Holiday flotilla

We are enjoying our last morning at the anchorage here in Banks Channel at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.  It had been fairly quiet here, at least up until Friday evening, when a half dozen or so more boats arrived to anchor.  By flotilla time last night, the number had swelled to nearly three dozen, and from shore it must have looked as if you could walk across the anchorage from one island to the other on the tops of the boats.

As promised, the weather here took a turn for the worse Tuesday night, and persisted that way all through Wednesday and into the early hours Thursday.  We were glad we had put out the extra anchor rode, which we have since brought back in to reduce our swing circle.  By Thursday afternoon, however, things were fairly calm, and we had a pleasant, but cold, 1.5 mile tender ride to the Bridge Tender restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner.

The restaurant was actually nicer than I had been led to believe, a white-tablecloth affair with nice views of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).  The prix-fixe holiday dinner was quite good, and we even had some leftovers to take home.  It was otherwise a very quiet day for us, calling family and friends and getting a few things done around the boat.

Among those few things was getting into the holiday spirit, in light of the upcoming flotilla, and decorating the boat.  We swagged our white LED holiday lights around the aft deck, which is very festive, and put our indoor decorations out as well, but the pièce de résistance was to run our strings of Italian lights (we call them the Olive Garden lights, after their use as bar decor in that chain) from the bow up to and through the flybridge top and then back down to the rail at the stern end of the boat deck, making Vector look like a tiny cruise ship.

Friday I took the tender out to fuel it up and get rid of some trash, and I noticed several boats around town being decorated for the flotilla.  We went back out in the evening for dinner at 22 North, not far from the town dinghy dock, and a quick stop at Robert's Market before returning home.

Yesterday we again left the tender at the town dock, and walked the mile to the municipal park where the big holiday festival was happening.  We had hot dogs and too much kettle corn, but did not end up buying anything from the myriad craft vendors there.  It was nice to get off the boat and get some walking in.  We were home in time for the start of the evening entertainment, which, of course, was a metric ton of weekend boaters making their way to the parade route and jockeying for a good spot to anchor for the flotilla and fireworks.  This aspect of boating is a lot like RVing, where the afternoon entertainment is often watching newcomers backing their rigs into their sites.

Just after sunset and before the flotilla started, we took the tender out to get some shots of "cruise ship Vector" before loading the tender back on the boat deck in anticipation of today's departure.  We were all settled back in with a glass of wine when the flotilla started, led by a Coast Guard patrol boat.

The boats in the flotilla were over the top -- there is no other way to describe it.  I will let Louise's video speak for itself.  There is a limit of 30 boats, and they are vying for cash prizes and a first prize of a 17' Carolina Skiff with motor and trailer, nicely outfitted (we saw it at the park).  We voted for our favorite, "Great White Christmas," by text message.  That entered us into a drawing for a prize, too, and our boat choice did ultimately win.  In addition to the text voting, there are also judges on the docks at the Blockade Runner, just across the parade route from us.

We had a blast watching the flotilla.  Some of the boats were only decorated on their port side (the side where the main audience an also the judges are located), and our starboard-side view was rather limited, but we got most of it.  We sounded our giant Kahlenberg air horns for the ones that really tickled us.



After the last boat went by we sat down to dinner, but the fireworks started a bit early, and we ended up watching them through the windows from our dining table.  We had a great view, and the fireworks display went on for a good half hour.  After that I sat in the pilothouse with the radar on, as hordes of overloaded boats weighed anchor to leave, not knowing just how much egg nog the skippers had during the evening.

All in all it was a fun time and we are very glad we spent the extra few days here to take it in.  I must also admit that Wrightsville Beach has been a great stop, even though I wrote on our first visit here that I thought it was "cruiser-unfriendly."  There seems to be quite a different vibe here at the anchorage than there is a mile and a half away at the ICW.

Today we will head down to Southport on the ICW, including a stretch of the Cape Fear River.  We are once again in the land of five foot tidal swing, though, and we need to time our travels with the tides.  Today's low is around noon, and we will weigh anchor and get under way around then in order to have a rising tide the whole way.  Its three hours or so to Southport so I expect we will still arrive with plenty of daylight.

I expect to spend a couple of days in the Southport area.  We booked a marina for a week in Charleston, our next major stop, but they could not fit us until the 8th, so we have a week to kill on the way.  Southport has a Walmart and at least one decent restaurant, and we also need to take on water and top up the batteries, so we will take a slip for a night or two.

As of this writing, weather looks good for our next outside passage, to Winyah Bay, on Wednesday.  We'll spend Tuesday night either at the marina on Bald Head Island, or at the anchorage nearby, for a speedy departure in the pre-dawn hours.

