A few more pictures

Here are a few more pictures of our road trip. Also, I've included a shot of the boat "on the hard." Note that the rub rail is off. We are replace the old, rotted, wooden rail with a new "trex" rail that will never rot.

A few pictures

Here's the first batch of pictures from our road trip:
The first picture was taken at my sister's office. (She's the team leader at the Middletown Vet Center.) The dapper gentleman in the green sport jacket is Ed Kerwan. He was the model for the soldier in the WWII recruiting poster he's standing near. The other gentleman is the son of the artist who drew the poster.
The second picture is my sister's dog "Abbie" having a chat with Morgan. Morgan was a big hit with Abbie. Bev had given Morgan a pretzel and he shared it with Abbie, making them friends forever.
I've included a picture of my sister's house. This is the one she is selling. She will be moving to Wolf Lake in September. She had wanted a house in the woods, and a developer bought the two lots next to her and bulldozed them flat to build two really ugly houses. She got so upset that she sold her house.
The last picture is our friends Tim and Julie from Florida who stopped by during their "Family and Friends Road Trip."

Coming soon

Coming soon...genuine "Walkure" merchandise!
Now you can declare yourself an official member of "Walkure's" crew!
Through a special arrangement with Iconic Silk Screens of San Diego, CA, (Bev's son Ben owns the company) we will soon be offering our exclusive line of custom T-Shirts. Each shirt will be of the highest quality and will feature on the front a replica of the boat's name in a font which matches the graphic on Walkure's quarter. On the back will be one of our unique designs created to bring fun and laughter to your friends and family.
Prices will be announced soon, but don't worry, they will be very reasonable.
Also, if you have a business (or a boat) and want custom T-shirts or caps silk screened, see the link on our links list.

We're on Howard's site

While browsing through Howard Livingston's site, I discovered a picture of Bev and I at the Marathon Seafood Festival back in March. I Remember Cindy (Howard's fiance') taking the picture, but I didn't know they had put it on the site.

Mike and Bev at Seafood Fest

I am assembling some pictures of our road trip north and will be posting them in a day or so.

Horn Harbor

I think we have found a summer home for the boat, Horn Harbor Marina. It's a small marina located a mile or so off Chesapeake Bay, in the hamlet of Port Haywood, VA.
The yard is small, but they have a 25 ton lift (Walkure only weighs 4 tons) so the haulout won't be a problem. The rates are reasonable and they have pickup truck we can use if we put gas in it. We can do all our own work on the boat and stay on the boat while we're working (saves motel costs.) The marina has a swimming pool (great after a hot day of sanding and painting) and a clubhouse with TV and a kitchen we can use. It looks like a great spot to dry the boat out and get some maintenance done.
While we were in the Norfolk area, we went ashore one day on the Portsmouth side. It's a neat town with a restored historic district and lots of shops, etc. We had lunch at a little spot called "Longboarders." If you're ever in that area the food is really good and lunch was cheap. Right next door is the "Bier Garden" which features 350 different beers.
In Portsmouth we saw one of the prettiest boats I've ever seen. "Redbird" is a small brigantine that was built over a 10 year period but one man. She's now for sail. I don't know why, but I imagine the upkeep has gotten to be too much. She's got a ferro-cement hull but everything else is bright finished wood. Owning such a boat would mean constant sanding and varnishing. Nice too look at, not so nice to keep up.
As we were leaving Norfolk we passed by the Navy base and saw 3 aircraft carriers, the Carl Vinson, CVN-70, the Theodore Roosevelt, CVN-71 and Harry S. Truman, CVN-75. Kieth was an hour or so behind us and got to see a submarine entering the harbor.
Norfolk harbor is very busy and we were dodging huge ships for hours as we made our way down the Elizabeth River and out through the mouth of the harbor. It turns out we had set out on a rising tide and had to fight the current past Old Point Comfort. There was really no choice since, had we waited for high tide, we would have run out of daylight before reaching safe anchorage for the night.
The weather has been great. It's a lot cooler here than in Florida this time of year, quite comfortable. The nights are cool enough that we don't run the fan and even have to use a blanket. The days are warm, but not uncomfortable. The marina owner, Diane, claims that the weather is like this "all year 'round." Hmm, seems like hyperbole to me.
By the way, Morgan is learning to navigate! (See the picture of him "helping" the captain with his charting.)

