Under the boardwalk, down by the sea.
On a blanket with my baby,
That's where I'll be.

The Drifters

Carolina Beach

From the Captain

4/5/14 South Harbour Village Marina to Carolina Beach State Park Marina 12.5  nm

We visited my brother, Barney, and daughter, Samantha, in Carolina Beach on our way down in the

Barney and Beth, Carolina Beach

fall. To free more locker space on Luna, we left our spinnaker there. We stop again going north to pick this up. And to visit again. Barney's wife, Beth, is here now. We stay to avoid a cold front that is due to come through in a few days. Looking at the weather up north, we see cold nights and cold days continuing down into Carolina. Not rushing to get home, better to spend a week in their cozy beach house than face the cold in Virginia. And, face it, how bad is this? We're at the beach! As that great philosopher, William Ludwig, known to his grandchildren as Bubba, my father-in-law, might have said, "What's not to like?"

It's off-season here, so the place is rather quiet. Britt's, the place on the boardwalk that sells hot, freshly made donuts, is open only on weekends. Lucky that! The beachfront tiki bar is likewise closed during the week. But there are plenty of year-round residents in Carolina Beach, and the regular places are open. Like the great barbecue joint, A&G, which is just around the corner from the beach house. Near that are the Veggie Wagon, a little market selling fresh local produce, and a convenience store with a Red Box vending machine that rents DVD's. The fish market is down on the docks not too far away. The state park where Luna sits is about a mile-and-a-half away, and a little past that are the post office and Food Lion supermarket. Between the supermarket and the fish store is the hardware store. All of this is within a bicycle ride away, and when Barney and family departed for their other house in Raleigh, their beach cruiser bikes remained. The commander and I enjoyed picking our picking our way through the neighborhoods, looking at the houses, and discovering ways to our destinations that avoid the main streets.

Of course we find a daily excuse to visit Luna. Leaving her at the marina feels like leaving your puppy at the vet while you go on vacation for a week. The marina isn't very crowded, which is odd considering that, at $30 per day for a slip with electric power and water, it's probably the best deal on the Waterway. Lest Luna get lonely, we return one day to pick up some things we'd forgotten. Another day, we bike by with a load of groceries to put in the refrigerator. One day just because we were in the neighborhood. Like a good mare in her stall, she awaits patiently for the action to begin. Boats pass by along the Waterway outside the marina. The commander and I watch wistfully, thinking how nice it is to be moving.

Between the bikes and the long beach walks, we get a week of good exercise. We've hardly been off Luna since leaving St. Augustine five days ago. Although we haven't walked more than a few blocks in that interval, I believe it would be incorrect to say we had no exercise.

Being on a sailboat, even motoring along, is more exercise than one might think. Although it seems that all you're doing is sitting, there is exercise in the occasional pulling on lines, walking on the decks and climbing down into the cabin and back. More importantly, I believe, is the subtle core strengthening exercise that is taking place 24 hours a day. As the boat moves beneath, you need to make little changes in position and posture to maintain balance. This occurs when sitting or standing, perhaps even lying in the bunk. The changes require subconscious adjustments in tone of the abdominal and back muscles, the muscular "core." After seven months of this, the commander and I are feeling pretty fit. Amazingly, since the early days of the trip, we have not taken an Advil for back or joint pain. We wonder if this is due to lack of cold weather or maybe the absence of stress. I believe the small body changes required of the sailor are keeping us loose.

We arrived at Carolina Beach on Saturday, and the front passed on Tuesday as predicted. There was rain and occasionally thunder. The wind turned north and cool for two days. Thursday, the temperature was in the low 40's in the morning. The warm sun made for a pleasant day before long. We took the bikes to the state park to have a look at Luna's roller furling mechanism.

The roller furler has been sticky and hard to turn. Recently, I have had walk up to the bow and turn the drum by hand to get the jib fully out in a light or moderate breeze. It is hard to wind the sail back in. With the good, fast internet connection at the beach house, I looked up the Hood Seafurl mechanism and found comments by others who had the same problem as Luna. The cause for the sticky mechanism is thought to be salt and dirt in the bearings. The solution is to spray WD-40 into the center of the furling drum, rinse with hot soapy water, and then flush with fresh water. One internet posting described black debris coming out of the bottom of the furler.

On the way to the state park, we stop at the hardware store and buy a a new can of WD-40. I intend to spray the whole can. With some difficulty, we unfurl the jib and remove it. I spray nearly the whole can. Black debris, along with a few dead ladybugs, comes out of the bottom of the furler, We haven't seen ladybugs on this trip, so I imagine this hasn't been done in a while. I rinse with a bucket of hot water from the marina's shower and Dawn dish soap from Luna's galley. I take the hose and flush with water. I spray more WD-40 on the swivel at the top of the jib. The whole thing works much better once we hoist the sail back up and refurl it. I hope the fix holds.

