Home Waters Again

It’s nice to be back home at our slip at the yacht club in Connecticut. Even though we have a lengthy list of items to fix and buy while we are here, it really has a good feel to it. We were hailed as we entered Fisher’s Island Sound by a fellow trawlering couple from our club, who just happened to be out enjoying the fresh 22 knot breeze too. Several old faces said hi and Emily reacquainted herself with all the sea life hanging from the pier around our slip. We pirouetted around in the 20+ knot breeze and backed into the slip with a confidence that had been lacking just 12 short weeks ago.

Despite my dread of having to disassemble the washer (again) and troubleshoot a problem that had eluded the factory representative on Cape Cod despite the $500 I threw his way, we do have a few pleasant tasks ahead. We ordered a few goodies that await us here, like a new digital SLR camera, and we will have the Bon Voyage party that got postponed in the Spring and visit with many dear friends.

Emily survived her first series of tests and the 100 she received on her math test reflected more on her natural aptitude for the subject rather than the proficiency of her teacher. We skip a day now and again, and learned the term “wave days” from a fellow cruising homeschooler. Those are like snow days, but represent those days when the seas are just too rough to study without getting queasy or worse. We heard that Rhode Island had the wettest September EVER RECORDED and the Lego’s and Play Dough really got a workout.

We did manage to get 3 people and 3 full-size bikes ashore in one trip in the dingy at Block Island, but it was not pretty. Emily rode all the way to town and back and was in her glory. It was her first trip on roads, made possible by the light post-season traffic, and she kept up with Mom and Dad even on the hills. We celebrated with a dinner out at the Oar Restaurant and the Captain and Crew were all happy.

But the leaves here are just starting to turn and we expect to follow the Autumn color south. No pink antifreeze for this boat for a while. I’m pointing the boat south and will keep going until the butter on the counter melts.

Tom