My husband and I handled the boat ourselves, for the first time, about 3 weeks ago. He's done that before, with other guys helping and doing first mate things. This was my first time with just the two of us - hubby driving, and me running the lines. It's no small feat, for sure, and was fairly stressful. However, we did ok - no one was hurt and no crashes, so we were proud of ourselves. It was in pouring rain, which added to things, but all in all, it was good. Hubby would like to be doing Catalina trips by summer, but I think that may be a bit ambitious....we'll see how things progress as the season goes on. I'll really have to rearrange things, and strap things down before we take her out into open ocean.
Around 2 weeks ago, some dolphins came into the harbor and were hanging out a few feet off our stern. They came by, every morning for 5-6 days, which was pretty exciting. I was able to finally get them on video on one of the last days they cruised past.
We are getting to know our boat neighbors better, have had a few of them over for dinner, and we got to take an evening cruise on a sailboat. No one is an island out here, we all need each other's help on the water, and I appreciate all the help that has been given to us. Rides, tows, parts, engines, mechanical knowledge shared, help carrying things to and from, etc. It's a completely different way of life here, and we are thoroughly enjoying it.
The young family I mentioned in another post, has moved to our mooring field. My daughter is getting to know the younger kids, and walked to school with them, today. As summer gets closer, I hope they can start doing things together.
We've had a few days of rain, but besides that, the weather here is absolutely gorgeous. I visited our old town this last weekend, where it was 35F, at 10am, and came home to 80 degrees on the water, in January.
There's a local band we've come to love, because they just get it - the California living, the beach vibe, and I wanted to share one of their song's lyrics with you. There's so many of their lyrics that apply to our every day lives, and whenever my daughter asks me what the weather is going to be like that day, I always say "And tomorrow's gonna be the same!"
Beautiful, every day....
Sand in my sheets
Open my eyes to an early sunrise,
Clear blue skies, so it's time to check the tide
Grab my board, then I'm headed out the door,
If you need to find me, I'll be chilling at the shore.
Sand in my sheets, but I still fell asleep,
Dreaming about tonight, and a sunset on the beach,
I close my eyes, she's everything I see,
On the shoreline, just my girl and me.
Cruising along, listening to the stereo,
This has got to be the greatest feeling that I know,
Falling in love, falling for that special girl,
This has got to be the best feeling in the world
Sand in my sheets, but I still fell asleep
Dreaming about tonight, and a sunset on the beach,
I close my eyes, she's everything I see
On the shoreline, just my girl and me.
Well it makes no sense at all, how the living is so easy,
But parking is so hard in my own backyard,
And all bets are off if you're coming up from out of town,
Get your greeting with a beat down, beat down,
Lucky for me, when I wake in the dawn
Grab my ukulele and I step on the lawn,
Hurry it up till I'm down on the beach
Skip to my step with a reggae stylie and a
Pacific Ocean air, Catalina's coming in so clear,
And tomorrow's gonna be the same, yeah,
Tomorrow's gonna be the same.
Oh, tomorrow, tomorrow is another day
Well, today if you're waiting for something to change,
Tomorrow's gonna be the same, yeah
Tomorrow's gonna be the same
Sand in my sheets, but I still fell asleep,
Dreaming about tonight and the sunset on the beach
I close my eyes, she's everything I see,
On the shoreline, just my girl and me
The Wheeland Brothers
