No sea, only sky

Listening to "Farther On Down The Road" by Taj Mahal

It's interesting getting a taste of what it will be like to live at anchor.  We left the marina in Oriental ten days ago and have been having a lovely time sailing and testing out various systems, however, we do not have our extra solar panels, the shore power cords, or the wind generators operational.  This means that we have been relying on the panels on the hard top, which are often shaded by the boom, and infrequent injections of power from the engine.  Most of the time we simply try to conserve power and direct usage where it is most needed.  Computer charging does not fall very high on this list.  

Today, however, has been lovely.  Sunny, crisp but mild, and a blazing sun that has allowed our little solar panels to shine...or rather soak up the shine.  My computer is humming happily and I'm eager to see what the world has been up to in our absence.

I had the most wonderful time while anchored in West Bay.  In general I greatly prefer to live at anchor as opposed to docked in a marina.  There is this connection with your surroundings that is somewhat lost once the boat is hobbled to a dock...she can't move freely and the natural rhythm is somewhat stifled.  It helped that we woke up to the most magical sight.  Calm waters that reflected the sky perfectly, and with a fog that obscured the land and made both Drake and I feel as though Paragon was floating on a cloud.  I cannot explain the wonder of our surroundings that morning as I looked in all directions and saw,  not water, but sky.  Sky everywhere!

It was as though we were anchored in the sky

The fog obscured the land and created this magical illusion

The days in West Bay also gave us a bit of time to decompress and change our tempo.  We were able to step back and spend some time together before heading on to Ocracoke.  

Sunrise on the morning we left West Bay for Ocracoke

May I just take this moment to say how very much I adore Ocracoke.  I have wanted to come here ever since I can remember, though for some reason or another we never made the trip.  Now that we are here it is everything I thought it could be and more.  I think the fact that it is the off season has even made it better.  Many businesses are closed, but those that are open are both glad to see you and have the time to step back and have a chat.  The whole village has a relaxed and sleepy atmosphere that is, I'm sure, quite different from the mad house it turns into during the summer tourist season.

Our arrival by sailboat has raised several eyebrows since January is not usually a popular month to hop in a boat and head out to the outer banks for a visit.  In fact, we were stopped the other day by a delightful gentleman, Rob,  who zipped through town in the vehicle of choice, a golf cart, and told us he wrote The Shipping News for the Ocracoke Current.  As he put it, he wrote about interesting people passing through, and just the fact that we were here in January must make us interesting.  You can read the article here: http://www.ocracokecurrent.com/53865

Now Drake and I have spent the days working on Paragon and exploring the island.  We walked up to the Ocracoke Lighthouse, visited the British Cemetery, purchased some cards at Books To Be Red, walked along the Springer's Point Preserve nature trail, and enjoyed a lovely meal at the Topless Oyster Restaurant.  I look forward to checking out more of this lovely island…

Anchored in Silver Lake on Ocracoke Island

The Ocracoke Lighthouse

Walking on the nature trail.  It's nice to be surrounded by such greenery

Dinner and drinks at The Topless Oyster Restaurant

Oysters Rockefeller and some Guinness while waiting for dinner

Like a phoenix rising

Listening to "Swallowed In The Sea" by Coldplay

I sit here, in our slip in the marina, bathed in a new calm and with a smile lingering in the corner of my lips.  After four long months on the hard, plus the year before that filled with countless tasks, Paragon has become a sailboat once again.  

A SAILBOAT!  THAT SAILS!

A most beautiful, and long awaited, sight

Going back into the water made me breathless.  There were honestly times while we were living on the hard that I felt there was no way we were EVER going to finish the list that allowed us to get back into the water, and that my sanity was going to be one of the casualties of this whole process.  It was the combination of the million little inconveniences that made it unbearable.  Perhaps if you have to deal with just one (no toilets, living in a work zone covered in fiberglass and toxic grot, twenty foot ladder, insane summer heat, etc) then it would be possible to tackle this task cheerfully, but with it all piled together I felt such despair of ever finishing.  

Now, however, I can once again see that illusive light at the end of the tunnel.  Drake and I spent a couple of days in a slip at the Sailcraft Boatyard while Mark the rigger installed our new staysail and we worked on stowing and cleaning the disaster that Paragon had become.  It's amazing how much you accumulate if you remain the slightest bit sedentary, and accumulate we did.  It took us almost three full days, and many trips to the local consignment store, to whip the boat back into sailing shape, or rather close to sailing shape.   We were not ready for an offshore passage, but a four day sail around the Neuse River was just what the doctor ordered.

The morning of the day we left was spent gathering laundry, stowing the bikes, and a quick trip to the local Town & Country grocery store for some provisioning.  Oh yes, and a jaunt up the mast. 

Even though we still did not have the mainsail on, we needed to attach the topping lift which meant Drake was going to get a chance to test out those new mast steps as I belayed from below.  Besides one step that is rather awkwardly placed (a shroud crosses in an inopportune place) everything held and, I heard, the view was spectacular from such a height.  In hindsight I should have given him a camera to take to the top, eh?

 It was early afternoon by the time we were finally ready to go, but a quick check of the tide table brought us back to a rather somber reality.  We were on a rising tide just past low tide, and with all of the shoaling left over from Hurricane Irene it meant that getting out of the creek with our almost six foot draft could be tricky if not done at the optimal time.

We both sat down with disappointment and decided to get up early the next morning and take off with the high tide and calm early morning conditions.  An hour went by, then two, when Drake suddenly jumped up and said we were leaving.  Even if we ran aground we were on a rising tide and that could only work in our favour.  

He turned on the engine (started on the first try!), friends helped with lines, and we were off.  For the first time in almost two years Paragon was going out to sail and anchor.   We actually did end up running aground (sorry my beautiful bottom paint), but Drake was motoring at such a slow pace that he quickly ungrounded us and we continued our journey.  

serious

not so serious and glad to be out of the channel

We ended up spending four beautiful days and three nights in a lovely anchorage called South River.  We raised anchor the second day to go sailing, but returned to the same lovely spot that evening to enjoy the solitude.  

first time out at anchor in over two years

our first sunset could not have been more beautiful

We knew that a storm was rolling in, and we could have cut our trip short by a day, but instead decided to stay in our anchorage and weather the rain for the third and fourth day.  The time before the nor'easter hit was truly the calm before the storm, but winds quickly picked up to 20-25 knots with gusts up to thirty and remained through the night and next day.  

this storm blew across in no time at all

I can't begin to explain how absolutely cozy this time was with the storm raging outside, but the two of us snuggled inside a warm cabin while munching on popcorn and watching movies.  The anchor held, the rig held, and it made all of this work so, so worth it.  It also gave me a renewed sense of purpose.  This is what it is all about.  The sweat, the frayed nerves, the worrying, and the work all fade as you get out on the water headed to the next anchorage.  I cannot wait for the next voyage.  I cannot wait...