Foster kitten

My parking spot for the Mississippi flood Red Cross relief operation was behind the giant empty industrial facility we used as a headquarters. The building was over a quarter mile in length, and the walk from the bus to the front door was about a half mile. Fortunately, the warehouse staff arrived early each morning and opened the loading dock near the bus, cutting my walk in half.

The dumpster and truck parking area was near the loading dock, and I often strolled there in the evenings to drop off my trash and enjoy the only part of the day when temperatures dropped below 90 degrees.

About a week before Sean finished in Alabama, I was on my evening walk when I heard a very loud, distressed animal cry from under one of our box trucks. I knew the security guards were feeding a cat at the front door, and several puppies had been dumped on the property about a month earlier. The puppies had been adopted within days. I had also seen armadillos and possums, and had been warned to watch out for snakes. I'm pretty sure copperheads don't cry, so I approached the truck. Whatever it was, I figured it would be wild and afraid of humans, but I wanted to make sure it wasn't in the truck engine compartment.

Much to my surprise, when I got within 20 feet of the truck, a tiny kitten came barreling out from underneath. His tail was in the friendly, straight up position and he came right over to me, rubbing my legs, purring and meowing to beat the band. When I pet him, I could feel his skinny ribs and his fur felt matted and lumpy. Poor little guy! You can't be more than 6-7 weeks old. Where is your mother?

I scooped him up and carried him back to the bus. At the very least, I had soft canned cat food and a safe place for him to sleep. He inhaled the food, purring and crying while he swallowed. How long had it been since he last ate? I took Opal's plastic carrying crate outside, put in some soft rags, a small litter box, more cat food and a bowl of water. Since I was worried that he had fleas or other parasites, I put the kitten in the secure carrier and tucked it under the eaves of the building for the night.

I knew there was a No-Kill animal rescue center in town, so on my lunch break the next day, I drove kitten and carrier to the shelter. I had plans to drop him off, make a small cash donation, and be on my way. But as soon as I walked in, the staff shook their heads and said, "No room at the inn." However, they gave me worming medicine, kitten food, and special gentle flea shampoo without asking for any money. They suggested that I take some photos and write up a story about "Rudy the Red Cross kitten" and they would post it on their website, assuring me that he would probably be adopted in a week or so.

A week! What was I going to do with a kitten for a week? Well, obviously I was going to feed him, and bathe him, and give him his meds. The good news was that the lumps that I thought were scabs or fleas turned out to be small burrs and his own skinny vertebrae. After his bath and a few more meals, he was looking and smelling good. He must have only spent a few nights out on his own, and I never saw any evidence of worms. He was also impossible to photograph, because Rudy never stopped moving.



Back in the office, I put up posters asking if any volunteers who lived locally were interested in a kitten. Within 2 hours, a young woman who had just taken a paid staff position at the local Red Cross chapter approached me. Ashley had just moved into her new apartment and was looking for a kitten for company. She met Rudy and couldn't resist him. Hooray, Rudy has a Forever Home! However, Ashley was going to be away from Jackson for the weekend, working on the relief operation in the northern part of Mississippi. She didn't want him to spend his first few days alone in her apartment. Could I keep him two more nights?

Now that Rudy was clean and healthy, and I knew I could enjoy his company without having to commit to adding another animal permanently to the Odyssey menagerie, I was thrilled to cuddle and play with the little guy for a few more days. He was great fun and very cooperative about sleeping in the dog carrier at night and when I was in the office working. Rudy and Opal became great friends. The old girl wagged her tail and followed her tiny buddy around from one end of the bus to the other. George and Angel...well, you'll have to watch the video to see what they thought.



Ashley picked the kitten up and reports that he is happy and healthy. She renamed him, but he'll always be Rudy to me.

Too many engineers?

Or too few?

For the rail fans

There is a short spur of the Union Pacific railroad that runs along the parking lot at Infinity Coach. About once a week, a train pulls a car or two to the factory across the street. It leaves about an hour later. I videoed the train from Odyssey's bedroom.




Our cats aren't impressed by much, but Angel did sit up and take notice. She wasn't nervous, though. Full-timer cats see a lot of heavy equipment.

5...4...3...2...

The Cottonwoods are Blooming

The weather has been absolutely perfect here in Sumner, WA. Blue skies, daytime temperatures in the high 70s, and most importantly, no rain. Which is good, because Danny removed the driver side upper front window today and the bus is completely open to the outside right now.

