Final preparations...

Alizee is back in her berth at Oriental Yacht Harbor.  On Tuesday, Deaton's finished off the work and we tested her on the water. 

I can't believe it, but with Deaton's mechanic/ tow-boat captain on board, we went aground one more time at green marker #5 at Whittaker Point.  The mud has obviously been drifting a lot.  It was a big embarrassment for Gary as well as for me, but John Deaton quickly came out and has us free.... Ten minutes later, as we looked back at the channel when starting our water test, we saw a Beneteau that obviously had gone aground right after us.  You can literally see the mud in the aerial photo here, and marker five is close to center one-third down from the top of the photo ... you can make out the channel, which ends in the center of the photo.  One has to be more than careful navigating some of these little channels and harbors on Pamlico Sound.

Once back, I got my Sirius Weather working and have been trying to determine when a weather window is going to appear.  It looks like we've got some stormy days this weekend and the start of next week, so we'll probably motor down to Beaufort, NC - about a 4-5 hour trip - and hold there for a day or two so we can jump out at the first window.  Have to be in Marsh Harbor, Abacos, by March 11th.

I've defrosted the refrigerator/freezer and will get perishables tomorrow in New Bern.  I've been doing little minor stuff around the boat: trouble-shot the shower pump and reattached a loose wire, washed down some lines and canvas chafe protectors, and such.  Managed to get my taxes done and filed on Turbo-Tax and set up automatic deposits for refunds (the silver-lining to the recession is that I overpaid estimated taxes by a bundle) as well as for my new townhouse mortgage (refinancing in January was another silver-lining).