Now May is here! Finally the New England winter has loosed her hold and spring has arrived. Today is May 10, and this is the first day I have left home without a jacket. Maybe the down parka can stay in the closet…Forever!! New England does winter in a big way. South Georgia does summer.
But let me back up a bit. In March 2007, I went to Savannah to attend a teachers’ job fair and signed a contract to teach French and English at Groves High School, Garden City, GA. This followed our scenario for me completing my years of service in Georgia. It meant my dream of living in the marshes described by Sidney Lanier was one step closer to reality.
But where to dock Cornucopia our home? I talked to several marinas and discovered that it would be as cheap to buy a condo as to pay the marina fees! Bob and I sort of let life evolve around us. We plot a course, then alter it as the conditions dictate. We had planned on living on the boat when we went to Savannah. He would still be willing to go with that plan. I, on the other hand, don’t like the notion of rowing to shore every morning to get to work, not to mention living outside the law.
There is the small detail of Georgia law not allowing living aboard. This all evolved from a group of true boat bums who inhabited rafts on the Atlamaha and dumped raw sewage into the river, creating a deplorable health situation. Instead of addressing the problem with health/sewage regulations, legislators passed a law that no one could live on board a boat for more than 28 consecutive days. I know some folks are getting around that by living on board for 4 weeks then spending 2 days in a local motel, thus abiding by the letter of the law if not the spirit.
So one thing led to another, and as I walked through the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport on my way to catch my return flight, I was still wondering how we were going to abide by the law and have a place to live. While these thoughts were running through my head, I happened to pick up one of those free “real estate for sale” magazines.
Life is the stuff of Thomas Hardy novels. It turns on such small events as a magazine snatched in haste on the concourse of an airport. There it was . . . the solution to our problem . . . Hoover Creek Plantation. A condominium with a dock. AND at a price that wouldn’t make a Vanderbilt swoon.
http://hoovercreekcondos.com/
As soon as I got back to Bridgeport, I called my friend Joy a real estate agent and asked her to inquire into these condos. She did. Within the week we sent earnest money for a two-bedroom unit sight unseen. I knew that I would be going down again in April for spring break and my grandson Alex’s first communion. I could make a big loop from Chattanooga to Savannah and back to Atlanta to make sure the condo was what it said.
It was as advertised . So on April 19, it was a done deal. Closing will be August 29. I took the video camera with me, so Bob got a virtual tour of the condo complex, the dock, Hoover Creek --our southern home, Cornucopia's southern home. After seeing the video, he was in total agreement with the plan although I suspect he will spend as much time on the boat as he does on the land, keeping everything ship shape. With the mild Georgia winters we will have more time to sail the Golden Isles and environs.
Now with spring we have discovered that not only has Cornucopia been laid up and inactive, so have we. Although we have spent many weekends gathering supplies for repairs, we really haven’t done anything physical. For the last two weekends, we have driven to Boston to get back our sea legs and hone our sailing skills on Bogie before taking off on our 800 nautical mile voyage down the Eastern seaboard.
I am here to bear witness that a body goes to seed over the course of a winter spent quilting, reading, and watching videos. Just carrying the dingy down to the water left me wheezing and panting. Crawling aboard Bogie was an act more of desperation not to end up in the cold north Atlantic than a graceful transfer from one vessel to another. Bob amazes me. He is still lithe and agile even with all the winter’s inactivity. I just know I’ve got to get the muscles back in shape or I’m going to be miserable for the first week of our 2007 adventure.
Friday, April 27 we drove to Winthrop and spent a restful night on the mooring.
Saturday, April 28 we put up the working jib—much easier than putting up the Genoa or the main Then we tuned the fore and aft stays. Finally we started the 4hp Merc, and eased away from the mooring ball and out past Logan airport into the outer part of Boston Harbor. We put up the new working jib. Bob fiddled with the furling mechanism, finally getting it situated and working smoothly, Then we cut the motor and let the wind catch the sail and push us along. 10 kmh was just enough wind to give us a good push and allow me to practice coordinating tiller and sail to change tacks. For the first time I really felt a coordinated effort and not a struggle to get everything going at once.
I so love sailing without the motor, the only sounds the wind in the sail and the water along down the sides of the boat. This surely is the best place in the world to be, on the tiller of a sailboat on a smooth sea under boundless blue sky. But all things must end. We tired and so did the wind. We made our way back to Winthrop and spent another restful night aboard, both of us tired out by our efforts.
Sunday was damp and we had errands to run, so we stowed the sail and went about business on land.
Last week Bob worked on the boat, taking the bolt off the rudder to tighten it up and working out the wiring diagram of the electrical system. Thank goodness he had taken out the batteries for the winter, or he might never have noticed that the bank of house batteries was wired incorrectly producing a reversed flow of current. He drew out a schematic and discovered the error. Then he rearranged the system so it worked correctly. He also made contact with someone to strip the bottom paint off the boat to begin the process of reconditioning the hull and applying new bottom paint. The soda blasting will save him hours of labor and clean all the crevices of the metal. Bob also enlisted the aid of a welder who will rebuild the rudder. After that is done, Bob will cover the rudder with fiberglass which should bring her up to Bristol standards. He also had the propeller repaired. It came back from the shop as clean as a whistle. The bronze gleamed without a blemish! It was so beautiful I was tempted to have it mounted on the wall. Bob said that was a fine idea if we had another one to replace it. Was I willing to spend around $600? Oh, well, it was only a momentary whim.
Friday, May 4 we again went to Boston. Unfortunately the weather was not in our favor. Saturday the winds were too strong to venture off the mooring ball. Sunday was filled with errands. Monday I had an afternoon doctor’s appointment and had taken a day off from school, giving us some time to buy mooring permits and other essential errands before returning to Bridgeport. That weekend we did get the mainsail up, and I was a little more graceful entering and exiting the dingy. I could tell that my muscles and coordination were somewhat improved. However, I am not up to Bristol standards.
This coming weekend looks like we will be here in Bridgeport. Friday’s weather forecast calls for rain. Saturday is a hair appointment for me, and I really feel I have a lot to do here because I’ve been away so many weekends. The dust bunnies are ankle deep and threatening to take over the bedroom. I need to purge my bookshelves in preparation for the move. Also there are the quilt and pillows for Cornucopia to finish, not to mention canning meat for our voyage.
Whew! There’s a lot to do and we sail as soon after June 21 as we can. I’ll just take it one day at a time.
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