OUR LAST DAY IN CINCINNATI, OHIO:  Friday, 2/2/01

As the big day approached, my job was to figure out how to fit everything we were taking for the boat into the truck.  This became quite a feat as it seemed like we were taking everything but the kitchen sink.  But luckily after some cleaver packing, everything fit but a couple boxes of clothes which we decided to have mailed.  The next big thing was closing up the house.  I had a checklist prepared of what needed to be done, but the actual time it took to do everything was another story.  The plan was to leave by noon -- we ended up leaving at 7:00pm due to many items...main one being the thermostat.  It had to pick now to stop working!!  So we replaced the new thermostat with the old one and stayed at the house 'til we felt everything was in working order.  As you can imagine by 7:00pm Fred was not a happy camper, but once we were on the road for a couple hours, things got better.  Ended up driving 'til about 11:30pm, then finished up the trip to North Carolina on Saturday.

OUR ACCOMMODATIONS DURING THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS OF OUR BOAT:  Saturday, 2/3/01
A BIG thanks to Bill & Ginny for letting us stay in their trailer -- "Ginny's Beach House".  Its located on Emerald Isle - right on the beach.  The trailer is beautiful and walks on the beach are priceless....even saw some dolphins and surfers!  We couldn't have asked for a better place than this to stay.  Thanks again to Bill & Ginny!!!

OUR FIRST SIGHTING OF EARLY OUT!! - Saturday, 2/3/01
Its hard to describe our first thoughts when we finally saw the boat.  The boat was beautiful -- a little dirty from the haul from Clearwater, FL to NC, but all in all, looked GREAT.  Fred was excited and immediately starting checking things out.  I on the other hand was also very excited, but quite scared as well.  We've been talking about this for so long and to finally see it here was overwhelming.  Here's some of her first pictures:

Early Out sitting at Shepard's
Boat Yard in Morehead City, NC
 

 Boy its a long one - the mast - approx. 55 ft.
 

          Finally Here!!!
 

WEEK ONE OF THE COMMISSIONING OF EARLY OUT:   2/5/01 thru 2/11/01
Boat is being commissioned by Shephard's Boat Yard in Morehead City, NC.  Monday was pretty much spent with Russ & Dick confirming equipment decisions.   Boy was our head spinning by the end of the day.  Not too much happened Tuesday, but Wednesday some of the equipment started arriving.  The first thing drilled on the boat was the thru holes for the depth and speed sensors-just what a new boat owner is looking for, a couple of holes in the bottom of their boat..  After that they worked on installing the backup bilge pump. More holes, this time inside the boat with the exception of a small one above the waterline for the water to exit.

While Dick and Russ worked their magic, we were busy running the wiring for the stereo. One set inside and one set to the cockpit speakers. Not real challenging since we were able to use most of the existing holes but fun never the less since we were crawling around and getting to know all the corners of our boat.

Once most of the electronics arrived we were able to layout the panel at the navigation table. Single Side Band up high with the stereo and VHF within easy reach.

Lunches were spent enjoying our tuna salad and cheese while sitting at the Beaufort waterfront overlooking Taylors Creek.  Depending on the time we were there, you could see the wild horses on the adjacent island.  And of course there were always boats to look at.

Friday night Russ and Dick invited us to share in some fresh steamed oysters and Coronas.  The oysters were delicious!!

Saturday was Fred's birthday.  Celebrated with breakfast at Mike's, went to the boat to work on a few things, then had a scrumptous dinner at Jordan's.  Both Mike's and Jordan's are right across from the trailer we're staying at -- Bill & Ginny recommended.   Good suggestion -- food was terrific!!

Sunday some good friends we know from Brookville Lake come up to visit us. Greg and Carol are in the process of moving to South Carolina from Richmond, Indiana.  We are excited to have them near by as we go through our adjustment to a new way of living. Showed them the boat and beautiful Beaufort during their brief visit and had a nice lunch at the Dock House Restraunt on the waterfront.  They will be one of the first stops for us as we plan to sail south for brief shake down before returning to Beaufort to repair or modify anything that has broken, failed or needs some adjusting.
 

WEEK TWO OF THE COMMISSIONING OF EARLY OUT:  2/12/01 thru 2/18/01

We still had some critical decisions to make. We've been struggling with the battery question for months. We've read lots of reviews and talked to as many people we could and finally came to the conclusion that AGM batteries seemed to be a great idea with the ability to charge quickly but the 6V flooded batteries gave us about 40% more Amp hours in the same foot print for half the price, less weight to handle and they will probably last longer as well.

The other decision we struggled with was the heater. After much debate we decided to postpone this decision until we were certain we would need it. Hopefully we will sail where the weather and water are mostly warm. On the occasional chilly day we will use a portable propane heater. Not the perfect solution, but should get us by for now.

The windlass was another decision we had struggle with since there didn't seem to be a good answer to the question of how to pull up the second anchor and chain with one vertical windlass and capstan. We settled on a standard arrangement - Lofrans, Progress I - that will work great for the primary anchor, 45 lb. CQR and ok for the secondary 44 lb. Bruce.  Boy did this take some big holes in the deck...ouch!

Other items worked on this week were the autopilot, refrigeration, SSB, and other miscellaneous electronics.  Also George from the Canvastic made covers for our winches and hatches.

Saturday we met Bill & Ginny in Morehead.  Showed them our boat, then took them out to dinner in Beaufort at the Stillwater Cafe.  Had a wonderful time.  Enjoyed the excellent food and drinks while they shared their experiences with us from the Chesapeake Bay and beyond.

Sunday we visited St. Egberts church in Morehead, then off to the boat to start installation of the water filter system.  Later that evening we took in a movie - Castaway.  Pretty good - took notes on the survival techniques!
 

WEEK THREE OF THE COMMISSIONING OF EARLY OUT:  2/19/01 thru 2/25/01

Dick was busy this week working on wiring for the pod of instruments over the compaignway - wind, speed, depth.  He also started building a battery box for our 6-batteries.   We finally decided where the radar display will go.  We really wanted to put the display in the cockpit, but due to numerous issues surrounding doing this, we ended up installing it at the nav station instead.  Russ continued to work on the refrigeration.  Fred, one of the locals who does great work with stainless steel, made the post for the instrument pod over the companionway - finished it Friday.  It looks great.  We unwrapped the mast this week and started drilling holes for the radar mount and worked on wiring of the radar and other instruments.

Tuesday was beautiful so Fred and I decided to visit Ft. Macon.  Its on Atlantic Beach near Morehead City.  The fort was built to protect the Beaufort inlet.  What great views from there.

Saturday turn out to also be nice weather so Fred and I decided to wax the  hull (top sides) of the boat.  Then moved on to waxing the fixtures on the mast.

Sunday we finished installing the water filter, secured the stereo speakers inside and installed the FM antenna.
 

WEEK FOUR OF THE COMMISSIONING OF EARLY OUT:  2/26/01 thru 3/3/01

Fred was out of town Tuesday and Wednesday conducting some business in Kansas City.  I managed to fill my days checking on the boat,  visiting some of the local shops and doing laundry.

This week several items got installed - the max prop, inverter, batteries and the compressor for the refrigeration.  Ran into some difficulties with the max prop in that the shaft was too long.  It took them over an hour and several blades to cut thru it.

Friday we put the name on the boat.  Its official now!   The girl who made the name was from Oxford, Ohio so we did some reminising.  Nice to talk about home.