BIG NEWS! Lucky Us restarts the Great Loop...

Our last post was on Day 136 just after we had arrived in Wilmington, NC in late September. We spent about a month in Wilmington getting Lucky Us ready for winter. Then we headed home for some serious Grandkid time! We chose Wilmington because it was about as far north that we could go and still leave the boat in the water over the winter. The boat celebrates her 30th birthday this year, and I am almost positive that she has never been up north for a winter.  The decks are a composite of wood encapsulated in fiberglass. The teak decks are screwed into the fiberglass and wood as well as numerous stainless steel deck fittings. The result is "lots" of water inside the wood.  If it were to freeze, we could have some serious damage... We also had to prepare the boat for hurricane season, which meant removing the canvass enclosure, chairs, etc. Also, I flew home and drove my truck back to Wilmington along with the dinghy trailer. We also took home some of the more expensive (and portable) electronics.

Don't get me wrong. This 4 week period was not all work. We enjoyed getting to know Wilmington.

 The historic downtown area is along the Cape Fear River, and it is about 25 miles upstream from the Atlantic Ocean, which makes the Cape Fear Marina a good "hurricane hole". That is boater jargon for a relatively safe place for your boat during a hurricane.

We arrived back in Wilmington about a month ago on February 26 with the dingy in tow. We spent the last 4 weeks reversing the process from last fall. We also had the boat pulled out of the water to have her bottom cleaned and three seacocks replaced. Actually, one was permanently removed and fiber glassed over. I also drove the truck and trailer home, and then I flew back to Wilmington.

As you know, spring in North America is late this year! However, we finally left Wilmington this morning to restart our voyage around the Great Loop. Last year we covered 2519 miles from home to Wilmington in 134 days. We still have about 5000 miles before we get back home so it will be a busy year. The pictures were taken this morning as we departed. They show the battleship North Carolina (first picture), which is permanently moored across the river from downtown Wilmington (second picture). The weather was near perfect with scattered clouds and a high temperature in the upper 60s.

Tonight, we are docked in Wrightsville Beach, NC. Our voyage for today was about 32.7 miles, but we are docked only about 8 miles as the crow flies from where we were docked last night in Wilmington. Sounds crazy, but we had to go back south down the Cape Fear River then cut across to the east to join the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Only then could we actually head north to Wrightsville Beach.

Our plan over the next 2 months is to slowly cruise up the east coast arriving in New York City about Memorial Day (May 30), and then we plan to spend the summer on the Great Lakes. About Labor Day (early September), we will cruise through downtown Chicago and head south to return home via the river systems.

We got here a little before Noon (third picture). What did we do to celebrate? Well, we each took short naps. Then the Admiral went a half mile to a hardware store for some parts. I replaced a leaking elbow in the CPVC water pipe for the shower, and Terry replaced some of the water hose for the ice maker and added a filter and drain valve. Doesn't sound like much of a celebration does it?  Well, we did go out for a VERY nice dinner at a waterfront restaurant next to our marina! See! We do remember how to celebrate!

Stay tuned as our adventure unfolds. I plan to post at least on every travel day. Speaking of travel days, we may remain in Wrightsville for 2 more days as the chances of rain are pretty high. So much for a fast start...