Good days and bad days

Yesterday was a really bad day....after waiting out the gale winds in Morehead, North Carolina we were looking forward to moving again. Wanting to get fuel before getting underway we headed for the local fuel dock at slack water.  Unfortunately the cross current and winds pushed us into the corner of the fuel dock and we were unable to recover from that so it put a nasty scratch on the side of the boat. We absolutely felt sick to our stomachs. All day we had this cloud over our heads. Didn’t help that it was still  pretty cold and rainy all day and we hadn’t seen much of the sun in the last week.
So after anchoring for the night, we discussed the day.....would have, could have, should have can sometimes be helpful to avoid making the same mistakes. We had a long conversation about all the ups and downs that we’re experiencing. On a boat you can’t live the same way as on land with unlimited drinking water, electricity, heat, fuel, grocery store etc. The laundromat in itself is an experience....we’ll leave it at that for now. To be continued. After our discussion we do agree that we are totally committed to this adventure.
On a lighter note, today with all the chatter on the VHF, we were listening to the different boats names. Some are pretty hilarious, some ordinary, and some very original. When you call someone on the radio, the protocol is to repeat the vessel’s name 3 times, so here are a few names that we decided we’d like for our next boat if ever there was another: RingRing: Ding Dong: Cup a Tea: Scooby Doo to name a few lol.
So today after a good nights sleep, we feel better. Watched dolphins swimming next to the boat, the sun made a brief appearance, made good miles, good holding on the anchor and now enjoying a beer in the cockpit while looking at the sunset.
And we will repair the scratch very soon.



Good night
Mike and Pierrette

Comments

  1. MarieNovember 20, 2019 at 4:07 PM

    Sorry to hear about about the scratch on your boat but I'm glad apart from that all is well. Great pics as usual .

    ReplyDelete
  2. Marie LaurinNovember 21, 2019 at 7:20 AM

    Tellement désolée pour vous ,la première grafigne fait toujours mal après on s’habitue. Hihi!!. C’est l’expérience qui rentre . Je vous souhaite de la chaleur pour bientôt.xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Derrer FamilyNovember 22, 2019 at 6:26 PM

    Oh man!!! That is so awful and must have been scary when it happened. So glad you were not hurt and that your boat still floats.... Jeesh. Happy to read that things are looking better. Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  4. Derrer FamilyNovember 22, 2019 at 6:28 PM

    Jürgen and I were just thinking a funny name might be "Ben-Dover II"

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Heading north

Image
  Sorry for taking so long in posting this blog….been procrastinating a little. Heading North We had a perfect window to start our journey north the day after New Year’s. Winds 15 knots south-east , seas 2 to 4 feet high….wine and cheese sailing as some would say. Left Bequia at noon for an overnight sail. We usually try to avoid them but having debated different routes, we felt  it would be better to do an 18 to 22 hour passage instead of stopping in St Vincent where the anchorage is not the best or St Lucia that has a bad reputation for being boarded by robbers/pirates. We had a great sail from Bequia to St Vincent, doing 6 knots or more, then got in the lee of the big island. Winds died down, sails fluttering all over…time to motor sail. As we reached the bottom of St Lucia island, night had fallen, pitch black, couldn’t see anything so we didn’t see the big squall on the horizon. We only had the mainsail on and we were just about to put on the Genoa when the squall hit us....
Read more

Mona passage and Luperon

Image
  The last few islands  It’s always nice to see new things, experience different vibes that are particular to each island, new culinary delights and new discoveries but it is also great to return to old favorites. We had enjoyed Puerto Rico 2 years go and it was nice to return. It is a US territory and with its Spanish culture, it’s lovely. Returning to known areas also gives us a small break. We know where the trash bins are, ATM machines, where we can replenish our water supply, groceries, laundry and restaurants. It might seem mundane to most but looking for these places at every anchorage can become tedious sometimes. Puerto Rico was also great because our friend Anita was able to join Kurt and us for the last leg of the journey, but it was also nerve racking because we had to cross the Mona passage AGAIN. Mike watched the weather like a hawk, check the wind speed and its direction, the height of the seas and the swells for days. Read all the navigation books about when to...
Read more

Goodbye French Islands

Image
As we head north  We’ve finally said goodbye to the last of the French islands. We will miss the baguettes, Brie and of course the cheap red wines. We did stock up heavily on the last item so it should last us for a few more islands 😆  A great surprise was getting a text from my cousin who lives in Trois Rivières to say that she was in Guadeloupe for a short vacation. As it so happened, we had just arrived the day before to the island. We got to spend just an hour or so together short but nice visit. It’s not easy to plan to have family and friends to join us somewhere. Often we have to wait for weather windows that can take a day or 2 weeks. So it makes it not impossible but difficult if they are on a planned vacation to meet in a specific area. We’ve been revisiting some of the islands that we had seen on our way down. When we were here during the Covid  many places were  closed, so now we can appreciate the hustle and bustle of these islands.  On the last bl...
Read more