Friday, August 30, 2013

Home again

After Coinjock we traveled almost all the way home and anchored near Leachville, NC for the night.  After three  long days of travel we were really pretty worn out (remember we have been in cruising mode lately, trying hard to take our time).  But it seemed once we made the decision to head home it was like the proverbial horse smelling the barn.  Keep going as long as you can.

So we put the anchor down in this quiet little creek, thinking all would be quiet for the night.  Mistake numero uno.  I really didn't like the way everything felt when we were "set" but I was too tired to up anchor and start over.  Mistake numero dos.  Also, when the boat settled into position behind the anchor (the way the breeze was blowing it) we were directly in front of the other boat anchored there.  It was a very decent distance in front, but still not what Tom would like.  Mistake numero tres.  Nevertheless, we ignored those little annoyances and went to sleep.

Around 1am I awoke thinking something had changed.  I lay there for a while listening to boat sounds.  When you live on a boat for a while you get used to the way "normal" sounds.  Little creaks and groans, waves tapping at the hulls, etc. all tell you what is happening outside.  Finally I got up and went outside to see for myself.  The wind had picked up some and there was lightening off in the distance.  No cause for real worry but I stayed up anyway, dozing on the settee.  Around 2:45am everything revved up.  Rain started in earnest, the wind picked up considerably, and lightening and thunder were much closer.  So seemed the boat behind us!   I decided I needed a second opinion and woke Tom from a sound sleep.  While he was getting his bearings, our neighbor came up on his deck with a spotlight, apparently checking his position as well as ours.  We were definitely dragging slowly toward him.  Time for action. 

We started the engines and hauled up the anchor.  Fortunately we had left the chart plotter on for just such a scenario, so we could "see" where we were going on the chart even though it was dark outside except when lightening flashed.  We moved maybe a quarter mile further up the creek and reset the anchor, this time with much more confidence in the way it was holding.  By this time most of the storm had moved on and we just had a light ran to contend with.  But it was hard to get back to sleep after all that adrenaline rush.

The next morning we left around 8am and sailed the two hours to our home port at Old Mill Landing.  After tying up at the dock and turning on the AC, naps were in order.  It was great to see our friends later for dinner and to talk about our trip as well as all that had happened in their lives since we left for the Chesapeake in early July.  We are blessed with wonderful friends and are glad to be home.


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