Killing Time
February 27, 2013
Ok, so we have been on land way longer than we should have been but things are coming around to getting back aboard. Of the lifestyle of cruising, it boils down to simplicity in the truest sense of the word. One walks away from the accumulated stuff of life up to that point and takes on another master. Said master is usually much smaller than home was, has more mechanical systems than home and will kill you quickly and leave no trace except perhaps a few well fed sea critters. Fortunately, the chances of the latter happening are slim and depend a great deal on acquired skill, knowledge and luck. We have observed; however, that some newcomers to the life style have very little of the first two. Only the luck thing seems to guide them through the storms and the tricky dockages. In the middle, where most of us reside, is the fact that we don’t know what we don’t know. In our case, most of our great challenges came from our own decisions. We were not tracked by some sea monster or terrorists. We simply did it to ourselves. So far, we have not been caught in any great storm, nor hit the infamous sleeping whale-----so far. What we have experienced, both good and bad, has added to the excitement especially in the telling afterward. In our water world, we have learned to say goodbye in the knowledge and expectation that we may well see them again. To one crew, a trip through the Georgia AIWW is to be avoided because of slim water. There were some slim places but we enjoyed the trip completely. Others have done that stretch every year for decades. I would say without a doubt that the toughest part of the waterway so far is the part through Louisiana where traffic is heavy (relatively) and anchorages are few. We have done it both ways once.
Now, we can only speculate about the voyage ideas we now have. How far north will we actually go? Has Hurricane Sandy destroyed the beautiful harbors we visited by land over the years? Is the Cape Cod Canal actually a raging river at tide changes? Will we actually stop in Mystic Seaport as we promised ourselves so long ago? What does the approach to Boston and Glouster Harbors actually look like? Does the Maine coast resemble the San Juan Island on the Pacific Northwest Coast? Are the lobster pots so thick in New England that one sails only during the daylight? Is the world flat beyond? Hopefully, we will see.