The Tale of the Tape !!!

Today - we did not go for a boat ride!
No Ma'am.

No, we sat inside our house, and awaited the arrival of the utility company, and the furniture delivery guy, in the blissful comfort of air conditioning. (One of the best inventions of the 20th century).

Fortunately, both arrived, and we are absolutely giddy at the prospect of such taken-for-granted activities like cooking, eating at a table, and showering. (Oh, rapture . . .)

Spoiler Alert: For you HGTV Junkies (you know who you are), stay tuned there will be more on the furnishings later - I promise.

However, there is an exercise that I've wanted to finish and share, that I call the Tale of the Tape.
Basically adding up all of the stats of the trip.
And now, Ladies and Germs, here goes:

Total distant traveled:                 1,029 Nautical Miles
Total time spent on the water:         67 hours
Total gallons of Fuel:                    806 gallons
Total pounds of Ice:                      190 lbs.
Total dinners cooked on board:    Zero*
*(We are calling Ripley's as we believe we may be the first to have achieved this dubious honor)

While, I haven't (yet) figured out how to map out the trip graphically, here is the chronological, and geographical history:

Day 1). NWBPT to Block Island:                      135 NM - 8 Hrs - 104 Gallons
Day 2). Block Island to Liberty Landing, NY:  124 NM - 7.5 Hrs - 94 Gallons
Day 3). Storm Delay                                          (See Side Bar - Lollygagger)
Day 4). Liberty Landing to Cape May:              123 NM - 7.5 Hrs - 105 Gallons
Day 5). Cape May to Ocean City:                      46.3 NM - 2.5 Hrs -  35 Gallons
Day 6). Ocean City to Lynnview, VA (Jack):    106 NM - 7 Hrs - (Fuel: delayed till AYB)
Day 7). Lynnview, VA to AYB:                        36.2 NM - 4 Hrs - 106 Gallons
             AYB to Coinjock:                                  31.7 NM - 3 Hrs - (Fuel: delayed till River Dunes)
Day 8). Coinjock to River Dunes:                       111 NM - 7 Hrs - 107 Gallons
Day 9). River Dunes to Southport:                    118.5 NM - 8 Hrs - 99 Gallons
Day 10). Southport to Charleston:                       128 NM - 8 Hrs - 111 Gallons
Day 11). Fishing (13 additional hours on the water - not included in the total)
Day 12). Furniture Shopping
Day 13). Charleston to Beaufort:                         67 NM - 4.5 Hrs - 45 Gallons

Whew - it's exhausting just writing it all down.

But, here is where  I must absolutely give props to the one person without whom this trip would never have happened: Professional Captain - Mark Mitchell !
Mark spends his life delivering yachts to any and all ports - including the Bahamas.

I was introduced to Mark by Jack Stumborg, and quickly grew to rely upon his experience and judgment without reservation.

When I was in NY and contemplating traversing the length of NJ in the face of a questionable NOAA forecast, I email Mark - who responded from a vessel crossing into territorial water from the Bahamas - "no way". Hence, the delay in NY, and the subsequent safe arrival in Cape May the following day.

I've never met Mark, and have yet to adequately express my gratitude to him.
But, in truth, he created this entire itinerary - complete with a subset of 2 or 3 safe harbors along each leg. (What you see is literally only the tip of the iceberg).

Mark, I truly hope you read this, as I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Thanks to you, my wife and vessel, are home safe.
I don't know how one repays such a gift?
But, I hope that someday I get the chance.
Meanwhile, fair winds and following seas, to you my friend . . .

And now that we have corrected the visual portion of our presentation, I thought this would be a good time to share some of the heretofore excluded shots:

Cap't Jack & Mate JimBob

 

Sunset at Southport

Why we headed offshore from Southport - this is what I meant by flat seas

King Street in Charleston - Spence on the bargain prowl

This is what they call a full moon tide - the Before

and the After . . .

View of the house from the water . . . (Note dock in view is our neighbor's)

Dock view from the Porch . . .

and now the promised HGTV Shots . . .

Kitchen - dining room with new ensemble

 

New Table

New table - detail view

New Chairs

New side board

And to think that we did all that in less time than it took us to fuel the boat on the last day . . .

 

So, as you can see, we are all set up for guests.

Y'all come on down.

We'd love to see ya, and take ya for a boat ride . . .