Mobile (And Holding Still)
Making it to Mobile felt like successfully climbing Mt. Everest, and now that we had arrived it was time to tackle the huge list of projects that had built up over the last two months. I had to remind myself to be grateful for all the wonderful features of our boat that we are lucky to have and to be happy to be fixing them. In typical boat fashion, it seemed like for every project that was finished, something else took its place to be repaired. WOO.
Our first day, Emily and I spent all our energy on scrubbing the ridiculous amount of mold that had covered any slightly enclosed space in the boat. Condensation is not our friend. By the end of the day, there was still more to go but we felt safer breathing. The next day, I drove Emily to the airport so she could go home for a few days and visit a potential grad school, and though now alone, I kept on plugging away.
The long list of projects included retightening the packing gland (again- I’ve got it down to 3.5 hours now), drying and re-bedding the chainplates, gluing the table back together, wiring our cooler (finally), sealing up some leaky spots on the toe rail that wasn’t repaired, rigging the mast, attempting to fix our stereo (no luck), replacing our anchor light with an LED, continuing to remove mold from our boat, and other miscellaneous tasks. Needless to say, I was kept quite busy every day. On top of the existing list, I discovered a leak in the cap of our holding tank. I was privileged to clean up leaked s*** water, the lid, and our stinky clothes drawers. With the cap re-sealed tightly, our boat conveniently smells a lot better now. During the week, the fresh water pump also decided to take a crap (again), and after much frustration and the help of our friend Todd, it was coaxed back to life (for the time being).
I spent a lot of time working on the boat, but I also got to enjoy the company of fellow travelers. Upon arriving we were welcomed with a shrimp boil organized by the one and only captain Mike. A shrimp boat docks in the same harbor and sells their fresh catch for $4/ lb, so we enjoyed spending time with friends and an amazing dinner. The following evening, we helped Mike hoist his motorcycle onto his boat so he could depart. In a very “here, hold my beer” esque fashion, the yellow motorcycle safely floated onto his deck. Later in the week, Dan and Donna of Syzygy and I went to tour the Christmas lights of Bellingrath gardens, an antebellum estate and a very beautiful evening. The week was capped with a Christmas boat parade- boats passing through the harbor covered in lights and playing Christmas music, with their crews singing and dancing and tossing beads and candy to onlookers. I spent many evenings at potlucks and dinners; the cruising community is extremely friendly and generous and is a wonderful group of people that I’m glad to know.
With Emily’s return, we prepared to have our mast stepped on the last warm day of the week. With no problems, our boat returned to being a proper vessel, sitting on her water lines correctly and now feeling complete. I looked at Elpis with pride; every project wasn’t done (and never will be), but a lot of hard work went into getting her to this point. She seemed anxious to leave the dock and embark on our next adventures, and I was finally able to take a deep breath and relax. However, it wasn’t time to leave yet. We had planned to depart as soon as the mast was up, but a massive cold front loomed and discouraged any form of travel. We, and everyone we knew in the region, sat tight for four more days as we were pounded by rain and freezing temperatures. The climax of the storm resulted in an outrageous half inch of snow, and I walked around in a blizzard trying to comprehend the combination of palm trees and snowflakes. We used the time to huddle around our space heater while I practiced Christmas music on the piano, now feeling extremely appropriate.
A day finally dawned with sunshine, and though frost still coated the deck we untied the lines and excitedly left Mobile- Florida here we come!
Shrimp boil!
Motorcycles really do fly
Thank goodness for epoxy
A groovy workspace
The greatest accomplishment of the week- everyone should go sit at a table and appreciate how nice it is to have one. Ours was inoperable for 2 months
Finally with a mast again :)
SURPRISE SNOW HAHAHA
This shouldn't be real
Very difficult to get on/off the boat, thanks snow
