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The boat was purchased 30 September 1989 and the outfitting began. Navigation and safety equipment included compass, VHF radio, Type B EPIRB, Loran, automatic pilot, radar reflector, manual bilge pump (to supplement the installed electric pump), safety harness lines, binoculars, hand held VHF radio, hand held compass, PFD's, flares, depth sounder and dinghy.

The boat was launched at New Bern in October 1989 and sea trials were conducted in the Neuse River. Compass, depth sounder and knot meter were calibrated and deviation and speed tables produced.

An itinerary, based on a day's sail of 50 miles was developed and prospective Marinas or anchorages selected. The 50-mile day would require 8 to 10 hour.

The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary (CGAUX) issued me non-reimbursable orders, which permitted me to sail as an official patrol when I had a qualified crew on board.

All preparation completed, April 28, 1990 was selected as the starting date. My brother, Martin, is qualified as Crew, agreed to sail with me to Annapolis. This part of the cruise would be an official United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Patrol.

We arrived at the boat, ready to start, at 0800 hours. While Martin was stowing gear and preparing the boat for patrol, I fueled and made the engine ready. The engine started OK but died in about 10 min. and could not be restarted. A mechanic was obtained and the problem was found to be an air leak in the fuel system. The system was bled; all joints and connections tightened which seemed to solve the problem.

There being no wind, we started down the Neuse under power. In about 15 min. the engine slowed and regardless of throttle setting, would not run faster than 1500 RPM giving a speed of 2 knots. We eventually reached Oriental and secured a slip. A mechanic was not available because of the late hour but we did find one the next day. The problem was air leakage and after searching for the cause for 2 hours. It was found to be a defective valve in the pressure valve at the fuel tank. The bulb was replaced and our troubles were over.

We left Oriental at 1000 hours. And proceeded to Bel Haven where we tied up for the night. Walked into town, found an open restaurant, ate and returned to the boat.

Proceeding up the ICW to the Albemarle Sound, we went aground due to a large wake from a passing fast cruiser which forced us out of the channel. Got off easily and arrived at the Sound on schedule and tied up for the night.

The Albemarle Sound is shallow and winds over 10 knots can cause a lot of chop. We were fortunate, there were no wind and the crossing was very smooth. Of course motored all the way. Fueled and had lunch at Coinjock and continued on to mile 30 where we anchored for the night in a small inlet off the ICW.

The next morning we passed through the only lock and entered the Elizabeth River and secured a slip at Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth.

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