TYBEE TIME ON THE MOVE ONCE AGAIN

Tybee Time and her crew are once again on the move after months of sitting here and there. I really didn’t mean to leave everyone hanging but it seemed once we were idle so was my brain. When I last left you we were traveling up the ICW heading north. We made it up as far as Beaufort NC and found ourselves at a boat yard right on the ICW deciding to have a past issue repaired and Dirk decided that while we were pulled to go ahead and redo the bottom paint, replace the cutlass bearing and tighten the strut. The last time the bottom paint was done was in Panama City before leaving last year in November. I have to say that the Trinidad SR hard bottom paint held up very well for us and although it still looked good it was time to redo it. Other odds and ends were done while we were on the hard for 22 long hot days in July. We were very happy with Bock’s Marine. Very reasonable prices, shower and laundry facilities, a courtesy car, and they allowed you to stay onboard while doing work. Plus they have a great crew of people working for them, and we would defiantly recommend them to anyone. After leaving there we headed back south to Wilmington NC where we were given the use of a slip from a friend while his boat was being hauled for repairs. Lots of family time was had getting to know the nephews and niece again as Dirk’s Dad and other family live there. We also met another couple that sail on a smaller O’Day and fast became very close friends. What was supposed to be a few weeks there turned out to be almost seven. It was nice though as we were able to schedule doctor and kitty vet appointments, something that is hard to do while traveling all the time. We also visited with a couple boaters whom we have met along our travels such as Frank & Debbie from s/v Denali, Jon & Milane from s/v Snoopy, and Bill & Joanne from s/v Yacht Ultra whom we first met in Panama City before we left and now we find ourselves running into in the oddest places. So good to see everyone and we know we shall see you again. Small world this cruising community is and I like it…..We both want to extend special thanks to Christian for the use of his slip, what a great help that was, also to Dirk’s Sister Tammy for the use of her vehicle the entire length of our stay. I forgot what it was like to hop in a car at a whim and go where you want. Also want to thank Mike & Denise for showing us the hospitality that they did from the beginning of our friendship, we hope you keep that dream alive and can’t wait to see it happen for you. I know we will see you out there cruising yourselves one day. After doing some last minute provisioning we left Wilmington on the 22nd and made a short trip to Southport about eleven miles south. Denise joined us for the trip and hubby Mike joined us later in the evening and we had a final weekend at a dock. Today finds us about a day from Charleston SC and it feels great being on the water moving again. You can really tell it’s that time of year as the great migration of boaters is heading south. Our plan is to stay on the ICW taking our time and enjoying life as it comes at us. We have not yet decided how far south we will be going before we make the jump back to the Bahamas again. Much will depend on Mother Nature and how cold she will make the winter for us. So please join us again for yet another cruising season and we hope that it sparks some interest and desire to get out there for yourselves. Give us a couple days and I will post the latest.