Life on Zingara

Good morning, Y'all.  (Mary & Bill, on Always 5 O,clock, from Greensville, SC, are starting to influence our speech!) We woke up to a cold, windy, rainy morning, but after coffee, we got going "On the Road Again".... In case you don't know -- when Cap'n Rick gives the order to "Cast Off", I have to jump. And so it went again this morning. BACK STORY: When we tie up to a dock, Zingara has two stern-lines & two bow-lines  (keeping the back/front of  the boat from  shifting right & left) and a Spring-line (keeping her from moving forward or back). When we cast off, these 5 lines are uncletted from the dock, and then thrown onto our  decks.  As Rick steers the boat away from the docks, I run around the outside of Zingara,  making sure  we don't hit  anything as we pull away.  Then, once Cap'n Rick is all settled, and the course confirmed,  I return out to the decks to coil & stow the li...

  NOTE on 11/18/2108 :  Dear family & friends,  all is well,  except that the Internet in the          marinas down here are either non-existent or very slow.  I couldn't upload pictures to the blog. Over the holidays,  I'll learn how to use a hotspot, and will sign up for unlimited data for January through March. Off the dock by 6:45 AM --- What a  Spectacular morning!  Here's a picture of "Always 5 O'Clock" (I kept calling it "Happy Hour", but will start using her correct name), looking backwards from Zingara. Now just hoping we get through the day without hitting anything. Rick and Mary continue to watch the charts, both paper & electronic for un-marked shoals due to Hurricane Florence. Beautiful,  yet damaged, homes along the Intracoastal. For extra safety, for a while, we followed other boats, including the trawler, Wander's Rest from Fairfax. VA, a larger, deeper boa...

Left Oriental Marina, after Rick walked to the Piggly Wiggly  (for groceries). We had some rough waters crossing the Neuse River, but it all calmed down once we got into Adams Creek. We saw porpoises, lots of shrimp boats,  and learned a while lot about  boat-passing etiquette.  Around 10:30, Bill & Mary of Happy Hour called -> water pump problems.  Long story short,  their pump had seized, and as Rick had a spare pump with us,  we stopped to help them.  Bill & Rick worked for over an hour replacing the seized pump, and our two boats continued on down the river.  ( Shawn & Cindy had continued on without us.) We ended up docking in Morehead City, (only 20 nautical miles) as there was no room in the Swansboro (another 20+ miles south)  existing marinas.....and they did not recommend  anchoring out, due to strong currents. And we couldn't get to Wrightsville Beach before dark. Bill & Mar...

Wake up!  It's Game Day!  Our little caravan set off to travel down the IntraCoastal Waterway (ICW) following the Alligator River.  We l eft the docks at 6:45, and caught the 7:00 Swing Bridge. We're the little blue dot, @ 7:10 AM. We were all looking forward to a long day, full of easy travel, bright sunshine and college football, hoping to reach Oriental in 8-1/2 hours (4:30ish) ;  Sally and Shawn listened to the MSU vs OSU game, starting at noon (Shawn showed us how to listen to the game on Iheartradio.com) and Rick cheered on UofM against the Rutgers at 3:30   Meanwhile, Mary had found a great restaurant in Oriental that promised to be showing the Clemson/Boston College Game---- as Bill is a huge Clemson Fan. We made it to Oriental (almost 90 miles) by 5, and got to enjoy the sunset at the Oriental Marina and Inn. We enjoyed a fair meal at the Toucan Restaurant, but mainly just relaxed and enjoyed each others' company...

We got up early, joking with the other rafted boats --- Knot Just Dream'n was to untie at 7:30, Zingara @ 7:40, Happy Hour @ 7:50, and the boat on the dock (Stephanie & Jim from Pennsylvania) asap.  We (along with the sailboats) all made it through the 8:00 bridge. Our plan is to make our way to Elizabeth City (to a marina WITH electricity, restaurants, grocery stores and shops) for the evening.  Bad weather is predicted on the Albemarle Sound, so maybe we'll hold up there, wait for better weather tomorrow, then cross the Sound, then continue south on the Alligator River ..... Somewhere along the Dismal Swamp Duck Hunters --- with rifles and beautiful dogs! Welcome to Elizabeth City! Wahoo! The weather improved, and, to tell you the truth, Eliz City didn't  look all that exciting, so our  little caravan decided to continue onward.  Jim & Stephanie on Floating Home changed their minds and stayed in Elizabeth City. Roun...

We left our anchorage, on another grey morning, weighing anchor @7:25AM. Wish me luck! As we knew we were heading for some very rough seas, immediately after breakfast, we stowed everything we could (ie, fruit bowl in the oven, coffeemaker in the sink, etc) and got ready for a wild  2-hour ride. GOOD THING -->  I saw two porpoises (or dolphins) frolicing in the bay.  They always bring a smile! So, I survived the VERY rolling seas, and once we successfully made it around the point, the waves calmed down, and we headed in Norfolk, Virginia. Entering Norfolk Harbor .... Shortly after one o'clock,  the sun came out, and we continued our travels on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway,   through a small lock.    Once we were settled into the lock, we helped other boats with there lines as well.   WHAT A SURPRISE!  We discovered the boat behind us (which had also passed us up in Norfolk) was "Knot Just Dream'n...

Good Morning! We left Oxford, MD, at 6:30 this AM, and an hour later, @7:25, we officially rounded a red buoy AND HEADED SOUTH!  The weather was great, sunny and light winds. We're finally on our way! We went as far south as we could,  and dropped anchor with 15 minutes to spare.   What a beautiful, successful day!

N ovember 05, 2018   Monday Milford, Michigan:  We had picked up a one-way-rental car on Saturday (Nov.3rd), packed it up, closed up the Milford condo, and travelled to a (horrible) Red Roof Inn outside of Pittsburg.  After a brief, but  spectacular , visit to the Civil War battle field, Antietam, https://www.nps.gov/anti/index.htm,  we  arrived at Oxford Yacht Agency Sunday early afternoon, where Zingara was waiting for us to return.  We unpacked the car, stowed our gear (including a case of wine -- I hope I remember WHERE I put it all), and enjoyed a fantastic bowl of Vegetable Crab soup at Doc's Sunset Grill, just down the street. We went to bed early, and ..... we woke up to RAIN! --- not just a gentle rain, but a "looks like we are going through a carwash" rain!   Our bed was so warm, the coffee smelled so good,  and our plans were undetermined until an 11:00-phone call, so ..... it's now almost 2:00 pm...