Homeward bound

After the last meeting with the owners this morning, we were finally feeling like the boat is ours. A pretty exciting concept really:P

So, what was our logical next step?  Unload Manilejo’s hefty cargo into Kate’s cabin of course. Manilejo has been overflowing with a combination of boxes marked “stuff for boat”, tools, work clothes, has full Trader Joe’s bags and lots of junk. One last trip to visit Kate in her storage shed and Manilejo was left with only a few tools and a tarp inside. Not only was this our initial goal in bringing all the supplies over in the first place, but finally emptying him out also gave us enough space to pack up the 9 sails that we won’t be using right off the bat. These will end up in “deep storage” at my parents’ place for a while…. shhhh though, they don’t know yet… this is strictly confidential between me, Caye and the only guaranteed readers we have – my paren… woops

So, Manilejo was unpacked and repacked, then back on the road to get to my parents’ for dinner – another 3 hours on the road. Woohoo! Just after leaving my uncle and aunt’s, we realized we actually needed a snack. We had been eyeballing the Shipwrecked Bar and Grill in Egg Harbor each time we passed through and this time we decided it would be our snacking location. This turned out to be a great choice because just as we were finishing our meal and I was finishing my description of a new idea I had for running hot water onboard, our table neighbor turned around, introduced himself and said that he couldn’t help but overhear our conversation and “what kind of boat did we have”.

Dave, as it turns out, had just pulled into the marina two hours prior – arriving from Escanaba, Michigan. The three of us chatted for a while, then we went to take a look at his boat, an Albin 25. The Albins are Swedish all-purpose trawlers or motorsailers and have a large and loyal following all over the world. Dave spent the last 3 years working on this one and sailing it during the summers. He actually trailers it up from Arizona every Spring and sails the great lakes until fall, when he trailers it back to Arizona – tough life hugh? Either way, meeting Dave was great and his boat was super quirky and fun. He’s been singlehanding the whole time and really seemed like he enjoyed the lifestyle. We’re definitely hoping to see him again down the road, although our most likely opportunity is this next month and a half – after that, we will be headed down the Mississippi and not likely to do much Great Lakes cruising for a long time – not in our boat anyway. Either way, great meeting you Dave.