Off we went to meet the people who were going to be taking over
the care and feeding of Nalani. It was a
two-hour trip out into the Wye River and then into Eastern Bay and then heading
up toward Kent Narrows (and the bridges!!!) . . . .
We did make it through those bridges, with the help of the bridge
tender and the information that the numbers on the bridge supports gave you as to whether your boat could fit under. The tide was low enough and the number was right for us and we were fine, though it made me cringe
to see how close we were as we motored under the bridge, waving to the bridge tender as we went.
We docked at a t-head by Red-Eye's Dock Bar at Kent Narrows, which
was cool because we had live music some nights and there was a lot of boat
traffic to ooh and aah over. One day we
had a parade of high-performance boats; must have been about 50 of them. Blam-blam-blam-blam (how the engines sound to me). As the bikini contest got closer, our space
was considered premium, so we were asked to move just two slips inside. We attempted the move, but couldn't get in;
there was a pile of silt leftover from the latest dredging operation that we
hit. Backed out and went back to the
t-head until another slip could be found.
I was not sad that we were moving as the whole atmosphere changed with
the folks coming in for the bikini contest; loud(er) music, late parties, disco
lights inside the boats, drunk people day and night, and very scantily dressed
women. I'm not a prude, but
really?!?!? I'm sure the guys didn't
mind . . . .
Here's the kind of view I like:
Walking down the dock one day, I spotted a woman being helped back
onto her boat by her partner; she had a cast on her arm from her hand to above
her elbow. I felt sorry for her, but
then I looked down and saw her shoes.
Six inch wedges? Seriously? On a dock and then a boat? I think I know how she broke her bones.
We finally moved a day later when a spot opened on an L-head (is
that a term?). We put in bow first, but
then Gary didn't like the way the boat was facing, so with me at the helm (reverse-forward-neutral
over and over) and the guys manipulating the lines, we flipped Nalani easily to
stern in (try to visualize the operation), with only a hold-up for one boat coming
in while we maneuvered.
The days on board were spent reading, organizing, cleaning,
ordering parts, and doing some fun things, too, like swimming in the pool,
riding the bike path, shopping at thrift stores, spending a day with the
mother-in-law in Easton, having visitors to the boat, getting Elliott's hair
all cut off, having Elliott reconnect with an old friend, and just enjoying
being dock rats. We also met some of the
live-aboards on our dock and received a very kind greeting; nice folks who
showed us their boat. Wow, the space is
incredible and comes with an inboard vacuum and a washer and dryer (boat envy a
little here). One of them is an
aeronautical engineer who offered his help with the mast problems if we needed
it.
Finally, we had a visit from our adjuster and the mechanic who
would be doing the work. Most adjusters,
when they find a boat has been struck, will immediately put in the order to
"pull the stick" (mast), which can be very time-consuming and labor
intensive.
Thankfully, our adjuster was a bit more thoughtful and wanted to
do a full review before making that decision.
Good news for us, as it could mean our reboarding sooner than
expected.
In the meantime, we headed home for a day to pick up our RV for a
planned trip to Cape Cod to meet up with friends. This is an annual trip planned and hosted by
our friend Chang, a college friend of Gary's from Brandeis days. Within a few hours, we had everything
prepared at the house, including scouring both the kayak and minifish, and
putting those and our three bikes on a pull-along trailer.
We pulled things together quickly and efficiently and were back on
the road to Kent Narrows before the evening.
Within a few days, Gary felt comfortable enough to leave the boat in the
marina's able hands. We were on the road
again in our land yacht!
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