Where have we been for the last two months??

A bit too much time has gone by since we last posted news about Dream Catcher.  We made our way to the Vero Beach City Marina by April 5th.  It was just in the nick of time since we were closing on a land house on April 9th!  What you say, you bought a house?  Why?  Well, we knew that one day we would want a place to go back to on land, we love the town of Vero Beach (if you've never been, you now have a guest bed waiting), we have several good friends who live in the area, and it was a good time to buy.  We had actually made our offer and had an acceptance in early January, but the previous owner had renters committed through March, so closing was put off.  This delay was good, because Greg's business income was helpful during the first few months of 2018.

Anyway, the rest of April was spent clearing out the previous owner's stuff with help from the real estate agent's team (yuk for two days!), planning ever-growing renovation projects, supervising contractors, adding things to the contractor's list, doing some of the easy work ourselves, and some not-so-easy, and generally being exhausted at the end of each day for several weeks.  What started out as a plan to change the old carpet in the living room and put a fresh coat of paint on everything in preparation for renters, ended up being all new floors, new bathroom, walls demolished and opened up, and much more.  We are very pleased with the outcome.  The main contractor, Samuel Beers, and side kick, Michael Viamontes, have done a really, really great job for a really, really fair price.  Plus they are really, really nice guys!  We love these guys!

732 Banyan Road is a sweet little two-bedroom cottage with a great backyard, less than a block from the beach, and has eight Live Oak trees adorning the property.  We still plan to rent it out during high season, keeping us sailing for a good while yet.

While in Vero the Nina and the Pinta
(replicas of course) visited our dock 

By early May, in the middle of our house renovation project, we had to get going north.  A plan to enjoy Charleston together with our kids the beginning of May had us hightailing it north from Vero.  Weather has been pretty tricky all Spring for any passage-making.  We had planned to go offshore directly to Charleston, but weather was not great for this so we stayed inside and had a delightful week along the waterway.  We got lucky with our timing and every area where we were concerned about thin tidal water we hit at high tide, keeping the stress at bay and progress moving forward.  We arrived in Charleston by May 9th and were well-rested from a good night's sleep at beautifully remote and quiet anchorages all along the way.

Scenes from the Waterway - Vero Beach, Florida to Charleston, South Carolina

A Great Blue Heron fishing in Haulover Cut

Manatees Fishing in Haulover Cut

Haulover Cut is just north of Cape Canaveral

Dredging buoys in Ashepoo-Coosaw Cutoff

Dredging Equipment

The long weekend with the kids in Charleston was delightful.  It was a big birthday for Greg, and this weekend was a wonderful family celebration. Lots of dining, a horse carriage ride through historic Charleston, learning a bit of history, lots of walking, and good fun just being together.  It is rare for all of us to be together and we were very happy to share time.  Grateful thanks to Olivia, Courtney & Paolo for making the trip so memorable!

(Click to enlarge)

By late May, we knew we had to get the boat moving north.  After a drive back to Vero (where we snagged some yummy Georgia peaches along the way), more house projects, and a quick visit from friends Hayden and Radeen, we drove back to Charleston, and on May 24th at 5am pulled out of the slip and headed offshore (timed to avoid the fast current that runs through the marina).  We had a good passage, quiet and benign for the first twelve hours, then the wind switched and was on our nose the rest of the trip.  Fortunately, it never got over 12 knots, so even though we did a fair bit of bashing, it was manageable.  We entered Beaufort, NC inlet 30 hours later, continued up the waterway and dropped the hook in the Neuse River.  We slept quite well that night!!

Hayden, king of selfies, snapped this one!
And the work in progress is in the background....

Spring along the waterway

From under the Jordan Bridge, Elizabeth River, Norfolk,
built by Sharon's brother-in-law's firm

Memorial Day Weekend, Norfolk Waterside

There was light traffic on the waterway this late in the season.  We made 80 miles to the Little Alligator River next day, then 70 miles to Norfolk, VA the following day, then 70 miles to Mill Creek off the Great Wicomico River.  Today was a short day of 45 miles. As we write this we are on the hook in another Mill Creek in Solomons, MD, only 45 miles to go to reach Annapolis, home for the next six weeks.  

It has been a good trip!  We outran the rains and squalls from Alberto.  Tomorrow, we'll pull into Bert Jabin Yacht Yard in Annapolis where Dream Catcher will stay secure for a good while.  We have one more trip back to Vero planned to finish more projects. We'll spend time in Fenwick Island, Delaware.  And we'll enjoy a much anticipated bicycle trip through the Bordeaux Region of France before sailing north to New England.

Livin' the life, we are!  'Til next time -