Alberg 30 Adventure Home! ( Leg 1)

   The day was finally here. After all of our hard work and planning we were now about to take our maiden voyage home. We gave ourselves plenty of time to make this trip, 8 days to cover the 220 or so nautical mile trip home. We decided early on that we would take the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), although not completely. We had just bought a sailboat and wanted to sail her. As many of you know there is not much room to sail on many parts of the ICW. Our route planning had to include sailing. We were going to sail up through the Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds and take the Virginia Cut portion of the ICW to Norfolk.

  Day 1-3: Waiting out bad weather….We were now experiencing for ourselves what we have read a lot about when cruising, weather delays. The forecast was for sun and breezy conditions, what we got was wind , rain and miserable dreary weather. Best thing was we were not miserable. We were on our adventure home. We were together and made the best of it. We explored Oriental from one end to the other. This also gave us an opportunity to become more acquainted with our Sal. Life was GOOD!

This is what the first few days looked like, but we made the best of it!!!

The second day was even worse, white caps in the Oriental anchorage

  Day 4: Underway! We got up early in the morning and untied the line and motored out into the Neuse River. Once in the river we hoisted the sails and said good bye to Oriental. We were sailing, we were on our way home, we were cruising!!!  Everything went according to plan. We sailed up the Neuse River up into the Pamlico sound. We were bound for Englehard, NC. This was about 60 miles. We figured about 10 hours….took us 9. This was because the wind really picked up in the afternoon and Sal was moving right along. I have to be honest, the wind was more than I was comfortable with. Both Crystal and I were a bit nervous. I would venture to say wind was blowing some 20-25kts. We had steep choppy waves breaking over the bow. The Pamlico Sound was getting angry. but ole Sal kept us on course with the wind on her beam, her starboard rail was underwater. I was uncomfortable with this because this was our first sail with her. We should have reefed earlier but because of my inexperience we didn’t. We did try sevral times as the wind was really blowing and could not get the main down to 2nd reef point….What can I say, we were newbies and really had no place in the Pamlico Sound in 25kt winds on our first sail. But our ole Sal and Garmin led us to Englehard.  We were wet and tired but safe!

We had set sail!!!

A very nice morning sail up the Neuse River heading home.

Winds starting to pick up as we head up the Pamilco for Englehard

Sal has a nice balanced helm, even in a steady 20kt breeze!

Once in Englehard and tied up, the marina owner gave us a ride to the only store in town to get dry blankets. Back at the boat we had a nice dinner and settled down. We were safe and Life was Good!

Englehard, NC!!! Leg one complete

Stay Tuned for the rest of the adventure!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Crystal and her beautiful mom enjoying time together

We would like to say Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and moms to-be in our family! We want you to know that everyone appreciates all that you do. To our own moms, Thank you so much for being there each and every day of our lives. It is because of who you are, your life lessons and sacrfices that Crystal and I are who we are and are able to enjoy each others companionship. Thank You!

My beautiful mom, cousin and sister enjoying a night out!

All moms or soon to-be!!!

From: Puppies

To: Mommy

Happy Mother's Day!!

Apparently he did not like what he read in the newspaper!

Our puppies asked me to post a few words about their mom too. Crystal and I dont have any children, our puppies are like children to us. They require the same if not more attention. They asked me to tell "Mommy" that they love her very much and really appreciate all that you do for them. As you can see from the above picture, keeping up after 4 puppies is a full time job. Thank you sweetheart for being a great mom to our family. We appreciate your patience and the desire you have to keep us happy! Happy Mother's Day!!! 

First Landing State Park

   My wife and I are looking for an adventurous future on the open sea and in foreign ports. We want to travel to distant places, meet new and different people. Many times while thinking of far off places we forget about the things that are right around the corner. I really think this is the case with First Landing State Park in VA Beach, Va. This is a beautiful place that offers many different landscapes and activities. It varies from swamps to ocean front beaches and inland waterways. We visited this great state park during a recent visit from our wonderful cousin, Christina, from  NY. You can see from the pictures below that this place has a beauty all its own.

