Day 216, Year 7: Windbird Back in Eel Pond
Date: Monday, June 11, 2012
Weather: Some Sun, Some Clouds; Temp mid-60’s F
Location: At Heather and Jed’s in E Falmouth, MA
Windbird is back in Woods Hole on a mooring in Eel Pond. Heather, Sam,
Jonah, and Oliver came with us. After forgetting to untie a line and almost
bringing the dock from Fiddler’s Cove with us, we were off at 2:45 right at
high tide. We went aground coming into Fiddler’s Cove last fall, so we were
a bit nervous about getting out. But today there was plenty of water and we
had no problem. We entered Eel Pond at the 5:30 pm bridge opening but found
our mooring from last year taken. It is really hard to catch the folks at
Woods Hole Marine in the office, but Mark had called and left messages
telling them we were coming. We hooked up to a mooring ball that does not
belong to Woods Hole Marine and will have to go there early in the morning
to find out where we are supposed to be for this year. We arrived in Woods
Hole later that we expected because we had an overheated engine. When we
heard the alarm, I checked the engine room and found a leaky hose. The
water coming from it was very hot, so we had to shut off the engine and wait
a bit while Mark reconnected the hose and tightened the hose clamp. That
stopped the leak, but not the overheating. So we had to shut off the engine
again while he got the Yanmar manual out and figured out how to get an air
bubble out of the system. So the shake-down cruise was not as smooth as we
would have liked, but we made it. Then when we got in Eel Pond and tried to
get the dinghy motor going, it wouldn’t start. We had it winterized at
Fiddler’s Cove and expected it to start right up. A very tired Mark kept
working at it and finally got it going. But after having a chemo treatment
this morning and then having one little issue after another that he had to
deal with this afternoon, he is really worn out. We will go to Eel Pond in
the morning to move the boat to the correct mooring, but there will be no
more boat work tomorrow. I’m calling it a day of rest for him.
We came home with Heather and the boys and are staying here tonight. We
might move back to the boat tomorrow night, but then on Wednesday evening we
travel to Boston to spend the night with my niece Candi before taking off
early on Thursday morning for a driving trip to West Virginia. Candi and I
will do the driving while Mark rests. On Friday night we attend a nephew’s
wedding and then do the return drive on Sunday. What a lot of driving! I’m
looking forward to seeing family and attending the wedding, but I am not
look forward to driving for thirteen hours to get there. On the other hand,
Mark is looking forward to the drive so we can just sit in the backseat and
sleep for hours. I guess this is one Father’s Day that he will literally
sleep through.
