Would you do it again?

Back home in Fort Lauderdale

I arrived back home and tied my boat to my home dock on Sunday, January 29th at around 2:30 in the afternoon after my overnight passage from Cape Canaveral. I'd left New Bern on Dec. 30 intending to get home in one month, and I hit that one pretty damn close. I was tired after a long night of no sleep, but so, so happy to be able to stop boat driving for a while and settle back into a writing routine. A couple of days later, after I'd rested up a bit, I went out to lunch with a friend of mine and her first question was, "So, would you do it again?"

Absolutely. The funny thing about boating is that it's so easy to forget the times you were scared or cold or miserable – and you only remember the good times. A selective memory is a sailor's best friend. Well, maybe I wouldn't do this same trip down the ICW in January, but I will take off cruising again. Soon. I collected such marvelous memories this past month, I have no regrets.

Leaving Canaveral for the trip outside

The weather was gorgeous when I motorsailed out of Canaveral and just after sunset that night, I was able to turn off the engine and really sail for a while. It was kind of amazing to be posting on Facebook (via my iPad) and interacting with friends who were watching my progress on Spot while I was sailing through the black night with the lights of the Florida coastline to starboard and the lights of passing ships to port. The autopilot was steering the boat while I stretched out on the cockpit seat and thought, it doesn't get any better than this. I'd already forgotten the bitter cold nights I'd experienced in North Carolina.

I'll always remember the friends of a friend who invited this solo sailor (via email) to raft up to their boat behind their home in Palm Coast – then invited me to sit at their family dinner table for a great spaghetti dinner and shared stories of past cruises and deliveries. It was one of those typical nights of sailors getting together – one of those "first liar doesn't have a chance" tale telling evenings we sailors love so much.

Then there was the night in New Smyrna Beach when I connected with a friend I had known thirty years ago when we were both running charter boats with our husbands in the Virgin Islands. My email to her out of the blue led to her picking me up at the marina and taking me out to a fun local restaurant where I got to meet her friends and watch the local talent at Karaoke Night.

Chip was always ready for a dinghy ride to shore

There were so many anchorages I selected just because there would be a small landing where I could get the Intrepid Seadog ashore to stretch his little legs (or lift one), but with the cold and often wet weather he had to wear his little doggy sweater and oilskins. Layers of clothes usually kept us snug and warm.

As beautiful as many spots were, it was always the company, both human and canine that made the trip special for me. I benefitted so often from the kindness of strangers, like the Butlers who have a beautiful home in Beaufort, South Carolina and offer their dock as a cruising station to members of the Seven Seas Cruising Association. They, too, invited me into their home for a wonderful dinner and then drove me all around to see the sights of their spectacular home town.

Chip asleep in the studio while I write

Chip and I are now settled in to our little one-room studio apartment in Fort Lauderdale, and I have started work on a new book. It's great to have a big writing desk and access to all my books, as well as fast reliable Internet. The little guy seems to like the fact that the floor isn't rocking and rolling, but when I took him down this afternoon because I had the chance to move my boat to a better dock, his tail was wagging-away when I put him in the cockpit and fired up the engine again.

So, I've been looking at the charts already and thinking about spring. I have lots of boat projects and repairs and a wish list a mile long, but I figure by April the Bahamas will be calling.  Chip and I will both be ready to toss off the dock lines again. I'd probably get more writing done if I just stayed here for six months to a year, but honestly? That ain't gonna happen.

See, last spring, I quit my job and moved onto my boat to write. And that's the sweet thing about writing – you can do it on a boat anchored off an island somewhere. I've been thinking about those conch fritters they serve at Pineapples on Green Turtle Cay and last spring I never made it down to Little Harbor and Pete's Pub. And Mike has been working on his boat Rough Draft getting her ready to go. It's always nice to have another boat around when you cross the Gulf Stream.

Hey Mike, you want to Buddy Boat?

Fair winds!

Christine

Author of CIRCLE OF BONES
Available for Kindle and Nook

 

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