OK ESN:0-7359581

This is Mike and Bev on "Walkure" just letting you know that we're OK.
ESN:0-7359581
Latitude:37.3684
Longitude:-76.3011
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:07/09/2009 17:52:25 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.3684,-76.3011&ll=37.3684,-76.3011&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Norfolk

We've made it to Norfolk, VA and we've been treated to a parade of tall ships, a waterfront "Harborfest" and the best fireworks we've seen in a long time.
Saturday night the city set up two fireworks barges and ran two synchronized fireworks shows. It looked like the blasts were right on top of us. Wow!
We took a tour of the battleship "Wisconsin" and took a picture of Walkure from the deck. (You have to look close, she's way off there in the distance.)
We plan on doing some shopping in town today, and probably head out tomorrow for the yard where we will do our haulout. We still have not decided exactly where that will be, but some phone calls today will sort that out. There are a few good choices near here and we want the best deal we can find.
My battery is getting low, so I'll just post some pictures.

OK ESN:0-7359581

This is Mike and Bev on "Walkure" just letting you know that we're OK.
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Latitude:36.8438
Longitude:-76.3009
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:07/03/2009 12:04:16 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=36.8438,-76.3009&ll=36.8438,-76.3009&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

OK ESN:0-7359581

This is Mike and Bev on "Walkure" just letting you know that we're OK.
ESN:0-7359581
Latitude:36.746
Longitude:-76.341
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:07/03/2009 06:52:39 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=36.746,-76.341&ll=36.746,-76.341&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Elizabeth City

We are getting ready to leave Elizabeth City, and we will miss the place. The town's reputation as the "Harbor of Hospitality" is well deserved. The town dock is free for 2 days.
The grocery store in town has a shuttle service that picks up boaters at the dock and takes them to and from the store for free. We were able stock up on food at good prices and the ride was free. Cool!
Last night the mayor of the town came by and hosted a "wine and cheese" party for the boaters and gave us some good information regarding our upcoming trip through the Dismal Swamp.
There is a story behind the rose bushes. Back in the 80s two gentlemen started bringing a rose to every female boater who came into the harbor. Over the years the tradition grew into the wine and cheese party. Now that both the original "Rose Buddies" have passed away, the rose bushes have been transplanted to the park at the waterfront.
We also met a retired teacher named Kenny who helped us trim Morgan's wings. He owns the conyer and the yellow naped Amazon sitting in the tree near the docks.
The people here have been friendly and really made us feel welcome here. We will definitely plan a stop here on our way back.

OK ESN:0-7359581

This is Mike and Bev on "Walkure" just letting you know that we're OK.
ESN:0-7359581
Latitude:36.2982
Longitude:-76.2185
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:06/29/2009 20:27:15 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=36.2982,-76.2185&ll=36.2982,-76.2185&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Alligator River

Well, we're now within 90 miles of the Chesapeake. When we were in St. Augustine it seemed like we would never get there and now it's a matter of days. We're now more than 1100 miles from Marathon. Hard to believe. We've been able to travel almost every day and that has made a lot of difference.
When we were in Oriental, we met Harry, a WWII vet who has been sailing for many years. He sailed all the way to Argentina and back in a 27 foot sailboat. Now that's some sailing. (See the picture of Harry and I in this post.)
Last night we were anchored in the Alligator River near Tuckahoe Point. A nice quiet anchorage and for once, no storms. The night before we were in the Pungo River and we got slammed with a severe thunderstorm. The anchors held, and everything is fine.
Today we are in the Alligator River Marina. We stopped in for fuel and met a older lady who is sailing her 30 foot boat by herself from Tampa to Cape Cod. You meet the neatest people on a trip like this.
Tomorrow we hope to be in Elizabeth City. The townsfolk welcome boaters with a rose for the ladies and a wine and cheese party on the dock for everyone. We plan to stay 2 days and do some provisioning and then it's on to the Dismal Swamp. After that we will be in the Chesapeake.

