Kaimusailing

The gloomy weather was broken now and then by a day with some sunshine. It is chilly in the mornings and it has rained quite a bit. On a good afternoon I could get my shopping done or go to the Legion for supper. Now I appreciate a ride more than before, as night falls, the thermometer does also, the ride back on a bicycle can be a cold affair. Eve took me to the Legion after I offered to treat her. I think she had a burger and I had the flounder club sandwich. It was good, but across from me was the best cook in town. Let's have chili tomorrow at my place, she said, and so we did.
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My chili spicing is different, I'm looking for more of a mole sauce flavor, Eve likes to spice it up, but this time she toned it down for the other lady artists, some who don't like spicy food. It had a multitude of flavors. I ate 2 or 3 mugfuls while the trick or treaters came to the front door. I got a good look at the costumes while sitting safely in the art studio porch. I could take a break and get more chili or more malbec, I like that wine in general, but this was Barefoot, about $12 a magnum, and well received at the chili table.
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The time to leave Crisfield and drive down to St. Marys was upon me. I had a lot of apprehension. I needed to renew my driver's license and rent a car. Both had to be coordinated, plus I needed to get up to the Salisbury Airport, 30 miles away, to get it underway. I called a local lady who does shopping trips for others with her car and really does anything anyone wants including taking you up to the airport. She is very nice and her business is called Skittlezz, the marina carries her business card.
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In the end I ended up riding with Eve up RT13, with a few errands in Princess Anne, then a fuel up at the gas station next to How Sweet It Is, an eclectic store with all sorts of goodies, they will always be in business. Eve dropped me off at the airport terminal and I went inside right on time. The clerk seemed indifferent, but we made it through the car rental process very smoothly and soon I was outside looking for a Honda CRV. I was expecting a Volkswagen Jetta, the vehicle I got last time, but maybe this is better.
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I've watched too many of the idiot driver videos on YouTube, that mostly frightened me as a cyclist, but now terrified me, as a rental car driver, they are called accidents because when they happen, no one can anticipate what to do. It looks like no matter how far you hang back, someone can jump the median and take you out.
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It took 2 days to pack up my stuff. The CRV has a nice cargo area in back, the rear seats fold down flat. It was now Saturday before Election Day and I was underway at 10AM. The CRV had very confusing dashboard layout. It took me 3 hours to find the controls for a/c and fan. It looked like they only had a cigarette lighter outlet for DC. I decided to not use the phone for highway navigation. I could do that later on if I could find my car adapter in the midst of my stuff.
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I paid cash at the bridge/tunnel and followed signs for Chesapeake, VA. I was hoping to avoid the little toll on the approach to Norfolk. I did not want to go to Norfolk at all. I didn't want to go to Chesapeake either, but I was looking for RT58 which I picked up after taking 64 toward Chesapeake.
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The junction of 58 and I-95 is near Emporia. For some reason it looked like everyone was speeding way over the limit. Maybe the CRV speedometer is off. At one point I was riding along at 90 mph with a group of cars all going the same speed. I didn't want to get a speeding ticket, but I also didn't want to disrupt the flow of traffic.
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The trip took almost exactly 11 hours with only two quick stops for fuel. I was trying to buy fuel at the stations with lowest prices and didn't do too badly. The best fuel price was at my destination in St Marys, $3.11/gal.
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I was glad that the batteries in Kaimu were in full charge and the lights still worked. I was afraid of what I might find on board. Indeed, I was greeted by a family of palmetto bugs that scurried away when the lights came on. I put my bedding up on deck and tried to sleep on the bare bed boards. I kept the lights on. I was very uncomfortable. I get creeped out by cockroaches.
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The next day I was a painful mess and went out to Lowe's to get spray bottles, denatured alcohol, and roach bait, to do battle. But now the roaches were in hiding. I was able to watch a Sunday football game, but not my NY Jets. The Jets score would be shown along with other ongoing games at the bottom of the screen. The local team was on the air, the Jaguars, and I had a lot of sympathy for them. They had gone through a disastrous coaching change and were trying to resurrect themselves. In this game they were huge underdogs, but pulled out a victory. Meanwhile the Jets were on their way to victory although they were forecast as 11 point underdogs against the Buffalo Bills, maybe the best team in football, according to some. The Jets won 20-17 and improved their record to 6-3. Maybe it's playoffs this year.
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I had some apprehension about the boatyard, most of my acquaintances had left, would I have to start all over. Maybe start up Pizza Night again. I ran into Robert who had a van now, his old vehicle had bit the dust. Geoff, the chemist, stopped by on his bicycle and generously offered to pick me up at the airport when I return my rental car. I ran into several others I had met before over the years in the boatyard. Rocky, the owner, manager, and chief crane operator, asked me about my plans going forward. I was unsure what to say. Maybe launch and take the boat South to the Keys. But could I handle a boat 24/7. Did I want to live all winter in a boatyard.
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We are confronted by a late out of season hurricane whose track is predicted to hit the East coast of Florida, then boomerang through the center of the state and exit back out into the Atlantic after running us over, if it follows that track. The image is of that track from weatherunderground.com.