Changes

It was brutally hot for a few days last week. The kind of hot that makes you OOZE all day and into the night. Even the nights were too warm to enjoy sleeping.

All that passed into memory on Thursday when a fresh cool front pushed into the area bringing stiff winds out of the north. Finally we could be below working in the cabin without turning the sole into a salt slick from the sweat dripping off our feet. That meant we could reorganize the stores that Beth so carefully stowed last year.

She is cool and methodical, the perfect person to handle the task. With her still-short hair, it is harder for her to pull it out.

In no time, the stores were sorting themselves out. It was almost too easy.

Everything in its place etc. Hearing that all was going smoothly, Scout retired to the shade of the side deck to rest and reflect on the origins of the universe.

While we would all like to imagine only the romance of being under sail on an endless blue sea, living aboard has all the mundane components of living ashore as well, just a bit more challenging (fridge out again; the smell of diesel in our pasta). Stowing all of our food, galley ware, PFDs, clothes etc. is a lot like creating our own jigsaw puzzle. With the exception of the large space under our aft berth, the spaces where we store our gear is a collection of small spaces scattered throughout the boat, none large enough to hold all of any one thing, none as large as a small cooler, almost all compromised by a big hose or two. Nooks and crannies filled with some cans, some tools, books or maybe a game. [it's not as chaotic as it sounds, but it feels that way.] All of which we try to record so we can find it again. Hide and seek is fun too.

We have been savoring the cool evenings and good breezes that fill the cabin with dry air. It will not last long, but I am hoping for one more night.

The kids are in Asheville enjoying really cool weather as well as the grand finale of the Harry Potter film series. In Cameron's absence, I have been tending the crab pot. The first day I pulled it up to bait it, we had an entire family of flounders (five). Sadly, they were all too small to keep. As of yesterday, we had a half dozen crabs, a couple of which are huge. We'll eat them tomorrow.

When we get everyone back next week, the kids and I are going to paddle in the Dragon Boat Race. http://www.orientaldragonboat.com/odb/ Crews of 20 paddlers plus a drummer and steersman. Most of whom will have spent less than an hour in actual practice in a dragon boat. Sounds like a recipe for drowning to me. I am looking forward to getting wet.