extra pictures

The sage continues

I want to catch you all up on things!
You can see by the picture that we finally got our new name put on her. She is now officially Nauti Nell. On Easter Sunday, we finally got a chance to take her out. We were a little nervous about her "maiden voyage". Okay, maybe it wasn't her true maiden voyage, but it was under the name Nauti Nell and it was the first time for me! And you know, "if it's going to happen, it's going to happen out there!" In fact, Mike was so nervous that when he tried to start the boat, the keys wouldn't turn. He tried several things to see what the problem was. Finally, I suggested that maybe he had the two keys reversed, duh! Switched them around and "voila" - she started right up! We spent the afternoon out on the Chesapeake Bay. It was a beautiful day. We had a great time. We still have a hard time believing we're actually doing this!

The picture of the guys with the fish were some from a charter boat at our marina. This is what they come in with almost all the time. Although some of the fish are even bigger than these. These are the rockfish that we call striper. They are on several of the menus around here.

We've been doing some shopping. The couch and chair that came with the boat was pretty worn. We bought a nice leather recliner and a great rattan loveseat. This one fit through the door, thank goodness! NautiNell is starting to really take shape.

There was a little excitement tonight. we heard choppers go out and could tell they were hovering close by. They were up for quite awhile. Finally a Smith Point Rescue Boat came into the dock pulling a small fishing boat. It turns out that the boat had ran out of gas. Then of course, they ran the battery down trying to start it. Without the battery the bilge pump didn't run, so then they began taking on water. A 911 call went out and the Coast Guard sent out choppers to access. They lowered a diver on to the boat to access the problems. They stayed there in the air until the rescue boat got to them. The rescue boats are volunteer. It was really interesting to see everything in action. It's good to know they're out there, if you need them!

We're leaving to go back to Joplin in the morning. We'll be there until May 3. We need to tie up a few loose ends and bring the truck home. When we get back here, we will truly be "boat people". That will feel a little strange. We will stay at this marina for another week, then head south to Norfolk. We'll stay at Waterside Marina for about a week and will atten the AGLCA Rendouvous. Finally, around the 17th, we plan to start the Great Loop and head north. I'm excited and ready to get going!
While this area is very pretty, we're out in the boondocks and pretty secluded!

To those of you in Joplin, I hope to see you all soon!

Until next time!

Admiral "C"

p.s. Thanks Ashley for your help in the Nauti Nell design!

Aboard the NautiNell

It's been a very busy week here aboard the NautiNell. We've been busy (especially Capt Mike) bringing her up to par. NautiNell was way above a fixer upper, but she had sat docked for more than two years. This means there have been a few little surprises along the way. Nothing big - just things here and there. It's a good thing that Mike is a "Mr fix-it". NautiNell is really looking good now.

I did a true test today. I baked chocolate chip cookies in the oven. They came out great! NautiNell smells like home. Things are going to be fine. Especially with chocolate chip cookies aboard!

Last Saturday night we rode out a really severe storm. Now most of you know that Mike and I can ride out storms in our boat. We've done it several times on TableRock Lake. However, this was a biggie! You probably have seen on the news how the tornadoes touched down in the area. One touched down in a small town less that 50 miles from here - less than that by water. Several houses and boats were destroyed. I believe there were 3 people killed. They have been under a curfew and the main road in and out to Deltaville has been closed to non residents. There wasn't any real damage close to us. But it was a little unnerving.

I wish I had taken a video of Mike and I trying to move furniture into the boat. This weekend we purchased a leather chair and a wicker loveseat for the boat. The furniture that came with her was pretty well used up. Anyway, we found the perfect pieces. We had measured them and everything would fit great! BUT - we tried and tried and tried to get the loveseat into the boat. That's right! It wouldn't go through the door and companion way. Teak wood does NOT give a bit. We made it about two thirds way through, but it got stuck. I wasn't sure we were going to be able to get it back out! We finally gave up. The chair wasn't a problem. The store where we purchased the loveseat was very understanding. They took it back with no problems. Now I'm on the search for a "smaller" loveseat. Road trip again this weekend!

There are several charter fishing boats that go out of here. They fish for rockfish. We call them stripers. They have to be at least 28 in and you can keep only one. Most of the boats have come back with a pile of fish. Mike is planning to go out on one of the charters soon. Two boats stay at this marina. The captains said that they have to go out about 20 miles to go where the fish are.

There is also a tour boat that goes to Tangier Island. Tangier Island is the only inhabited island in the state. I'm not sure what is all on the island. I've heard there are shops and restaurants. It's only about an hour ride over. I'll let you know all about it soon. That's going to be our first "adventure" out. We plan to go over to the island and drop anchor.

Mike had been going out in the dinghy about every afternoon. He hasn't tried fishing yet. In fact, he's out there right now. When he gets back, we're going to a local marina for dinner. Looking forward to a crabcake sandwich!!

We'll be home next weekend. See you soon!!

Another Great Day!

Another great day! Wanted to share this story with you.
Yesterday Mike noticed that we had lost our flag. It had been pretty windy the last few days. Anyway, Mike got in the dinghy and began dredging the water around the boat using a small danforth anchor. After about 30 minutes of patiently going around and around in circles and finding many interesting pieces of trash, he snagged the flag! It has now been restored and is flying high and proud! That's Capt Chappy! My hero!

Today was warm and sunny! We went into town to do a little shopping. This is the first time since Saturday that we'd gone anywhere. I was needing a shopping fix even it was at the grocery store and the hardware store. This weekend I think we're going to look for new furniture. The wife of the owner of this marina told me about a place called "Farmville" that is supposed to be really cool. The snag is that it's about 3 hours away. Sounds like it's time for a road trip!

