Day 33 - A humble 4th of July
The town of Egg Harbor was still recovering from the night before and already bustling pretty early today as they have another full day of celebrations. I took Kona to shore by myself as the crew slept in. When I returned, we made bacon and eggs as we all were so excited to have fresh eggs aboard. The yolks were so orange and tasted amazing. We had to sail back to Cedar River today. We pick up our last crew member on Saturday and the winds for Saturday were less then desirable. Around 11am the anchor was back on her bow and I was steering us out into Green Bay. I am feeling more and more confident at doing this task and I am more then happy to let the kids or Captain take that weight off me, literally!
The winds in Egg Harbor always are a little tricky and today was a direct downwind sail. I gave up the helm pretty quickly as I had already jibbed once in under 3 minutes and that is not what I was up to. Downwind sails are very gentle as a passenger as you are with the wind and the waves are following, but as captain I find them to be the hardest as keeping the sails full is super hard and jibbing at speed or even broaching is not safe or good for the boat. Thankfully Captain is really good with feeling the wind and being an actual sailor and he enjoyed his sail time very much. We had to motor for a little in the middle of the bay as the wind died, but for the most part we were able to enjoy sailing. The heat picked up again today and worked the sail by keeping Kona cool and Captain hydrated. I only took two pictures today…our beautiful wing to wing sail, and Michelle’s beautiful eggs!
We got a pump out and topped off our diesel (only 6 gallons in two weeks!). Back at our dock none of us were in the mood to do chores. We have another day to do so. I sneaked some A/C in the boaters’ lounge before I took a shower. The heat had gotten to me. Captain went to be social.
We finally got around to having Taco Tuesday on a Friday. Just like clockwork we ran out of water. It is good to know we can pretty much accurately measure our water use. With a crew of 5 and an extra 10 gallons on board we can go just a little over a week. Our black tank is holding really well with conservation as well.
Captain and I spent the evening enjoying the cooler air on deck and listening to my current favorite band, OkGo. We had had a very uncomfortable talk with some boaters here in the marina. It involved a highly offensive and dangerous antisemitic slur being used in context, much like what our “leader” of our country did in another speech today as well. Two different slurs, same dangerous road. It put a real damper on a holiday that has been already hard. The reconciliation did not come today. I had hoped I would see a reason to celebrate. I honored what the American Dream was, I mourned where we are. I played Last Post and Taps at 9. The stillness and emptiness of the marina matched each somber note.
Tomorrow is a turn around day. It is forecasted to be hot. We have chores to do. We pick up Dani late in the evening down in Green Bay. If the weather holds, we will disembark Sunday and make way to the North Channel. I look forward to those waters in ways I can’t put into words right now. I need the earth to heal and guide me.
