In my ever-so-humble opinion, sailboats belong in the water. A sailboat is beautiful floating at a mooring and graceful as it pushes through the water to myriad exciting destinations. Out of the water, it is a different story altogether. A sailboat is ungainly when placed on land. Perched precariously on a thin keel, with the mast looming unnaturally high, the bulky body seems always to threaten to tip to the side and crack open like Humpty Dumpty.

It was seven months ago when we found our Southern Cross in a boatyard in Annapolis. She was on the hard when we found her, and our first experience was climbing aboard via a tall ladder. The process of purchasing this well found vessel was, in part, a rescue operation. We took great pride and satisfaction in being responsible for putting this fine craft back into the water.

Here we are seven months later, climbing aboard by ladder, once again. This Saturday, as we walked along her decks and through the cabin, something felt odd. Prudence is a relatively large and heavy boat (especially compared with our first boat, Ashiya), so she is not prone to a lot of motion in response to our own movement about the boat in the slip or at anchor. This experience of being on the hard, though, made us appreciate the ever-so-subtle responses to motion which do exist in our floating home. It is almost like an intimate sort of dance we do with Prudence. The solid, unmoving nature of a boat on land is almost surreal. And to me, at least, it is a very unwelcome sensation. Like a cold shoulder from a loved one.

In addition, I have what I am certain is a totally unwarranted fear of the boat falling over. I just can't help, though, thinking that my body weight on the wrong spot will send the boat out of balance, tipping a jackstand to result in dire consequences. Consequences that All the King's Horses and All the King's Men would not be able to help me deal with.

While we are waiting for the boatyard to commence work on Prudence's underside, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weekend weather to do some work above the waterline. We started with a good scrub of the decks and topsides. Then Sheryl and I went to work: Sheryl on the decks and me on the topsides. Several weeks ago we read an article in Good Old Boat about the virtues of applying Penetrol to seal the fiberglass on the deck and prevent it from becoming chalky. It is supposed to act like Thompson's Waterseal does on one's backyard deck. Sheryl applied a thin coat to all of the foredeck and was pleased with the results. Meanwhile, I applied a coat of wax to the topsides. I had last done this from the water (in a borrowed dinghy) back in November. I can say that it is a much easier process from a ladder than from a dinghy. At least there is one virtue to being on the hard. In fact, the resulting smooth and shiny green hull is definitely worth the effort, regardless of the vehicle from which I must work.

After a good day of boatwork in Bridgeton, we drove over the bridge to New Bern to grab a shower at our new marina. As chance would have it, the Raleigh Sail and Power Squadron (RSPS) was having a cruising gathering across the water at the Sheraton marina. Once we were clean enough to be presentable, we walked over to say hello to Stefan and Marita and found ourselves swept up into the RSPS social festivities. It was good to see some people I knew from taking RSPS classes and to meet a few new folks. When they all were ready to head into town for dinner, we took it as our cue to head back to the boatyard. As I have mentioned previously in this blog, dining out is not aligned with our saving mentality. The cruising kitty comes first.

Back on the boat, we had a nice, inexpensive dinner with a few glasses of wine. As the sun set below the horizon, we climbed into the v-berth to spend a motion-free night's sleep suspended 6-feet off of the ground.

After breakfast on Sunday, we took our leave of Prudence, hopeful that the next time we see her, she will be in a sling and ready to be splashed back in to the water, where she belongs. We drove out to Whortonsville, in order to return a few borrowed items to Joey & Dorothy and to deliver a rug which Sheryl had woven for them. Dawn Treader and crew are preparing for a six-week cruise up to and around the Chesapeake Bay, so we enjoyed sharing what experience we had from our journey down last fall with them under a beautiful sunny sky.

Also around the docks were Richard & Francis, checking to see that their engine would, indeed, still start after several months of rest. Lane & Judy returned from a night at South River aboard Southern Star. They indicated that there had been good sailing in both directions. It was surprising that more people were not out enjoying what could best be described as a perfect weather weekend.

For us, though, the weekend was drawing to a close. It was time to head back to our apartment and consider what needs to be done over the next five weeks. For in that time period, we must complete the process of scaling down so that everything we own will fit aboard the boat. Check back frequently as the move to the 'liveaboard (and workaboard) phase' draws nearer.

Until then, dear Reader, a few photos of this weekend's activities: CLICK HERE