In Southport, NC, a cormorant dried his wings right next to our spot at the town dock. It has been two warm and beautiful days, almost seventy degrees. We're busy doing a number of things to prepare ourselves and the boat for another offshore adventure. We'll either go down the coast from here, to Charleston, Fernandina Beach, or Ft. Pierce, or if the weather permits, we'll cross the Gulf Stream and make it to the Bahamas. We can almost feel the warm sand, but it will take a while to get there. Merry Christmas to all!

On December 12, we left Oriental, bound for Swansboro. Close to Beaufort, NC, we broke a fan belt and didn't have a spare. We got a tow into Beaufort and lots of help from the local TowBoat / US operator there in locating a new belt. Now we have a spare. It was a new and interesting problem to install the belt, involving taking the alternator mostly off, but finally we were on our way. We stayed two nights at Swansboro, waiting out some chilly, drizzly, foggy days. We also had had a new fuel hose shipped to Swansboro and installed that there. Then we made our way to Southport, NC, close to the Cape Fear inlet, on December 17.

We finally made it to Oriental, NC on December 5. We spent some time with our friends, fellow Baba- owners, Joe and Priscilla Brant. While we were there, another cold front with strong winds was predicted to come through, and Joe found a slip for us to hole up in and wait it out. It turned out to be the coldest weather yet this year, with two days of lows in the 20s, breaking records around the area. We were very grateful to have heat and stay put in this wonderful spot, with a lounge area that looked like a mountain lodge.

On December 3, we left Belhaven bound for Oriental, NC. After a bouncy ride across Pamlico Sound, we entered the canal. By the time we crossed the canal into the Neuse River, the skies were looking gray and the wind had come up. We turned around and spent two nights at the R E Mayo shrimp boat dock, alongside commercial shrimp boats. We waited out the cold front in this protected spot and had a delightful dose of local color from the off-season fish company. Accomodations were a bit dilapidated, and I avoided the ladies' room pictured below.

We left Elizabeth City on November 29, and crossed the Albemarle Sound on a beautiful calm day. We anchored in a peaceful bend on the Alligator River. There we noticed diesel fuel in our engine pan (again!). We had to limp back to the Alligator River Marina and contact AYB again. After some prodding, and calling Yanmar directly, they did send down a mechanic to look at the engine. A pin hole leak in a high-pressure fuel line was found, and he could jury-rig it up to work. We left the marina after a cold front went through the area on December 2.

On November 26 and 27, we motored through the Dismal Swamp Canal in Virginia and North Carolina. There wasn't anything dismal at all about it, on sunny, calm days, after a bit of fog in the morning. We tied up at the Visitor Center for the night, and made it to Elizabeth City, NC on November 27, where we stayed for two days.

At Atlantic Yacht Basin in Ches- apeake, we had a new bow roller installed, our engine checked over once again for any leaks, and a new stainless plate through- bolted for strength. A small yard worker had to get into our anchor locker through the V-berth (our bedroom!) all the way forward, and work had to be done on the bow of the boat. We ended up with a much better system that we think will withstand much greater stresses.

We also got strong three-fourths inch nylon three-strand line, and learned how to splice a steel thimble eye into it. We added a stainless shackle and chain hook for a heavy-duty snubbing line, to be used with the chain at anchor.

We left Chesapeake on November 26, headed for the Dismal Swamp Canal.