Silver Lining

Our reservation to stay at Homer Smith Docks and Marina in Beaufort, NC was for seven days. Prior to leaving Cape Charles we had checked the forecast and it appeared that we would have unfavorable winds and seas for at least a week. Since we wanted to secure a spot in the marina we made the reservation for a week. When Dan, the dock master, confirmed that our non-refundable reservation was for seven days I thought, “Seven days—that’s a long time!” When we are living on the boat we like to move on after about four days. Even though we love Beaufort we would likely get antsy before the week was over. I started making plans for activities we could do to entertain ourselves—a boat tour to one of the barrier islands, a ride on a double decker bus. Well, as it turns out I needn’t have worried. When George was looking for the source of the salt water in the bilge yesterday he found a through hull that was loose. As he checked other through hulls one cracked as he was attempting to tighten it with the slightest bit of pressure. At that point he decided that all four through hulls on the transom should be replaced. It is not good to have a leak but it would be very bad if a through hull completely failed while we were underway. Even though all of these through hulls are above the water line, any waves splashing on the transom could let in a tremendous amount of water through the one-inch hole where a through hull used to be. So, maybe it is a good thing we planned to be here more than a few days.

We had already reserved the marina’s courtesy car for this afternoon. We had planned to pick up a few groceries and other items at the hardware store. Instead, we first visited a marine supply store and purchased five new through hulls—one spare—before running the other errands. When we returned, George removed the old through hulls, cleaned out the old adhesive, and installed the new through hulls. He plans to reattach the hoses tomorrow. We have some hope this will take care of the salt water in the bilge, but can’t say for sure.

Yesterday, after completing a few chores, we went to dinner at Moonrakers. The food and the view were outstanding.