Author Archives: npdonohoe

June 25th dawned partly sunny, and after some coffee, we got the boat ready to continue our journey north.   Today’s plan was to cruise up the Neuse River, cross the Pamlico River and anchor on the Pungo River at Deep Point Anchorage.  The day rapidly became overcast, but that’s ok – it was also cooler.  Continue reading “It’s not ALWAYS sunny…”

6/23/2020 We got up and going not too early, looking to cast off the dock at Homer Smith’s Marina in Beaufort NC by 9:30ish.  Our plan was a relatively short cruising day to a quiet anchorage in Broad Creek.  With the wind trying to blow our stern onto the dock, we needed to cast offContinue reading “Never forget to….”

6/21/2020 We got up and moving early from Wrightsville Beach to catch near slack tide conditions heading out the Masonboro Inlet.  Interesting fun fact:  Beaufort, SC is pronounced “Bewferd” and Beaufort, NC is pronounced “Bohfort”.  Googling was done to figure this out, as was figuring out why North and South Carolina are separate states, andContinue reading “Yes, Virginia, there ARE two southern towns named Beaufort”

6/20/2020 This morning started early (5:00 am) as we wanted to get an early start.  Jeff bid us farewell from the dock at 7:45, as he was traveling back home to California.  It was such a wonderful time with him, and we cannot wait to share new exploits.  The day dawned partly cloudy, light breezeContinue reading “In My Mind I’m Going to Carolina”

After a couple of weeks of provisioning, repairing, double checking and even hand waxing the topsides (who needs a gym!), we drove to Orlando Airport to pick up our broker-turned-good friend, Jeff Merrill, to travel with us on the first leg of our journey. We ventured out to meet some friends for a last eveningContinue reading “New Adventures Begin!”

It has been quite a while since we last posted… We know.  We, like the rest of the world, have been adjusting to “a new normal” with Covid-19 in our surroundings.  Luckily, so far, we have been very healthy and have not been stricken with this virus – nor has anyone in our marina. Unfortunately,Continue reading “The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men….”

It has been surprisingly difficult to schedule people to visit us. Between guests having jobs and school obligations, weather whims that we cannot control, and the never-ending list of things to be attended to and fixed on the boat, we have had quite a challenge. However, as we settle into this life and weather turnsContinue reading “Feb 15 – 21: FIRST VISITORS!”

After hanging out at Old Port Cove marina in Palm Beach Gardens for several more days, we finally got the important repairs completed and decided to head back to our marina on February 4th. Palm Beach is lovely, but we were anxious to get back to our home base. After checking the weather and planningContinue reading “Feb 4: HOMEWARD BOUND – FINALLY”

After our training adventure and solo outing, we went to Vancouver, Canada to spend the holidays with family. It was wonderful and fun. And wet. Very wet. Like, “there for 26 days, it rained for 25 of them” kind of wet. But we had beautiful hikes, too much food, lots of laughs and philosophizing andContinue reading “IT’S ALL FUN AND GAMES UNTIL IT’S TIME TO HAUL OUT THE BOAT”

We decided to take a short trip up the ICW to visit some place new, and to practice our newly developed skills. Melbourne is 26 miles up the ICW (which at our boat speed is about 3.5 hours). We charted our course, researched anchorages, checked and recheck weather. On the morning of December 5th, weContinue reading “First solo cruise”