That's it for now! To be continued....................

Admiral "C"

Life is Great!

Hi Everyone!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that things are finally settling down. We're really starting to feel at home and finally starting to have some fun. It was a beautiful day yesterday so Mike decided to take out the dinghy. I stayed on NautiNell. Off he went in his dinghy with his brand new Nissan motor. Taking no chances this time! About an hour or so later, he came in smiling from ear to ear. He made the statement that this was "the best day on the boat ever"! He had gone out into Chesapeake Bay and found some sandy beaches. He even got a little sunburned!

Well this morning he came up with the idea that we take a picnic lunch out to the beaches. I was not about to stay behind this time! No way can I miss sunshine and sand again! We took the dinghy out again to Chesapeake Bay. Had lunch on the beach and searched for seashells. What a beautiful area. The time was perfect. This is what it's all about!

We only stayed a short time because the radio had called for rain. Plus, we still had plenty to do. We had only been home about 30 minutes when it began to blow up some rain. Good timing! We still are unpacking and repacking! The weather is supposed to be rain for the next day or so. We should get most of everything unpacked by the time the sunshines again.

Until next time!

Admiral "C"

Getting Ready for the Second Trip to NautiNell

Getting ready for our second trip was quite an expericnce! After a lot of work we were finally ready for the auction. Well, really we had to be ready because the day was here! What a wonderful day it turned out to be. After all the cold weather we had had earlier in the week, we were blessed with a warm and sunny day. I have been to many auctions, but this is my first one to actually be the seller. It's a bit different being on the other side. Seeing some of our things go way under price was rather disturbing. However, at the end of the day we had reached our goal. We sold everything and made good money doing it! If any of you ever need to have an auction for whatever reason, I highly recommend using Bob Laswell. Just something to tuck away for future reference.

After the auction, we had to clean up the place a little and gather up what we kept. What we kept consisted of two "piles" - what we are taking on NautiNell and what we are going to leave here in storage. Now that was a trip. We have entirely too much STUFF!!! When we finally got to sorting our our clothes, it was unbelievable! No one should have this much. We hadn't sorted through the clothes yet, because we had not planned to sell at the auction. Clothing does not do well at auctions on the average. SOOO! It turned out we had to add another pile - what we were getting rid of entirely. Crosslines is going to be very happy! We really got rid of more than we kept. BUT!! We have entirely too much clothing on the boat now. Now that we are trying to find places for everything we brought - we have added another pile which is on the truck to bring back to storage. This pile is the "what were we thinking pile"! It was a good thing we had the trailer on the way up to NautiNell.

BTW - the reason we had a trailer is that we are doing a favor for one of our buddies- Randy Stanley. He needed to get a pool table up to Falls Church, VA (close to Washington D.C.) and we were going that way. So a perfect deal was worked out. You should have seen the face of the dockmaster here, when we told him we brought a pool table along!

I have to tell you something that happened at the very beginning of this trip. It set the mood! We had to drop off our modem to CableOne on our way out of town. When I gave it to her, the lady asked for a forwarding address. I looked at her and said "I have no idea". I have always wanted to say that! It felt so cool! Oh well, it's the little things sometimes....

We arrived at the boat about nightfall yesterday. We didn't unpack anything except our suitcases. When we got up this morning, we found out that it was supposed to rain. I forgot to mention that along the way up here, the door on the trailer got jammed somehow and wouldn't open up. The load had shifted somehow. When we went to bed Thursday night, we didn't know how we were going to get in. What a difference a good night's sleep makes. We got up early this morning. The load must have shifted a tad bit again and the door opened right up. Also, since it looked like rain, Dan (dock owner) provided us with a dry and secure place to unload all of our stuff. Now we can just get a few containers at a time and proceed to unload them (and of course, reload them when all of our stuff doesn't fit!) HA! Things have a way of working out.....!

We are going to deliver the pool table tomorrow to Randy's daughter, April, in Falls Church, VA.. It's only about 150 miles from here. That's nothing! We also have sold an antique lamp I had to a gentleman in Washington D.C. We're going to deliver that and collect on that also. Hope we don't get too lost! I guess we can read a map........since I have no navigation app.

BTW - I forgot to mention that this morning my phone went crazy. It's a new Android, but it no longer has any of my information on it. It's like it's been completely re-programmed.. I spoke to Verizon this morning after I had my meltdown. They couldn't seem to help me. I need to go to a Verizon store. Of course, there is no store around here. There is one in Falls Church so hopefully we can take care of that too. I feel so completely disconnected. First we drive 1200 miles away from home with all of our stuff, THEN, I can't even call or text anyone to keep in contact. Sheeh! I think I'm being tested. Hope I pass.

Our plan is to spend a few weeks here unpacking and fixing up the boat. It really is taking on the feeling of home already. We still need to get new canvas and we have a few other small things we need to take care of. When we got here, the electricity was completely fixed! We had lights, hot water and everthing we needed. WOW!

We should be home April 28. We'll be home for a few days. There's a bon voyage party being planned for Saturday, April 30 at the Elks. We have tickets to fly back to the boat on May 3. We actually booked to fly out of Joplin really reasonably.

Update: We sold the Jeep at the auction. The mini bikes have also been sold. We still have the motorcycle and the camaro for sale. If you know of anyone interested, let us know. Oh, and of course, the rental house is still for sale. It should would be nice to cash out before we leave on our adventure.

I'll write more later and let you all know how the Washington D.C./pool table delivery went.

ttys

Admiral "C"