While we're staying in their home, I ask Barney if there's anything I can do to help. He shows me a few sheets of panelling to put up in their room downstairs, which is a sort of girl-cave for Samantha. Perfect! Of me, the commander notes in an email, "Give him a hammer and some nails to pound or a boat to steer, and he's a happy man." Between my carpentry and her comment, I'd say we both nailed it.

I also have the occasion to visit the local dentist. A day before we arrived we arrived here, a molar
started hurting--first to cold or hot, then to pressure. We are carrying an assortment of antibiotic tablets on the boat, and I started a course of penicillin. By the next morning, it was improved somewhat, but I was able to get an immediate appointment with Dr. Amanda Cerqueira, whose husband, David, the office manager, said, "I think she can fit you in if you come now." I was both impressed and grateful that they would take me in so quickly.

They're interesting, competent folks and were most curious about our adventures on Luna. Of course, it's hard to say much with your mouth open. Luckily, she found nothing that needed immediate attention on her exam or X-ray. Eventually I told her about our trip, and Daniel sent me an email summarizing my visit and telling about their blog: bikesboardsandsmiles.blogspot.com.  She and Daniel are into mountain biking and stand-up paddle boarding, and they do both in the mountains and streams of North Carolina.

On Friday, Barney, Beth, Samantha, and five dogs return to the beach house. Five dogs? Yes, this kind-hearted family are dog people, and they  raise golden retriever show dogs. Beth is helping to coordinate a nationwide data base of health problems affecting goldens for a study to see if there are geographic differences in the incidences of cancers and other illnesses. She also helps with animal rescues.

Tully and Brandy, best buddies

They have their own goldens, Journey and Jaeger. There is another golden, Tully, rescued from a hoarder who housed over 100 dogs. "She was so weak when we got her, she couldn't walk," noted Beth. Sharpy, a mixed breed, was adopted from a rescue following Hurricane Katrina. "I think she had a broken spine when we got her," said Beth. And there is Brandy, a cute little pug. They take over the house. As they flow by, sometimes I feel like a small boat sailing on a tide of tan--all the dogs are tan.

Journey, the young show dog, is beautifully groomed and has champion features, down to the perfectly trimmed hair on her tail. She has a regal posture and gait. She comes over with a rubber ball in her mouth. She won't give it to me. She walks over to Barney sitting in the living room and drops it at his feet. Barney doesn't budge. She cocks her head and pants. Her eyes are wide. There is no doubt what she is trying to express. Barney still doesn't budge. She picks up the ball and puts it in his lap.More expression in the eyes. An occasional jerk away from the chair. Barney says, "No." They don't play fetch in the house. She grabs the ball and gives it to him again.

She wins. Barney gets up, opens the door to the back porch, and throws the ball down into the yard. Journey retrieves it and is back up the stairs before he can turn to go back inside. Champion or not, she's definitely still a dog, and like the rest of them, she's part of the family and very well behaved.

Beth and Journey

On Saturday in Carolina Beach is the 20th Annual ChowderFest. Chefs from 11 local restaurants have booths and dole out small servings of chowder to a long line of people waiting to sample. We are encouraged to go back for seconds--voting for a favorite takes careful consideration! On entry, each festival-goer was given a ballot. Once through the line, we drop our ballot in the box that corresponds to our favorite booth.

Digging in at the Chowder Cookoff

Ten of the 11 chowders are cream-based, loosely New England style. The winner for the past few years, Havanas, occupies the first booth. They make a traditional clam chowder that would not be out of place at Legal Seafood or the Union Oyster House in Boston. It has Barney's vote, and it is my favorite through the first few booths. But by the end of the line, the one that gets my vote is from Gibby's Dock and Dine in the harbor. It is thick with fish, clams, and a whole shrimp. There is a little heat in the spices. The commander favors a smoother chowder from the Hilton resort that has roasted corn and bits of poblano peppers and is served with a small dollop of hot red-pepper aioli.


Later that evening, after the festival and a late dinner back at the beach house, the family drives us back to the state park. We will spend the night aboard Luna and get ready to leave in the morning at first light. The weather has been nice the past few days, and the average temperatures north of us seem to be rising slowly. But we're not in the clear yet. Soon, another strong cold front is coming, and we'd like to get further north before the rain and heavy winds hit on Tuesday.

Transportation in Carolina Beach