"Summer Storms"

May 29th, 2012 -Well guys, we're north and it's as far north as we're going to make this summer. We didn't stop and smell the roses like we usually enjoy. This time we had a schedule that we desperately wanted to keep. We did have a chance to meet up with a few of our friends along the way. Our happiest moment was making the ceremonies of the two college graduates. 

 Everyone told us when we made it back north that the winter had been 'wonderful'. There was no real cold weather and no heavy snow storms. In fact it was the winter without the snow.  Well Mother Nature has a way of  letting you know that nothing is predictable. The past two weeks have been amazingly wet and dreary. We  had missed the beautiful warm sunshine of the south. Tuesday's weather report was the typical 30% chance of rain and/or scattered thunderstorms  but with an unusual high of around 80 degrees. Well the day began beautifully and we thought that the weatherman was crazy! We watched the evening news and they were reporting 'weather watches' and showed a line of storms making a direct path our way.  We thought no way,,, the sun was shining,,,  and then,,,,the clouds slowly began to build. Shortly around 8pm we watched this wall of clouds cover the sky. It was extremely eerie as the winds began to howl and the sky turned black. Mother nature had a show that she wanted to share and it was spectacular! The pictures below don't come close to how ominously black the sky became , you had to be here!

Today's World

May 15th -  A few short hours ago we dropped the hook in Chesapeake City, MD. I'll let the captain tell the tale of our adventures since April in our next post. I just wanted to share a recent experience, not really related to boating or even perhaps cruising.

Sunday night we had just returned from an excellent weekend celebrating our grandchildren graduating from their perspective college and university. Our drive back to the Summer Wind had been full of conversation about the educational system and how wonderful it felt to be a part of such a celebration. We had been discussing how we noticed that there were just as many women as men receiving their degree. Not only that, but we discussed the diversity of the nationalities and the support shown for one another.

We were unloading the car when a 'man' walked by with his dog. It's the normal polite thing to say hello and begin a conversation. He had asked how long we were at the marina and  inquired if  we were spending the summer at the marina. We had both been smiling and told him no we were going to head further north if the weather cooperated. He had then began to tell us how he was a 'liveaboard' from South Carolina. What shocked us next were the next few words that came out of his mouth. He told us the plan was to sail from the country if 'Obama was to be re-elected'. He then said he had enough from blacks. I told him I rather liked Obama and thought him to be an honorable man and then told him Bon Voyage. Not a word was spoken next. The words I really wanted to say to him, just wouldn't come. I was too mortified and sad that such a person still exists into today's world.

RACING WITH THE WIND

April 28,2012

Can't believe it has been 10 days since we posted our last entry. The weather has turned ugly with rain, thunderstorms and high winds, so haven't had a chance to write.
Even though mother nature hasn't been kind we are moving anyway. As most of you know we are on a schedule to make our grand kids graduations. When we started cruising years ago we decided that having schedules is not the way to cruise, but sometime you have to break the rules.
Last night we spent in Morehead City, NC and had a lovely dinner out. We do try to treat ourselves occasionally.
The night before we had anchored down in Mile Hammock Basin which is in the heart of Camp Lejeune. As we pulled in the wind was howling with gusts over 30 knots. there were waves in this protected spot but we got our anchor down with 100' of chain and she held beautifully all night. A few boats couldn't get their anchors to hold so they left. We found out that we could not have gone further anyway because the next bridge which was only a few miles away was not opening because of the high winds. When we left the next morning we heard from the bridge tender that the marines were going to close down the waterway to have live firing exercises. We got the last opening at 0800 hours and as soon as we transited the camp location an announcement came over the radio that it was a "Warship" that was going to fire their cannons. The booms started immediately. In all the years of traveling through this area that was the first time we experienced that. BTW thee waterway was closed down until noon. The boats behind us had to wait.

Today the weather was going to be a little frisky and we had to go up the Neuss River about 3-4 hours. Well when we entered the main river the winds picked up to almost 20 knots and the waves built to over 5'. It was not going to be a pleasant ride as he waves were crashing over our bow and splashing up to our bridge. Called the marina in Oriental and they found a spot for us, so here we are safely tied up. Several boats pulled in behind us and we all said the same thing. "It wasn't suppose to be that bad". Took a little walk to town and found a fish store where we purchased a pound of large fresh shrimp for $9.00. That will be on the menu tonight.
The Summer Wind is performing great since our mishap and we hope it will stay that way. Tomorrow hopefully the wind will be calmer and we hope to get close to Albemarle sound which is almost near the end of North Carolina.
So Elle is going to add some pictures to this post and we will see you next time soon. We would love to hear some comments from you either right here on the blog or in an email.

Ospreys building their nests on the waterway!

Very well made withstands high winds!

Bellaventure!

Summer Wind Docked in Morehead City