Five Weeks Into Our Journey

We left Herrington Harbour South five weeks ago today! Here are some interesting/not so interesting facts:

• We have traveled approximately 738 NM (849 miles).
• We have burned approximately 312 gallons of fuel.
• We have only stopped to refuel once.
• We have only pumped out twice and didn't really need to.
• We have been to 19 towns/anchorages.
• We have anchored out six nights.
• We have had eight free docks/slips (most with electricity too!).
• We have had to pay six marinas for a slip and electricity.
• I replaced a broken anchor windlass switch. The broken one was cleaned, fixed and now available as a spare part.
• I replaced the seawater pump on our engine. A guy, Scotty Harrell, who owns a marina in Edenton allowed me to ship it to his house which was right around the corner from the town dock where we stayed. It arrived minutes after our arrival into Edenton -- thank you Scotty and Defender! The old one will be serviced and will be available as a spare part.
• I replaced the fresh water pump (planned on doing that before we left). It was 60 psi which I felt was a little too powerful for our plumbing. We now have a 50 psi pump.
• We have purchased one bag of ice.
• We have met a lot of fun and interesting people. Some from as far as Canada.
• We have handed out and received several boat cards.
• We have been through two locks.
• We have been under/through 48 bridges. Many have a fixed height of 65 feet. We have a 25 foot 'air draft' so we can get under any bridge with a fixed height of 25 1/2 feet. Some have been swing, draw and bascule bridges. Fortunately, we haven't had to wait for many bridge openings and even timed one (accidentally) just as it was getting ready to open.
• We have been caught (underway) in one lightning storm with strong winds.
• We have been caught in one storm at 2am while at a dock with winds blowing 50 mph gusting to 70!
• We have learned that we still have too much stuff.
• We have discovered the 'slow pass'. This is a phenomenon new to us. After nine years on the Chesapeake, most boaters seem to love passing within feet of us completely clueless about the disastrous effect of their wake. When a faster boat approaches a slower boat, they contact the slower boat and offer a slow pass. Slower boat slows to idle speed and faster boat passes with no to little wake. Well most boats do the 'slow pass'. Most sport fishing boats are still clueless.
• We have only used the dinghy twice and both times were so close to a dock that I just rowed.
• We have only used our scooters once.
• We have been offered rides to the grocery store/laundromat/West Marine. We have used one golf cart, one marina courtesy car, our friend Nancy gave us a ride to West Marine, one dock master loaned us his car and my sister and brother-in-law loaned us their cars when we were in Surf City.
• Sharon used her KitchenAid once to make banana bread.
• Sharon used her Instapot once to make granola.
• We have had days where we turned on the heat in the morning and air conditioner in the afternoon.
• We have only had one dead spot where we didn't get Verizon reception.
• The only time we have been apart was to go to the bathroom, shower and once in Oriental when Sharon took a walk and I took a boat nap.

And most of all, we have learned how much we depend on each other, love each other and how blessed we are.