Becoming a Realist

For us, this has become one of those seasons many cruisers talk about where more time is spent on the hook than sailing.  Since arriving in the Bahamas,  we not only spent less time sailing but we spent more time on a mooring ball than swinging on an anchor.  It wasn't what we planned but between things breaking, going home, and challenging weather we were happy to be hanging on a ball with no worries.

Admittedly, this year's sailing season hasn't turned out exactly as we invisioned but that's not to say it was bad.  In fact, it was GREAT!  If nothing else, it's given us a good idea of what needs to be done when we do this again next year.  It's also given us a chance to get involved in the community and do things we wouldn't normally do and I, for one,  needed that.

Of course, in saying this, I am not including the long trek from Ontario to the Bahamas.  We had plenty of travel days doing that and by the time we got here we were more than ready for a rest!  Perhaps this was the universe trying to tell us it was time to slow down.  Adjusting our plans as we go seems to be this year's theme and this simple attitude appears to work for us.

In the words of William A. Ward:

"A pessimist complains about the wind;
An optimist expects it to change;
A realist adjusts the sails."

I guess we've become realists.

And this brings me to our latest issue.....our main halyard doesn't want to go up or down.   After much discussion and diagnosing it appears we have something broken inside the mast preventing the halyard from running freely.  What does this mean?   It means we are down to sailing with our head sail only.  (All part of the adventure).  *eyeroll*  No problem, Folly sails well under jib alone....just not very fast.

So, the "to do" list, for when we get to Florida, is getting longer and the bank account is getting smaller but we are still out here having fun and that's the main thing.

Our sailing season isn't over by the way; we still have plenty of things we want to see and do when we get to the Abacos.  Today we are staging near Egg Island to cross Northeast Providence Channel tomorrow....about a 50-mile hike across open ocean but...

More about that next time.

Part of the diagnosing process included checking the halyard at the top of the mast.  Thankfully our brave friend Pat offered to go up and do that for us.