On the hook off Cape Lookout, NC

We are finally a sail boat! Footloose got "wet" for the very first time on the 10th of September. And, I have to say that living aboard a boat "on the hard" is far less pleasant than on a boat that is actually floating!

Footloose is keeping us humble, though, and teaching us along the way. First it started with my having to actually drive away from the lift and failing to retain the careful instructions "Captain" Tom gave me about putting it in gear and which way the lever actually directed our motion. No! I didn't back us up, but when the critical time came to move her forward, I pushed the button that apparently disengages the clutch and therefore, we went absolutely nowhere. Well, for at least a few seconds, until the very helpful boat yard man who was fending off the stern very politely asserted "not to push the button when moving the gear shift forward". We were off on our very first trip aboard our beautiful Footloose.

It is our intention to leave the "heavy lifting" to Captain Tom and train the First Mate "me" to handle the helm. It is a total reverse to all of the cruising we have done our entire lives. So, I am learning the subtle nuances of how Footloose handles.

We traveled about 45 minutes down the Adam's Creek to our temporary home base, a delightful slip in Deerfield Yacht Club. As we got closer to the yacht club my anxiety rose in anticipation of having to put this 40 foot, 24000 pound sailboat into what seemed to be a very tiny slip. With Tom's very patient guidance, we arrive with no mishaps and were soon securely tied up in our slip. Then I had to learn all over again how to get on and off a boat which always seems to be either towering above the dock or drastically below the dock. I haven't fallen in yet, but rest assured, it is only a matter of time. Graceful and agile, I am not. I am sure I look a bit like a manatee climbing around the boat. What happened to the fearless woman who 22 years ago who would leap ashore with a dock line, oblivious to the fact that years later there is no "bounce in the knees" nor suppleness in the joints?

I might point out that I am not the only one on a learning curve. When we were safely tied into the slip and the engine in the boat was no longer required I deftly switched off the key and pushed the kill switch. Nothing happened, the engine happily continued to idle away. I tried again, no change. So, enveloped in my helmsman's ignorance I summon the Captain and alerted him to the fact that I don't know how to shut off the boat. He deftly completes the same ritual I have just performed, no change! The engine is still chugging away. Well, I said this boat continues to keep us humble, so it should not surprise you that 15 minutes later, we are still trying to find a way to kill the engine. Tom has tried to choke off the engine's air supply, very typically for a diesel; she just worked harder to keep running. We looked everywhere for a kill switch somewhere else or something else we were not doing correctly. Suffice it when I say the simple fix was that you have to hit the kill switch before you turn the key off. Tom was the eventual triumph one who got the engine to shut down. Amazingly humbling!!!

We won't talk about the socket wrench which found its way overboard and resulted in the Captain's snorkeling for almost an hour trying to recover it.

I will tell you that yesterday morning, we left the slip, headed out the Beaufort inlet and sailed (Actually hoisted a sail and maintained 6-6.5 knots sailing) all the way to Lookout Point, where we are currently anchored. It is windy, about 20-25 knots of breeze, but the anchor is holding and we slept aboard at anchor for the first time last night. This is a beautiful "shake down" spot. I would recommend it to anyone. Pristine and quiet are the two terms that describe this anchorage. I am beginning to see the dream take shape. Lookout world, Footloose is on its way.