My Girl is Back!

Annapolis – 4 miles by dinghy, 5 kilometres walked, 800 kilometres by rental car

Where did the day go? I was up at 5am watching a damn movie again then just goofed around on the boat until late morning when Ben and Kate came over and we dinghy’d over to Back Creek as they needed to pay a visit to the Yanmar dealer for engine anodes and Fawcett Marine for some other goodies, and I was up for the walk. Of course, I found a couple small things to buy there too. It’s just not possible to leave a marine store empty handed. I know. I’ve tried…but not very hard.

 

The Yanmar dealer was disaster zone – the counter was covered in engine manuals, wiring harnesses, trays of nuts and bolts, filters, engine paint, invoices, empty boxes, and god knows what else lurked beneath the heaping piles. The couple running it were cute and friendly and had been there a very, very long time. The main stockroom was in the back, and we didn’t go back there but I can imagine what it was like. But of course they had exactly what Ben needed in their piles of treasures. We then walked to the marine store (and ran into Wayne and Gwen there) then the nearby hardware store. There happened to be a McDonald’s nearby and we had all skipped lunch so against our better judgement we stopped for a little snack.

 

During the dinghy ride back we stopped to take a photo of a vessel that could best be described as “unkempt”. There was junk all over it, ripped tarps, stuff hanging off the sides. Other stuff was strapped to every strappable surface. I didn’t even have to go into the boat to know exactly what it smelled like down below. We got close enough for a photo, but not too close. I believe that was the only wreck of a vessel in that whole harbour, as there were hundreds of other boats there, maybe thousands, and some real beauties.

I just slunk around the boat for the rest of the day, worked placidly and unfocused on a few issues, not feeling my regular self without my girl. But she was on the way, rocking the US Interstates and she finally arrived around 6:30. I was happy to have her back.

We loaded her luggage and gear onto the boat then went back out to run some errands - get propane (which didn't work out as the True Value hardware store's propane pump was down and the guy working the gas station across the street wouldn't do it for me either as he was working solo) and groceries (which did work out but the store we went to called Giant was overpriced and the self checkout machine berated us and left us feeling unwanted and low).

Once back at the boat I made us dinner while Ana put away all the stuff and told me about her trip home. The kids are doing an incredible job of taking care of our house, are getting along well, and are both focused on their jobs and school. Her parents are the same - which is good, and she caught up with a few friends while she was there.

She will be back again for a Christmas visit in about six weeks, but between then and now we have a job to do - get SeaLight to Fort Lauderdale.