Plans

My trip up from Wilmington was another trip that would be wonderful to share. The first day was offshore sailing from Wrightsville Beach to Beaufort. Then up to Oriental for the night. Oriental up to Alligator River. Lordy it was hot. The Alligator River Pungo River canal seemed to go on for ever. About half way the engine overheated. I drifted to the side to fix it and a boat traveling behind me asked on the radio if he could help. I was OK by then so he went on by. Then, just at the end of the canal a terrific thunderstorm hit. I was right behind the other boat, and we both went to the anchor as fast as we could. Terrific thunderstorm. After the storm went away I went over to say hello to the other boat. He and I spent several hours that evening and the next day. It was a treat for me to meet the real Indiana Jones in the headwaters of the Alligator River. He was an Australian geologist who explored for gold in Africa. And between jobs he sailed all over the world. Normandie and I met in the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean. He has sailed to Chagos three times. We had a lot to talk about. The next day I sailed up the Alligator River, then across the Albermarle Sound. It was a great day of sailing, and I stopped just after the Albermarle behind Buck Island. That is where the second thunderstorm hit, in the middle of the night. The next day was when I met my nephew, John, at Pungo Ferry. John, Emily and the new baby Daisy Mae came from Virginia Beach with John's stuff for a five day sail up to New England. John and Emily went back home and I stayed on the boat at Pungo Ferry. The next day John came back, and he and I took the boat up to Great Bridge. And yes, I really enjoyed being able to share the experience. It is many times more fun when I can share it. We stopped at a terrific little marina/boatyard at Great Bridge. I loved it there. Especially the people on the other boats. Just walking down the pier you meet people and start talking. But good things have to end, and other good things start. John and I took the boat out to Hampton Roads to Willoughby Bay and anchored for the night. The next morning we sailed for New England. The most interesting thing about the trip was what did not happen. We crossed across the entrance to New York City and did not see a single ship. I was expecting to have to dodge traffic for two days. The first place we got to was Block Island. It has a lake much like Silver Lake in Ocracoke, except ten times larger. We anchored nearest to the entrance (with 500 of our closest friends on 4th July weekend) and it really looked like Silver Lake if you looked towards the entrance, except the Coast Guard Station was on the left instead of the right. If you looked the other way all you saw was boats. The next day up to New Bedford, the whaling port which brings me to now.
For about two months Normandie and I have been trying to find suitable crew to sail with me. We finally found Ken, from Houston. He was to meet me in Boston on 07July. We got here Friday 03 July, the same day I got word from Ken that his mother had a heart attack and he couldn't sail with me. So Normandie and I went back to work to find someone else.
We found a young man who wants to sail to North Africa, and I can take him close, so we shook hands (over the phone) and he is going to fly here (Boston) in the next few days. We should sail soon. This is going to be a real adventure.
Bill