The rather calm waters glimmer in the moonlight. Tiny laps of sparkle as little waves crest and ignite for a moment. The sun setting has already gone through its mauve to blue to black phases. The mauve phase is the longest this evening.
So we said goodbye to our boat neighbors this morning. Time to Go had already left by the time we were up and about. We had a propane challenge - the electricity was no longer getting to the on/off switch so we had to do some investigating. A fuse. Replaced it and then could have coffee and begin the day, seriously. Went to next door/boat to say goodbye to Bright Angel sailors, and to Tricia and Rob on Linda Jean. I'm confident we'll see them this summer in Maine. I really hate the goodbyes, though. We played leapfrog and stayed in radio touch w/two boats all day today. Still, goodbyes are goodbyes. Luckily, we were all leaving about the same time, though going to different destinations today and beyond.
So what makes a day a good day? Yesterday I was preparing and was in a snit. Today I was sad to be leaving friends but totally delighted to be moving on, getting back on the water, progressing, continuing. The environment was about as perfect as could be - beautiful sun, very light winds (!), deep water (!!), relatively straight and not very narrow pathways, good company, healthy cat, AND the seas did lay down. At one point the water was really BIG with just a small line of land in only one direction way far away, and the water was nearly as calm as our pond in Freeport usually is...barely a ripple...except when a power boat went by. Beautiful. The boating was so easy that David and I picked up the murder mystery Sharyl gave us for Christmas and continued where we left, reading aloud while we went along. It is good to be traveling again, in the calm.
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| laid down seas - quiet pond-like |
We'd only expected/planned to get as far as Mayo Seafood today but decided to "make hay while the sun shines", horrible metaphor for sailing, and came all the way to Belhaven, where my cousins, Pat and Kathryn picked us up last fall...and where they had spent their honeymoon many years ago. Didn't contact them this visit. We're on a mission to get back to Maine.
Interesting passing Mayo from the other direction and in broad daylight AND with all this boating experience under our belts. A very different experience that both of us commented on....mostly not nearly as intimidating today as coming upon the rickety - no just unpolished - docks, the fish factory sounds, nearly dark and pretty chilly in October and not knowing what to expect of this industrial "marina." Today, "Wow, I don't remember it being so big."
The pink women's outhouse with sunflowers is still there. I looked for it carefully to make sure. I didn't go into the marina on the way south and we didn't stop this time. However, I know I'd have been less intimidated about walking into the marina/shop/store this time than back in October. I've learned a bit about "the territory" as per The Music Man.
It was a long day on the water and patience was near worn out by the time we anchored, good day and all. Ten hours is a long travel time. We'll hope to do that much again tomorrow. Sixty to seventy statute miles is what we need in order to get through the Albemarle Sound before the wind picks up again on Wednesday. And that will help us much closer to Maine. However, we can't sustain that kind of travel over the long haul of more that 3-4 days. One of us would be likely to jump or be pushed overboard. Just kidding but it would not be very tolerable.
We did manage to get our holding tank pumped out...by us...at a diy pump out station on the city dock. Easy when we finally found the hose in a bin at the other end of the dock from the place you put your token. Pumped out, nevertheless. Anchored and dinner was ready within minutes. I'd planned ahead and our friend, Tricia, had given us some salad fixin's to go w/baked potatoes and chicken.
Our lives are rich. We are blessed.
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