To the Cape

November 10 - 11

It's been nearly 2 years since Joe and I last sailed to the Cape on Eureka, and perhaps this will be the last time.

We've had the boat up for sale for over a year.  A few showings but no legitimate offers.  We're not letting a great boat like Eureka go easily.

It is with mixed emotions that we've made the decision to sale her.   Eureka is a great boat and has served us well for 10 years.  She has taken as far South as Miami/Key West on a great adventure, along with many sails to Cape Lookout, Ocracoke and the Neuse River/Oriental.

She has introduced Anna and Evan to sailing and we've had innumerable friends experience her plowing through Beaufort Inlet in a Southwest breeze running against the tide.

We've enjoyed many an evening watching sunsets from her cockpit while enjoying our favorite beverages and offering prolific insights into personal and public issues.

We have shivered below decks as we started an ill-fated journey South in February, ending with renting a car to get back home and to warmth.

We sailed her offshore overnight into what the weather forecast called for fair winds and following seas, only to wind up galloping into a gale in the darkest of nights and quickly ducking into the nearest harbor of refuge.

Clara refers to her as a "stout ship", and she has proven on occasion that she can handle rough seas much better than her crew.

We've found that with having both a motorhome and a sailboat, we can't seem to find the time for both.  And traveling in the motorhome is a lot easier on the back - and the back is not getting any younger.

We took everything off the boat when we put it on the market, which has made it rather difficult to just get on it and take off like we've always done.  We didn't have to think about what we needed - it was all there.  As a result, we just haven't made the effort.  But we did Thursday and Friday and it was a wonderful reminder of all the great times aboard.

It was a couple of beautiful days for sailing, with winds out of the Northwest on our sail out to the Cape and on the nose from the West coming back in.  It's always a beautiful evening at the Cape, whether it's warm or cold.  And Thursday night was no exception.