We got up had breakfast and got underway. At least that was the plan. We got up, and tried to get underway, but the dock line that we were tied to the mooring ball with, had gotten tangled and did not want to let go. Normally, I deal with the anchor, and Reneé steers the boat, when we tie to a mooring ball, typically we swap places and she deals with the mooring ball. Well she could not get the knot undone, so I went up to the bow and she took the wheel. We moved the boat up a bit to take some of the tension off the knot and then I could drag the float up out of the water and work on the knot. A few minutes later we were underway, about 9 am.
We motored across as there was virtually no wind. Which was true until we got to the channel of the marina and suddenly the winds were up to 18 knots. Ok, we got this…..
We head in and have to turn to port down a channel to get to the dock that we have a slip on. A first glimpse, there is no one in it. As soon as we commit to the turn though, a very large power boat (80 foot?) turns into the same channel from the other end. So, we back out of his way, (remember the winds at 18 knots?) we manage to avoid hitting anyone here. After he gets around the corner we head back in to our slip on Dock 3 A14.
Well, we thought the A side was the far side and we overshot the fairway to our slip and had to turn around, by this time the winds were up to about 20 knots. We started down the correct fairway and only bumped one other boat as we backed into our slip. That was rough, but the only damage to either boat was a broken fishing pole holder on our boat. (West Marine $70/pair).
We got shore power on and Reneé headed off to the laundry and I went and checked us in. Then went to talk to the people on the boat that we hit. A very pleasant conversation, maybe not required but certainly made me feel better checking in with them. They double checked for damage and let me know the next day that all was ok.
That was enough for one day, and we really didn’t do anything else.