There are a couple of downsides to this arrangement. One is that we have to keep a close eye on the cats, who are fascinated with the window opening. The other is that the cottonwood trees are in full bloom, dropping a fine fluff that floats on the wind.

See for yourself.



Fortunately, neither one of us seems to be allergic to the fluff, and it is easy to clean up. And I'm much happier to have this stuff inside the bus than rain.

Long overdue Red Cross video

One of the reasons we wanted to spend at least a week here was to catch up on some long overdue chores. Lots of niggling little projects have gotten pushed to the back burner, including transferring our last few videotapes to digital format.

If you've been following this blog long enough, you might remember that we spent Christmas of 2007 in Beaverton, OR, finishing up a Red Cross disaster relief operation there. Only a handful of volunteers stayed behind to close up shop after the holiday, and somehow this caught the attention of the local TV news crew. They interviewed the few of us who weren't camera shy and put together a nice little "feel good" story for their Christmas eve broadcast.

We managed to tape the clip from the TV onto VHS, but had no way to convert the tape into something we could put on the blog. Months later, we bought a video capture device, and today finally got around to finishing the conversion.

So here, for your viewing pleasure, is the video. Okay, this is mostly for our parents, because who doesn't want to see their kids on TV? And it's also a plug for the American Red Cross, because it's a darned good organization and it never hurts to be reminded that disasters don't take a break for holidays.

Red Mountain Pass

Yesterday, Sean said, "Words fail to describe the raw beauty of the San Juan mountains." Unfortunately, I don't think my little Canon PowerShot SD400 captured it very well, either. It just doesn't have the depth of field to handle the deep canyons, towering cliffs, and range of spectacular colors found on Red Mountain Pass.

Nevertheless, I filmed it as best I could. The video is mostly from Silverton to Ouray, CO on U.S. Highway 550. This is the narrowest and curviest part of the San Juan Skyway. Watch for how the exposed rock changes from yellow to red to brown to green to gray to purple. Try to ignore the dead bugs on the windshield and George's ear in the frame.

If you're an RVer, you may notice how small the shoulder is on both sides: either a sheer rock face to kiss your paint job or a dizzying drop off to keep your lane position honest. The road is challenging, but not frightening and I hope you have a chance to drive it yourself and see how truly beautiful it is.

Website Wednesday: Scenic Videos

On Wednesdays I write about websites that I visit often.

Folks have been enjoying the videos lately, so here are a few from Our Odyssey's archives. If you've been reading for a while, these will look familiar.

The picture quality varies widely on these; no, it's not your monitor. I've learned a lot about my camera and video editing software in the last two years. The video hosting site I use, blip.tv, has evolved during that time as well.

Along the Pacific Ocean: California and Washington coast

Two Baja road videos: La Paz to Cataviña and Ten Things to Do While Driving in Baja. (If you missed the videos of our Copper Canyon Piggyback Train trip in Mexico, this post has them all together.)

Changing weather through the front windscreen.

Pure tourist stuff: The San Antonio River Walk and scenes from our St. Louis Riverboat tour.

By Special Request

Reader Mike requested a 360-degree video of the view from Chisos Basin campground, and here it is:

Small Space Saturday: Roof Deck

On Saturdays I write about strategies for living in 300 square feet

One of the most obvious ways to create more space within the confines of an RV is to get outside the darn thing. RVing, after all, is about travel. In theory, that rig is traveling someplace with pleasant weather, interesting sights, proximity to nature, or all three.

Most RVers carry folding chairs to set up outside. They create outdoor living space, usually on the passenger side of the RV, with this portable furniture. We've seen setups as simple as one ratty sand chair to elaborate complete "rooms" with elegant teak chairs, dining tables, outdoor rugs, water fountains, BBQs, and even TVs.

A more typical rig-side area includes four folding chairs and a few small side tables, which allows friends old and new to stop by for a drink. We carry that combination in the bay above the tag axle for quick access. In addition, we carry a patio mat in the scooter bay to put down when the ground is dusty or sandy.

We decided to go one step further and put a deck on the roof of Odyssey. It never ceases to amaze me that more people don't use their roof as living space. Most RVs have a built in ladder on the back to access the roof. Many have substantial flat areas to put a chair or two. The view is usually better from 10 to 12 feet up, you can catch a nice breeze, and often there are fewer insects.

I know some of the concerns folks have about using their roof. After all, it is a long way to the ground! One is a lack of something to hold onto; no railings or other safety restraints. Some RV roofs are slightly angled or curved, and the surface may be slippery when wet. The access ladders can be flimsy if you are a big buffet fan. And a big unknown is whether the roof structure can support the weight of people walking around or chair legs poking into it.

