The Journey so far…
Hello everyone,
I haven’t typed much since we left Parry Sound on Labour Day. Truthfully the days get taken up by repairing the boat and just trying to do everyday tasks like laundry, groceries ect… When I do get some time at anchor to type or update the site, we do not have wifi access, half the time we do not have cell access, particularly in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina, the ability to place a telephone call has been sporadic.
Thanks to Chris. there is a new VIDEO button on the top of the page, which should just link to the videos that are on YouTube, rather than me putting them individually in the list on the page, it is probably just easier to click that button.
I didn’t realize when we started this journey how alone and often remote we would be, when we meet up with other boats (including our friends on North 45), we realize that we are still alone on our boats, and often we have different cruising agendas. or what we consider acceptable cruising weather, admittedly I am willing to weather more (pun intended) to reach warmer climes earlier, currently North 45 is a few days north of us.
Sometimes we take things for granted, particularly knowing how close so many of your friends are, I think for me this has been the most difficult part of the isolation so far, knowing that Roman will not be stopping by with a Budwieser, Roy and I chatting for hours, Eli and I jousting over Wednesday night Guinness, Jeremy’s level headed friendship, laughs with Wilber, or the hugs from JP, Warren, Nyssa’s compnay at the shop and of course all the great regulars at the shop, please know I am thinking of everyone everyday. (sorry I didn’t list everyone)
Last month we lost Zina, she was a fantastic facepainter, with two very young sons, when she was diagnosed, she didn’t know what to do as a new immigrant to the country she didn’t want to disturb her husband, Dimitri at his new job, so came to the shop for hugs and I offered what little support I could give, she fought a hard battle, I learned of Zina’s passing sitting on the boat alone in Annapolis, it hit pretty hard, I am reminded of how fortunate I am to still be here and how important it is to ‘get busy living’!
Today Jill and her husband Steve, drove 3 hours each way to have lunch with us in Southport, North Carolina, it was great seeing my dive buddy, Jill, again and meeting her husband Steve for the first time, we went to restaurant called Fishy Fishy, Steve wanted to sit by the water as he doesn’t get to the coast much, Michelle and I are wanting to see land! LOL
It is 6am, it is raining, we splurged and stayed at a marine for two nights, this is when you only have to take a taxi for groceries and laundry as opposed to loading up the dinghy, finding a dinghy dock on shore then getting a taxi to the laundromat or grocery store or pharmacy or restaurant or marine store or hardware store or post office….
This marina had FREE laundry, two washers and two dryers, all were broken, but we were able to one washer to sort of work and the one dryer while squealing so loud we had to leave the room, did eventually dry our clothes, 5 hours later. 4 loads of laundry done.
Fresh water you would think wouldn’t be a problem, but it is harder to find that you would think, normally when we stop for diesel we fill up our fresh water tanks, but some of these places do not have potable water, I have yet to successfully get the Katadyne desalinator to make even a glass of water – just one more thing on the boat that needs fixing, every day something breaks. Pumpouts are cheaper here in the USA, in Canada we often pay $20-25, the US encourages cleaner water by making them $5 sometimes free, in Annapolis and New York, boats pull up to you asking if you need a pumpout, in NY it was free, in Annapolis only $5.
This trip is not what I envisioned, sailing across clear blue waters to exotic destinations, finding a stool at a beach bar and finding local foods, showing local children a magic trick, relaxing in the sun and occasionally improving something on the boat. It has been a cold, wet, often terrifying slug with very little sailing, through water the colour of coffee, 30-55 knot winds with every damn thing breaking on the boat, the exotic locations are the local Walmart or grocery store to re-provision. I know we are heading south and things will get better, but these things make me miss you guys all the more…
I will halt my ramblings for now,
Hugs….
Phil