What are the chances?

Yesterday we motored past the Figure Eight Bridge in North Carolina (and we were lucky enough to arrive about 3 minutes before its opening). Only one other boat came through with us and like we always do, we looked it over. We like to see what kind of boat it is, what kind of rigging or equipment they have, where its from, and what its name is.


Hans was pretty sure it was an Island Packet (we have an Island Packet Cat) and then he remarked, "It's from Michigan." I looked up at that time and saw its name was Far Niente.

Now wait a minute, I thought. How many Island Packets from Michigan are going to have that name.

I'm pretty sure Hans thought I was crazy when I told him I thought I might know who they were.

I got on the radio, requested they go to channel 68 and asked if Marji was on board.


When I heard a woman start laughing, I knew I had it right!


Yes folks, Marji from Fiber Arts Afloat (and SV Far Niente) passed us in the Intracoastal Waterway!! I had checked her sailing blog earlier but she hadn't posted on it recently so I had no idea she was anywhere near us.


And even so, what are the chances that we'd actually pass like ships in the night?

I'm sorry, I just had to write that!

I've been a very bad blogger, but I sort of have an excuse!

While this may seem like an idyllic picture of our boat, don't let it fool you!

We are now into day ten of our trip from Kent Narrows, Maryland to Jacksonville, Florida via the Intracoastal.

So far we've experienced three feet of water in a locker, an overnight sail that involved 30+ knot winds with 3-5 feet of swelling waves (at 3 AM one of them playfully washed over the stern, Hans head, and then crashed around the cockpit), a puking crew (that would be me!), and freighters that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

Our GPS, also known as 'Fritz', decided to take advantage of our agony and took his union break. Fritz now does as he pleases and just dares us to turn him into the 'Big Boss'.

Big Boss or not, Fritz will be replaced when we reach Charleston, SC.

There is three feet of water in that locker.

We finally figured out that while our girl was on the hard this summer, the drain from a locker at the bow of our boat was leaking. For two months rain water accumulated here and it was stinky and gross!

We ended up replacing the hoses ourselves and lost a full day of sail.

Hans McGyver rigged up a syphon to the bilge, therefore we didn't need to buy a pump!

Along with the portable ice maker that we bought, good old Evan Williams tried to make me forget my troubles.

This is our salon area. This summer Wilbur wreaked havoc on the cushions so I decided to made some covers.

I used some old king size sheets and while they worked, I'll use better fabric if I ever do this again.

The cushions vary in size so I used a Sharpie and wrote the designation for each piece on its elastic.

Hopefully they'll improve the life of my cushions for awhile.

We are currently in North Carolina and expect to be in the Cape Fear River tomorrow.

I have to say this has certainly been a very interesting trip and I don't expect that it will change.