Some things you can only put off for so long … 

After almost 3 years, our bottom paint was no longer doing its job very well, which meant more swimming to scrape off barnacles & scrub off growth – almost fun in the Bahamas – not so much elsewhere.  We attempted to haul-out in Florida, but the yards were extremely busy, as many cruisers (especially Canadians) haul-out & leave their boats in Florida for hurricane season.

The sanding isn’t fun either…

… but I had my best helper working hard!

Ahhh …. as good as new!

We found a recommended boatyard in Deltaville, Virginia which could handle our wide beam, allows do-it-yourself labor & living aboard “on the hard”.  It may be called “on the hard” because you’re on hard land, but living aboard while hauled out is pretty hard as well!  We had electricity to run our refrigeration … but that was about it.  Our A/C can’t work on land.  The water at the marina is not potable – we only had the water in our tank.  Deltaville is fairly remote, so no taxis, Uber or rental cars, which also meant no restaurants, grocery stores or take-out.  Our timing was bad with the Memorial Day 3-day weekend, so we had to hustle and finish in 4 days or be stuck for 7 days.  Boy, did we hustle – successfully launched Friday afternoon with 2 coats of bottom paint & hulls (mostly) waxed.

In the end, Stingray Point Boat Yard was a good yard to work with & they were very accommodating to our hauling/launch schedule.

How many times have I hauled out?  Well, this is me “on the hard” around 1966, so I’d say too many!

While you may think we joke around about donuts – we do not.  Our travels thru North Carolina were timed around the limited (in spring time) Friday – Sunday opening of Britt’s Donuts in Carolina Beach.  Soooo delicious & they must be eaten while hot out of the oil!  Bonus points for burning your mouth!  Britt’s Donuts are consistently rated as one of the top 5 best donuts in the U.S.  Celebrating their 80th year in business – we had to be there!

We also enjoyed a fun night out with good cruiser friends Jim & Laurie.  We first meet in Rock Sound, Eleuthera, Bahamas while they were cruising on their sailing catamaran & have since met up many times including at their cabin in Maine as well as their “new” (100 year old)  house in Wilmington, NC.  The Surf House Oyster Bar in Carolina Beach was outstanding.  This was a lovely complementary app called the Red Neck Picnic.  We enjoyed catching up & much laughter!