Well, today is Sunday, November 20, and the Bride and I are riding out a bit of interesting weather. The winds started last evening around 6, but were only about 8.5 knots and over the night time grew in strength.
Ye Old Captain was a bit tuckered yesterday and fell asleep in the master cabin around 7 so I missed the majority of the growth in the winds. We had a bit of rain last evening, starting about 4:30 or there about. We had been over in Alexandria, VA at Home Depot and the temperature dropped from about 73 to around 48 during the 40 minutes we were inside the store. WOW.
This morning we awoke to winds averaging 14 to 20 knots and gusting to over 45 knots. Enough to make standing in the shower an exercise in agility and balance! Dressing, then grabbing the first coffee of the morning, the adage about “sea legs” came to the fore as we balanced ourselves in the galley to attend to morning chores, coffee, breakfast for us and of course breakfast for the Sea Cats. (Funny how two little brats who hate when the boat is underway, had no problem moving about in the roughest time). Pouring coffee was an exercise in skillful handling of a coffee pot and cup. We had a microwave breakfast of a Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich (still no darn stove, thanks to a incompetent merchant organization), and then spent the morning in the salon, watching the waves grow, the boat rock to and fro and side to side. Since the Misty Lady is secured to a dock rather than in a slip, we are tied up only on the Port Side while the Starboard side is exposed to the winds, waves and has no restrictive lash up. As a result, we get pushed against the dock (thank God for great “bumpers or fenders”) that keep the boat’s side from hitting or rubbing against the dock edges. In a bit of fore knowledge, we bought several brand new fenders in Edgewater before casting off for home. They have truly come in very helpful with this wind storm. funny to see sun and clear skies, coupled with dark clouds but above all, strong wind with even stronger gusts.
A couple of pictures of the waters outside our starboard salon door. Bear in mind that under normal circumstances the waters surfaces are very smooth, almost glass like. But when the breezes come up, we see some chop. Not like this however. Guess the Wind Gods decided to give us a harsh, windy, cold day to make up for the snows further west and north.
Thanks to the rapid drop in temperature we now know that we have got to get a couple of winter coats soonest, we gave ours away last April, expecting to be sailing through the summer and then shop in October for winter foul weather gear. Things got a bit busy September through the first week of November so now we are facing a hurry up trip to a clothing store for coats. Go figure….
We bought some wall panel heaters for the Misty Lady to keep us warm this winter. These are supposed to be very efficient electricity cost wise so we will see. But now we have to find spaces on the boat where there is enough space to mount the heaters, AND an AC plug nearby to provide the electricity. Oh Joy!
Anyway, if we don’t write before, wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday. We will spend our with my children and grand children at my daughter Kurby’s new home. May your holiday be wonderful and full of family, love and good food!!
Author: harv1941
Just a summary, I am 84 years of age, retired in July 2013 and settled down to promoting the dangers of bacterial meningitis, which killed my beloved son, Mike in 2009. My wife, Charlotte, and I embarked on an adventure of live aboard cruising, aboard a large Blue Water motor yacht. While our beginning was rather fraught with hurdles, we continued to look forward to the day we moved aboard the Misty Lady and cruise the eastern seaboard and associated waterways. After more than four years of life aboard this Bluewater Motor Yacht, I developed an advanced problem due to interaction with medications and experienced rather frightening balance problems. Therefore, getting on and off the yacht was fraught with danger of falling between the docks and the boat's hull. Walking the docks was also problematic considering that our yacht club docks were all floating docks and my balance problem was a danger during the walk from our yacht's docking slip to the clubhouse or out to the DC Wharf facilities and our car housed in the yacht club's reserved garage. SO, we had to regretfully put the Misty Lady up for sale and move back on shore. We moved on shore, first into a condo apartment in Alexandria, then after two years there, we relocated to the city of Newport News, in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Our original desired location was in the city of Hampton, Virginia, which is the oldest English-speaking settlement in the United States having been established originally in 1610. My ancestors came to this country through this settlement in the mid 1600s and lived in that area for around 100 years before beginning a migration of one portion of our family toward the west.
I looked forward to moving back to this area and exploring the roots of my family, both maternal and paternal ancestry, but we found a great house in the Newport News area and became ensconced in the terrific neighborhood of Kiln Creek. My wife, being still actively employed, received a substantial offer in a position with a government contractor firm back up in Northern Virginia. So we put the Newport News house up for sale, receiving and accepting an offer withing two days. We then relocated back up to the city of Alexandria and into another high rise condo. My wife reached a point where considerations for retirement were becoming very important. She indicated that she really didn't want to retire in Alexandria, so once again we began a house search in the Tidewater area, this time in the City of Williamsburg and in a community restricted to 55+ age owners. We found the ideal location, initiated the sale and closing for our retirement home. We then put our condo on the market. Alas, the market was not as robust as before so we had to change asking price a couple of time, but finally the Alexandria Condo was sold. Now we are set to enjoy the great locations found here in the Tidewater/Hampton Roads area, considering that we are history buffs and there are literally hundreds of historical sites in this segment of our nation. Of course living in Williamsburg is the epitome of history living life.
So, now we are in our retirement home, in a great retirement type community. A great clubhouse with a fine dining restaurant, a grill/pub, an award winning PGA designed golf course and miles of walking trails. Looking forward to my wife's eventual full retirement and the two of us visiting all up and down the east coast historical spots.
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Misty Lady Thought and Comment 