Wilmington, NC

April 19, 2015

We saw Jim and Mimi off early yesterday morning.  I just had to borrow this pic from Mimi's blog (as I am apt to do, thanks Mimi for giving me access to your pics!) as it clearly shows our emotions at seeing our buddies off.

We decided to stay one extra day at the marina in Carolina Beach.  The morning turned out lovely, perfect for one last walk on the beach. The afternoon was forecasted to storm.  By then we were all tucked in, snug as two bugs in a rug, with pretty good t.v. access.  Jeff had his choice of baseball, hockey or golf to watch.  A happy guy! I had a couple of movies on the 'puter that were calling out to me.  So after our walk on the beach we settled in, cuddled on the couch, to weather out the storm.


By this morning all had cleared.  The water was calm and the sky was blue with cotton candy clouds.  We headed up the Cape Fear river enjoying the boost the current was giving us.  At one point we saw over ten knots.  Not too shabby.  Jeff busied himself with chores while I drove.  It's a pretty busy port, Wilmington.

We radioed ahead and the old bridge that we required to lift opened without a hitch. The folks at the marina said sometimes the bridge keeper dozes off and you have to park the boat and climb up to rap on the window to wake him.  Today he was alert and ready for us.

With mixed emotions we watched as Gran Vida was hauled, power washed and blocked.  Her bottom was in amazingly good shape!  Not a blister or soft spot in sight and pretty clean. The remainder of the day was spent spit-shining, organizing and packing.  Jeff had to get his head around "summerizing" (if that's the right word) instead of "winterizing" the engine.

So here concludes this chapter of our Great Loop Adventure.  We've had more fun and laughs than we could even begin to count.  We've been scared a couple of times. We've seen sights, met awesome people and been challenged more than we expected.  We've learned a few good life lessons about ourselves, what it takes to make things "click" and have narrowed our focus to what's really important in life. Schmaltzy stuff, eh?  But heartfelt.

Thanks for following along on our adventure.  If you find yourself in the Penetanguishene area come say hello.  We'd love to see you!

Stay tuned for chapter two, fall of 2015.  Bahamas, watch out!

And that's all I have to say about that.