A Couple of weeks at the Mountain House

October 13 - October 29

Clara was busy at Beaufort, so I decided to go to the Mountain House.  This was a week of reading, swimming, relaxing, and clearing the brush from the trees we cut down earlier this year.

I spent two days (one by myself and one with a helper - Horha) clearing the brush and burning it.  It looks a lot better.  Now we hope to get the Laurel and Rhododendron growing that have been covered up by the trees.  We also are discussing planting a few apple trees next Spring.  After all, it is Apple Mountain.  We don't want to let the big trees grow up and mess up the view from the house again.  When we built the house in 2001, all this area had been cleared, and now the trees had grown to 35+ feet and were starting to obstruct the view.

Wednesday night I went to Bill and Jan's in Asheville and spent the night.  We went to a fun Rotary Party at Highland Brewing.

Thursday I rode through our old neighborhood, Brookwood Forest in Arden.  Dave and Pat Marshall were in their yard, so I stopped and talked to them.  We ended up with some other neighbors dropping by, including Gary Everhardt and Chappie Gennett.  It was great to renew acquaintenances and get up to date.

Saturday morning we held our annual meeting for the Apple Mountain Association, then I left to go to Nashville for Dad's 97th birthday party.

Many mornings we found clouds in the valley

The leaves were beautiful

Sunrise

Sunset

Clara returned with me on Monday from Dad's birthday party.  We spent a nice quiet week on the mountain, doing a little yard maintenance, watching some old videos, enjoying some beautiful fall weather and beautiful sunsets.  We were able to spend the afternoons on the porch reading and enjoying the warm temperatures.

Bill and Jan came over Saturday and spent the night.

Sunday morning, Bill and I hiked the newly marked trails at The Orchard.  This is a real plus for The Orchard and provides a real nice 2 mile walk.

Sunday, the weather started changing.

The clouds start rolling in

Monday morning it was snowing and blowing

Winter came fast and furious

The trees were leaning in 70 mph winds.  This is our neighbors home.

Hurricane Sandy was making itself known off the coast, and a big cold front was moving in from the West.  By Sunday evening, the winds were starting to gust to over 50 mph and Monday morning were steady in the 60's and gusting to 77.  We decided that we might as well go back to Beaufort, where there were only tropical storm winds.

However, I had neglected to put up the storm panels on the big windows, so Monday morning while snowing and blowing 50+ mph, Clara and I were out on the porch trying to not get blown off the porch and get the panels on the lower windows.  There was no way we were going to get the panel on the big window up top.  For that I would need to climb on the roof.  Maybe next trip.

We finally got them on and this reminded us why we really did not want to spend the winter on the mountain.

Dad's 97th Birthday

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Dad was 97 years old yesterday.  It is hard to believe he was born October 20, 1915.

Clara decided several weeks ago that this year we were going to make this a special birthday for him, and she succeeded.  She contacted the pastor, Blake Dempsey, at Dad's church in Nashville, NC, Rock Creek Baptist Church and arranged to have a cover-dish dinner after church services on Sunday after his birthday.

All the congregation was invited to participate.  There were around 130 people who helped our family celebrate, including our friends from Beaufort, Tom and Mabel Steepy, cousins from Greensboro, Bob and Rose Marshall, cousin from Spring Hope, Catherine Gupton, and every one of his Grandchildren, Slade Inscoe, Anthony Gagnon and Christopher Gagnon and Great Grandchildren, Anna Inscoe, Evan Inscoe and Olivia Gagnon.

It was a very special day.

Slade and Dad

 



Chris Gagnon, Slade Inscoe and Anthony Gagnon - Dad's Grandchildren

 

Four Generation

 

Dad and the Great Grandchildren, Evan, Anna and Olivia

 

All the family and friends

 

Cover-dish dinner at Dad's birthday at Rock Creek Baptist Church

 



Evan spends a few days with us

October 5 - 12

On Friday, October 5, Slade, Anna and Evan came to Beaufort to bring Evan to stay for a week. We usually have Anna and Evan this time of year, but alas, Anna has grown up too much and is now in Middle School, which means she is on a traditional school calendar, while Evan remains in year-round school for a bit longer.

Saturday, we went out on the power boat to try a little fishing, but for the first time in a while, we were unable to get the fish to take the bait. So no fish today. This evening we went over to Morehead City to the Seafood Festival. Wow! What a crowd of people. Way to many!

Sunday, we went back to the Seafood Festival. They had $25 tickets for the kids and they could ride as many rides as they could stand. Anna stood a few, but Evan wanted to be upside down on all the rides and enjoyed all WE could take.

Monday, we gathered up our new 4-year old neighbor, Madalyn and headed to the Aquarium which is always a hit.

