Fishing Bay YC Annual Regatta

August 11, Thursday, 2011

Yesterday, Dave noticed the van needed attention and took it to the Honda dealer. UGH..Serpentine belt, another belt and the belt tensioner needed replacing/fixing. At least they weren't busy and things were fixed that day. Seriously, since we were planning to leave Thursday. The guys mentioned the brake pad thickness and replacement needed, Dave called BS on that and said no, thank you.
Thursday, am: Boat loaded, cages and dogs, supplies and luggage in tow, as we're making a stop in Orlando to drop the pups at the dogsitter. They love to ride in the van. Carol (dogsitter) has a lovely Golden Retriever, Lucy, and a small white dog...Maya maybe? The girls have stayed with Carol a few times and she was recommended to us through the kind folks at HoundHaven. She volunteers there. Lucy loves to lean into you and hold hands. Small white dog...doesn't like much.
Leaving Tampa, an accident in the opposite direction stops traffic for several miles. We were pretty thankful that we weren't heading West.

Noon-
Successful dog droppage. Lucy looks cute with her summer 'do. Little white dog, Mia (I was close) also with a close-cropped do, happy in the warm weather.

Interestingly, the paper mentioned the Persied meteor shower this weekend. May be a late night Fri or Sat to observe. A full moon is also scheduled. Wondering the significance (when you're driving many miles, you get to thinking about many things), might be fun to see some fireworks in the night sky.

For this trip we are reading the "Burning Wire" by some guy named Deaver.
It is amazing how quickly time goes by when you're fascinated by the law enforcement and forensics teams solving crimes of a perpetrator who is motivated to kill using the electric grid flowing through NYC. At 3:00 pm I was thinking how long it took for the clock to advance to 3:20. Then the action in the book started taking off and it was 7:00pm before I knew it.
Dave had a conference call, we had to stop for gas and got a Frosty and Fries to go...irresistable.

Decided on Exit 121 in NC as our destination for the evening. There were several hotels, and we grbbed coupons from the Visitor's Center, to score the best non-priceline deal. Fairfield did the bait and switch but Country Inn and Suites came through with the 64.99 thing so we were happy. several good experiences with them in the recent past so that is a heads up for travelers.


Friday August 12.
Excellent stay at the Country Inn and Suites in Wilson, NC. Met some friendly folks in town for a family reunion.
9:00 am Fueled up and ready to go! Mapquest says about than 3.5 hours-Fun!


John Wake routinely checks our progress, "Are you there, yet?" (Paying homage to Hans) Nice to have a homing beacon guiding us in.
We're on the home stretch, Hwy 33 to Deltavile. The corn is so dry, very sad. All the houses are red brick or white. A new observation: we didn't recall Crepe Myrtles growing so large here on our last trip. Soy beans are looking good, not nearly as dry as the corn. I thought I may have been exaggerating during blog posts on our first trip up (NACs '07) but, really, there is a lot of corn!
The Wakes have generously offered us a place to stay, as well. We are super fortunate to be so close to the club. Sweet setup, excellent home. Definitely a HUGE staircase up from the Dockside (aka Taj Mahal) Inn.
12:00 noon! Beer me! We're in!
The Wake's house was built on the land that has been in the Wake family for generations. Family settled here from England and Dad was born on this site. The present house was built in '92. I noticed a town named Wake on the map and John said it was named for his grandfather's cousin. There's a post office there, and on a reunion, a picture was taken of the family in the building. He said it was a good thing the family wasn't any bigger! They wouldn't have fit!

Saturday, August 13, 2010

First day of racing. Who ever knew the Thinels to be the first folks out of the house, to the boat, in the water and on the end of the dock on a day of racing. Crazy talk, right there, but it was true.
John and Sharon have been excellent hosts. Food, lodging, friendship, a nice run this am, without deer, though. At the club, the wind was light when we splashed the boat, but I was dismayed to feel the wind increase as we waited to for the Skipper's meeting.
We feel that we live in the Magic House! John Wake and John Aras were first in the first race, John Kreidler and Joe Brake were 2nd and we were third. sweet! While we waited, and waited, and waited for the race committee to set the course and start the 2nd race, the sea breeze increased and Dave and I were concerned about how this next race would go. I don't know the exact results, but John K and Joe B were first, John A and Wake were third and we were also in the single digits to finish. I'm tickled. Afterall there were several capsizes and breeze is not out thing so, all good.The race committee finished us for the day, but we had some discussion on our boat about being ready for the next race. I was concerned about being able to jibe downwind, but we hung to make sure the day was finished.
phew.
Back to the house, into the pool and John K made some serious margeritas. Love this place. An hour till dinner back at the club...we'll see how it all washed out. Later...