Taylor Hobbs's Blog, page 11
September 25, 2018
After Florence
We. Are. Home.
I can hardly describe the relief I felt as we drove into the Gottschalk Marina parking lot after a 10 hour drive from Atlanta. When I saw the dock house intact and all the sailboat masts standing tall, I almost cried. I just felt so proud of our little marina and all of the responsible boat owners who helped ensure we would all make it through this hurricane. The power was already back on to the slips, the bathrooms cleaned out, a new washer and dryer were up and running, and everyone was hard at work on their boats.
You would hardly know that just a few days ago, the river tried to consume the marina. Now the only pieces of evidence left from this failed attempt are muddy floors, some broken wood boards, kayak dock damage, and felled trees nearby. After a force of nature tried to destroy everything, life has miraculously returned to normal.
I keep hearing stories about other marinas in the area that didn’t fare as well as we did, and I am so grateful we had a boat to come home to. This was the first true test of Story Time’s fortitude, and she weathered the storm like a champion. There was absolutely no damage to our boat, inside or out. The automatic bilge pump did its job and everything was clean and dry. When we left her two weeks ago, I remember being fully prepared to lose her in the worst case scenario. I envisioned the best case scenario as some damage, but still livable while we fixed her up. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine NO DAMAGE in a direct hit from a Category 2 hurricane. I should go buy a lottery ticket.
Love,
Taylor, Conor, and W
[image error]Cheers to a great homecoming!
September 20, 2018
Making the Most of Evacuating
Well guys, we are still in Atlanta. The roads back to North Carolina are starting to improve but remain pretty gnarly in some spots. The plan right now is to wait a few extra days and shoot for getting home this weekend. Here’s what we know about Gottschalk Marina and how all the boats fared during the hurricane:
The floating docks are still floating. Yay! The storm surge was about three feet above the fixed docks.
One derelict boat sank in its slip
Three boats with some broken lines are bouncing in their slips
ALL the other boats were great and bobbing happily in their slips!!!
This means Story Time is still afloat and we have a home to return to! We’ll have to see in person if she sustained any damage but it’s looking good.
I am SO relieved. The fact that none of the boats broke loose to cause massive damage to other boats/ marina is a huge testament to how hard all of boat owners worked to prep for the hurricane. Here are some pictures that the Ragged Point Yacht Club took:
[image error]The Gottschalk boat launch is under water, but look at all those masts still standing tall!
[image error]This old houseboat was the only casualty at Gottschalk Marina
Sadly, our old marina in New Bern didn’t fare as well. Northwest Creek Marina faced dangerous flooding and some of the boats broke free during the high winds. Here’s what NWC looked like in the Florence aftermath:
[image error]So many sideways sailboats
September 13, 2018
Hurricane Florence
Currently watching Hurricane Florence circle ever closer to the North Carolina coast…from our hotel room in Atlanta. Yep, we are nowhere near this destructive storm and have evacuated to Georgia.
To say the last three days were hectic would be a gross understatement. Sunday we were nervously watching the forecast and making to-do lists. Monday we were taking down canvas, bimini, sails, and wind generator. Tuesday was the ‘Oh Shit’ realization that we had to leave, and we worked from 5am to 5pm getting the boat ready. All of our interior closets, drawers, and cabinets had to be stuffed with padding and taped down. Water tanks were filled for ballast, lines were taped down in the cockpit pocket, everything that could be moved off the boat was put into storage. Once the inside and outside were as hurricane-proof as we could make them, we centered the boat in the slip and tied all of the lines we had to the dock.
[image error]
Our marina is located in a fairly decent hurricane hole with floating docks. The storm surge is projected to be around 6-8 feet there. I’m mostly worried about the high winds and one of the boats in the marina coming loose. If the boats can withstand the wind without significant damage, then the flooding and storm surge will be no problem. Boats will do what boats do–float!
My heart was still in my throat when we left, though. There will be damage to our home, either the boat or the marina, that much I know. I just hope that it won’t be insurmountable and that we and our friends don’t lose it all.
To lighten things up, here is a text we got from our dear boat friends who made it safely to Florida:
“I think I was drunk when I was packing originally. I’ll give you a rough inventory of what I determined were ‘essential items’… Electric toothbrush charger (but not the toothbrush apparently, that’s at home), a tent (no other camping gear), 10 lbs of dried beans (nothing to cook them with–pot, stove, not even a spoon), all of my bottles of wine, every pill bottle we had, and 4 raincoats for our party of 2.”
I laughed so hard I cried when I read this. People are the most important things in life. Everything else is extra.
Love,
Taylor, Conor, and W
September 10, 2018
Mommy and Me Boat Show Weekend
On Saturday I packed up W and we headed down to the Wilmington boat show. It was just the two of us, as Conor had been gone for the last 3 weeks (he’s back now though, hallelujah!). Even though it seemed daunting to navigate it all on my own with a baby, I definitely didn’t want to miss out.
It was…not what I expected. If you look back at one of my first posts here, I talked about our experience at the San Diego boat show. There were SO many sailboats, catamarans, and sailing seminars there that we stayed the whole day and still didn’t see everything. The Wilmington boat show was not like that.
This is a relatively new boat show that was started in 2016, so maybe it just needs time to gain popularity, but it was 98% power and fishing boat focused. In fact, there were a total of three sailboats there. THREE out of hundreds of boats. Of course we went and toured the new Beneteau 38 that was there, though. I had to see how it compared to our 2002 Catalina 380. I have to say, even if given the chance to swap our 16 year old sailboat with that brand new one, I would have turned it down in a heartbeat. I whispered to W that I liked our boat way better, and she farted in agreement. We are all on the same page about Story Time—she is the best.