Evan, Mimi and Madalyn at the Aquarium

Madalyn is fascinated by the Rays

Tuesday, we took off on Eureka for Cape Lookout. This was the first time Evan had really been sailing on the "big" boat, and he did really well and understood a lot of what was going on as a result of his Sailing Camp Experience this past summer.

We anchored just of the lighthouse docks and Evan rowed us to shore.

Although Evan had been here before, this was the first time that I think he realized that his Great Great Grandfather, John B Quidley had served here as Lighthouse Keeper here in the early 1900's. On the walk to the beach, there is a diorama that features his photo and a little about him and the lighthouse keepers.

Solo

Tuesday, September 25

After several days of very little activity, I decided it was time to take Eureka on a solo sojourn.

I have always wanted to take Eureka out on a solo journey and today, it worked.  No one was available to go, so off I go.  Joe helped me get the dinghy and get away from the dock.

I left the dock around 1:15 pm.  At the end of the channel to the marina, I decided that I have not been to the Neuse River this year, so decided to turn right.

After a pleasant 3 hour motor (with only light winds) on the ICW, I stopped at Adams Creek, a great anchorage that has seen Eureka many times. This is a well visited anchorage before entering the Neuse River.

Arriving around 4pm, I spent the afternoon completing the 27th book in Kent Alexander's Bolithio series - a 2 year project.

After a great gourmet dinner of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup, I look forward to a quiet, cool evening of reading and enjoying the quiet solitude.

Adams Creek at Sunset

Wednesday, September 26

A very pleasant night.  The temperatures cooled quickly after sunset, and by sunrise, I found that the light sleeping bag was comfortable.

A very slow start to the morning.  After breakfast, I noticed that the port holes were looking rather dirty, so I began using chrome polish and window cleaner and quickly completed 5 of the 10 portholes.  It is amazing the difference.  I feel inspired to do further cleaning, but the urge quickly passes.

There is no wind, but around 10 am I upanchored (very easy to do in light winds and no tide) and head toward the Neuse River.   There isn't a ripple on the water other than other boats passing.  It is quite beautiful.  I motor around Garbacon Shoal and into the South River around noon.

Then another working inspiration set upon me and I get out the Semco (wood sealer) and start working on the teak, which is desperate need of a new coat.  After about an hour, the inspiration wears off, and the wind starts to fill in.  Time to sail.

I motor out to the river and set the sails in 4 to 10 knots of wind for a pleasant couple of hours tweaking the sails to see how much I can get out of Eureka.  She does a good job in the light winds, reaching 4 knots occasionally.

Around 4:30 I return to anchor in the South River. No more working inspiration, so I settle into a good book in the swinging chair on the bow and enjoy a quiet afternoon of reading.

South River is a big wide open area - probably 2 to 3 miles wide, but with practically no wind, anchoring in the middle (away from the shore bugs) is practical.  There are a few homes on the Western Shore, otherwise it is dark and quiet.

I waked up early morning and went on deck to check everything and the moon was in a great position for a photo.  The water was perfectly flat and the moon reflected beautifully.

The moon's reflection in the South River

Thursday, Sept 27

South River was quiet overnight and this morning, after a slow start, I finished cleaning the windows and did some other cleaning inside the boat, which was desperately needed.   Then inspiration got the best of me and and I continued my work on the teak.  Got almost half of it done now and inspiration dissipated.

Around 2 PM, I decided to motor (absolutely no wind) over to Oriental.  Tomorrow morning, Joe is going to join me in Oriental for a couple of days.

Oriental is quiet.  I went to shore and found that The Provisioning Company has reopened.  Last time we were here it was closed.  Got a couple items, went to to the TouCan bar had a couple beers and returned to Eureka, returning later for a good cheeseburger.

Friday, Sept 28

Today Joe joined me for the rest of the trip, which ends Sunday.  It's not really a trip because all I've been doing is going to various anchorages within a few miles of each other on the Neuse Rive.

Clara drove Joe over to Oriental this morning so he could get on board.  They arrived around 9:30 am. I had to get a new dinghy gas can so we went back to The Provisioning Company and we got one of those fancy gas cans that supposed to be easy to use and not spill gas.  We stopped off for coffee near the Oriental Marina and then dignhied out to the boat.

Today there was very light winds, but we set the sails and slowly (very slowly) moved to the East ending up mid afternoon at Broad Creek.  After anchoring, we decided to take the dinghy to River Dunes, a relatively new development in Pamlico County that has developed a very exclusive and nice upland (dug out) marina.  This development of over 600 lots got caught in the recession and only about 150 lots have been sold and only 40-50 VERY nice homes built.  The marina is really nice, and well maintained, but I don't think it has reached the "tipping point" yet where its making money.