OK ESN:0-7359581

This is Mike and Bev on "Walkure" just letting you know that we're OK.
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Latitude:35.9062
Longitude:-76.0293
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:06/28/2009 17:38:53 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=35.9062,-76.0293&ll=35.9062,-76.0293&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

OK ESN:0-7359581

This is Mike and Bev on "Walkure" just letting you know that we're OK.
ESN:0-7359581
Latitude:35.675
Longitude:-76.099
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:06/27/2009 14:40:46 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=35.675,-76.099&ll=35.675,-76.099&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

OK ESN:0-7359581

This is Mike and Bev on "Walkure" just letting you know that we're OK.
ESN:0-7359581
Latitude:35.5686
Longitude:-76.4805
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:06/26/2009 14:10:54 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=35.5686,-76.4805&ll=35.5686,-76.4805&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

OK ESN:0-7359581

This is Mike and Bev on "Walkure" just letting you know that we're OK.
ESN:0-7359581
Latitude:35.2842
Longitude:-76.6227
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:06/25/2009 15:32:27 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=35.2842,-76.6227&ie=UTF8

1000 Miles

Yesterday we traveled from Moorehead City to Oriental and on the way we passed ICW mile marker 195. At that point we had traveled 1000 miles from Marathon! This puts us well over the 5000 mile mark since leaving Kingston NY in June of 2006. 5000 miles in a homemade boat. Not bad.
Oriental is a neat little town. It bills itself as the "Sailing Capital of NC." Rumor is that with a population of about 1000 people, there are over 2,500 sailboats! Two and a half boats per person. There's also a small shrimping fleet here.
Last night, to celebrate the 1000 mile mark, we had dinner at "Steamers." We had there "all you can eat" shrimp special and let me tell you, they were generous with the shrimp. Nobody went back for seconds. They served a huge plate of shrimp and they were delicious.
In Moorehead city we had a neighbor - a huge Navy ship that is designed to carry landing craft of all sorts. (See photos.) On the way to Moorehead, we were almost swamped by one of the barges that you can see being loaded into the ship. It passed us in a very narrow channel and we could not get out of the way without going aground. The wake tossed us around so much that everything that was on the galley counter ended up on the floor.

OK ESN:0-7359581

This is Mike and Bev on "Walkure" just letting you know that we're OK.
ESN:0-7359581
Latitude:35.0249
Longitude:-76.6954
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:06/23/2009 17:15:04 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=35.0249,-76.6954&ie=UTF8

OK ESN:0-7359581

This is Mike and Bev on "Walkure" just letting you know that we're OK.
ESN:0-7359581
Latitude:34.7188
Longitude:-76.7052
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:06/22/2009 18:28:06 (US/Eastern)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=34.7188,-76.7052&ie=UTF8

It's a girl!

Dan and Faith (Bev's son and daughter in law) had their second child, Mackenzie Violet, on the 19th. 6# 14oz and rarin' to go.
On another note, Bev tells me I am remiss in my duties as blogmaster. I did not mention the lovely and talented Mel, our barmaid at Cricket Cove, who took such good care of us or Paul, the WWII vet who bought a round of drinks and regaled us with his stories and jokes. Thank you all for making our brief stay in Little River so enjoyable.
Last night we anchored in Topsail Sound, near Sloop Point. Once the traffic died down, it was a very pleasant anchorage, unlike Wrightsville which was a madhouse. Did those folks never hear that there is a certain etiquette to traveling through a crowded anchorage? Yikes! Those folks are just plain crazy. Don't ever go there on a weekend.
Today we passed by Camp Le June, where there is a big sign posted that states that the waterway can be closed for live fire exercises at the base. We saw some of the wrecked tanks and other vehicles they use as targets. It looks like they fire right across the waterway.
A special thanks goes out to Garth who made a trip out from his house to bring us some fresh picked sweet corn. Yum!
As always, Walkure continues to draw a crowd wherever we go. Every time we anchor someone comes by checks us out. We never get tired of telling the story.
Today we met a lovely couple from Italy who are cruising in a beautiful 40' aluminum sailboat that was built in France. They have sailed across the Atlantic, and all the way down to Brazil. What a trip!
Oh, the funny looking little house that sits right on the water is actually a floating bridge. The guy in the house starts up an engine and motors the bridge out of the way so boats can pass. Weird!