Getting better all the time ? ! ?

We've been here in Oriental, North Carolina half a month now and have accomplished quite a bit re the boat, such as establish that the engine and the transmission really don't have a problem.  Four knowledgeable mechanics have now told us this and we will stop worrying about this (We had seen leaks of what we thought were fluids from both, but after checking fluids and watching residues for weeks, and tightening some things, we have no leaks and apparently no problems.  So that's good!  

We've ordered a hatch for the one I broke and will be able to install it mostly ourselves.   Tom, with the help of a fellow boater, has traced down an electrical problem to a wiring problem, not an instrument replacement problem, so that is good.

And we've received a big new cooler that we'll keep in the rear stateroom for vegetables, fruits, cheeses and condiments, freeing up our refrigerator/freezer for the important stuff:  liquors and meats (This is not really my opinion, it just works out this way.)

 

 

 

 

Last Sunday one of the boaters here invited us to attend a "watermelon splitting" party that has been going on for while.  A woman here who owns a farm inland had had a load of watermelons delivered once and when the market for them disappeared, she and her husband decided to have a party and invite "everyone."   And she's been doing this now for 44 years.  Most people there knew each other and we got introduced all around.   It's a great idea for a small community to have a simple get-together in the summer.  Not much preparation or supplies needed.

 

 



 

We've been twice now to their Farmers Market on Saturdays.  Last week we found some wonderful multigrain bread, fresh eggs, kale and locally-raised pork.  This week, it was rainy and we found none of the things we went for.

We've been in this store a few times, mostly receiving advice from Pat who works there.

Yesterday (Friday) we borrowed a car and went 26 miles up to New Bern, near the mouth of the Neuse River, the wide river we're on now.   We wanted to see if we'd like a marina there to hang out a month while we took air trips from the nearby airport.    After seeing three marinas and then shopping for various items that can only be found in a larger place (20,000), we decided we didn't want to be there.   The marinas are right down town, which sounds nice.  But there is hardly anything natural to see - just boats, water and buildings.  And the shopping made us feel frazzled.  When we came back to our little quite spot where you see as many people biking as driving and not many of either, and green and water all around us, we realized that this is home for right now.   We'll just manage ways to get driven to the airport there when we need to.

I forgot to say that sometime last week, we took a sailing lesson.   We mostly sailed back and forth out on the open, Tom steering and me handling the lines.   While out, we discovered lots about our lines and setup so that after we were back we were able  to rearrange some things for much better boat handling.   We'll be taking a continuation of the lesson some day next week when the weather is more conducive.  Right now, it's delightfully cool and rainy so we're doing inside stuff.

A few hours ago, Tom installed our new big DC cooler.  It's just inside the aft stateroom door and handy.  (Notice the grand name I'm giving to this space that contains the queen bed under the boat's cockpit.  I call it this name so you know we do have a space people could stay if they would come visit.  It would just take a little rearranging.