OOPS, I forgot to tell you

We have a manager at this marina who has a friend that is dying of cancer.  He asked me to take care of his funeral when he dies which should be shortly.....I explained what I knew about North Carolina law, after I spoke to a North Carolina funeral director.
I guess I will do it, but I have to remain within the  laws of NC.





UPDATE:

Bruce died on February 4th, 2014....

Secondly....between funerals and weather, we have decided to stay put here in Oriental, NC for a few more months. Earlier today it was 65 degrees and sunny, and although it is 80 degrees and sunny in the Florida keys...we will remain here.

We are flying into Florida for a 10 day much needed vacation in the Florida Keys. Then back to New Bern, NC and Oriental on the 19th. We plan on attending the Miami Boat show which runs from the 13th to the 17th of February. On February 21st ( my 60th B-Day), we leave New Bern for New York. Sometime during the second in April we will resume by leaving NY for Oriental, NC.

Woke up this AM.....and

Damm...sure enough, It is only 12 degrees and there is about an inch of ice and snow. So, I said to Dottie......"Well we have a car, lets drive south and spend a few days just moseying around South Carolina for a while.. We can't go anywhere with the boat because it is just too freaking cold outside.

So off we go to Myrtle Beach, SC for a few days.....where at least they have temps in 30's and 40's......and no snow.

We had a great time and ate like pigs.....you have to remember, just about all restaurants are seafood buffets in Myrtle Beach, and it is served Calabash style. It has been over 40 years since I was there, and as the saying goes, it grew and grew....a lot less golf but a lot more restaurants, stores and malls.
Kind of an urban sprawl that I like!!.

Tonight, which is our last night in SC.
We went to a German Restaurant. The food was great and served home style.
Now I know why German women and men are a bit chunky.....lol....all you can eat, $13.95 per person incudes drinks and dessert.
And entertainment was an older German fellow playing his accordion. We had a great time

North Carolina is bracing for their first real winter in over 20 years.

Forecast for traveling with boat does not look good.....really cold with temps in single digits for the 24th through the 30th. Snow expected on the 28th of January .....maybe a total of 3 inches.....and I thought I had left NY specifically to get away from this.

Three inches, WOW, coming from Rochester, NY to North Carolina, really,  what the heck is 3 inches of snow??. In Rochester area we get storms with like 20,25 and 30 inches and more, but 3 inches.....why all the fuss.
Because NC does not own any plows, at least coastal North Carolina.
And what a difference the right equipment makes.

I went to bed tonight...and still no snow just like hail and stuff which makes roads slippery, but passable.

Another un-eventful flight from NY to NC

Well....OK maybe a bit eventful. Got a call from US Air, the flights I am booked on may be cancelled due to inclement weather in Charlotte, NC  and the type of turbo-props I am booked on., but they rearranged my schedule. Can I be at the airport by 6:00AM.......I said what airport, they said LGA, and they would fly me to LGA tonight if I am willing for free.

I had a wake-up call scheduled for 4AM and then rushed to make it by 6:00 AM to airport. US AIR put me on a flight from LGA to CLT to EWN.

I arrived as scheduled at Noon in New Bern and back on boat by 1:30PM......with a freezing rain and a local forecast of cold and winter weather.

First....Back to NY for me

After being awake half the night, I have decided with the cold and lousy weather to go back to NY for this funeral, and come back on Tuesday the 28th of January.

The flight to NY was uneventful...Dottie drove me to the EWN airport and I was in our door at 7PM. The only glitch I had was that my flight from Charlotte to Philly was an hour late getting in, so they put me right out on a flight to Syracuse instead of Rochester.     More later!!

Well.....here we go again,

I got a phone call last night that a gentleman I know fairly well in Clyde has just passed and we will be handling the funeral. I spoke to his wife tonight on phone and told her we can do calling hours Sunday and funeral Monday.......she agreed.

