February 7, 2016
We’ve enjoyed a couple both nice and intense weeks in Morehead City, tackling some critical maintenance projects and catching up with good friends.
North Carolina is home to several herds of wild horses and our friend Pam volunteers to monitor the Beaufort horses. She invited me to join her, along with friends Diane and Josh on a trip to the island to set up motion-activated cameras to photograph the horses and to check on their welfare. We saw about a dozen of the 30+ horses in this group and set up the cameras. It was a great day and I learned a lot!
Beaufort wild horses
We also enjoyed what has become an honored tradition for us – an oyster roast at the Gilpin family estate. Steve, Clayton, and Dianne got a roaring fire started and when the coals were hot, a metal plate was laid on top, then came the oysters and a wet blanket to cover them until they were cooked and ready for a feast! Dianne made up a batch of Mom’s (Gilpin) renowned cornbread and Mom (Barbara Gilpin) made a brief appearance to sample some oysters. Susan and Beth, who don’t eat oysters, came out for a visit. Smores capped off a great evening!
Steve works on the fire
I drove down to Southport to where I enjoyed a wonderful dinner with two good friends, Nancy and Lynne, then did a stop at Costco in Wilmington to continue the provisioning process for the next few months of planned cruising. Our freezers are near empty, so we have begun the process of re-filling them.
Lynne and husband Nick then drove up from Southport to visit us, stop in at the chocolate festival, and see the boat. We enjoyed a nice dinner out and a chance to engage in some stimulating discussions. Bradly and Nick could have been raised as brothers, they are so close in thinking.
Breakfast with Lynne and Nick
We are pleased to be the featured boat on the Nordhavn Registry – check it out for an interview and some photos.
We are continuing with several maintenance projects – more on that in the next update.
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- Josh, Pam, and Diane set up a camera
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- Getting a drink
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- On the move
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- A youngster
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- Photographing the horses
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- Setting another camera
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- Wild horses
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- Southport sunrise
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- Oysters waiting for the fire
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- Steve puts the oysters on
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- Dianne and others enjoy the oysters
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- Ready to eat!
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- Chocolate Festival – YUM!
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- Pudding eating contest at the chocolate festival
Shear Madness 
#1 by Michael Kallelis on February 21, 2016 - 10:40 pm
Kathy, I accidentally discovered you after looking up info on a Back Cove 37, on youtube. Somehow, Shear Madness popped up and I watched one of your videos. Since then, I’ve seen nearly all your videos ! I’ve enjoyed them all and just finished exploring your website. Well done! My wife and I have been coastal boaters, in Northern Massachusetts, since 1993. Every now and then, I get an itch for cruising and wonder if it’s in our future. Like you, I sold a company several years ago, but I’m afraid the valuation was no where near enough for a long distance cruiser in Shear Madness’s class. My current eye is on something in the Sabre/Back Cove category. We’ll see. Retirement is 5 years out for me so there’s time to think about wintering, via boat, in Florida and summering back home in Boston. In the meantime, I’ll experience it virtually, through your videos and blog postings. Happy Travels!
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#2 by Jeff Marcon on February 8, 2016 - 2:59 pm
Just read the post and the Registry article.. congrats… Making the manufacturer aware of how critical “ease of access” is to key systems was a great point to make in the article… hope Nordhavn exec’s take you up on your suggestion.
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#3 by Paul Kent, PhD on February 7, 2016 - 1:07 pm
Thanks for sharing Kathy! I had no idea that Chincoteague-style horses existed there.
Hope you and Bradley are doing well,
Paul
Sent from my iPhone
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#4 by Rollie on February 7, 2016 - 1:06 pm
One of your best newsletters! Great pics and interesting anecdotes!
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