Friday, October 19 – Got up early as Greg, the repair guy, was coming at 8:00 a.m.  It is going to be a long day, and I really don’t hold out much hope that he can actually replace the water heater.  After all, even though he located one in Florida, he had to get it shipped up here in one day!  So, he actually does show up at the appointed time, and disappears down into the engine room and after awhile we hear him on the phone saying, “Yeah, yeah, that’s great”, etc., etc., etc., and we find out that “yes, the water heater is here!!” (I have actually no earthly idea how he pulled that off.)  So by now it’s lunch time, and he has to go get his helper, Raoul, so we decide to get some lunch at the little restaurant on the corner called Black Beards.  We get back to the boat just before Greg and Raoul show up with the water heater, and low and behold, it doesn’t fit through the door – even though it was measured about 30 times – surprise, surprise, surprise!  But all is not lost – Greg bends the brackets (which are the cause of the problem) back with some heavy duty pliers, and, “Yep, it fits!”   So the water heater gets replaced and we get hot water, the port engine starts fine now, and we are good to go again.   He gives us the invoice, and we learn that BOAT actually stands for “Break Out Another Thousand!”

 There is another couple on a 43’ Hunter sailboat tied up next to us, and we’ve had several nice conversations with them, and they invite us over for a drink this evening.  Well, I know the drill about invitations on sailboats, and we bring our own wine and an h’ors d’oeuvre.  This couple sold their house and have lived aboard their boat for six years (Bob better not even think about getting any ideas!!).  We talked, among other things, about how to decorate your boat for Halloween and Christmas and other holidays.  Then after awhile we all decided to go back to Black Beards and have pizza.  I suppose it will be this way for a good part of this trip – you meet the most interesting and fascinating people and getting together for a spontaneous evening happens so easily – then, I guess, you may or may not see them again.  But everyone trades boat cards, you write on the card where you met the people, and you have a great record of people and events – in spite of this blog. 

            The next morning, Friday, today, actually, we take a walk next door to the marina to check out if they have any facilities such as a pump out station.  It’s seems pretty run-down, and we can’t find anyone to ask, so it’s off to the next stop – River Dunes Marina on Broad Creek off the Neuse River.  Now, here again there are major warnings about watching for the right weather conditions on the Neuse River, as strong East/West winds can make for a very rough and potentially dangerous trip.  It is a little windy, southwest about 10 knots, and we have small waves.  It’s fine for us, but I could see where it could get very uncomfortable.   We finally pull into the marina about 2:30 p.m., and get tied up (no major incidents), and this place is really something!  It’s really a resort.  We go and check in, make reservations for dinner, and reserve the courtesy car for tomorrow at noon.  We plan to drive into Oriental, get lunch somewhere, and go grocery shopping.

            So, I know this blog has been probably pretty boring, and whoever is reading this probably wishes they had some ice cubes to watch melt, but I am thankful for a “boring” segment of our trip.  The cat is happy, the boat is working properly, and I’m going to have a giant glass of wine with dinner tonight, but stay tuned, I’m sure this will get exciting again!