Daily Archives: November 23, 2012

As always, by the time Jack and I crawled out from under the covers Snow White was already gone. We took our time getting our act together given that we only had about 22 miles to go and life would be so much more pleasant once the sun warmed us up a little. Jack suggested we raise the main at anchor to allay my fears that we might not have it furled properly and to check the wayward number four batten pocket. It was nearly dead calm so we hoisted the main and refurled it, which straightened out the wrap on the mandrel and reassured me that all was well with the sail. Except sure enough, that number four batten pocket is way crooked and there’s no way a batten wouldn’t get broken when forced to wrap around the mandrel. I can’t believe no one ever noticed this. We’ll give the original sailmaker a call when we get to his neck of the woods. In the meantime, we go without number four.

We weighed anchor and left Oriental, a moment that was preserved forever by the anchorage webcam.

It was warm enough to roll up the center window for a while and we had an uneventful run down to Moorhead City, accompanied for a few minutes by a couple of dolphins.

We took the easy way out and tied up to the Sanitary Seafood Company dock for $25, then took a turn around town, stopping for coffee and a pastry at a cute little shop that also had this for sale:

Cute joke? Or bad spelling. You decide.

We caught the last few thin rays of sunshine before we had to retreat inside from the rising damp.

Thursday morning was another chilly day, but with a little sun and that makes all the difference. We started the day at the Bean, which was as crowded as we’ve ever seen it, even including when we were here in the summer.

We parked ourselves at a table and settled in for the long haul. I made periodic trips across the street to feed a washer and dryer, hoping to improve the aroma in EV from being cooped up in a damp boat in the same clothes for weeks on end.

When the Bean closed its doors at noon we were forced to head back to the boat. I hung the still-damp clothing in the cockpit and Jack end-for-ended the jib sheet and taped a few stray meat hooks on the boom vang. We both worked on cleaning the vinyl windows in the cockpit enclosure in preparation for a morning departure.

We picked up Alan from Snow White and dinghied ashore to the Toucan Grill a little ahead of our reservation time and they were able to seat us right away. We were surprised at how many people apparently don’t cook at home on Thanksgiving and grateful to have this alternative to our traditional family gathering. Jack and Alan gave the turkey and prime rib two thumbs up and the sides were plentiful and varied.

We were glad we’d gone early and had a lovely evening ride back to our boats.

We topped off the day with one of those family phone calls where we get passed around the dinner table from person to person. We’d hoped to FaceTime and actually see each other but unfortunately we couldn’t make the connection. It was great to be able to chat a little with everyone though, and between the blog and Facebook we feel very much in touch with most of our family. Still, we can see that holidays are going to be a little different for the foreseeable future.