I can’t believe it’s December. Although recent temperatures are definitely in the ballpark, it just doesn’t seem as if that much time has passed. Plus, it’s 51 degrees here, at ten o’clock at night. We’re in Morehead City, North Carolina. So maybe we’re. . . south?

We only traveled about five hours today, from River Dunes almost directly south to Morehead City. We’re pretty much at the Beaufort Inlet.

On the way the electrical system of engines/batteries/charger/alternator seemed to go nuts, with “OVERCHARGED!” in orange showing on the dial. Orange is not good. Red is worse, but orange is as high as it gets on this particular dial. Here’s the picture, showing “normal.”

We were getting major OVERCHARGED messages, which means we can burn out the (very expen$ive) batteries. It was sort of a troubleshooting voyage, and when we arrived and the engine room cooled off enough, Hans figure out it was. . . a disconnected wire. We are OKAY! (I lower my head into my hands and shake no. . . then I shake yes. We’re okay.)

Here’s the thing about Morehead City – well, a couple of things. We are in a major waterway, at the mouth of an inlet/outlet to the ocean, where there is industry, including tugs, which are difficult to pass or follow. They leave a very “disturbed” wake, yanking us back and forth in the narrow channel.

The other thing is that this is where The Dolphins start. Okay, Niya has imprinted her nose on the window since we left Baltimore, looking for The Dolphins. Every day she looks. If I gasp, or say “look” or anything resembling it, she’s there, smearing her nose into the window to get a clear picture.

We’ve told her it doesn’t happen up north, but she does it anyway. . . waiting. TODAY. . . THE DOLPHINS CAME! She howled, whined, screamed and squealed. I said, “Niya!” and she said “YES!” squealing and howling before she even got out there to see them! They were very busy with their own activities, but there were a lot of them, and she saw them, tried to gather them all to her with her cries. . . and then they were gone. I didn’t get a picture of them or a video, but Niya saw them and was thrilled. There will be more. And she will sing to them, so happy to be part of their pod. . .  Pack. . .  Community.

Wednesday 12/4/13

We are still here in Morehead City. We tried to leave Monday and ten minutes away from the dock the alternator started over charging again. So back we went to the dock. Monday we took the marina rental car ($10 for two hours) and wandered, looking for an alternator repair shop (the owner was at an appointment and wasn’t answering his phone) or a new alternator. It’s taken us several days to resolve this, but the bottom line is we are still here, waiting for a new alternator to arrive.

We have new friends, Shay and Elizabeth, who live here on their boat. Shay and Hans worked for many hours trouble shooting the alternator, to no avail. And our friend Carolyn arrived by car from Maryland. She is here for several days of fishing, and will stay on her Camano in Beaufort. We had a very nice dinner with her in Beaufort, which is a charming town. I have to say, much more interesting than Morehead City. I’m thinking that the next time we pass through we might just go over there. Maybe.

Tomorrow, we’ll leave here. Our new alternator is installed. Tonight, there is fog.