Because our deck was built while the bus was being converted, we were able to address these issues up front. Dan and Jim at Infinity Coach designed and built a deck strong and safe enough for reasonable adults. As you'll see in the video, it has fold-up railings. The "floor" of the deck is actually built slightly above the roof surface of a strong, non-skid, flat material. Water drains right through it. The frame of the deck structure is bolted directly to the large steel box frame beams of the bus. And our ladder is inside the bus where the climb is only 6 feet instead of 10 to 12 feet.

Video Tour of Odyssey

Five short films, each between 3 and 5 minutes long, showing you the ins and outs of Odyssey.

Part One: Overview

Part Two: Cooking, Eating & Storage

Part Three: Environmental Controls

Part Four: Water System & Pets

Part Five: Transportation, Communication & Power

Please let us know in the comments if you have any technical problems with the videos.

Another U Turn Option

I seem to keep finding videos of Neoplans in skids. This one is from a Danish driving school. Why don't we have bus skidding schools in the US?!? I would love to learn how to turn Odyssey around this fast...

For Neoplan Junkies

I came across this video on YouTube today, and had to share it with our bus conversion friends. It is a promotional piece for the Neoplan driver training course in Germany, and shows cool stuff like swerves and off-road driving. For our motorcycle buddies, think of it as a track day for buses. Dude, even buses can power slide.

The music is, um, really bad. I won't say what it reminds me of, because this is a "G" rated blog. You won't lose much if you turn the sound down.



And from Odyssey's blooper reel, driving through the Big Puddle. I now know we were just practicing off-road and wet-road skills, all sanctioned by the manufacturer:

Scooter Dog

A little video about Opal, the Scooter Riding Wonder Dog.

Curvy Coast

A little footage of our trip up the California and Oregon coast.

A note about the video music

I just received a question about the music tracks I use for the videos. (The question came in on my blip.tv account and I can't figure out how to send a message back that way, so I'm addressing it here.)

I scour the web for royalty free samples of music to add to the videos. In the case of the latest cruise video, I used a piece called "Modern Jazz Samba," but I didn't save the original source and I can't remember who the artist is. Once I find music I like, I just add it to the video. Enough folks are watching the videos now that I need to keep better track of sources and attributions. "The Big Puddle" video has been viewed over 1300 times! I guess potential bus destruction is a popular subject.

I try to keep an open mind about what music will fit the video, rather than fixating on a particular piece. First I finish the video so I know how long the music needs to be, then I look for, say, a four-minute clip. For the cruise, I searched for "traditional south american music" and rejected about 40 clips before choosing one.

In the future, I will try to remember to put a credit for the music at the end of each video. That's fair, and many thanks to "Happytrailers" for bringing up this subject.

Edited May 18, 2008 to add:
Recently I've been using the site MP3 4U to find cool new royalty-free music. It is sorted by genre and has a section called "Jackpot Winners" that are all quite interesting. Since I try to keep the videos under 2 minutes, I don't have to like the entire song to use it. Sometimes just the introduction is enough.

One of the things I like about this site is that the owner doesn't limit himself to the English-speaking musical world. I prefer not to have the lyrics to a song conflict with my videos, so I like pure instrumentals or foreign-language tunes.

South America Cruise videos

For those of you who like these things, I've put together a video of the highlights of our recent cruise around Cape Horn. It isn't RV or bus related at all, just your run-of-the-mill vacation video.

It is twice as long as my usual videos (about 4 minutes) and so ended up being a pretty big file (about 30 MBytes). I also made a lower-resolution version which is about 15 MBytes.

Click the flower picture to see the higher resolution, slower-loading file or the penguin picture to see the grainier but faster-loading video. Or, for those MacIntosh people who have trouble with these Windows Media files, follow this link to find the Flash versions of the files.

The Big Puddle

As Sean promised in the last post, here is a short video of Odyssey plunging through a small water crossing in the Coronado National Forest. Click here or on the photo below to launch the video. (Having trouble seeing our videos? Try accessing them directly on the Blip.tv site by clicking here. The videos are available in other formats there. Apple users may want to try the Flash Video format.)



If you listen closely toward the end of the video, you can hear a metallic scraping, which is the sound of the exhaust outlet hitting the mud. We think this is the result of the bus "porpoising" as Sean hits the brakes. The wall of water completely blocked his view out the windshield and there were three cars waiting to ford the stream, so braking seemed like a good idea. Otherwise, gently coasting to a stop would have been the best plan. Here is the formerly rectangular sheet metal:



And here is one of the shattered halogen headlight bulbs. Hot light + cold water, not a good combination.

 

Corrected video link...

Another Baja driving video.