From Tom:
After a wonderful Christmas with Mike, Laura, and Charlotte in Boston, we borrowed their car for a quick (24-hr) trip back to Camden. We raced from place to place, getting Jane’s hearing aids fixed, getting a 7/8” deep socket so I could rebuild the aft head (toilet) on Bravo. We made a quick stop at our local grocery store, which turned into a 30-minute stop as we met five friends who were very surprised to see us! A fine dinner with good friends and former shipmates, Galen and Sue Todd, was followed by a wonderful night’s rest in our own bed, the furnace having warmed the second floor to a comfortable temperature during dinner.

The cold, however, did penetrate Mike and Laura’s car, which would not start the next morning. A call to AAA and my simultaneous attachment of a battery charger got it started 30 seconds before AAA showed up!

We raced to Boston and made it to Jane’s appointment at MGH—with minutes to spare—for some investigation of her chronic headaches. The doctor was very nice but couldn’t commence any treatment plan with our departure scheduled for 6 am the next day...so we made a quick decision that I would return to Antigua and Jane would stay on in Boston to follow the treatment regimen. It also gave her two extra weeks with granddaughter Charlotte...methinks that’s icing on the cake!

I made it back to Bravo after an 0345 hr start to my day and found everything in good shape. I took an extra day to reprovision, retrieve the outboard from the service shop (recommendation: buy a new one), pay the diver who cleaned the bottom, and generally make the boat ready to go to sea again. The next morning, early, I contacted the dockmaster to get the meters read for water and electrical consumption. While he was there and the wind was still minimal, he helped me handline Bravo from her complex five-dockline slip mooring to an adjacent side-to berth from which I could depart singlehanded.

I had planned to go to nearby Five Islands to anchor for a few days. The swimming is good and there’s slow WiFi from the nearby Hermitage Resort, but I changed my mind as there can be a north swell there that can make the anchorage uncomfortable if not untenable. So I turned left instead of right and went to Falmouth, thinking I’d pick up a mooring and have good access to provisions and all other services...and not be exposed to swells.

Upon arrival it was quickly evident that all the moorings were taken, so I would have to anchor—singlehanded. The anchorage was very crowded, so finding a good spot was not easy. My first set held nicely, but I wasn’t happy with my proximity to another boat, so I raised anchor successfully and motored to a different spot that the chart plotter showed as 7 feet deep. Bravo needs 6’ 2” of depth to float, so I gingerly circled VERY slowly in the area that I thought might work. Well sir, the depth was actually 10 to 12 feet—good enough. The anchor again set first time and I was safe and secure.

An added bonus was a usable WiFi signal from the nearby marina!

I stayed at anchor in this spot for 11 nights, most of which were very windy, with 30 knot gusts in the squalls, but the anchor never budged, though the snubber line made plenty of noise most nights.

I kept busy with email correspondence, presentation planning (May 27 we’re participating in a day-long seminar on Safe Cruising for Couples), a never-ending string of boat maintenance victories, swimming, reading news and books, plus regular jaunts ashore for provisions and other necessities.

You might assume that it would be lonely all alone and I did miss Jane—but there is a real community of sailors everywhere we go. Some of the associations are club related, some are geographical and others were new introductions. I lost count of the number of social events that I attended in the evening, but there was one stretch of six consecutive evening engagements with very interesting and fun people. A pretty intense social experience for a shy hermit-like fellow.

Today, Jan. 10, I woke up to the sound of a gentle breeze after a week of very windy weather. I knew I wanted to move to Jolly Harbor, which is much closer to the airport for Jane’s arrival this afternoon, and it would also give me a chance to run the engine at full cruising rpms after minimal use for over a week. I was able to raise the anchor alone, not hit anyone in the process, and make my way here, where I was able to pick up a mooring.

I will be sitting in a waterfront restaurant at five pm tonight waiting for my lovely bride to walk in and give me a well-deserved hug!