We pulled into our slip on Friday morning, and at first I was so excited to be back. However it was admittedly strange… I couldn’t help feeling a little like an outsider. We’ve been away for so long, and we didn’t really see anyone all day, so it didn’t feel that much different than pulling into a transient slip. We had dinner at the clubhouse that evening and caught up with a few friends, and we ended up with an invitation to crew in the Commodores Cup, an annual HYC members-only regatta being held the next day.
Conditions were sporty for the Commodores Cup (we saw up to 33kts on the course) but Nepenthe ate it up. This race is a pursuit race, where the handicap is applied at the start – you’re assigned a start time based on your boat’s rating, with the slowest boat starting first and the fastest starting last. We took the lead at the windward mark and held it for the rest of the race. It was wet and windy, and a total blast. It ended up being the only racing we got in while we were here, so I’m even more grateful for the invite.
We didn’t go anywhere for the Fourth – there was no wind, and it was nice to stay put with all the boat traffic out there – but we made the most of the long weekend. I baked brownies, we did a couple small boat chores, took Williwaw out fishing, spent some time in the pool, and caught up with some friends. We also took Williwaw out to David’s Island to catch the fireworks and had a great view all up and down the Sound.
It’s been nice to get back to our morning walks around Glen Island. It’s our favorite of our morning walks – it’s both a gorgeous spot and a long enough walk to feel like you’re actually getting in a little exercise. We’ve had a ton of foggy mornings, and I’ve been loving it!
It wouldn’t be a stop in port, particularly in our home port, if we didn’t do a bunch of projects and chores, and we felt a little like pit crew racing to get things done. Windara was in need of a good, deep cleaning which I started as soon as we got into our slip. I steam cleaned some of the cushions, threw in some laundry, and gave the galley a good deep clean. We got measured for a new mainsail – originally we planned to get our current sail repaired, but between stitching that’s coming undone, a torn batten pocket, and a rip that I discovered up at the head of the sail, we decided it’s probably not worth sinking the money into it to get all those repairs given that the sail is approaching end of life anyway.
We got our car back up and running, which made errands a lot easier and even did some brick-and-mortar store shopping as an excuse to get out of the heat (I quickly remembered why online shopping is my friend). I’d hoped to be less busy with work so I could give Windara more love, but it didn’t work out that way.
We were supposed to head out on the 13th, but our mechanic made a mistake and didn’t schedule us until the week following. We could have cancelled our appointment, but we were due for our 4k hour service VERY soon and we needed an oil change and all that good stuff. Plus our generator needed some love – we keep chewing through belts and while we know why and how to fix it, it’s a pain in the rear that I’d rather let someone else deal with.
On the positive side, it gave us a little more time to take on some projects. We got Jack to the vet to have his nails clipped, did tons more laundry, ordered a few things we’d forgotten and ran more errands. On the downside, it’s been HOT this week – unmercifully hot. We have all the fans going (including the one big fan we never break out), but that doesn’t make up for it.
Our time at Huguenot was different this year. Because we were only here for such a short time, it was hard to not feel like a transient – really, that’s what we were. Of course, we know everyone so it’s not like we felt like strangers, but timing worked out such that our close friends weren’t around much – it was actually a pretty quiet couple of weeks at the club in general. Rushmore wasn’t racing while we were home, and I really missed getting to race (besides the Commodores Cup on Nepenthe) – I don’t think I realized just how much our social schedule centered on it.
Because cruisers are always on the go, when we get together it’s like summer camp – some people we know from last year (or last anchorage) and some people are total strangers… but for the next however many days we’re best friends and do EVERYTHING together… and then maybe never see each other again (although it’s such a small community that we usually do). So since we were only around for such a short time, it was hard not to carry that expectation into our time here, and obviously that’s not realistic. When you’re land-based, schedules and obligations look different – where cruisers’ lives are mostly dictated by wind and weather and plans are fluid, on land plans are made months in advance.
It was really bittersweet to make all our final preparations to go, and it felt weird to leave without really getting to say goodbye – or even in some cases, hello.
Why such a short visit this year? Back in Hope Town, we made the difficult decision to go ahead with Windara’s refit this winter, so we’ll be taking her up to Maine to get a couple quotes and choose a yard, then spend the winter up north. I’ll talk about all that in more detail a separate post. But we’re both excited to get to cruise Maine a bit, and we’re hoping in the spring we’re able to hop up to Canada before we come south and resume southern cruising the following year.
