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August 24, 2009
Prepare to Cruise
Hurricane Bill threatened our sailing plans last weekend. His bark was bigger than his bite. We decided to have a workday around the boat on Saturday and enjoy dinner with Steve and Fern in Stamford on Saturday night, followed by a sail on Sunday on Sirena. Despite the fact that Prana never left the dock, we had a really wonderful weekend.
Our 10-day cruise was rapidly approaching, and I had called a scuba diver to scrub Prana’s bottom, replace the sacrificial zinc anode on the propeller, and check the bow thruster. Late last night he called and said he could meet me this morning at 10 on Steve’s mooring out in the harbour (the marina will not let him scrub our ablative paint at the dock).
Hmmm. Chis couldn’t get the day off, so away I went. I got away from the dock on my own without issue, and picked up Steve’s mooring without issue, all by myself. The scuba diver came and did the job. I dropped the mooring and decided to head out into the sound to calibrate our boat speed and wind speed instruments. Sure enough, the wind picked up so I decided to sail. It was awesome.
On my way back to the marina, I stopped at the fuel dock. Then back to Prana’s berth. I was amazed how easily I could handle the boat on my own. The experience served to significantly enhance my comfort in handling the boat, which will now be even easier with Chis at my side. I couldn’t ask for or want a better mate.
Posted by dave at August 24, 2009 05:29 PM