Bienvenu Claude! We create a team.

Meet Claude, our new travel-mate in the photo above with Wayne at the M & M's cafe in Oriental, North Carolina.
The sail from Belhaven to Oriental, North Carolina was made much better by the addition of our new team member, Claude! Claude is from Quebec and he is single-handing his 29-foot sailboat Merope all the way to the Bahamas as well. We travel about the same speed under sail and under power, and having anchored near eachother in Belhaven started to chat about teaming up. Claude is a fantastically smart and talented person in addition to being a mighty sailor and Harbormaster at his yacht club back home in Canada. He is a diesel engine expert among other things, which makes us feel incredibly safe. He is teaching us to actually use the GPS as it was designed to be used. He is a charming French-Canadien gentleman with whom I can even practice my French! We are so lucky to have teamed up with him, and hope to make the whole voyage together. The teamwork element was very important yesterday, as we sailed from Belhaven to Oriental in a huge, following wind. We crossed 2 of the "4 most dangerous passages on the ICW" - according to our chart book. The first was the Pamlico River/sound. The wind was about 15 to 20 knots on our tail, and the waves short and choppy. We had the main out and were flying along around 7 knots motor sailing. Surviving the Pamlico, the waterway narrowed down into the entrance of a 4-mile long canal and we had to maneuver upwind to drop the main. Claude, of course, had to leave the helm during this as he was all by himself. I was at our helm, and Wayne up front taking the sail down. Well, of course I did not quite realize that no one was at Claude's helm and nearly ran into him! The only casualty was my head as the boom swung a bit quicker than anticipated. We got the sails down without any great difficulty, and enjoyed a nice quiet motor down the canal. I was able to give the captain a break at that point, as the sail down the Pamlico had been athletic to say the least - especially after the fun Halloween we had. Exiting the canal, we entered the Neuse River and 14 miles of rolling, short choppy waves from 2 to 4 feet or so, a howling wind and screaming downriver with the Genoa out. Poor Claude had engine problems ( go figure, he's the mechanic) and so we cut our engine too and made great time without it. Regrettably, the changeover from mainsail to Genoa and subsequent rolling of the boat, the bang on the head, and the general poor condition from the night before all conspired together to completely incapacitate the first mate who is prone to motion sickness. Oh yeah. I was over the rail the whole time, nothing left to even spew out but heaving anyway. From time to time Wayne would need help and I would verify position with GPS and charts, look for a buoy, or take the helm briefly. Mostly, however, I was completely limp and useless. Several hours later we made it to Oriental harbor and were blissfully accomodated by the Oriental Marina. We will post some pictures of our host and hostess Thomas McIlhenny, Daisy Taylor and dockmaster Bub. Joe and Laura and the rest of the crew are as friendly as can be, and extremely helpful. Taking a hot shower last night in the beautifully clean facility - complete with fresh towels, shampoo, soap and hand creme - I thought I had died and gone to heaven. That was until we went to the M & M's cafe and had a fabulous dinner. Life is good again! We regret having missed most of the World Series but Go Sox! and Go Blue who also won this weekend. We will be happy as 2 little clams watching the Packer game tonight on the Toucan Grill's big-screen TV and knowing we have a wonderful new friend and an easy day to Beaufort tomorrow.