LAT: N 35° 01.7'
LON: W 76° 42.2'
SLOW TIMES hot and muggy
always a chance for thunderstorms
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Missing Parents Return to Slowly


Slowly For Sale

It's hard to say goodbye, but we know she will give a new owner a place to live or cruise, pride and projects!
Click here to see more recent photographs and specs of Slowly.

Arggg... Aye love me Slowly apron.


Are you a slow cruiser? A smooth mover? A lover of deliberate living? Well have we got the store for you! Come on down to Shop Slowly and try on some of the hot and spunky new fashions. We've got great garb.
click here

The initial inspection takes place.

Paying the Piper, Facing the Music.


Big Transitions Make For a Bumpy Ride.


We had been anticipating our return to Slowly since we left her in December 2004. While we were in Montana, turning our backs but not our hearts on the ocean, we wondered how she had fared while we were away. On July 11th we finally brought parents and abandoned child together to hash it out. Her swim platform had gotten bumped up a bit in a storm or two but Slowly had been well protected at Blackwell Point Marina. What we had failed to realize was how well mildew thrives in the south. With the help of Tim's wonderful parents we gave Slowly a bleach bath and she quickly began to look like her old self.

Next was inspecting Slowly to see what needed to be done. We weren't sure about our plans and seeing the boat only made the decision making more difficult. Originally we were planning on taking it up the Hudson and down the Erie to Ithaca, where we will be moving this fall (actually in less than a month!). Hannah is starting grad school and we were going to keep the boat there though we wouldn't be able to live aboard because we will need more space and the lake (Cayuga Lake) freezes over in the winter. The cost of keeping her while one of us is in school and not being able to live on her or use her often, made us realize we need to hand her off to someone with more time and money to spare. We knew we were going to put her on the market, we just weren't sure when or where or how much work she was going to need to sell her.

Of course having only an allotted amount of time to make a decision and gets things does not create productivity but instead confusion. Our plans changed every half day. We started doing a bunch of projects at once and put Slowly up for sale. We decided we would keep working on her and also move her north for the sake of putting her in a good position to be sold and also to cruise on her once again.

It was nice to be in Oriental, where it is easy to make friends and easy to relax at the end of the day. Though it was hot and humid, we knew the weather wasn't going to be much better anywhere north either so we took some time and stayed a few days to get more done. We changed out the batteries for the port engine and everything ran well during her sea trial. The exterior brightwork was sanded down to get rid of any old varnish and any rotted wood on the cabin sides was found. We had begun the make-over process. It is overwhelming, especially with our present time restriction and we hope that some lucky person (maybe you!) will buy the boat soon and be able to continue the adventures we have started.

Slowly has been our pride and joy and a wonderful companion. We've had many dreams of chartering Slowly, making her a show boat, and running her on bio-diesel. She is a capable boat, fit for dreamers. We hope that someone will be able to satisfy a dream with Slowly and that one day we will have another boat to cruise the New York waterways. (We actually heard, after we decided not to go, that at least one of the locks on the Erie Canal has been damaged by all the flooding and that it is closed for at least another 8 weeks. So there ya go.)

Fun Facts!

Oriental, NC is a quiet town with many more boats than it has people. The population in 2000 was 875. It is near a couple of well known sailing camps: Seagull and Seafarer. It is also close to Moorehead City and the beaches there which we had the pleasure of visiting with our friends Sean and Esther. The water temperature and waves were perfect and it was exactly what we needed after being on the water but not in it all week. It does help to have a car to get anywhere outside of the small town but we did bike to an establishment in Oriental we hadn't been to yet: The Southern Palace, which includes the Hardtail Saloon. It has a beautiful design combining two small silos with a wood entryway. It also has great BBQ wings.

Animal of the Day

Common Mildew, of the genus Aspergillus, is a familiar beast to us all. It is a swift and experienced foe, one that thrives in the still, humid habitat often found on an old wooden boat. A well-known problem, it is met with a well-known rememdy: bleach. (Preferably outdoor bleach as it claims to break down in salt water.) So get out your rubber gloves and scrubby duds and make sure to be on top of any mildew sightings. If possible, do not leave it alone in it's favorite environment for 18 months while you are in Montana.

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