Christopher loves being on the boat, and he is surely in charge. He takes the helm whenever he likes, plays with winches, and likes working the jib sheets. (Mom keeps him restricted to the lazy sheet. Christopher might be the Captain, but Mom is still Mom!) He is also pretty good at giving orders. "Gggrrr..." means "turn to port." "Rrrrrr..." equals "trim that main sheet please" And "EEEeeeeiiiiii...!" translates into "Wow this is FUN!" Or maybe, "What do you think you are doing Grandpa T?" I'm not sure about that one.
The Kids needed to head for home Sunday, so after our morning sail in Force 3 winds we headed for the dock. In the channel Kristin's phone rang with GOOD NEWS, they have a solid offer on their house in Indy, an offer equal to the max they had realistically hoped to get. They are about to start a new lap in their life, the big adventure to the East Coast is underway. (Of course for DeeMa and Grandpa T, there is a tinge of sadness in this good news. Kristin, Brian and Christopher will soon be far, far away; joining Amber, Mike, Catherine, May-may, and baby-on-the-way in Cape Cod.) Later Deb and I went out again, the Force 5 - 6 winds being just too inviting to ignore. We left the main full and joined the fleet of other boats all scooting around in the waves. There was even a kite-boarder out playing. (The first one of those we have seen in Carlyle.)
It was a fun sail. Hard on the wind Nomad came close to burying a rail a couple of times. And one of these days we are going to remember; when the heel reaches 35 degrees to port everything above the starboard settee, books, water jugs, hats, all of it, will fly across the cabin. No big deal during a day sail on our little lake, but something to keep in mind for living on board and heading off on a multi-day journey. Heading back to the marina was really fun. The bearing for home put us on Nomad's best point of sail, a deep reach just short of a run. On that heading the waves were hitting the stern slightly off the starboard quarter, a soft hit since our speed nearly matched that of the waves. The result was near magic, coasting toward the slip like a kid heading down a long, straight slope on an old coaster bike. At one point the GPS claimed we were making 6.5 knots, a record for us (we think). But one would never know it from the ride, Nomad's easy motion belying our speed. Closing up the boat was a bit somber. Not only was it the end of a perfect weekend, it is getting near the end of the season. It was also (probably) one of the last times Christopher will be Nomad's Captain. Soon he will be living pretty far away. I guess we just have to find a way to get the boat to him.
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