Getting behind
27 August 2012
I have been greatly distracted these past couple of weeks as Dan's impending departure to school has weighed heavily on all of us. That and this breathing thing.
Anyway, in order to destress, last Saturday (August 18th) , Patti insisted (and I agreed) that I needed to get to the boat. It had been almost a month (in the middle of the summer!) since I had been on Hukilau. I wasn't sure I was going to go out for a sail; Patti didn't want me to get out of breath jumping up and down to raise and furl sail, and I was frankly a little worried about being out there alone. However, the day was beautiful, and I decided to take a sail. Winds were pretty good, and so I decided just to unfurl the Genny. I sailed out to the reef and back on a gorgeous day, then sat at the dock for an hour and read my book. All in all, a very few hours. Noted (but not acted upon): gas was low, and the batteries for the GPS were failing.
Dan went to Turtle Camp on Monday (took the train down by himself), with the plan for us to meet him in College Park on move in day on Saturday. We drove down on Friday, hoping to leave early enough to miss rush hour traffic down, and weekenders in the afternoon. Google maps and our GPS said it was a five hour drive. Turns out it took us seven hours to drive to our hotel in Greenbelt. We met Dan on Saturday morning at 8:30, and moved him in. That process was relatively painless. We then had lunch with Dan before leaving at 2:30. We were so busy moving, unpacking, and generally putting his room in order that we didn't cry when we left him at 2:30 for the ride home. Both very sad, very wistful and very exciting. I think the reality that his childhood is over and nothing will ever be the same is just starting to hit me.
Yesterday, Sunday August 26, Patti and I were ready to destress again, so we packed a lunch and got on the boat. I had forgotten to get gas, so we stopped at Richlin and bought some oil. We stopped at the fuel dock on the way out and purchased 1.25 gallons ($5.50). When leaving the dock, the stern line got wrapped around the prop. Fortunately, we were still close to the dock, so we retied up, and the dock attendant unwrapped the line pretty easily. A little excitement before sailing. Patti didn't want to heel, so we just unfurled the Genny and sailed out past the Cow and Calf, then into the Sound for a couple of miles. We had lunch while we sailed. The weather was gorgeous, although Patti thought the seas were choppy (but they really weren't). We turned east, then curved our way back to the harbor after sailing for about an hour and half. We picked up a mooring and hung out for about an hour, then off to Linden Shores to see my (former) Aunt Fern for the first time in about 35 years. Dave, Jill and Caleb were there too. Then back to home to see Lily.