We left Key Largo on March 12, 2019 heading north. Much of the trip was motoring in the ICW and a few hops outside for some sailing. The only “calendar” on this trip is the tickets and reservations for late March/early April for Disney with the grandkids and kids.
We arrived in Merritt Island and put Alibi in a marina for a couple of weeks to make that date with our family. We have some very dear friends here and were able to get some quality visiting time in with them.
The trip to Disney World was priceless. We made lots of memories and had a wonderful time. Our princess got to see some of her heroines. The trip ended way too soon. We also had a day at Cocoa Beach which was enjoyed by all.
We spent a week taking care of our friend’s farm and farm animals. The fresh eggs and fresh air was so relaxing! A few extra days for Ann to recuperate from the illness she got from the trip to Disney was necessary.
We spent a week in St. Augustine and enjoyed revisiting the historic sites. We were also treated to a meal and visit from the former owner of Alibi. It is always a pleasure to see Dick and Nelda!
Once again underway, we made quick time heading north. We stopped for a couple of days in Beaufort, SC. We were surprised by a visit from a couple we had met in the marina in Merritt Island. They were passing through and saw our boat on a mooring and sent us an email. None of us planned that meeting but it was great to see them again!
Fast forward to North Carolina and our trip to the boat yard. We went up river to a marina and boatyard in Washington, NC to do maintenance work on Alibi. It was a grand reunion with Bruce and Jan from S/V Celtic Rover! It is called being “on the hard” because your boat is pulled out of the water and placed on jack stands on land. It is also HARD because it is dirty, grueling work trying to get the work done quickly and get back floating. Roxy develops a case of ladder phobia because she has to be carried up and down the said ladder. We were ALL ready for that two weeks to come to an end! Just not the time with dear friends.
We had a lovely time in historic Bath, NC and could have stayed much longer. But if we are going to make it to Maine before the weather starts turning cooler, we have to get moving.
Memorial Day 2019 we got up and got underway at a decent time. A 20 mile long stretch of canal connecting two rivers was our early destination today. Everything went as expected and we were about half way through the canal when we met a large, wide barge. He radioed and asked us to hold our position while he straightened up in the canal. I shifted into neutral to wait for him. When I shifted into forward, we didn’t move. We tried that several more times before Darrell went below to check the linkage at the transmission. All was okay there. We dropped anchor and began letting boaters in the canal know where we were and what our problems were.
After some thinking and figuring out what our options were, we decided to hoist sails and try to sail out of the canal. We were making slow progress because the wind was blocked by the trees lining both sides of the canal but we were making way. We could hear other boaters trying to hail BoatUS for us (our AAA of the waters). We heard that they were out of Belhaven, NC - a town 15-20 miles BEHIND us. SO, we decided to turn around and head back towards them. We also felt that the knowledge of the area behind us was better than the unknown in front of us. Well, we must have had a little trickle of current helping us sail north because after we turned around, we were unable to make way going south. Darrell got in the dinghy and started pushing Alibi from the stern. We were able to make about four knots that way so onward we pushed - literally. After about twenty minutes, a red hulled boat appears from the south. We dropped the sails to hook up to the tow boat. They pulled us down that canal at 7 knots! We were going to go into a boat yard in Belhaven but they were full. Instead, we were towed to Dowry Creek Marina - where we had purchased diesel fuel the day before!
We put back on the ragged clothes that I had washed and stowed after our trip to the boat yard and went to work. Two days of work and we had the transmission removed. Our mechanic (recommended by locals) is going fishing for a few days, so we wait. Normal temperatures here this time of year are in the mid 80 degree range - May set records for high temps in the mid to upper 90’s. So we have some time to work on other boat projects and swim in the pool here. 🤪I'll take the pool!!
**** For those who have been following our adventures for several years may remember that we had issues with our transmission in South Carolina in 2011 and put in a rebuilt transmission in Charleston. The Carolinas must be hard on transmissions or not want us to leave!!
