December 19, 2009

So begins a new journey! It is getting cold again. Last week we took Chrissy and her boyfriend to NYC for 5 days of sightseeing and fun. We traveled by train - not bad. On Friday, NYC had a high of 23 degrees with wind gusts to 40 MPH. This is way too cold for us. We got home this past Monday at midnight and were on the boat heading South by 0840 Tuesday morning. You might notice that the "boat" is not the same. This past June we purchased a Grand Banks 42 Classic to begin a new chapter in boating. We had been thinking about a trawler for some time, and made the transition this year as it is a good time to buy ( a rotten time to sell). Also, Shirley admitted that sailing in the ocean for days at a time was no longer as fun as it used to be. She has endured many nights of '3 on and 3' off watches over the years and has never once complained. Our first trip was a two month cruise the summer to New England. Boston was as far as we went this summer, but Maine and Nova Scotia are in our sights next summer. We love our sailboat (still have it although it is for sale). In less than 5 years we sailed over 19,000 miles up and down the East coast form Maine to the Dry Tortugas, the Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos. Our plans are to do the same with our trawler - also named Persystence. Shirley and I got the boat to Coinjock, NC on Tuesday for the night. On Wednesday, Al Veeck joined me to get the boat to Jarrett Bay Boat Works in Beaufort, NC. Shirley went home to do Christmas stuff. Al and I stayed in Bellhaven, NC (River Forest Marina) on Wednesday night. We ran shore water to the boat for the night (just a hose connected to dock water). The next morning the toilets wouldn't flush! The hose was frozen solid. From then on we used the ship's water. It was cold! Ice on the docks. Unlike the sailboat, we ran the boat from the lower helm with the generator providing all the heat and comforts needed. We arrived at Jarrett Bay early afternoon on Thursday and secured the boat for the night. Shirley and Al's wife Nancy joined us on the boat for the night with a car so we could get home on Friday. The boat will stay at Jarrett Bay until January when we will leave again for Florida and the Bahamas. We are having some work done (changing the window tracking and adding a water maker) so that we can be self sufficient in the islands. We will start the blog again when we get under way in January. Until then, have a joyous holiday season.