Day 49 - 57 (Fri, Dec 30 – Sat, Jan 7, 2012): Seems like a lifetime ago. Two months! Odd how time flies yet, it also feels to creep along. I have had so many thoughts, so many revelations about myself, friends, our little family of 3 on Gaia and the future. Anyway, on to the remainder of our time at Cape Marina... We continued to meet many new and exciting folks. We met Gui and Dava from Patrick’s previous life in aerospace. They sailed up to Cape Marina one day with an alternator issue. They stayed for a couple of days and we had time for Patrick to catch up on what the aerospace industry has been doing. It appears a major shift occurred in how funding is handled. Private sector for most with some key projects still sponsored by NASA. At least, that was what I heard in the conversations. Then, there were the spirited dinner conversations with other folks from the dock. Subjects were out of my control, global warming, peak oil, and the list goes on. We had a very nice time and any contentious opinions never made it to the next morning. I love it when people can disagree but still remain friends.
On New Year’s Eve there was quite a commotion around 9pm. We were just getting ready for bed. We did our marina party the night before. There was a crash, followed by several other loud crunches. I stuck my head up to look around but did not see anything. Then, went out a few minutes later to take a shower. Ugh… what a sight. A fisherman had fallen asleep at the helm of his boat. His auto pilot brought him back to the dock and he plowed into 4 of the boats on the other side of our dock. He was a mess. Lucky to be alive. His boat came to rest speared on another boat’s bow sprit. The impact hit his head and he was in bad shape. They paramedics arrived quickly and several folks from the marina helped to get him off of his boat and on the dock. Really makes you think. I feel bad for the guy. His life will definitely change. 2012 will be quite different for him.
On to happier and more festive times… we had amazing sunsets, great meals and incredible conversations. We continued to make improvements to Gaia. A new AIS System that allows us to see/identify other ships as they pass…an awesome upgrade. We can see the size of vessel, the direction it is traveling and information about the cargo and ports it came from and where it is headed. We perfected our SSB (single side ban radio). Our connection to “Chris Parker” weather is much better than before. We also subscribed to his service so that we can get the weather forecasts via a webcast when we have internet access. And, I did some carpentry to update our nav station in the salon. I added a couple of shelves so that our monitor is stable in rough seas, more organization space for small office type things and hidden cords. Yea, hidden cords… I can’t tell you how much better it looks.
We made a couple of new friends that currently have their boat on the hard but have literally traveled everywhere in the Caribbean. Professor Jim first came and introduced himself when he saw DE as our home port. He worked at the University of DE as a metal arts professor. Then we found out the he had been a pilot for TWA. His adventures in the Caribbean were amazing. His cat Starboard looks very much like Dobbie. His fur is like petting a rabbit. It is so soft you can hardly feel it. Sad story... Starboard was the good kitty and the only one left, as his brother Port, jumped ship several years ago. Professor Jim commented on how long it took him to get over losing Port. Made me think once again about the safety measures we will need to have in place for Dobbie.
Lastly, we saw Gerry and I finally go to meet Lynn. Gerry looked great. He and Lynn arrived last Saturday with a couple of other Whitby owners. We had a very nice time. Went to lunch at Baha and then over to view several of the boats at the marina. It was good to see Gerry and I really enjoyed finally getting to meet Lynn. We had a great time and I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. At the end of the day, we did a beer run and had a final party with Mike and his crew. They are such good people. Will miss hanging out with them but on to more characters and adventures.
Tomorrow, our journey will resume.
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