Goodbye to Lahave!

This morning we weighed anchor (boat talk for raising the anchor) and boy was the chain muddy!

The charts did say it was a muddy bottom but this stuff was like black, sticky, thick paste. At least it held our boat for two nights!

We then motored our way up the mouth of the river where we docked at the Lahave Bakery for one last coffee and pastry.

We said our goodbyes to Kam Wong and promised to write and call regularly. It was nice that he was able to see the boat in the water this time, sail with us and even spend a night on board. I think he has a greater understanding of what the cruising life entails, the logistics and the intricacies of each day dictated by wind and weather.

Our destination was Brooklyn Municipal marina, just outside Liverpool.

It was a clear sunny day with short choppy waves. The wind was pretty much coming from straight ahead so we motored, sailed, then motor-sailed until we reached the marina. It took us nearly 6 hours in total.

Aila took an anti-seasick tablet (Steugeron) and was fine the entire trip. One of the side effects is drowsiness and she literally fell asleep in the cockpit hunched over like a beetle for an hour or so.

Tai and I suffered from the sea waves and although I thought I was going to be fine, seeing him be sick set me off.

Sorry, too much information?!

I'm still learning my triggers and what meds will work for me. But I will take drowsiness over nausea any day.

Luckily our last man standing has an iron gut and could safely oversee the autopilot and sail configurations without any problem. 

Docking was good, and we had the help of two people on the dock too. The kids are keen to get involved in the docking procedure so we are going to practice some line throwing tomorrow.

But for now a safe marina berth, a hot shower and a warm bed is what we need.

Matt: "Don't think I'll be making coffee with deionized water again anytime soon. Didn't go down so well despite the promise of reduced scale build up and prevention of internal corrosion."

Journal writing in the morning.

Hoisting the dinghy onto the davits.

Trying to get a good view of where the anchor chain is before bringing up
the anchor. That block with the anchor chain coming out of it is the windlass.
It is the mechanism that drops and lifts the chain and anchor.

Washing all the icky black mud off with our hose.

First leg of passage, kids doing fine as you can see.

Happiest at sea with salt spray and waves! 

Brooklyn Municipal Marina

At the Brooklyn Municipal Marina doing a word search.
There is a really cozy clubhouse for guests and members to use.