LindaJean: Did I ever tell you how much I hate the wind?

October 6, 2016

Raleigh

A few of you have called or written, wanting to know how Hurricane Matthew is effecting us and if we are okay. We are absolutely fine, safe in Raleigh with my nephew and family.

We headed to the boat, 3 hours away, to do the much needed work and to prepare it for Hurricane Matthew. We received an email from the marina that boaters needed to secure their boats, so if we had not already been here we would have flown down to take care of our boat.

We are watching the weather very carefully and staying here until it is fun to travel, not just safe but fun. I wonder what the East Coast will look like as we travel south on the waterway. My heart goes out to the people in Haiti and the East Coast. I just read that the storm is suppose to effect Lake Okeechobee.

We worked for a couple of days getting ready to launch the boat so we could get back to Raleigh and wait out the storm. We met other boaters that were also getting their boats ready for the hurricane and at the same time preparing to launch their boat for winter cruising. One family of five from Canada lives on their boat full time and each year spend the winter in the Bahamas. I told the woman that depending on the winner of the election in November we might also move to Canada.

Staying on the boat while it is on the hard is not really fun, it is like tenting in the air, no bathroom, no way to do dishes and if you haven’t found the flatware yet there isn’t anything to eat with. We had one of those great chickens from the food store that they cook on the rotisserie, I love that chicken although they are probably highly processed.

Remember when you were camping and had to get out of your sleeping bag, crawl out of the tent, out into the woods and reverse that to go back to bed? Now think about climbing down a ladder to do the same thing only walk to the bathroom as well. Oh the convenience of living in a house.

Word to the packer. Write two lists about bringing clothes on a trip and don’t be influenced by the weather of the day. Write one list in the winter and one in the summer so that you have clothes for any weather. I would pack my clothes on a hot day and the next cold day I would make significant changes to the clothes I had already packed.

I have learned so much in just over a year. I can’t imagine how much the long term boaters know!