Today we woke at a reasonable hour and had some coffee and donuts. The morning was spent working on various projects and making parts lists. We checked out the running lights, disassembled the windless, fixed the deck drains and figured out what we needed for the head and galley sink. We also found a place to buy plexiglass for the port lights and are waiting to hear back about an extension cable for the radar.

Aaron went in the water and checked out the prop and rudder as well as the general condition of the hull. I felt the venture was a great success, however, Aaron was less enthused. I personally feel this was due to the 33 degree water temperature.

We arrived at 0400 local. Dataw Island marina is in South Carolina a few miles from the Georgia border. We carried our supplies to the boat and I gave Aaron the nickle tour. We hit the rack at about 0700 local just as the sun was breaking the horizon. The alarm sounded noon and our day got off to a rather late start. Aaron headed off to town to get supplies and necessary parts for upcoming projects on the boat. I wired and tested the VHF radio then set to work on the head. I worked on the head until I reached a stopping point where I needed a part. The previous owner of this vessel was a bit shy on seamanship, consequently there are a lot of jimmy-rigged parts and there has been a decided lack of necessary maintenance. For example when the drain seacock (valve) is opened for the head it immediately begins to anti-siphon and tries its damndest to flood the boat. This renders it practically useless. I moved on to the fresh water system and after some repairs got the water flowing in the galley. Meanwhile Aaron returned with the goods, he had managed to purchase nearly everything on our lists in record time. He then set about cleaning the galley and organizing the supplies. Dinner consisted of Lean Hot Pockets and another Lean Hot Pocket, thank god for microwaves. All in all we accomplished a great deal all things considered and we are looking forward to another productive day tomorrow.

Cheers
JD

The sea is our cooler, because this boat has no refrigerator. The sea is also our bathroom it turns out. I imagine that once we set sail, it will also be our main water supply and bed.

We arrived yesterday morning at around 6am, after driving all night. I guess the first mate's job is to drive while the captain sleeps and demands rest stops for smoke breaks. Awesome.

Luckily, JDs love for cigarettes is only slightly outweighed by his love of booze. While running errands all day buying supplies and parts for the boat (with my own credit card, JD 'forgot' to give me his before I left), I picked up a case of budweiser at his request.

So I decided to check the flush valve on the toilet. However, when I did, nothing happened. I attempted to ignoree this fact, but my need to pee soon overpowered my sheer and utter terror at the thought of tearing apart the whole john. I jumped in with both hands and was committed to the... actual human feces on my hands... no antibacterial soap... im going to catch the hanta virus and die. The thing is, in order to remove the motor from the toilet you have to disassemble entire thing. Once the motor was removed I discovered what the source of the problem was. What could it possibly be you ask?

We have just entered Delaware at 1700 local. We got a late start this morning, however after some light provisioning we set off. I drove into Delaware where we commenced our first change of the watch. This was celebrated with some sporadic picture taking to include an impromptu fashion show by the first mate. You can see the rather humorous results here. I have been up for 25 hours now and will try to get some bunk time as we drive. We should arrive at Dataw Island at approximately 0400 local tomorrow.

We are driving on 295 south in New Jersey, having left a few hours later than we had originally planned. We had to make a few stops, get some gas, some food, seek absolution and go to Harry's Army Navy Store for some rain gear and hand warmers.

Harry's is not so much an Army Navy Surplus store as a regular sporting goods store with the words 'Army' and 'Navy' on the front. Lots of paintballers and fathers with children roamed the aisles giving us funny looks as we discussed the merits of waterproof bags and the hurricane warnings we were soon to become intimately more knowledgeable of.

So here is me. Or my boot rather. On the train, heading down to New Jersey, to my doom. Tonight in Jersey at JDs house, and tomorrow the drive to South Carolina. JD works graveyard, so I'll get some rest while he works and then do the majority of the driving tomorrow.

As I watch the people get on and off the train I think of all the people I love. My family, my friends, my cat. They have always been so supportive of me over the years and it makes my heart heavy to think of thier long faces when they hear the news of my inevitable demise.

My friend Tlaloc and I went down to South Carolina in January and worked on the boat for a coupla days. This was a whirlwind trip that exhausted us and set us at each others throats, fortunately we survived intact. I have uploaded some images from that trip, mostly detail shots of the mast. You can view those shots here.
This is a taste of the images in this gallery. Probably fairly boring, but might be of interest to a few.