Waiting for varnish.  An endless job.

This is typical of a Grand Banks boat.  If you wonder if the boat you are looking at is a GB then look for this woodwork near the bow.

We continue to have beautiful warm days and cool nights.  Our days are full with getting together with looper friends and cleaning the boat and walking the dog and making new friends.  It really is a lifestyle.  I am getting ready to change jobs...a little less than thrilled with working in the nursing home.  New job is home care working with Hospice.
We are looking forward to Thanksgiving.  We will be driving up to Raleigh and spending 4 days with Dick's brother and family.  They are planning a 4 day celebration complete with skeet shooting, bonfire and barbque.  Can't wait.  They are expecting 40 people.
We keep thinking about taking the boat up to the Outer banks and Kitty Hawk.  But it is getting so late in the year and it is still hurricane season for a few more days.  May have to wait for spring.  We will see all the keys people going north then.  We are a little sad to be sitting still this year.  Saying good bye to friends who are going south for the winter.  But keep reminding ourselves that we will be heading south at this time next year and it will be worth it.
And so it goes.

Our sweet little Abby.

Tree in the water.  What's wrong with this picture?

Flooded street in the park.

Sidewalk to no where.

Missing dock.

Although they are talking about flooding all over North Carolina and we are surrounded by water, we are not being much affected.  We have been having beautiful sunny days and cool nights.  My favorite.  I heard that the park next to us on the other side of the bridge is still flooded, and we still have almost 4 feet of water under the keel that we don't normally have, we are doing ok.

8 am this morning.

11 am this morning.

It has turned into a beautiful day. Cool and windy.  No electric out here but they have a good generator so we are not suffering at all.  Life is very good.  There is suppose to be flooding everywhere but New Bern.  We are doing fine.

The view Saturday night before the sun went down.

The view Sunday morning at 8 am.

Things have died down but there is still wind.  The water has moved around.  The wind is now blowing the water out of the harbor.  The rain has stopped.  Let the flooding continue.  We keep getting flood warnings but I don't see it here.  Dick says the boat is fine but had no electricity until a few minutes ago.  It really blew last night but no damage to speak of here at Ralph and Linda's house.  It has gotten considerably colder out.  Must be down in the 50's.  Feels so good to me.  Dick is not happy and thinks we may have made a mistake not going back to the keys this winter.  I am welcoming the cooler weather and miss snow.

Ralph's boat earlier at the dock.

Ralph's boat later at the dock underwater.

Looking down the channel at the water coming over the sea wall.

Looking in the distance at a dock under water and the rain and wind at 5pm.

The view off the bow of the boat at 9am Sat. Morning.

The view out Ralph and Linda's front lawn.  This is Fairfield harbor.  Just off the Neuse river.

Well, Abby and I are at Ralph and Linda's house.  Dick is staying at the boat.  He feels certain that he will be OK and his boat may need him.  The worst is suppose to be here this afternoon and thru the night.  We are expecting high winds and rain.  It's the winds and storm surge that cause all the problems.  We are going to move cars to higher ground later today.  Boats are secured as much as possible. It'll all be over tomorrow.  I will be checking the marina Web cameras to see how Dick is doing tonight.  If you want to check it out the address is "newberngrandmarina.com"    Then there's always the possibility of a tornado.  As Ralph just said our hurricane plan is to drink more.  I'm ready.  No work for the next 5 days.  Yea!!!

If you are watching the weather channel, we are just north of Wilmington.  We are also 40 miles from the ocean but very near the Neuse river which goes right out to the ocean.  So our main concern is how much water is coming up that river.
We are as prepared as we can be.

There is our torn dinghy top.  Has already been replaced.

This is the view out of our harbor over to the Neuse river.  You can see the big bridge in the background.

Still looking pretty quiet but overcast.

Still not much action here.  Watching the weather channel and looks like Florida is still getting slamed. Heard from a girlfriend who lives in Port St. Lucy.  She is not directly on the ocean but had just a small amount of damage to her house.  We are still at almost 11 feet under the keel.
We are not suppose to see the major part of this storm until tomorrow  (Saturday).  That is suppose to be initially rain then the winds.  Our friends here in town are expecting some flooding.  I am anxious to see just how much flooding they will have out there because we are interested in buying property out there.
I will let you all know what is happening here tomorrow.

That usually says something like 8 feet.

Our Bimini top the way it is suppose to look.  Hope it stays that way.

Not much action in the harbor yet.  Winds are coming up a little.

Well, we are still waiting.  Matthew is moving slowly and now may not get here before Saturday.  Which is good cause I have to work Friday till 11:30pm.  I am concerned about getting across the bridge to the other side of the Neuse river where Ralph and Linda live.  Good thing I have the weekend off.  If I can't get across on the big bridge I hope I can get across on the little bridge...the lift bridge that is near the boat.  We are prepared although they keep changing the forecast saying now that it may curve out to sea before it gets to us.  We are expecting a storm surge and already show almost 3 more feet under our keel than we normally do.  The docks are floating and we are tied to the docks so where ever the docks go, there goes the boat.  I am working today and planning to stay on the boat tonight.  The winds are definitely getting stronger.  Will post more in the next few days.  Stay hi and dry everybody.

Wow!  I'm kinda cold.  I'm in heaven.
Yes, we are watching the weather channel many times a day.  All the boaters here at the marina are making plans.  ie  getting a room at the hotel, taking down their Bimini top, buying extra water and food, putting out more lines, and bumpers and talk, talk, talk.  Who's going to do what and when.  So there's lots of options.  We have decided to keep an eye on the weather channel and make decisions by Friday about whether to stay on the boat or not.  Dick is thinking of getting a room at the hotel here so he can keep an eye on the boat.  I am planning on going to our friends house (Linda and Ralph) since they are probably not going to travel this weekend like they had planned.  I will take Abby with me since she is such good friends with their dog, Chewy.    I will blog again before the weekend to let people know how we are doing and what Matthew has decided to do.  Right now we are right in the middle of the path but that may change at any point.  Matthew is not suppose to be here till Friday night or Saturday morning.  We are prepared either way.  More to come.