A Part of Cruising One Seldom Read About

We're back in Virginia at the marina where all this traveling began last fall. We must now make changes to our supplies based on our plan to sail up to Maine next month. Since we have a storage unit here, we can easily swap out those items that worked for our travel south for other things that will aid us heading north from here. Our bikes come off. We used them extensively in the Keys, but we don't expect them to be as useful, given our plans up north this year. We will put our kayaks back on the deck. We didn't take them south, but we missed them. We know they will be useful in NE. To save space, we only took the charts and guides we'd need as we traveled south. So now we must swap them for the northern set. Finally, we must change some our clothes for those we are more likely to need during our time in Maine. It seems a bit odd to need more cool weather clothing for Maine in the summer than we do in Florida during the winter months.

Beyond provisioning, we take time to visit with our older daughter who lives nearby, an important reason for continuing to use this as our home port. And we make sure all the boat systems and parts are working well. Our bimini front panel needs replacing and two other panels need repair. We're getting these items taken care of while we're here.

We currently have two important issues to address with the boat: re-seating the rudder bearing and figuring out why the engine oil drip and crankcase pressure issues haven't been resolved as a result of earlier work. The rudder fix will require us to haul the boat, so we can drop the rudder out to re-seat the bearing. We'll clean up the boat's hull of barnacles and such while it's out. Depending on the source of the engine problem, that too may require work while the boat is out of the water – perhaps as much as an engine overhaul - $$$ - yuck!! The anxiety of this sort of problem is part of the price we pay as we wish to continue this adventure. Of course these issues also make picking a departure date somewhat more difficult. But we will persist and continue to aim for a mid-June departure.

Since our daughters lives nearby, we take advantage and stay with her while the boat is out of the water. This will give us some time to review with her our possible routes for heading to Maine, since she will join us for the trip up there.

Then there are the other, non-boat issues to address while we are here. These include annual car registration and inspection, deciding whether we get our eyes checked and schedule physicals now or wait till we return in the fall. We're also near our medical insurance agent and our bank. Are there reasons to visit either while we're here or can we continue to deal with them from a distance? These and other questions must be thought through carefully, since unlike most people, we spend so little time in our home port.

While we must address all this in an organized fashion, we will also take advantage of the access to our car and drive to MA and NH for a brief visit with the rest of our family. I'm not sure how we ever had time to work.

Captain Bob

Carpe Diem