handle the anchor. Despite his ignoring the hard work and my newly broken toe he finally got bored and made off with a bottle of Duplin's finest grape.

That's my story and I am sticking to it.

You do meet the nicest people at the worst of times!