6/20/2026
Hello!
Update:
We are in Gloucester
Point, Virginia at the York River Yacht Haven marina. We stayed in Beaufort for
several days, watched the last day of the Big Rock marlin fishing tournament while
anchored across from downtown and then moved to a dock the last two nights. It’s
a little too hot for us to be at anchor. Beaufort is such a nice small town, with
tons of restored historic homes. I saw several I would like to own. North
Carolina has a rugged coastline with high winds and coarse sand dune islands
that look like they could move overnight to a new place. Very different from
the sweet easy beaches of the Florida west coast that I am accustomed to.
Our goal is to be in New York City for July 4th so we are moving north whenever possible and not sightseeing. One of our friends watching on the Garmin tracker asked if we were on vacation or “a delivery.” Well, it’s a delivery. We are stopping for weather or mechanical issues only. Once we get to New York, we will start the pleasure trip again.
In Beaufort we befriended another sailboat, Nordik Light. We sailed together on Tuesday the 16th out in the Atlantic to round Cape Hatteras. Nordik Light had taken the trip many times, so we were happy to accompany them. The winds were very light and the rounding went smoothly. After getting through the shoals and finally turning north instead of east it was after midnight. I came up on watch to relieve Al. This is when a series of issues began that caused Al to work on the boat the rest of the night. It was nothing serious, but it all had to be done.
We arrived at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in daylight. At the bay entrance there was a lot of large boat traffic, plus several naval warships. The Coast Guard had announcements on Channel 16 every 5 minutes about live fire drills and safety zones around the Tall Ships moving in for a parade. Once we got in the bay, things settled down and we proceeded to our planned stop at Gloucester Point on the York River. We docked the boat at 5:30 pm on the 17th.
Older Cruising
Boats
The next part will explain how we manage to deal with the mechanical issues that invariably come up. Cruising boats like ours can be compared to a house or a city. There are systems for generating electricity, distributing electricity, holding water, plumbing, heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, lighting, diesel fuel storage, a steering system and autopilot, navigation GPS systems, the sails, rigging and lines for sailing plus the all-important and beloved diesel engine. Almost everything is custom and fortunately Al can fix almost all the systems. Take these systems, put them all on a vessel that vibrates, rolls and flexes as it moves through the water and plus everything is slightly damp all the time; so things need attention frequently.
Al started
working on the boat issues before we arrived at the marina. The marina staff
said they had a diver who could come to the boat the next day, great! We arrived at 5:30 pm and happily saw a restaurant
at the marina. We had both been up most of the last 48 hours. Walking up the
dock a diver and his helper were working on a boat. They were not the diver the
marina contacted but we stopped and chatted for a bit and took their card just
in case.
A wild and
windy day at Gloucester Point / How we keep this boat going
As predicted,
the winds were very high on Thursday June 18th. That’s why we were not
traveling but coincidentally there was also boat work to do. Our boat was still
in a bit of disarray from the passage, and we were tired, but the repairs had
to get started. Al rolled out of bed at 7 am and started on a fuel filter issue.
As soon as businesses started opening, he contacted a diesel place to get an alternator
part. Amazingly, Trans-Atlantic Diesel where we purchased our Cummins diesel
engine, was in the next town. After several calls and e mails, they agreed to deliver
the part. Al also had a cold, so we did a telehealth call with BayCare at 8 am
and had antibiotics called in to the local CVS. We were being blown on to the outside
T dock by the winds gusting to 32 knots, so we needed to add fenders and adjust
the lines early in the day. A small sailboat was on the T dock in front of us and
they looked very uncomfortable, bouncing around.
I took an Uber
to CVS and back for the antibiotics. During the ride Al called and said that
someone had hit our boat. He was down below and could not come up quickly to
see the boat that hit us. As I walked down the dock back to the boat a man
following me called out saying “I hit your boat. I am so sorry, the wind caught
my boat, and I thought I could make the turn.” He came on board and we discovered he was on a
trip on his sailboat with his 12-year-old son and his son’s friend, also 12. When
he left the T dock in front of us the winds were so high it was very difficult
to maneuver. We chatted for a while and decided
to talk later.
Right after he
left the diver arrived with his father. We had called the guys we met the night
before because the other diver was not around. The diver found a minor problem
and fixed it. I think I was trying to
take a nap at this point. Shortly after I started resting another man came
aboard and followed Al down the stairs. He was with Trans-Atlantic diesel and
wanted to see the set up as he delivered the alternator part. I think I again tried
to take a nap right after he left. Throughout the whole day the wind was blowing
like mad, it was cloudy and gray and Al was running a fuel polisher that was
giving off a constant loud sound.
During dinner that night at the marina restaurant again, Al said to me “So are you all rested up now?” To me it was a hilarious question. Compared to Al, I’m sure it appeared that I had a restful day. But these last few paragraphs are really to show Al's skill and knowledge in managing a boat. Without him there would not be much of a trip. For some reason, this all works for us. We like to work hard, and the payoffs on a trip like this are worth the occasional workday or two. We are now friends with the man who hit our boat. He is a dedicated boater and very interesting person. The young men with him were a pleasure to meet as well. However, I am looking forward to this “delivery” to be complete and the fun to start again.
Thanks so much for reading!
Love and Peace,
Fran Lima
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