Underway again!
28 October 2008
• Norfolk, VA
by Mike
Yesterday after I had put up the post we came up with some really interesting news - RadioLabs, the folk that market the WiFi antenna that we have been waiting for and who had assured Barb that it would be in Norfolk by Friday last week, today revealed that not only had the item not been shipped yet, but they don't have any in stock! Isn't that special!? We have hung around for an extra couple of days to get that thing delivered and it hasn't even shipped yet! If they had told us it would be backordered and that they'd let us know when they got it in I wouldn't be so damn pissed off, but noooo! All in the interest of getting our order they were prepared to hang us out. Well, now it's their turn. We have told them to keep the order open and we'll tell them when and where to ship it at our convenience, not theirs. What a shower of useless........!
Oh well, on to happier things, I think. Last night we had a smokin' wind storm and it looks like it promises to continue for the rest of today and tonight. I mean, with the howling of the wind in the rigging, the screaming of the dock lines through the fairleads, and the groaning of the fender boards against the dock, we could hardly hear the helicopters next door! How is that for a wind storm? The board that I had helped Maury repair is almost loose again right next to the boat and I was very concerned about the dock cleats holding throughout the night. I didn't get much sleep. Fortunately today is a short one as far as travel is concerned. At one point the wind backed around 90 degrees from the bow to the west on the port beam and instead of pushing us along the dock was pushing us directly onto it. I wasn't worried, or so I thought, since I had a fender board over the side. What I hadn't counted on was that the wind blew us slightly more onto the dock forward than evenly and our starboard forward quarter began to rub against another pylon. Before I realized this the pylon was able to take a small chip out of our rub rail. This will be easily fixable with some fibreglass when the weather improves. I just feel a little guilty that I let the old girl down in her moment of need. Barb and I were up until 0100 and ended up putting normal fenders between the boat and the fender board as the pressure of the wind on Nelleke was pushing her so hard into the dock that she had flattened the padding on the board and we were starting to get small gelcote scratches where the screws were able to touch. What a night! Even when there was a storm that rated a warning and bulletins on the weather networks it the conditions weren't as threatening as this was. We would have been better off at anchor on a good hook.
This is a continuation of the post that I started in the morning. We are still at the Norfolk Naval Sail Training Centre. The wind was kicking up to the level of small craft warnings with white caps in the marina basin so we decided to wait until tomorrow and get away early if we can. We were able to get across the yacht basin and tie up at a T-Dock that let us be downwind of the dock so we are being blown off the dock rather than onto it. The only flaw in this cleaver plan was the actual departure from the lee dock and the tie up to the other side. Both were only possible with the kind assistance of Maury and Ginger. Maury was actually sitting on the dock and walking the boat out to the edge of the pier with his feet and the poor old 18" orange float buoy was squashed nearly flat as it passed by each pylon. Then Maury and Ginger zoomed across to the other side and were there to take our lines when we came alongside. Even that was challenging. Not that the boat was in any danger as it was on the other side but we started out with about 10' on the bow and stern lines and then had to muscle Nelleke into the dock. On the plus side there already were some seriously large fenders on the dock, plus the weather forecast is telling us that for the rest of the day and the night we will be blown off the dock.
Tonight is the club monthly meeting to which we have been invited as new prospective members. Even if they decide they don't like the look of us and refuse us membership, which I am assured that they will not do, there is a free dinner out of the deal. After which we will have Maury and Ginger, and anyone else who would like to come, back to the boat, for afters.
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