Our Passage to Charleston

Day 18, 19 (Wed, Thurs Nov 30, Dec 1): We left Cape Fear early for our passage to Charleston. My first overnight out at sea.  I am anxious. Talking to Al helped. We listed to the weather. Not perfect but doable. So provisions in place, things stowed and Dobbie ready, we made our departure from Deep Point. It was blustery heading out. Gaia is an amazing boat. She performed so well. It was beautiful exiting. Whitecaps and sun. Being out with more space and far fewer distractions than the constant vigilance required in the ICW, provided the perfect opportunity for me to reflect. This is what I had wanted to do. Topics that consumed my thoughts: health, the future and what makes me/us happy.

Health: An unusual transformation has started to happen. I hoped it would and sure enough. Patrick and I have both lost weight. While we are still eating well, somehow just being outside, physical activity and away from something that consumes our lives when we are in “typical” mode, has occurred. It really feels like we do ourselves disservice by the things we interject into our lives when we are in houses, watching TV, commuting to work and living our hectic lives. That has vanished for us. And the physical transformation has started. We have lost weight, skin has cleared up, my sinuses are sooo much better and I am way stronger. I can pull the dinghy up, motor side on my own and  not even get out of breath. Shera!

The Future: No major revelations here. It still feels comforting to think about things in the “let’s not make plans” category. It feels like mental healing may take longer than physical. I have been through some pretty serious change in my life before (death of my parents when I was young and my divorce) so I know how it goes. Give yourself time and think of yourself as an outside person that you have to care for and be compassionate with yourself above all else. I know the routine. I will find my inner strength again. I am so grateful that Patrick understands. He is very kind and gets what I need to do to get myself back. One of the big reasons we are undertaking this journey.

What makes “us” happy: This is a tougher one. Me, just being on the water and the further south we get the better. Just the views, the smells and a feeling about our southern ocean makes me smile. It must be related to the first few times I visited Florida. Whatever, I am truly happy as we move southward. Inside happy where you tummy feels good. Patrick, not so sure. I think adventure, travel and meeting people makes him his best. So, extrapolating out…happy too. Dobbie, seems to be happy. He has his routine now: get us up early, check the engine room, go upstairs to the cockpit and check things out, wait for daybreak and then nap all day. He is honestly doing very well. I was worried that we might have to leave him at Rosie’s too if he was not happy but he is a true “boat cat.”  More on this topic as we all progress.

And for the first night out at sea… well this was a rough one. The weather turned a bit and the waves were a bit more than predicted. A bit scary. Patrick has an amazing talent to push through the rough times. Good thing because I am a wimp. He handles Gaia so well. We will be fine. We sailed with just a bit of Genoa out and we were cruising. Actually had to slow the engine down to accommodate for the amazing time we made. It was dark when we arrived outside of Charleston. And as we got closer, the waves and wind of course got much worse. This was the part that scared me the most. We were tossed around like crazy. Waiting for dawn to enter the inlet. Uggh. This was not pleasant. Finally, we decided to head in. A good decision in retrospect because the weather continued to get icky. And, the way in to Charleston takes quite a while anyway. By the time we hit the entrance to the breakers, it was dawn. Still being tossed around quite a bit, we made our way in. Once well inside, it calmed down. Dawn broke fully and it was a very nice day. We were all exhausted, as we pulled up to the “Mega Dock.” We got Gaia tucked into her stall and then all went to sleep until late afternoon. Oh, and one of the best parts, my burger at Moe’s once we woke up. Granted I have not eaten beef for probably 10 years but while we were out, I had a craving. If you are ever in Charleston and want the ultimate burger, Moe’s can’t be beat.