Thoughts of Being Underway

Target Clear Warm Water

We are starting to get that same feeling we had before leaving Port Aransas the first time. As we start checking weather, long and short range, and actually open the chart plotter program, one thing is for certain. We are not the same persons we were as we left Port A. Even without the event that sent us back home, boating of the type just completed has a way of re-orienting priorities and even thought processes. We do not look at the yard at home with thoughts of having a great yard this year because there will be no one to water or feed it. Last year’s drought took care of that for us. What grass? Beyond that, we find ourselves sitting here at home counting the days left to do the laundry in a proper machine, long showers, and raiding the big refrigerator. I have actually started the process of using less ice since it is a finite commodity aboard. I did not say quit using it. We are even changing the way we communicate with friends and family. Unlike earlier times, we have a number of ways to do that beyond exchanging mail bags as we pass in the night as they did as late as the early 20th century.


Like all that have gone before us, we look forward to the transition back to the liquid world; a world where one checks the bilge, the engine oil and the weather several times a day. It is a world of sounds, all of which are important. They are all categorized in the mind as friend, foe or suspect. Once they stand muster, they go into the somewhat ignore file. Some are irritating and we resolve them such as the floor boards that were squeaking. The solution: candle wax on the edges and instantly one sound is gone. We do not have a light that tells us if the pressure pump is running on an empty tank, but there is an ever so slight vibration that it causes in the boat. It can be felt anywhere in the main saloon. Even if other noises mask it, we feel it (most of the time). In case we let it go to destruction, we have a spare. Then there is the sound, also so slight, of the tiny freezer compressor. It is more like a hum. If it does not cycle so many times per hour, we know to investigate.

Other sounds, outside sounds, give us a great deal of information. Wind speed or direction changes are instantly noticeable. Unusual boat movement such as when the anchor drags can send me into the closest thing to cat like response possible. Gee, there is something to feeling the anchor provides as it skips over the ground. Just like the night we anchored behind Shell Island, there is also a feeling one gets when the boat is not moving, at all. Fortunately, the soft mud of that anchorage was not a bad thing.

We are hoping that the cold weather is behind us for a while. And we are definitely looking forward to taking down the green house. We miss a lot when it is up---oh say little things like seeing bridges. Wilson said he would give us a bit more time before he starts ragging me about it. We are trying to catch up with Safari and Keeling Time and the gauntlet is down for Steve and Wilson to catch up with us.