Happy New Year from GA

Winter in the South is so much different from winter up north. Most days here I don’t even need a jacket, let alone a coat, so when we drove up to Boston to spend Christmas with family, our first stop was the storage unit for our winter coats and shoes. Here on the boat I have a pair of sandals and a pair of Birkenstocks—nothing suitable for cold weather. We drove for two days on either side of the trip, boarded the animals (we were not entirely sure Brunswick would still be standing when we boarded Caspian), and took some items off the boat to go into storage. A merry Christmas was had by all, and I had my first full week off work in about three years. It was incredibly relaxing, and so needed.

Oh heck yeah we needed those coats. At a winter market in Boston where we had a long conversation with a very excited Dutch woman who lived in Dallas and was inspired to put her skipper’s license to use after talking with us.

So, despite the long drive, we both noted that it felt nice to be coming back to our boat. While we were gone, the yard mechanic finished refitting the exhaust to the motor, and a captain we trust moved our boat into a different slip. It’s now north facing instead of south, which means that we can more easily pull in and out of our slip, giving us the flexibility to do some day sails. So now we’re ready to go! Mostly! We are actually fully equipped for day sails or some close coastal sailing and are making some plans to take a week or some weekend trips. At the same time, there is still work to be done as Kevin is still installing some electronics and I am still working on the canvas.

On that, as of today I finished the bimini top with Kevin’s help, as he installed the 100+ grommets so we can lace it to the frame. It’s raining today and for the rest of forever, making it tough to take the old one off and lace the new one one, but it’s also the time we need it the most because the old one dumps water into the cockpit at regular intervals. (This is not a failure, but rather we just attached it with a few zip ties when I took it off for measurements.) I have two of ten panels, and have made every possible mistake. (The first panel is on version 3.) I think it will go faster now because I’ve now done the things that scared me most, at least once, and I’ve made those mistakes so I won’t make them again. I have learned about the materials and the machine, and I have a much better idea of what I’m doing.

Why yes, one panel is two inches shorter than its adjacent panel. Think anyone will notice? (Now fixed.)

Caspian’s new favorite spot is in front of the heating vent. It’s a bit of a squeeze.

But apart from boat stuff, I continue to marvel at this life and how different it is from any other phase of my life. I am still not sure how things worked out this way, but we continue to make and deepen friendships and form community. Today at the canvas shop, I worked at the sewing machine while Kevin was punching grommets, and the owner’s son was practicing with a new mandolin. He and Kevin talked for a bit about instruments and Kevin tried out the mandolin. This sweet young man asked us to wait a minute and ran out to get another mandolin that he gave to Kevin for an indefinite loan along with the offer to play together sometime. We saw friends Wednesday night, Thursday, and Friday night, and will see friends tomorrow night and Tuesday night. I have so many dog friends here at the marina, and rate my walks along the docks by how many dogs I see. (A good walk is 5+ dogs.) Our boat neighbor is a quiet man who has two cats, one of whom, Buddy, likes to visit our boat.

New Years Day saw us having lunch with new friends—black eyed peas, collard greens, shrimp, lobster, and pound cake. Blissful. Peaceful.

New Years Eve we had the unique pleasure of going to the shrimp drop, which is the local version of the ball drop, except that it’s an LED outline of a shrimp, lowered jerkily to the ground by a fireman from a ladder truck, at 8 PM (but with a countdown and everything.) Everything about it was just a little off kilter, which was so delightful.

Wesley the fireman relished his shrimp drop duties.

New Years Eve ended with us at a local bar, and Kevin demolishing all comers at the pool table. We also ran into so many people we know from the neighborhood.