Posted by Christie
We arrived at Henry and Joan's house in Clearwater at 9am. They are Southern Belle's previous owners and they graciously helped us to prepare for a successful launch. Sidenote to Henry and Joan: we'll try to take care of her as well as you did. Enjoy your mountain home!!
We pulled out at 10:30 with Dan at the helm. Weather was beautiful, sunny 68-72 and not too windy. Since the weather has been stinky of late, the nice day was greatly appreciated. We navigated on the outside of the coastal islands rather than through the intercoastal waterway because we had never been out there before. The waves were 2-4 feet with a long duration...kind of a good swell, not really steep waves. The Belle handled the waves well. Each of us took turns steering and looking at the cool navigation tools.
I'm happy to report that two dolphins played in our bow wave for a while, spinning and cavorting. I take that as a good omen. I'm ship's secretary so I started our Ship Log and I've decided that dolphin encounters will always be reported.
We had no problems with equipment, weather or navigation and arrived at the outer marker of Hudson Channel at 3:30pm. We docked safely at Port Hudson Marina in slip #9 approximately 35 minutes later. Docking a single screw boat with a lot of windage and mass is challenging. Kerm is anxious to hone his skills with this new craft.
In closing, I have to confess, Kerm and I are both a little overwhelmed. We've dreamed of this for a long time and now it's a little hard to believe it's really happening. Of course we're happy, but a little dazed, I guess. The next days will be spent getting acquainted with our new home...washing windows and learning the systems. We will probably stay at our apartment rather than on the boat for a while but I'm anxiuos to do an 'overnight'.
Signing off for now
c
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