On the way to River Dunes, we gave out of gas, so had to employ our new fancy dinghy gas can.  We never did get the gas can spout to work, so I had to take the cap off and pour it in the old fashioned way.  So much for fancy gas can spouts.

We enjoyed another pleasant, cool evening aboard

Saturday, September 29

We left our anchorage with a wind of 6-7 knots and sailed slowly up the Neuse.  In a couple of hours, we began to see gathering clouds in the West.  After checking the weather, we  saw that a significant line of thunderstorms was heading our way.  We decided that we wanted to eat dinner ashore in Oriental, and it looked like a rainy afternoon, so we elected to go to Oriental Marina for the evening. We timed our arrival perfectly - at the peak of the rain squall, with lightening, rain and wind.  It made for a rather interesting, but uneventful arrival.

We ate at the marina restaurant, Toucan, and drifted back to the boat for a nice quiet evening.

Sunday, September 30

Today we head back to home.  Before leaving we went to have coffee at The Bean, the local hangout. While sitting drinking our coffee, a lady approached our table and announced that she was going to sit with us because we weren't from here.  We enjoyed a nice long conversation.  Carol Small and husband had moved to Oriental 7 years ago, and she had obviously taken the community to heart and seemed to be involved in all aspects of the community life.  It was fun and interesting to hear here describe the local politics, rumors and etc.

Then, we headed across the Neuse River and down the ditch to home.

A Rare Treat

Monday, September 7

Monday found us with little to do, so we took off mid-afternoon on the power boat to go fishing.  We rarely "just" go fishing and even more rarely don't have someone else to go out on the boat with us.

This was a rare and enjoyable afternoon.  The weather is perfect and the winds are light.

We trolled slowly out the East end of Taylors Creek to the Beaufort Inlet.  Almost immediately, we pulled in a very nice size Mackerel.

We must have hit it just right.  In the next 30 minutes or so, we pulled in several Blue Fish, coming home with 5 fish.

Clara loves to fish, and I enjoy catching (not so much fishing).

As always, it's great to be on the water, and we nearly always see the Shackelford Pony's.

At the Cape alone

September 15-16

For the first time since sailing in the Florida Keys a couple years ago, Clara and I took an overnight sail by ourselves. 

The weather was perfect with a light Northeast breeze that moved Eureka along at a slow, comfortable 3 to 5 knots in flat water - just perfect for fishing.

And Clara did have some luck fishing.  On the way out, she pulled in a nice sized (probably 14 inch) Mackerel.

There were quite a few boats at the Cape this weekend, but it was quiet and beautiful (as always). 

Clara fixed a great dinner called frogmore stew - shrimp, potato, corn on the cob, and que pasa. 

All night there was a fresh Northeast breeze with temperatures in the 60's which made for some great sleeping.  I think we slept for over 12 hours in the gentle rocking of the boat.

Sunday afternoon we slowly sailed back to the Beaufort Inlet, catching a 23-24 inch Mackerel on the way back.  This is about the largest fish we have caught on Eureka and it made for some good eating for the next two or three days.

It just doesn't get any better!

September 13-16

Bill and Jan Bass came to Beaufort on Thursday.  They are both avid sailors and we have sailed together many times.

Friday morning, we leave the dock in Eureka for an overnight trip to Cape Lookout.  The winds were non-existent, so we motored all the way.  Upon arriving at the Cape, we anchored near the lighthouse and all four of us climbed the lighthouse. 

Clara and I have climbed the lighthouse several times in the past, but this is the first time we've climbed since the park service has opened the lighthouse to the public for climbing.  We had been wanting to do this and have taken the Maxwell's and Lantz's out to the lighthouse to climb it, but at the time, there were just enough openings for climbs for them, so we had not done it.

Climbing Cape Lookout lighthouse is a truly unique experience.  The lighthouse was built in 1859 and it is probably one of the few place in the world that you can look out at a landscape that essentially looks like it did 150 years ago. 


Clara's Great Grandfather, John B. Quidley was the 2nd Assistant Keeper at the Lighthouse in 1905-06.  He was transferred to Cape Lookout from Cape Hatteras, where he had been a lighthouse keeper.  He was again transferred to Cape Lookout in 1911, and family lore is that after this transfer, he decided to move his family from the very remote Cape Hatteras to Beaufort.  He moved his family to the house next door to where we currently live here in Beaufort in 1915. 

The Park Service placed a placard on the walk to the ocean at Cape Lookout which features Clara's Great Grandfather, John B. Quidley

The climb to the top of the lighthouse afforded us a great opportunity to photograph Eureka.

Eureka in the environment she loves (and so do we)

Friday night was pleasant anchored in the bight of the Cape (our usual parking spot).

Saturday morning, the wind had picked up enough that we had a very pleasant sail back to the homeport. 

Sunday morning, Bill and Jan left for a meeting in Savannah, Ga.