Picking up Dottie at Airport

Finally.....I will be picking up Dottie tomorrow at the Carolina Regional Airport in New Bern, NC

Well....the 16th is out

Spoke with Dottie this AM and she said she in not flying down until January 17th, because our daughter Natalie is going on a new type of Drug for her MS....It is an infusion called Tysabri so we are not going anywhere for now. or at least not until the 21st or so of January.

Back onboard AGAIN

Yesterday, Saturday,  January 11, 2014, I drove down from NY with the intention that by January 16 we will be underway again and maybe this time get on down far enough where there is no ice, freezing temps or snow....we shall see.

Important Holiday Dates Coming Up Have a safe, prosperous and healthy 2014!!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!!

 IMPORTANT HOLIDAY DATES ON SODUS BAY

All are Invited to attend

1- The Annual Oak Park Resort Marina's Holiday Party held at Docker's Restaurant (Lake Bluff Rd. at the Southeast end of Sodus Bay), Admission is $25.00 per person (Including free wine) at the door plus cocktails. It will be a Turkey and Roast Beef Buffet.      Hosts are Mike &Jill Virts and Mike &Chelsie Connelly

Saturday, December 7th 5:00PM till closing.

2- The Annual Abe's Restaurant Christmas Party and Customer Appreciation Night  at Abe's Restaurant (Greig Street, Sodus Point). Free Food, cash bar. 6PM till closing. Hosts are Jamie & Laurie Abel

Saturday the 14th of December 6PM till Closing

3- The Annual Bay Street Hotel (Greig Street, Sodus Point) Christmas Party is. Hosts are Doug McCloud and Dini Martini and her hubby. Free Food Cash Bar 

Sunday the 22nd of December.4PM till close

4- The Annual Bay Street Hotel's (Greig Street, Sodus Point) New Years Eve Bash.  This will be Doug McClouds (Owner and host of this years party)  last year, come out and meet the new owners.......if you don't know them already, but most of you do.....LOL Free Food, Cash Bar

Tuesday December 31st 6PM to 2AM



5- The Annual New Years Eve Dinner Dance at River Dunes Harbor Club and Marina. (Oriental, North Carolina) Open only to members and their guests.



Skipper's Restaurant is on a limited winter open schedule till April (Closed Mon & Tuesdays)

Connelly's Cove is closed till April

We made it home with a week to spare.

We arrived home on Thursday only to find no home phone,( I hope I can get my old number back, if not we will get something close to 2011)Internet or TV. As far as I am concerned, Time Warner screwed up really bad. So I left them for Verizon.
I finally got a chance to say..."What don't you understand about the words..."we will be home Thursday?"" Do I need to spell it out. In other words, I need all my services turned on by Today", and they just shut them off this morning, not the day of September 26th, as they were supposed to. So, now we will argue weather or not I have to pay them for the months that I was not here.

Anyway, I did without Time Warner before and I will do without them again...Actually I will save a total of about $200.00 per month, as I was paying big bucks for their High Speed Internet.$90.00 per mo., phone $26.00 per month and cable with all bells and whistles for a mere $175.00 per month. A total of $291.00 per month.....Crazy, I know. Right now I am down to $39 for a phone and $19.95 for Internet......I don't know about TV yet. It will probably be Dish Network, Direct TV......or even just a digital antenna.....LOL

They love raising your bill, and they can't tell you why.....oh well, lets see who is sorry now......LOL

Everything else is good and we will be home until the beginning of January.....when we will drive back to River Dunes and resume our trip.

HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY NEXT THURSDAY, a Merry Christmas and a Happy, HEALTHY and Prosperous New Year,(2014) too!!!!!!!

So long for this year.......see you next year.

Finally...

It is now 3:00pm on Wednesday, and we are leaving New Bern, NC for N Y. We will drive as far as Fredericksburg, VA, rent a hotel and go to sleep...When we wake, it will be a 7 hour car ride home....LOL

Days 50, 51 & 52 - Clean, Clean, Clean

And that is what we have been doing because we are coming home this Wednesday for the holidays.

PS....Wind is gone and the temps have been back in the 70's each day...

