Allen, as you may know, is a weather bug like most sailors who depend on knowing what the weather looks like today and if the wind and current are in the right direction for
our plans. After a great warm spell, A cold front came in Friday, Saturday, it rained slightly most of the time with bouts of faint drizzle that allowed us and others to wander and shop around town. Shop, we did—great tee-shirt for our son Adam, a mini-kite for Allen, and a new fanny pack for Norma. It was also a good day to do laundry since the local laundromat here is closed on Sunday.
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Today, Sunday, November 12, 2023, it is raining hard all night, one of those constant pulsing rains that will probably last a while, if not all day, but hopefully enough to clean off the bird “pills” on the foredeck. I’d been asking Allen for 2 days to hose her down, but he preferred to let Nature do the job. He’s probably right.
Today is supposed to be a busy day on our calendar—lunch with Lee and Wendy whose marina has a loner car and dinner with Dave Townley and his daughter Erin who are taking Nancy and Arnon’s former Vision Quest, now Quest II to Southport, North Carolina, to meet its new owners.
It will be interesting to see how this day unfolds.
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It started out with Allen scrubbing the deck to remove all the stains and bird pills that did not wash away in the night, while Norma vacuumed and cleaned the inside of the boat. It’s amazing how many hairs are all over the boat, Norma from her real short haircut and Allen’s ubiquitous chest hairs. When it started to pour again outside, Allen finally came in from the rain and had a hot cup of tea. Luckily, while temps were pretty low, the rain petered out in late afternoon.
We took a walk to the Cape Lookout National Park Visitor Center down the street and really enjoyed the talk by Kathleen O’Reilly, the ranger. She was a real buff on the 1940 "new deal" art in the beautiful building, and we enjoyed sharing stories with her. Beaufort is known for its wild horses and fancy diamond decorated lighthouse on Cape Lookout. This is an amazing place with the horses running free on Carrot Island and the baby turtles running on the sand and out to sea when they hatch on the beach in the warmer weather. We sure wished we could be around when they do this, but it was great to learn what a special area the Shackleford Banks are around here. The barrier islands are a real protection zone for this environment.
After we returned, we had a great phone call with our dear friend D.J. Anand and are thrilled to learn of his new position in Washington, D.C., a senior advisor on energy and transportation for the White House! While he also had offers from 4 of the U.S. National labs, He will also be able to work with Sandia National Lab and set up a new laboratory in DC as well as his position at the White House. DJ will be a real gift to any program and is well suited for this major career move. Allen is really happy to hear that he will continue to work in power and energy, an area where his abilities will make a real difference in all of our futures. Congrats! D.J.
Well, it’s late now, and we just left Quest II, formerly Vision Quest, a lovely Passport sailing yacht which previously belonged to our good friends Arnon and Nancy, after having dinner with our boat broker Dave Townley and his daughter Erin. Dave’s crab cakes were fantastic and went really well with my jambalaya. It was a fun evening when we run into old friends and acquaintances on a trip like this. Dave and Erin are delivering the yacht down south, It sounds like we will see them again at our next destination, Swansboro, NC, but likely only from afar as we intend only to anchor there. Currently our dingy is deflated and stowed and we are not even thinking about paddling the kayaks in the cold.
The rain has stopped now, it’s still chilly outside, but we are nicely warmed by a good meal, good friends, and a cozy boat. Off early to Swansboro tomorrow!