4/18/25 - Arrived. Quick Version.
7:03PM
Sentences too much for me. Bullet points good for now.
Summary:
· Made it from Southport to Charleston. Lots of feelings. No one experienced pure euphoria. Our experiences ranged from “good to fine.” Still all digging out of emotional hole and waiting for other shoe to drop. Bow thruster wasn’t working again but then decided to work later.
· We put up the sails as a family this morning. Awesome. Kids were dancing in cockpit. Both kids drove. Saw a gagillion jellyfish, several formations of stingrays and a sea turtle. Family favorite sailing shanty music playing. THAT is what we signed up for.
· For those playing the “what does it feel like after a brief overnight passage” at-home version, here are the physical feelings I, personally, felt about an hour after we docked (1:30ish) until about an hour ago (6:00ish):
The simultaneous hot/cold feelings that come with a sunburned, windblown face. I have a tight, warm, gritty, salty, sunblock-layered face. Delicious.
The blech achy feeling that comes with being sick (but I’m feeling better than I was a few days ago)
The jittery shaky restless feeling that comes from way too much caffeine.
Tight muscles that come from stress and sleeping on a too narrow couch in the saloon.
The exhausted glazed feeling that comes with not sleeping as much as you need to sleep.
The land feels like it’s moving due to moving so much on the water.
Emotions:
Tired.
Tired.
Tired.
(Thinking) Am I happy……….? Hmmm….how about happier than I have been.
Tired.
Relieved.
Nervous (about going again tomorrow)
Grateful.
Numb. (I know that “numb” and all of these other things together probably don’t make sense to you, but it makes complete sense to me so I’m going with it.)
Tired.
Curious – Are we going to get used to this passage thing? Other people do….?
Proud.
Tired.
Concerned about Steve who is carrying lion’s share of everything.
Disbelief that it is 7:30PM.
We went to a fun place for lunch. Actually, we went somewhere else first, saw the prices and promptly got up and discreetly asked the waitress for a more budget-friendly place. Classy. Ended up at Brown Dog Deli. Perfect place for us. Retro 1980s stuff on walls everywhere. Great food. Highly recommend.
I’m normalizing (as much as I do that) now. All of us are on boat. Everyone in own quiet spaces doing own things. Kids have showered. When we got back from lunch, Steve and I planned our next passage from Charleston to Fernandina Beach. We leave tomorrow morning.
After all of that, Steve is doing actual employment work. Sid and I finished unpacking our clothes from our St. Louis/Arkansas/St. Louis/Charleston trip. I transferred a large chunk of savings to pay for Zimmerman boatyard bill and paid the rest of the bills as well.
Now it’s time for me to shower. At some point we should do dinner….? But we had lunch at 3:45ish…? Who knows.
It’s Good Friday/Passover. I guess I’ll prep Easter baskets when I’m on watch…? Oy vey…