On Sunday, January 24, we loaded the rental van and headed to Charleston. I make it sound as if that were one simple step. Oh, no. In reality, we found that, unlike preparing to board 'Bout Time at the marina just a few miles from our house, leaving from a marina hundreds of miles away meant lists (and lists of lists!) and multiple inquires of each other, "Did you get the _________?" We maintained good spirits, for the most part at least, and finally decided that if we had all the new parts going on the boat, meds, electronics, and required paperwork, anything else we could do without or buy when we needed it.
Having already say good-bye to our Kentucky family, we scheduled an overnight stop with the Tennessee gang. Three months is a long time not to see each other, no matter how hard we tried to tell the kids it wouldn't be. There are very few negatives about the cruising we do, but I have to admit that missing our family is at the top of that list. Fortunately, so far it's never been more than three months between visits,whether at home or at some rendezvous point. Back when we both still had jobs and our son and his family lived on the east coast and our daughter and her family on the west, sometimes more time than that lapsed between visits. Having them all nearby means that the months we live at home provide much time together, which makes these separations far easier.
The drive the second day was an easy one, and we arrived in Charleston early enough to stop by Charleston City Boat Yard just to say hello to 'Bout Time. Although we had been over to work on her a few times since docking back in April, this felt different. Just knowing that the days were truly numbered until we would again be living aboard heightened our excitement and anticipation.
For the next fifteen days, we would do all we deemed necessary to have the boat and ourselves ready for the long and hopefully enjoyable voyage back to Kentucky Lake. Before having 'BT put back in the water, Johnny aligned the new shaft that he had installed on one of our previous visits. We also had one of the fellows at CCBY go up in a lift to install new wind instruments at the top of the mast and bring down lines that had earlier "escaped." In the past, Johnny has done this job many times himself by climbing the mast. Many of you will remember photos of those escapades. He insured himself a happy mate when he chose otherwise this time. Perhaps wisdom really does come with age, after all, he had a birthday just around the corner.
At the top of the list of "must be done" was replacing the old sails with new ones we'd had made. They were scheduled to arrive at the boatyard the day after we got to Charleston, and sure enough, right on schedule a large package with our name on it was delivered on day one. Notice that I said "a" package. In that package was one sail, not the two we'd ordered. A phone call assured us that the other sail would arrive "tomorrow." Over the next several days, I developed an abhorrence for that word from which I have yet to recover! And, to further complicate the situation, when we attempted to hoist the sail on hand (the mainsail for those of you who are interested), it did not go up as it should have. I, of course, immediately went into panic mode. You see, theses days there are few if any sailmakers in the US. As with so many goods, production is done overseas for companies located here. So in my mind we were going to be waiting for weeks to have this problem corrected. Thank goodness I was, once more, wrong. There are, indeed, two sail lofts in the Charleston area, and the company we purchased our sails from quickly arranged for one of them to make the necessary adjustment to our sail. Johnny took it to them, and in les time than it took me to enjoy a short nap, he arrived back with the modified sail.
As we waited and waited for the headsail to arrive, we completed all the other items on the lists and shopped for provisions. We did finally figure out what had happened with the other sail. It had, in fact, been shipped to Paducah, and only failed to go out to our house because the delivery code had been damaged en route and Fed Ex contacted the sail company to clarify it. Someone there caught the error and corrected it. But this was during some bad weather back in KY and TN that slowed everything down. On Monday, February 1, sail #2 arrived and we were happy sailors.
A few other delays such drenching rain and my back trouble flaring up ate up several days, but at least we got to watch the Broncos give Peyton the win we had hoped far. Though I must say we comprised a distinct minority at the pub where we watched the game. I only spotted one lady wearing a UT jersey and cheering for Peyton amid a throng of Panther fans.
A footnote: Even though we ended up staying at the dock longer than planned, we had some of the best meals imaginable; always a treat to get fresh local seafood. If you are ever in Mt. Pleasant, I highly recommend a visit to Page's Okra Grill. I'm sure we had at least four meals there!