Port Harvey

Last night was terrible. The reviews of Thurston Bay were dead on. Current held us broad side to the incomming waves. With us tied to Quijote, Opus would be hit first, try to rise, Quijote would put the brakes on that. Then Opus would try to descend while Quijote was rising. This was quite an unpleasant motion. 4 times through the night I was out on deck checking things that had fallen, broken free, or just a strange sound. Rod, captain of Quijote, had a similar experience.

The motor from Thurston Bay to here was just as unpleasant, presenting the classic wind against the current scenario – wind in our teeth, steep chop with a short period, for 8 1/2 hours of travel time. The bright side was that the current was fairly benign, 1 1/2 knots or so. Faster current would have made things even worse.

Port Harvey has some sort of shipyard, where they are repairing? renovating? building? breaking? some barges. Not the most scenic, but well protected. Winds are predicted to be light tonight, so I’m not sure we need protection, but it’s nice to know we have it if we need it.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to warm up. That will be a welcome respite from the cold of the last few days. I do find that I miss my connectivity. I am, it seems, addicted to that information flow. Hopefully, withdrawal is short.

Upon arrival, we agreed on mud for lunch – we were all chilled and something hot and easy and hearty appealed to us all. What is “mud”? On my first voyage with Quijote, I made the observation that all the best Indian food looks like mud. We started calling the boil-in-a-bag Indian food packages that I brought, “mud”. Quijote arrived, side-tied to us, and thoguht that mud was a grand idea. 2 more packs into the boiling water. I’;m such a chef…

Now the sky is clearing up. I’m bundled up in my sweater and under my comforter in the cabin on the settee, finally beginning to feel warm again. I think I’ll stop here, read a book until I fall asleep and nap for a bit.

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