Day 29 - A great sail and night light show
Yep, glad I slept with my rain coat ready. Somewhere in the middle of the night it started raining again. Nevertheless, I was first to rise in the morning. I took Kona to shore all by myself. I always feel a little proud when I go by myself and captain the dinghy to shore and back. Kona enjoyed her time with me and she enjoyed her breakfast while I wrote my log.
Everyone else was up and about around 9am I believe. We were all ready to weigh the anchor and get away from the biting flies. Cory and Bert hauled while I did all the captain work. It was a lot easier as Captain helped me with the mainsheet and work around the cockpit. We had a very gentle downwind (my least favorite point of sail) sail to get out of the anchorage and away from the shoals that surrounded the island. We were moving around 3 knots with the wind so it felt like we weren’t moving at all. I had to look at my speed gauge to verify! Once we cleared the shoals we jibbed into a beam reach. Ciara came alive at the wheel. There was no wave action and Ciara just heeled over and went. Captain adjusted the sail and we enjoyed our best sail of the year yet. I hit 7 knots and almost got the rail in the water. I also sailed 100% until we got to our new anchorage. There were a lot of boats and kayaks around. I also went up deck to help the crew drop anchor.
We were a little shocked to turn into Nicolet Bay and see many boats here. We even asked ourselves if it was a weekend. Being a holiday week must be the reason. After almost 5 weeks out we found ourselves surrounded by people again. It was nice with the sounds of kids playing on the beach and all the others enjoying their boats. No one was drunk or obnoxious! We used to come here maybe twice a year as the bay is just a bit far for our weekends when Captain worked. Now in a month, this is our 3rd time here! It has been nice to explore our own waters more this summer.
Cory wanted quesadillas for lunch and made those for us. Captain and I threw ball for Kona for a good long while. Captain threw the ball well over near another boat full of kids who just thought it was grand to watch Kona.
After lunch we took to shore for a walk. We decided to check out the lighthouse here since the kids haven’t been for a while. Captain had no memories of actually seeing the inside of this one so we took the self-guided tour. We passed on information about the Chamber’s Island lighthouse to the volunteers here as they were wanting to know the scoop. (Chamber’s Island is a very hard to access lighthouse so people don’t get out here often to see what changes have been going on).
While finishing our tour a gentleman came in wearing his bearded dragon “Splat” on his shoulder. I’m not usually one to go soft eyed for a reptile but this girl was really cute and so calm. He said he takes her everywhere and she just chills. Cory got to hold Splat while we all chatted.
We walked back to the beach and I bought the kids some ice cream at the concessions store. Not hand dipped as they had hoped but they ate their pre-packaged sundaes with no complaints. Captain had sit outside to watch Kona and when we got back, he was asleep on the bench! We returned to Ciara after ice cream and we all took a little siesta. Captain is confused to why he is so tired and I explained it was probably one or two things. One, the heat. Two, the adjustment to having more crew and not quite sure what to do with our downtime. At least, for me, that is the case. Despite what it may appear, I feel I don’t spend my time engaging in things as much as I’d like and default to mindless internet scrolling if I can or napping.
The afternoon quickly turned into early evening. We made Japanese curry with chicken and potatoes. I thought I would eat a ton but ended up eating just a little despite how good it was. Not sure if the heat is taking my appetite down too. While I did dishes Bert practiced some cornet and Cory tried learning a little. The skies had turned very ominous at this time and we watched as the purples and pinks gave way to dark greys and lightening. The storm ended up just missing us and we had a remarkable sky show only.
Tonight, I played Last Post, followed by a moment of silence and then Taps. I mentioned there were lots of boats around, and the campsites surrounding this anchorage is full. I received a lot of applause and “encore!” from the shore. Never quite sure how to respond I just gave a wave, grateful it is well received.
We all went to shore for Kona’s last walk. The Grand Banks boat that is anchored next to us came outside to say thank you for the Taps and asked what the names were of the two things I played as he wasn’t sure if it was Taps or Reveille! I told him I could play revile for him if he wants tomorrow morning, but people don’t really like it as much as Taps! Hahaha.
The path we walked Kona on was super dark. Kona was acting all crazy and paranoid at one point. I even chastised her a bit as she skittered around for no apparent reason only to see a large ground rodent (we couldn’t see if it was a skunk, or marmot, or what?) walked right behind us. Note to self, a dark walk for us is a walk where Kona can see all the eyes looking at her from the woods!
We sat at the beach for awhile all taking photos of the storm to the north west of us. I managed to capture at least one lighting bolt so that was fun.
Back safely on Ciara we decided to not sleep with the hatches open as the last two nights I have had to make haste out of a deep sleep to shut it all down. Weather forecasts have NOT been accurate. It is frustrating me to no end. Lights were out around 10pm. Seems early to me, especially with the naps. Perhaps that is why I am the only one up at 7am typing my log and taking care of Kona each morning. I enjoy this time.
