Prepped again

Last night was stressful for us because we realized Cupcake was docked with her stern towards the south and the south is the direction we expect the wind and waves to come from when tropical storm Michael hits this part of the world. Generally speaking, we don’t love docking Cupcake…sailboats don’t do their best work in close quarters. They especially don’t handle well in reverse. Throw in some stiff breeze and current and you have a tough situation for any skipper.

So I tossed and turned trying to figure what to do to get the boat turned around properly. At first we thought we would back her out of this slip and move her to another slip. But that would require backing out and another backing in. We wanted to wait until slack tide so we at least wouldn’t have the current to contend with, but by the time slack arrived, the wind was even stronger.

Finally we gave up on the idea to move the boat and accepted our lot in life. Within 30 minutes of reaching that decision, the wind died and we decided to spin the boat 180 degrees and put her back into the same slip. All this maneuvering was accomplished with the help of neighbors tugging on lines and with Moss running the engine. She was aboard and would put the boat in reverse or forward as needed while all the rest of us line-handlers wrangled the boat and pulled her back into the slip properly oriented. It was a stressful 10 minutes, but the job was accomplished with no drama thanks to Moss and her steady hand on the helm.

Ellen was no help at all. Not one bit. But that’s because this morning when we were stripping the solar panels and sun canvas (again) she fell HARD down the companionway steps. Lots of pain, and we are hoping it’s just a nasty bruise not a cracked rib. Right now she is consoling herself with an ice pack and a box of goldfish crackers. Bourbon is on the way.

Now we are once again stripped of canvas (not the sails this time) and ready for the winds. Fortunately it appears the brunt of the storm has tracked inland and whatever we will get should arrive tomorrow during daylight…much easier to take I think.

In the meantime, Moss and I went for another nice swim, then did laundry at the marina machines. We even had laundry school while waiting for the clothes to get clean and dry. A pretty productive day.

On the way to Charleston we saw a flock of flamingos roosting on a low sand bar. Lousy picture, but FLAMINGOS!

Moss says, “enough with the storm prep, let’s get to the schooling!” Also, look at that filthy boat. The yellow smear on the transom is ICW staining.

We’ve been seeing much more Spanish moss lately. This is the South.