You only have to spend a short time talking with Randy Mims to know that he has the soul of a true sailor. Randy not only built his 27ft gaff-rigged cutter, Ideath, but each year he single-hands the cutter from North Carolina to the Northern Gulf Coast and back again. “Ideath” is pronounced Idea-th and loosely translates as “house of ideas”. Randy stops along the way to visit maritime museums and, indulging his passion for music, he volunteers to sing in church choirs along the way. He also takes time to share his travels with his friends and has agreed to allow SSECN to post his emails. For more photos and more on Randy, go to http://towndock.net/shippingnews/ideath?pg=1 from TownDock.net in Oriental. See previous installment:/155116 .

Dear Friends,
Just a quick update to let you know that this morning the Travellift came and put “IDEATH” back in the water or “Splashed her” in boat yard jargon. It felt great to have her moving again. The engine cranked right up and I took her out into the Neuse River. It was so wonderful just to be on the water. I anchored and did some maintenance things that I dared not do while the boat was being held up by jack stands. After waxing the Mast and lubricating the gaff and boom, I hauled up the anchor and spread her wings. With plan sail set and drawing, she fairly danced to windward down the river. The wind was perfect for fine tuning all the rigging and sails. After a couple of hours the wind died away and I put the engine through it’s paces on the way back to the marina. All the new parts performed beautifully. There were no leaks at any of the hose connections and with the new engine mounts and cutlass bearing on the propeller shaft, the worrysome vibration that had developed was completely gone. She even went faster at her normal cruising RPM. Nothing like a clean bottom. I will be doing more testing over the next several days but all indications are that the repairs and upgrades to the boat are a complete success. I plan to go to Greensboro for my Fathers birthday and then take the van back to Apalachicola. I am not looking forward to the bus ride back to the boat, but I can’t wait to be voyaging again in the newly restored “IDEATH”.
I hope you have a great spring, the flowers here are amazing. I am sure there will be exciting things to write about on the voyage back to Florida.
Love and Peace to you all,
Randy