Where there's a will there's a way

I found this interesting article about a sailor, Martijn Dijkstra, from Holland. I found it very inspirational because he is cruising on what appears to be little money, a lot of hard work and ingenuity. 

http://towndock.net/shippingnews/prinses-mia

Princes Mia in Oriental, NC
(photo from Towndock.net)

Very good article that touched on his cruising philosophy and how he handles problems with little money.

Great read on another wet, windy and miserable day here in southern Virginia

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!!

Now We Own a Sailboat!!!!

   It was now late Feb '11 and we had chosen our sailboat for our adventures. We signed all the paperwork and gave the check to the broker . We were now the proud owners of a 1971 Alberg 30. We were excited, to say the least. Our journey was beginning.  The boat was still located in Oriental, NC so that meant we would have to get her ready and make the 200+ mile journey up the Intracoastal Waterway(ICW) to Norfolk.

    Getting her ready required us to make a few trips to Oriental over the first few weekends of March ’11. Salacia had been closed up for about 10 months or longer. While she was in good physical condition and well equipped, she was a bit dirty  and damp inside. There was dust, dirt, mold and moisture to now deal with before we made our journey.  We found Sal to be very wet inside, water beading from overheads and everything else just felt damp. I am guessing she got like this from being closed up, the lack of maintenance and just not caring about her anymore.  Our plan of attack was to get her habitable and fast. We did not want to pay dock fees in North Carolina nor did we want our Sal 3 ½ hours away.

As you can see, she was wet inside! And her chainplates hardware was orginial.

    We traveled down to Sal for the first 2 weekends we owned her. We cleaned, scrubbed and cleaned some more. We removed all the cushions and set them on the dock to dry. We were very lucky during the initial visits the weather was just outstanding.  The skies were clear and the temps were in the upper 60’s to lower 70’s. We were able to open her up and let everything air and dry out.  She was starting to become a sailboat to be proud of.

Dark, dirty and damp she was! We fixed that!

    All of our research, travel and efforts had paid off. In just a few short weeks we were able to take her out and spend the night anchored out in the Oriental Town anchorage. Our Journey had begun. We were overjoyed. We had set our mind to something and accomplished it. We had an idea and we turned it into our reality. We were spending the night at anchor on our cruising sailboat!

Sal was all clean now and Crystal was a proud happy owner!!

We got a late start to the anchorage, but here we are headed out of the channel on our way over to Oriental Harbor

Here I am bringing Salacia and crew into Oriental

One happy sailor making us some eggs!

   We did it! We did it! We were now beginning our journey. Yes, we were and still are a long way from setting off, but we now were one very big step closer! We owned a cruising sailboat and had just spent our first night at anchor.

From the Top!

I am going to write this blog a bit out of order. I am going to start way back at the beginning and how we came to start this adventure. I will tell the story of how our Salacia was choosen to be our home and the adventures that got us to the current day and time. Once we reach the current day on the blog, we will fill you in on our journey as we are enjoying it. I will post random pictures of us, our family and of course our Sal along the way to keep things interesting.....so stay tuned!

This is a picture of the two lovely ladies in my life! This picture was taken before Salacia was ours. This shot( a favorite of mine) was taken the day we first visited Sal in Feb '11 for our inital inspection in Oriental, NC. Of course, Crystal and I fell in love with her and knew she would be ours and now she is! Stay tuned for the funny story that needs to be told about the day we saw Sal for the first time!