A Mother’s Day to remember

Mother’s Day was a lovely affair! While we did tackle some chores (and I honestly was happy with that) the kids treated me to an amazing brunch, complete with mimosas and entertainment (Big Bang Theory). It was awesome!

Early afternoon we noticed some “excitement” near the docks. Long story short, a 31’ sailboat had broken free of its mooring and had run aground. Lots of folks were trying to tug it by hand, with a patrol boat, suggested tying it off to a vehicle on shore...those weren’t working. The tide was dropping and it was a negative tide. Frank headed over to ask the Skipper if he needed anything and as apparently the only other sailboat types around, offered some ideas. We ended up assembling our Fortress anchor (our spare storm anchor) and ran it out to keep the stern clear of the rocks. Frank was actually able to muscle the stern over a bit and I did donuts with the dinghy to try to wake the sailboat off the shoal. But...you can’t fight the tide! We encouraged the owners to head home, enjoy the day as much as they could, and let them know we would keep an eye on the boat/lines/anchors, and agreed we would all get back together when the tide was rising and hope to float her before sunset.

As sunset approached we took soundings with our handheld fathometer—their keel was on the absolute shallowest spot and the way the boat had been pulled earlier in the day was actually toward shallower water. But we were close and we knew the path to deep water! With the sun setting, the Skipper powered forward while his wife and Frank worked the anchor lines and I used the dinghy to push, first from the bow then on the hip...and she broke free! We quickly cleared the lines, and I grabbed the stern anchor line, and they were off to the dock! My job—retrieve the Fortress. It was TOUGH! Once they were docked, I grabbed Frank and headed back to our anchor. We drove over it, tugged, swung, pulled...nothing. We finally decided to just run the line to the dock and come back in the morning for a dive.

The next morning was nice and calm. The water was only about 5 feet deep so Frank held tension on the anchor chain while I dove (no tank, just skin diving) to dig out the anchor. It. Was. In. I dug with my feet, my hands...it was exhausting, but I finally found the flukes and cleared the top of them. Then I dug in and found the crossbar...after a few dives and a hearty pull, it was free! It probably took less than a half hour, but there was a bit there where I wasn’t sure if I could do it.

Happy to have our anchor back. Happy that our new friends’ boat is safe. Happy to be living this crazy, challenging life!

Happy diver with our recovered Fortress anchor!

A new MWR experience—Norfolk

A few days of smooth seas and peaceful anchorages near Solomon’s Island and Deltaville delivered us to Norfolk and yet another week in a marina. I know, we are really changing it up this year! 

Why Norfolk? It allowed us relatively easy access to public transportation so that we could continue to move our car south and the MWR marina at Naval Station Norfolk had a great reputation and great weekly rate. It was also close to family and friends. Hands down, this is the best MWR marina we’ve been to so far when considering amenities, condition of the docks, and staff. 

We didn’t really explore the sites of Norfolk (unless you count the paintball field and skate park), but we visited with local and NC friends, gave the topsides a coat of wax, and filled the bilge with food and drinks. I’d call that a good week. Oh, then the remnants of TS Eta hit and flooded everything. So much rain!

We would definitely hit this marina up again...maybe in the spring!

Lehe Paine gets interviewed by Poppin' Smoke!

I forget exactly how this came about, but I'm pretty sure Stephanie at Poppin' Smoke posted a question on her Facebook page asking about any regrets RVer's had after downsizing and hitting the road. I chimed in with my take on the shift to a sailboat and that piqued her interest! We did some remote interviews with her and the result was a 2-part interview! Poppin' Smoke is a great resource for military retirees to learn about using their travel benefits. It was fun to add "traveling via boat" to the list of topics. And Stephanie is a way better writer than I am. Check out her interviews with us here!

Part 1--Living on a Sailboat With Kids: This Family Loves Life on the Water

Part 2--This Full-Time Sailing Family is Making the Most of Their Kids' Pre-College Years

The end of our Maine cruising (for this year!)

We awoke to an outside temp of 39F the day we left Casco Bay—let’s get south!

At the start of our trip to Maine I never would have guessed that we’d be working to avoid impacts from a tropical weather system here, but it is 2020 and here we are! With unfavorable winds and big (15-20’) swells from Hurricane Teddy in the forecast, we opted to hang in Kittery for a few days. As a military retiree, we can sometimes tie up at base marinas and we lucked out at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. They have a “COVID Island” dock that lacks power or water, but it’s in a protected cove, it’s out of the strong river current, and at $20 a day it’s a steal. We can also walk to a nice commissary (grocery store) and fill water via jerry cans. And the bonus? Two of my MMA classmates have their boat there and rowed over to say hi within minutes of us tying up! We have quite a few friends in the area, but between COVID, weather, restaurant closures, and the fact that we have to get off base to hang out, we are keeping to ourselves for the most part. Walks around base, school work, and provisioning have kept us plenty busy! 

But alas, it’s time to go and we will head to Gloucester in the morning. We had a great time thanks to many friends who helped us and visited along the way, the friendly cruising families we met, and the awesome hospitality of the people of Maine. We will be back!

Time for a name change?

When I started this blog 11 years ago (to the day!) I’m not so sure I realized I would stick with it so long!  The reason I say this is that the subtitle is, “The story of a Navy family on a non-Navy boat.”  Even back then I knew that I would retire at some point, so why did I do that?  Who knows?!?!  Well, as of today we are no longer an active duty Navy family!  It’s my first official day of retirement (I’ve been on leave for a few months) so are we now an ex-Navy family?  The Captain said that we will always be a Navy family (it IS how we met), but for some reason reaching this milestone has given me pause and made me question it.

I actually realized while writing this that the blog started exactly 11 years ago.  I just think that’s such a coincidence as I never could have predicted my exact retirement date back then.  Anyway, it’s official!

The End

Yesterday I laced up my boots for the last time.  It was only a little emotional!  This has been the plan for so long that it just felt like any other change in job.  And Trent was with me to keep me distracted!

Today I start the next chapter, and so far it’s looking pretty good!