Initially, we anticipated a 3-day shore leave due to heavy rains and winds the day after arriving Wrightsville Beach. So while staying on land with friends Gail and Ron, we took the opportunity to hire a local mechanic to tend to some engine cooling issues on the boat. The mechanics began on Monday while I explored Carolina Beach (see earlier blog post, Days 21-22), leaving Captain Dudley with the boat guys.

The mechanics continued on Tuesday and discovered they needed to order a part. And of course the part wouldn’t arrive until Wednesday, which would have been the best weather window for us to journey down Cape Fear. Wednesday’s forecast was sunny and calm. Thursday’s forecast was sunny and definitely not calm. They call it Cape Fear for a reason, so we weren’t going to continue our journey south on Thursday in 20 knot winds, gusting 28, with opposing current. Nope. Play it safe and wait it out.

So instead of whining about delays, we set about enjoying time with our friends and getting some home improvement projects done. What better way to pay back some southern hospitality than engaging some of Dudley’s handyman skills! Essentially, Wednesday was a 1-2-3 day. One new showerhead, two bicycle racks, and three pendant lamps. Our hosts were delighted.

And Studley Dudley clowning around with the studfinder made for some good laughs and even better FaceBook comments. And remember, he’s not on FB so what he doesn’t know doesn’t hurt him. Ha! Maybe he’ll join FB one day. Not.

We also used our hosts’ garage (aka “the office”) to saw, paint, and stencil a wooden sign for the back of our boat. We had suspected that our boat name was tough to read from the bridges of those taller powerboats since our dinghy obscures the view from that vantage point, especially when passing us at 60 mph—only kidding, most have given us a “slow pass.”

Being designers, we couldn’t use the stencils one might buy at Michael’s. Of course not. That wouldn’t be “on brand.” We used Gail’s printer and I painstakingly cut a stencil with an exacto blade, taping pages together, so that the font would match the font on the hull (and our boat cards). And because we were on land for a few days, we could paint the sign and letters in thin coats, several hours or days apart. And voila! Now we just have to find time to hang it. Details, details.

And not only did we catch up on home and boat projects, we caught up on news, TV shows, exercise, sleep, and most of all, relaxed conversation with friends.