Day 5 - Enjoying Peninsula State Park
Captain wasn’t rising early today, so I was pretty sure when I awoke at 7 that we weren’t headed far today. As I took Kona to shore I could see Bellefonte just getting ready to pull anchor to head back to their home port. I quickly grabbed a mug left on our boat and took it over and said goodbye. Turns out they left two more things aboard I didn’t know about, so we will just have to adjust our sails sometime this season to see them again!
At Horseshoe Island there is a little wall that small craft can tie up to and I like to take Kona there so I don’t have to beach it and get my feet wet. As we came to shore there was a family of geese with their young and Kona gave the flock a run, as in her nature. It was such a joy for me to watch the babies run with their arms up to the water while their parents honked and make a huge ruckus. All the squeaky toys! I was pretty confident Kona would not catch nor harm them, so it was all good fun. I enjoyed some quiet time on shore doing my Duolingo and letting Kona just have her smells.
I made breakfast burritos and finally got Captain awake! The smell of my bacon filled the anchorage and when I went up deck to enjoy the folks aboard the 53’ sailboat hailed us and we started chatting. Captain and I went over after breakfast and met with them and got to see their one-of-a-kind sailboat. Very cool folks who are also from the Madison area. Very likely to cross their paths again and hopefully see SongTao again.
We then took Kona back to shore and let her swim some more. She, like us, is showing signs of not being in shape. Slowing down faster, not likely the rocky beaches.
And then we both felt the need for a nap so we did that. Around 1 we hauled anchor and took the short motor across the way to drop the hook in Nicolet Bay. The wind is to shift to the south. The really nice part of this part of the peninsula is we have great protection from just about any wind within this short distance. We can hold here as long as we like and that’s just what we are going to do. The wind is going to be a bit Monday and Tuesday, so we get to enjoy the state park mid-week when it’s not busy.
We went to shore and took Kona for a walk. Captain had never seen the outdoor theater that was right here so we headed that way. Shows don’t start until June 11, so no show for us this week. We continued the walk all the way to Tennison Bay and back to the lighthouse. The forest was in full bloom. You could smell the cedar burning from nearby campsites. The lilac scents mixed with fields of little blue flowers. I had stopped to take a picture and some bicyclists came by. I said something like “I had to stop and capture this Monet painting.” And they responded, “yeah, that is just what it looks like!” What a beautiful day.
As we got back to our dinghy, we saw a man in a dry suit coming up the boat launch from his small aluminum day craft. Captain asked how the diving was and he was caught off caught not expecting anyone to start a chat with him. He also was half deaf because he was 80 years old! Tim was his name and what a joy to meet! He started chatting with us about how lucky he was to be able to dive and take pictures at his age. How he can’t believe he has had the ability to enjoy 28 years of retirement. He apologized for going on and on and we told him he was an absolute inspiration and he was overjoyed to have some company to talk to for a few moments. We pointed out our boat and he knew we very much understood where he was coming from. Absolutely enjoying what life we have to live!
Captain made dinner after our 5K walk. Kielbasa and some of our oldest freeze-dried items, some roasted red potatoes from two years ago. They tasted just fine! There was a strong forecast for Auroras, but we were tired. So, we, you guessed it…took a nap. Which is silly. We are both just trying to figure out the V-Berth. It is so incredibly comfortable and sleeping in there is like being wrapped in a cocoon. It is very tempting. I’m sure we will get into the routine of this. Our bodies are tired and she welcomes our rest. We awoke after 9 so I missed taps. I feel like we have all this stuff we are supposed to be doing. There is no supposed, just be. It will all come. Bert did text me this morning asking for the music for Taps and Last Post. He is bringing his cornet next month. I sent him a beginner’s version of Taps as his range is not there yet for only playing one month. I am touched he is doing this on his own this summer. We chatted on the phone with Evelyn and hope they will take the invite and come sail with us a few days. They need a break from college/working life!
The Auroras didn’t come out to play as hoped. I continue my hunt. We headed the call of the V-Berth once again and had no issues falling asleep.
Bonus today: I forgot to mention we broke out the homemade Bloody Mary mix we freeze dried. OMG, this worked out very well! Two spoonful’s per serving. No need to keep chilled mix. We made it extra spicy!
Freeze Dried Homemade Bloody Mary Mix!
