ssloop: Grace Harbor/Tropical Storm Ana

For the last week we have stayed at River Dunes Marina near Oriental, NC. The storm off the Bahamas did turn into named Tropical Storm Ana. We are very happy we are at this marina as it's the only "hurricane hole marina" in North Carolina. Although the marina is in the middle of nowhere, it is one of the nicest facilities we have stayed at. The lodge and restaurant are top notch. They also have a very nice pool and two hot tubs.

While waiting for the storm to arrive, we rented a car with our friends Dave & Michelle on Just Us. The four of us left early on Friday morning and drove 3 1/2 hours to visit the Outer Banks. We went up to Corolla where we went on an off road Segway tour. We climbed into four-wheel drive truck that drove us 12 miles up the beach (literally on the beach) to a remote area of the island on a wild horse preserve. We spent 4 hours on trails in forests and on sand dunes, laughing and flying around. What a blast! We spent the night in Kill Devil Hills at an oceanfront hotel. The next morning we drove south on the Outer Banks as far as Cape Hatteras. It was a beautiful dune lined road where often times you could see water on both sides. Here we stopped by the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum. Cape Hatteras and this stretch of shore is home to more than 600 ship wrecks. We are glad we came by car instead of by boat! It was a great 2 day trip to see another beautiful part of the U.S. we have not seen before.

Tropical Storm Ana finally came through our area Sunday and Monday. We had heavy rains and strong winds on and off both days. The rains never lasted too long, so both afternoons the loopers were able to gather by the marina pool and hot tub to discuss the weather and travel plans.

Monday we celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary! We had a yummy dinner at the Marina where they surprised us with a chocolate anniversary dessert. The captain was thrilled!

Tuesday morning 6-8 Lopper boats moved on. We chose to stay one more day. We spent the day getting many projects done around the boat. We plan to head out early Wednesday morning as the winds are predicted to weaken as this will pace us to cross the Albemarle Sound with good weather on Friday.

River Dunes Marina