Boat hits bottom…
Actually, it’s more like it touches bottom.
Latest new from our fearless solo sailor…
Hello Friends,
Right off the bat, I want to thank James Brown. James has been following the emails and called me up the other day to say “Just go check into a hotel somewhere, you need your rest before you go”. He then called the hotel and got a preferred rate and chatted with the Hampton Inn’s General Manager, Israell?????. It makes a huge difference having a bed to go home to at night. I met Israel this morning and he was extremely gracious, offering to take care of any of my needs. I’m so grateful to both Israel and the staff at the hotel who are putting up with my flaky sailor ways.
Got the boat in the water first thing this morning, just after high tide. A little sketchy as the water wasn’t really that deep where the forklift was to drop us in the water. I quickly moved the boat out of the mud an into a better slip. It’s low tide now and I am really close to touching bottom. I am really looking forward to the water coming up a little, I’ll feel a bit more relaxed then.
The weather outlook is changing a bit. Right now the GFS model shows that Sunday will be the better day to depart, but I will have to talk with Chris Parker tonight and see what he thinks. The dock talk on the Gulfstream ranges from downright scary to “awe it’s not that bad.”. I can’t help but be really nervous about the first sixty miles of sailing. One thing sailors are really good at is telling scary stories and everyone seems to want to tell me those stories right now…
Broken gear
Had the usual last minute things go wrong. I stepped on the mast head wand in cabin today and broke off all of the cups. This is the instrument that goes at the top of the mast and gives us wind direction and and speed. A pretty vital piece of gear. So I spent a bunch of time mixing epoxy and trying to get it all glued back together. Still working on that one. I also have to drop a new halyard now that the boat is back in the water. Hopefully I can combine all this into one trip up the mast.
I also got the new logos on the boat for the Limestone Learning Foundation LLF this morning. This is the charitable arm of the Limestone School Board, and I am very please with how they look. I haven’t had a chance to talk much about the LLF. The work that the foundation does to support learning opportunities for kids dovetails beautifully with the Boys and Girls Club and I am just so happy to be able to support and encourage kids in any way I can. Thanks to Kathy Crothers-Leverrette who has been so enthusiast in getting this communitty partnership going. /i’m looking forward to sharing these experiences with the folks at the LLF.
Thinking of the kids
I’ve been thinking a lot about the Boys and Girls Club and the LIT group while I am down here. Besides the nice weather there is something for almost everyone. I was thinking today about Liam would really dig all of the history down here. We don’t learn enough American history in Canada, and I bet he would like to see the mix of old and new down here. I was also thinking of Caitlan who would just love Cocoanut Grove. There is a restaurant here that has an artists loft on the second floor where the artists work and can sell there work right there in the restaurant. (Maybe a business idea for Kingston…)
I was also reminded of Rookie by one of the fork lift operators, Tony. He’s a little guy with a lot of spunk who is constantly giving orders to the rest of the crew. It’s a lively bunch that run the marina and Tony sees to make sure that everything is running smoothly. A great reminder that you can work hard and still have fun. I love hanging out in boat yards as they are almost always an eclectic group of cultures and languages, and you are just as likely to hear someone cursing in Spanish as you are English or french.
So we are getting very close to the off. I’m a bit nervous about everything but feeling pretty good about the boat and the preparation for the trip. The last minute frustrations are always there, but they always will be. You just have to deal with things as they come and hope that your luck will hold out. I still have my fingers crossed…
NB