  This is a swamp but is was absolutely beautiful. Look at all that green and the great reflections! All the rain this May has helped create this, I am sure that by August when this turns into a mosquito stomping ground it will not appear as nice.

A nice little inland waterway often explored by kayakers

And yes, that is a helicopter! Entirely too much money!!!!

Christina and Crystal!

Not in the park but this is a good picture of two beautiful and amazing ladies!

The water is still very cold and my crazy wife decided to not only put her feet in but go ahead for a quick dunk! Look how clear the waters are! Gorgeous!

The approach to the narrows on Broad Bay.

First Landing State Park has a great boat and jet ski launch, usually a very busy place in the summer!

My little athlete stopping for a minute to pose for a picture and let everyone else catch their breath!

The ladies out on one of many foot and bicycle trails located throughout the park. This a great park for someone looking to get some exercise off the beaten path!

  There are many great places like this in your backyard, so get out there and enjoy them. Yes, we are sailors looking to get away from it all and enjoy life and each other. While we wait for our cruising plan to mature we are going to get out and enjoy everything around us! So join us wherever you are get out there and enjoy mother nature!

What was that!?

I have never been able to quite describe how my wife acts when we go swimming at the beach, I think this sums it up!! 

Oriental, NC

     A little sailing town located at mile marker 182 on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) off the Neuse River in North Carolina. Our experience there was great. I am writing to tell you so that maybe one day you may venture up or down the ICW for a visit. We were told by one of the locals that the town had a population of 850 people and 3000 sailboats, and judging by all the masts sticking up everywhere throughout the town I believe it. I have listed a few places below that we visited and would recommend them to anyone.

·         The Bean - a fantastic small town coffee and ice cream shop.

·         Oriental Marine Consignment – Great prices and even better people

·         M & M Diner – Excellent food and dollar beer night

·         The Silos – Another great place to enjoy good food and a dollar beer night

·         Deaton Boatyard – Great service and friendly helpful staff

We had a great time and met many friendly and just plain nice people. The town has a great website at www.towndock.net. Be sure to stop and visit this great sailing town!!

Here is the wife standing atop the bridge in Oriental overlooking a local marina and Oriental anchorage as we wait out a storm before starting our journey home. We had stopped for this photo after a nice morning jog around the town. Stay tuned as we give a detailed entry of our trip home!!

You Think She's Been Drinking?

       So here's the funny story about the first time we ever saw Sal: The night before we went to view her to consider purchasing her, we'd gone to a hockey game and out for sushi with friends. Well I ended up with the worst case of food poisoning I've ever had and spent the entire night in the bathroom. Ever had one of those nights where it doesn't make sense to get back in bed since you'll be back in the bathroom in minutes anyway? Yeah, it was like that. Needless to say that the next morning, a 3.5 hour drive to NC was the LAST thing I needed...but we had an appointment with the broker and couldn't miss out on the opportunity to start our adventures! The sickness was passed, but I was a dried out and exhausted shell and needed to rehydrate and SLEEP...but it was going to have to be done on the road to Oriental. I tried my best to recoup as Jason drove but a moving car isn't really the best place for it.

Uh-huh, It's very nice!!

When we arrived in Oriental I was no better off and wanted nothing more than to curl up somewhere and crash. I could barely keep my eyes open. It was a beautiful day out, and I squeaked my greetings to the broker and Sal's previous owner, climbed aboard, laid out on her cockpit bench...and slept. That was me and Sal's first meeting. I'm certain the broker and seller both thought I was completely hung over; Jason's lame explanation of food poisoning easily looked like an excuse for one too many. He tried valiantly to engage me in the inspection/buying process, but I couldn't hold my head up for more than a cursory "Uh-huh, it's very nice" before falling asleep again. It was a very memorable first meeting to say the least.  Written by- the sick one!

I am feeling better, can we go now?

One week later, Getting her first real look at our Sal, She was happy!