Sandpiper Will Sail toward Florida Soon

On Tuesday 11/8/05 Loy returned to the Bennett Brothers Cape Fear Marina at Wilmington, NC. Linda stayed in Geneva for physical therapy and medical treatment following her back surgery. She expects to return to Sandpiper on Sunday 11/20/05. Loy flew into Raleigh and had lunch with our friend, Ann Ringland, who plans to sail with us along the way. Our current plan is to head South toward Florida next week and leave Sandpiper while we visit Carl on St. Thomas for Christmas. If weather permits we will sail to the Bahamas after Christmas.

On Wednesday 11/9 we did a sea trial with Sandpiper and master mechanic and captain, Dave Tshingle. He identified a cutlass bearing noise. On Thursday the yard lifted Sandpiper into the yard and pressure washed the bottom which was in very good shape and had little growth considering she has been in the water one year. During the following week the bottom was painted with anti fouling paint, a new cutlass bearing was installed, new zincs were installed, the drive shaft alignment was improved, the through hull fitting was rebeded, the hull was waxed, supplies and the dinghy were brought back from storage. Among the projects remaining are reinstalling the holding tank (which has new odorless hoses), repairing the thermostat on the refrigeration and restowing all the gear for sailing.

Watch the newspaper for news of the raising a civil war sailboat that is about 35’ long from the bottom of the Cape Fear River. About 200’ North from the end of the Cape Fear Marina dock a diving crew is working to raise a vessel that was discovered while a dredge was deepening the channel of the Cape Fear River this Fall. The divers tell me they are clearing away the mud in which the hull is buried and the logs that cover it from years of shipping logs on the river. The divers plan to bring in a crane and attempt to raise the wreck it in a few days.

Paul and Denise Schornarak aboard Vixen, a Pearson 36.5 sailboat, have been living aboard for the past year preparing for a seven to eight year voyage to the Caribbean. Their work is nearly done and they are planning to leave Wilmington on Sunday .11/20/05. We enjoy their friendship and are grateful to them for checking on Sandpiper while we were away for hurricane season. We hope to see them again in Florida or in the Bahamas.