Dinner was at the Clubhouse last night (Veal Chops and Stuffed calamari)..
and will be tonight too..Crabcakes and Grouper

Day 49 - Wednesday, Nov. 13th, 2013---Bbbrrrr - 41 degrees

When I woke up it was 41 degrees outside, a lot better than I expected, but nonetheless a bit "nippy", and a bit windy blowing out of the north at 15Knots.

When I went to bed last night they (the weather forecasters on TV) put out a freeze warning that ended at 4AM, however, we did not get it.

Today's forecast for Coastal Carolina is sunny, with the highs to hit the mid-50's, and by Saturday it will be sunny with high temperature in the 70's. Thank God, the weather is back!! to normal for this time of year.

Just a few Notes about River Dunes Harbor Marina

If you were to visit here for the first time, you would say it is backwards, because of the lettering system they use here. There are a total of 400 slips here, and because of that there are limits in each one as follows:
The first dock you see coming into the marina either by boat or car is called T- dock, because it is a mixture of (T)ransient dockage. Any boat not staying a month or more is put here at the rate of $1.25 per foot, per night, except for the Winter months of December, January and February, when the rate drops to 1.00 per foot, per night.
The second and third docks are called A-North and A-South, all fingers are 40' long x 16'wide. The fingers face north and south; B- dock is the fourth and fifth dock, all 45' long accepting boats up to 18 feet wide. Fingers facing noth and south; the sixth and seventh docks is C dock, all 50' long x 20' wide. Fingers face N&S, and finally D dock, wiich are the eight and ninth docks, facing north and south ALL fingers are at least 65' long x 25' wide.

The Tee ends are as follows: A dock for up to 75' boats, all beams
B- dock between 76 and 90 foot, all beams
C- Dock is 91 to 110 footers, all beams,catamarans with beams between 26' and 35' wide.
D- Dock is any boat over a 112 to 135, all beams and usually catamarans and tri-marans with beams over 35' wide

C & D docks are currently full. There are about 5 docks on B-Dock and maybe 8 on A-Dock that are not full. Transients docks are usually full, especially in Spring and Fall, as cruisers head either North or South.

And this is all set on 1,300. acres. If you think you know a large marina in land size bigger, let me know.400 slips set on 1300 acees is huge, because OPRM is set on 6 with 250 slips....LOL....LOL

LOCATION: North - 35.05.075 North Latitude by 076.36.068 West Longitude...or 35.08455 x 76.50733.....Off of Pamlico Sound, approx 1 mi. up Broad Creek, North Carolina, Chart # 11541_1 (Neuse River and Pamlico Sound)
All docks are dredged to8' feet deep in MLW, it is a deepwater water marina with between 8'-10' depths at the fuel and it is all the time, regardless of seasonl changes.

Tidal range is less than 2 feet.
All docks have 50 or 100 AMP service, at the top of each dock are huge panels with over 1600 amps servicing A dock alone. We also have water, cable and telephone jacks....they have included at dockside pump-out, but it is not connected as of yet.
During the fall and winter months, the restaurant is closed except for Friday and Saturday nights, however the chef comes in daily and makes one dinner for all cruisers at about 15.00 to 20.00 pp Sunday through Thrusdays. During the summer months, the kitchen is always open, serving three meals a day.

Check out these pictures I took at River Dunes

River Dunes Harbor Club

Tuesday - Day 47 - Don't rock the boat, baby.....

At about 9:30 AM we left Whittaker Pointe Marina to River Dunes Harbor Club. We got here around 11:00 AM, tied up ran our power and water, now we are enjoying a very nice lunch aboard the LF3. Tonight, we are supposed to go to a cruiser's dinner but they are making chicken....I never ever eat chicken in a restaurant.
I did make my car rental reservations. I am picking car up in New Bern on the 18th and traveling home.I will be home on the 19th of November on a one -way rental, I am returning the car at Syracuse Airport on the 20th. HERTZ was the only car rental agency that would allow a one-way rental from New Bern (EWB) airport. Everyone else said nope....I gusee you can figure out my car rental choice. Enterprise came up rent for one week and return car here ....Avis said no, and so did every other one of them. Hertz, when asked, said "sure, no problem"

After New Years, probably the 2nd, we are driving back down to Oriental with my Sebring and leaving it here while we take the boat to Florida. You have to have a car here and a courtsey car just don't cut it. I will look into a way to have my golf cart delivered here too, as I won't need it anymore in upstate, NY.