[image error]Boob naps are the best naps
The pluses of the boat show: it was well-organized and super cheap ($5 for military). There were a lot of booths set up inside the convention center and out on the docks. People were friendly and helpful. Parking was simple and there was no traffic, but that could have been because we were there right when it opened at 10am. Baby girl had a lot of fun waving at everyone and looking at boats, and I felt accomplished getting us there. It was a fun outing and I’m glad we went. I will just alter my expectations for next year!
Love,
Taylor, Conor, and W
PS- I’m going to try and update before Hurricane Florence hits, but we are busy making boat preparations and hoping for the best. Please keep us in your thoughts and all of the other people in North and South Carolina! We escaped unscathed from hurricane season last year, but I guess this year it’s time to pay up. It’s looking like a Cat 4 direct hit to the Carolina coastline on Thursday night. I can’t even comprehend the damage this will bring.
September 6, 2018
On Tour with Cloaked by Taylor Hobbs, Meet the Author and Giveaway
I was featured on a fellow writer’s blog. Just a fun little interview with some interesting facts about me, my writing, and my spirit animal.
I love that the Heroine is a criminal in training. “What do you do?” “Oh, nothing much. I’m a criminal in training so there’s a lot of assignments and tons to study. Student’s life.” Simply, how cool is that?
The book is Cloaked by Taylor Hobbs, a Historical Fantasy Romance
BLURB:
As the Cloaked Shadow, Fawkes has made his career breaking into prisons for any contract with a large enough purse. He takes advantage of the kingdom’s impending revolution by playing both sides of the conflict. Each rescue contract he fulfills turns a tidy profit until he angers the wrong duke.
Charlotte is a criminal-in-training who yearns to crack her mentor’s guarded façade, but is unprepared to confront the depths of his dark past. As her sense of right and wrong blurs, Charlotte discovers just how far she will go for the Cloaked Shadow and the sacrifices he requires.
Now…
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August 31, 2018
A Very Crabby Morning
We had an unexpected guest on our boat this morning, and he made a lot of trouble for something so small.
The A.C. had suddenly stopped working. It wasn’t completely unexpected, because the tide had been out for a couple of days. We were sitting in a lot of mud, and that is what usually clogs up the raw water filter. Clogged filter= A.C. trip.
So with a sigh, I pulled up the floorboard and unscrewed the filter, and just about had a heart attack. A crab popped out and scurried into the bilge! He was the size of a quarter and super fast. I managed to coerce him into a mason jar and set to work getting the A.C. back on.
Nothing. The compressor didn’t turn on, and neither did the fan. That meant it was an electrical issue. Our little friend had blown the fuse!
Replacing the fuse was a pain in the butt. To reach it, I had to unscrew our settee bench, pull the cover off, find the fuse, put in a new one, and put everything back together again. Also, all of our tools were over in the dockhouse. I loaded W up to go get everything we needed and got to work. It is always a race against the sun when dealing with an A.C. malfunction, and I was very glad it wasn’t too hot out yet.
Here’s a visual:
[image error]Step 1: Capture wildlife
[image error]Step 2: Contain infant
[image error]Step 3: Break apart living room
[image error]Step 4: Figure out where fuse is, then replace. (It is the circular knob on the very bottom of the electric box)
Long story short: I am woman, hear me roar. This boat mama got everything up and running in 45 minutes.
Oh, and our new friend was set free to make trouble elsewhere.
[image error]
Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you all have a fun and safe Labor Day weekend.
Love,
Taylor, Conor, and W
August 21, 2018
Virtual Book Tour
One more day until Cloaked is released! Due to a number of factors preventing a physical launch event (like the fact that my husband is in the military and has zero control over his schedule, I have an 8 month old breastfed baby, and we live too far from any metropolis), I’m doing a virtual blog tour to promote my book. Stop by these awesome sites for an interview or guest post by your’s truly.
I answer questions about the book, talk about my quirks, rate my top 5 movie scenes, and more. Each interview is different, so follow along! I’m also giving out a $25 Amazon gift card to a lucky reader who enters the Rafflecopter. A big thanks to Goddess Fish Promotions for organizing everything!
August 27: Independent Authors
August 28: Author Deborah A Bailey
August 29: Up ‘Til Dawn Book Blog
August 30: Christine Young
August 31: Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews
August 31: Let me tell you a story
September 3: The Reading Addict
September 4: Fabulous and Brunette
September 5: Long and Short Reviews
September 6: Viviana MacKade
September 7: Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews
September 7: Hope. Dreams. Life… Love
September 10: Bookaholic – review only
September 11: Jazzy Book Reviews
September 12: Iron Canuck – review only
September 13: Welcome to My World of Dreams
September 14: Beyond Romance
September 14: Nickie’s Views and Interviews
September 17: Mixed Book Bag
September 18: It’s Raining Books
September 19: Kit ‘N Kabookle
September 20: Locks, Hooks and Books – review only
September 21: Two Ends of the Pen
August 13, 2018
Other Awesome People Doing Other Awesome Things
I try to do at least 3 blog posts every month, but if any of you readers are looking for other great blogs to follow while you wait for me to get my shit together and actually write something, I have a few recommendations.
Live Free 2 Sail Fast is another military family working to get a sailboat ready for cruising. They are on the west coast and have been incredibly supportive of our journey so far. If you think we’re crazy, they’ve got kids and a GREAT DANE on a sailboat! Follow them 
