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Wednesday, April 21, 2004 |
Today was probably one of the most fun days I've had in a while. I woke up kinda late (9ish) but it was a pretty cloudy day anyway,  so I hadn't missed much. Patti was splicing a thimble on the anchor line for their dinghy and Mark was putting oil in the new motor.
After all that was done, we were able to splash the boat and begin the break-in period for the motor. Since Mark still had a few hours left of work buffing his hull, it was our job to take the dinghy out and play around. I think that Patti really just wanted me along in case she had any major problems driving, because apparently the last time she drove a dinghy (which was also the first time) she had a few problems and essentially hit every boat in the anchorage but her own. Whatever the reason, she, Swab, and I rode up to Robert's Bayou so that she could practice docking without a bunch of boats and people around. She did wonderfully, and we headed over to Pirate's Cove for lunch. During lunch, we noticed that the wind had picked up from the South (the direction we needed to go), so we figured we were in for quite a treat on the way back. We figured right. We all (Swab included) got absolutely drenched because of the waves splashing all around and hitting the sides of the boat. It took us 20 minutes just to get back across the channel. It was a heck of a ride, but a blast the whole time. So, we got back to the marina to rest up for a minute and then went right back out. This time, we headed across the wind down to Ingram's 
Bayou. Ingram's is a neat cove that a lot of people from around here use as a hurricane hole. (If there's a hurricane predicted for the area, everybody goes to their favorite hurricane hole and anchors really well or ties to trees, etc...in hopes that their boat will survive the storm.) I've been in Ingram's a few times in my boat, but because I can't really get in very
shallow water, I've never had the chance to explore the area very well. We took the dinghy back and explored for a while...it was really really beautiful and it looked like very few people ever go back there. We saw a huge Osprey nest, and the inhabitants were not happy that we disturbed them! On the way back out into the channel to head home we caught back up with the wind and the waves, and the drenching began again. At one point, I thought we were going to lose Swab...he looked like he was about ready to do anything in his power to get off the boat and find land. Just when we were at the height of our drenching,
Captain Philip and his mate Claire passed by in one of the Cold Mil's dolphin boats, and the whole boatload of people watched us and laughed, but I'll tell you...it's been a long time since I've had quite so much fun. Ok, so something that I don't think I've mentioned lately...the reason Mark & Patti are so busy getting motors and buffing hulls and all is because they are getting ready to leave for a few months. They're going to sail out probably next Monday or Tuesday. They're immediate goal I think is Florida's west coast and the Keys, but they may head up the east coast some before it's over. They're planning on being back here at Bear Point in June or July for hurricane season. This cruise is mainly a shakedown cruise for their trip to Mexico next year. It'll certainly be different here without them and I'll miss 'em a good bit, but I'm going to kinda have to get used to it. In the cruising world, that's the nature of most friendships...you make friends with people very quickly, and then you're inevitably saying goodbye before you know it. Something that's cool though is that there's always a very very good chance that your paths will cross again in another town or anchorage. I'm certain that I'll meet back up with Mark & Patti, and it'll probably be in the Keys. You never know what surprise may be waiting for you around the next bend. |
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