Day 46 - Monday 11/11/13....Putting our house in Order on Veteran's Day.

Today was spent "shoring up" financial matters, cleaning, sanding & staining rails and other teak trim and changing addresses.....our new address by the way, is::

Al and Dottie Baris
River Dunes Harbour Club Slip A-South #27
465 Harbour Drive.
Oriental, NC 28571

They wil accept and sign for all packages and whatever else is sent to me that requires a signature....regular mail come directly to my slip.

and a quick THANK YOU to all who gave their all, so that we have a free country!!

It is a spectaular place...River Dunes in Oriental, NC.

Day 45 - Membership does have it's privledges...11/10/13

Sundays are do nothing days in NC. And that is exactly what we did, nothing...on board the LF3.
However, we took the courtsey car and visited the other Marinas and Yacht Clubs in the area, and have decided this:

As a member of a yacht club you get a substantial discount on dockage, so therefore we joined the River Dunes Harbour Club We will pay about $300 per month for dockage, plus 0.16 KWH for electricity. We should never pay more than $15.00 for our electric per month.

The Florida Keys are a special place where the old adage "if you have to ask, you cannot afford it", never had a truer maning, but regardless of the cost, we like it there. After all, it is the KEYS

For the remainder of 2013, the boat will remain in Oriental, North Carolina until January 3rd then Dottie and I will head to the Keys with the boat.
Our new plan will consist of the boat being 5 months in Oriental, North Carolina and 5 months in Tavinier, Fl. leaving a month down and a month back to NC. We are now officially snowbirds, as after I called the marina in the Keys and told him of my plan, he said you are now official sunbirds.

Each year from 2014 on, the boat will spend March 2014 (traveling from Keys to NC) April, May, June, July and August in Oriental, NC, travel to Florida during the month of September 2014 and spend October, November, December, January and February in the Keys. This works out great both financially for us and for both marinas.

Please note, WE WILL NOT be on-board, 24/7/365...I do have to work sometime during the year.

For as much as I liked Whittaker Pointe Yacht Club and Marina, it is too new and too sterile for me, and has NO protection from hurricanes or named storms. It is a problem for me leaving the boat out in the wide open.
And although Active Captain has rated it the best that NC has to offer, right next door is beautiful and spacious River Dunes Harbour Marina and Yacht Club, which is only 7 years old and a beautiful place with a ton of amenities included...and it is a "hurricane hole" to boot!!.
Take a look at their website

The coutyard of cottages available to rent



A Wedding at the Mariner's Chapel on the grounds of the River Dunes Clubhouse

Day 44 - Pictures of Whittaker Pointe Marina and Oriental NC - 11/09/2013

Well...I said I would post something everyday and am doing the best I can.

Lunch was at the Oriental Marina and INN in their Toucan Grill Restaurant, and of couse, I had to have my daily dose of shellfish, which included shrimp, scallops and clams...then we went to Fulchers for some seafood (Fresh caught flounder) to make aboard for dinner and just did some local sightseeing. I have and will always like Oriental, NC.

More pictures as the day wears on......Hang in there!

The Whittaker Pointe Clubhouse



A 50' Hunter monohull sailboat

 




Keith came all the way from Australia....I never did ask why he named his boat Jack's Back.
a c



The brand new docks at Whittaker Pointe



This is a Fountain Perjot Catamaran....46 feet long and almost 29' feet wide.



Man, what far odd place to be from, this reired couple took 9 months to get here, but they made it all the way from the continent of Australia.

They are memebers of the Royal Port Yacht Club in Newport, Australia



And they have a large amount of rigging and a 70' mast... because 70' is the norm in Australia