Day One: On the Boat Again, Just Can't Wait to Get on the Boat Again!

Our first day of our real trip south started off with a bang!  Did you expect anything else from us?  Oy!  We don't know if it was the current, a quick spot of wind, or user error (or all three), but as we were leaving our dock, the boat's bow veered away too quickly and pushed the stern back into the docks, smashing the dinghy into a piling.  

Oh no, oh no, oh no!  This could not be happening!  Too much pressure caused the davit lines holding the dinghy to snap causing the dinghy to fall to the water.  Thankfully, no damage to the dinghy, but a ding caused by the falling motor appeared on our transom.

Yes, more epithets from the Captain and a few tears from the crew.  Were we going to be held up yet again? 

"NO," the Captain said firmly, as he situated the dinghy to be dragged behind us.  So we carried on, as we have done over and over, waving goodbye to Cobb Island, and most importantly, to those who came to see us off, Fred and Bob.  Fred was taking pictures and I laughingly yelled, "You can edit out THAT part of it!" 

Shaken up, we motored on, set sail, and had a glorious sailing day with sun and great temperatures.  

Later, Gary said that the lines snapping ended up being a good thing because he had been wanting to replace those lines anyway.  Ever optimistic he is.  So, while we were toodling along, he pulled the dinghy up close to the stern, let down the transom swim platform, and made his way to the dinghy, tools secured in a dry bag.  It took him around 30 minutes of bouncing around, but he successfully replaced the old lines (what was left of them) with a line that is ultra-high density polyurethane, supposedly stronger than steel. 

We saw several other sailboats heading in our same direction that day; one got our attention because she had beautiful brown sails.  She was named Elizabeth.  Just a pretty boat. We also saw interesting flying things, including a Navy plane with a smaller plane (drone?) flying under it.  Cool to watch.

Sorry about the wonky horizon; just the way it is on the boat

Deltaville was our intended stopping point for the day and we made it in after  a gorgeous sunset, but still after dark, which always makes me nervous, but it worked out just fine.  We had a dinner of a cold rice salad I had made earlier in the day of odds and ends from cupboard and fridge; delicous and hearty.   

The next morning, while I enjoyed avocado toast and some reading in the cockpit, the guys took the dinghy over to land and from there, walked a mile to and from a West Marine store because our bilge pump float switch had given up the ghost.  They also bought a jerry can and filled it with diesel fuel for backup, just in case, and to make me happy, which is also good.