Of family and boats

I think we all have a vision of what our most perfect day would be.  My vision usually involves some combination of my family, a beautiful summer day, the ocean (or some other salty body of water), and some form of watery entertainment.  It is frequently snorkeling, often kayaking, and now , of course, it is often sailing.


Last weekend very nearly matched my idea of the perfect day.  My grandmother, who originally bought the land in Shallotte, even came down for a four-day weekend.  I haven't seen her so happy in ages.  I never realized that she just might love it down there as much as I do.  She told us how she and my grandfather used to tour the waters of the Shallotte River in a little gator boat and how much she loved it.  We weren't able to take her out in our boat but she did get the grand tour of Kozmik and got to enjoy some evening breezes on our last day at Greg and Susan's at the Shallotte River Inlet.

Three generations.

Granny Peg at the helm.

On Saturday we got to do a little sailing on our friend Lola's Freedom 30, Suvarov.  The Myrtle Beach Yacht Club, where she has a slip, was hosting a "race" that day.  We came in dead last.  But it was a beautiful day on the water with some great people so we were fairly unconcerned by that.  Although Lola, who was a bit nervous about racing in the beginning, is now thirsting for a winning victory.  I think it brought out the competitor in her once she saw it wasn't going to be like the America's Cup.  And I finally got to see some of the stuff I've been reading about for so long put into action!  Points of sail, luffing, uncontrolled jib, jib sheet, mainsheet, telltales...it all makes a little more sense now.  I'm learning bit by bit and even got to steer a little.

At the helm of Suvarov.

A fellow racer.

Happy to be on the water.

Sailing 101.

We also had to move Kozmik Kaos to a new location on this trip and, as luck would have it, Lola found us the perfect spot further up the Shallotte River.  It's at a crane and welding place that used to be a boatyard and it's owned by some really nice people.  My mother's name is Jean Smith.  The owner's name is Gene Smith.  When I introduced them he said, "When people see us they always think of cleanliness.  They say, 'Hi, Gene!'"  He's not only funny but also pretty brilliant and an inventor.  He invented a medical apparatus to help people that take care of bedridden patients.  You sure do get to meet some cool people when you have a boat.  Gene the inventor met us Sunday morning to guide us up the river and we had a really beautiful and peaceful trip upriver to her new home.  She is now made fast to a non-floating dock.  On one side is the welding place and on the other is the beautiful Shallotte River, a winding ribbon of water and grass that is full of life.

Kozmik Kaos wending her way up the Shallotte River.

My aunt Kay, who has just retired to Shallotte after many years working overseas in various countries, just bought an inflatable kayak.  I don't think I've mentioned my kayaking affliction here.  I haven't gotten to do nearly as much of it as I'd like but I LOVE to kayak.  My favorite two places I've kayaked are Big Pine Key, in the Florida Keys, and the Intracoastal Waterway at Wrightsville Beach, NC.  I have been nagging Brian about how much I want a kayak to carry on the boat and we are on the hunt for a nice inflatable for ourselves.  We find ourselves drawn to the Hanauma two-person kayak.  Those see-through windows would be fantastic in the tropics!  I could hardly contain my excitement when Kay told me she had ordered a kayak.  After it arrived we took it out to the public launching place near downtown Shallotte.  Kay, Brian and I took turns paddling around in it.  Brian, who had never been in a kayak before and was a tad nervous, took to it like a pro.  Kay then paddled from the launching area down to our new dock where my grandmother waited so nervously you would have thought we were on the Congo.


The next day we all had a little coffee and breakfast on Kozmik and Kay, Brian and I did a little more paddling in the river.  I inspected the bottom of the boat, which is threatening to grow into a full-fledged reef.  We have to do some scraping pronto or we'll be finding Nemo in places we don't want to see him.



Tina kayaking on the Shallotte River.



A slightly more relaxed version of kayaking.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

For his recent birthday, Brian decided to shed a few pounds of hair.  After 4 years of growth, and an average of 22 inches of hair, he has started all over again.  Before I went all Delilah on him I made him pose for some pictures displaying his hair in all its copious 80's hair band glory.

Now he's sporting more of an alternative, Billy Corgan look.  I think he pulls it off well but I also happen to like bald guys.

He's donating the bounty of his hair to a very worthy cause, Wigs for Kids, which makes wigs for children that have lost their hair from health conditions, medical treatments and burn accidents.  We had a plethora of ponytails to send them when all the snipping was finally done and I can say some lucky kids are going to get some very pretty waves and curls soon.  

Hopefully they will split it between several children because it's an awful lot of hair for one person.  A small child could be a little overwhelmed by it all and might end up resembling a familiar (to some of us of a certain age) TV character.

Not exactly a confidence-instilling look!

Back to the boat

We had a quick visit with our boat in Shallotte last weekend.  The weather was beautiful on Friday afternoon and I even managed to bake myself in the sunny cockpit in between projects that day.  But mostly we worked.  And worked.  And worked some more.

Brian went through the entire existing electrical system.  Most of it was corroded and he stripped those bits out.  He verified what he'd already suspected:  he'll have to start almost completely from scratch with our electrical system.  That's probably why he looks so overjoyed in this picture.

We also decided to go ahead and strip off the horrible carpeting that was serving as the headliner.  The glue doesn't look great but I still think I prefer it to the pale blue carpet.  Now we just have to decide what we're going to permanently replace the carpeting with.  Teak is one option we're considering.  (Thanks for the suggestion Jim!)

I also finally got around to making some temporary window coverings.  The existing curtains were, well, not exactly attractive and were also falling apart.  The little hooks they attached to were old and breaking.  So I took some Ikea window panels, made out of natural fibers of some sort, that I was no longer using in the house, cut them to size, and velcroed them to the little railings that the curtains had been attached to.  I started out sewing them together and making nice, neat edges.  Then Cap'n told me he'd like to have them all done by the end of the weekend and I realized there was no time for perfection.  So the edges are a little raw, and the fit isn't exactly perfect in places, but it works as a temporary measure.  It was pretty hard work trying to get it all done so fast - and in the company of some horrific, bloodsucking sandflies that took over the boat on Saturday - but I had a great time doing one of my favorite things - creating useful stuff by hand.

I didn't get any photos of the finished product so that will have to wait for our next trip to the boat.

We also removed this old mirror in the head and will replace it with an actual medicine cabinet of some sort.

It wasn't ALL work and no play though.  We had a chance to visit with our friend Lola, whom we met on SeaKnots and connected with on our last trip to Shallotte, and also with Jim (Cut) and his wife Debbie who both have a lot of sailing experience.  Brian and I and Lola have boats, but little experience.  Jim and Debbie have lots of experience but no boat.  Funny how life works sometimes ain't it?  We had dinner at the lively Inlet View Restaurant and formed the Shallotte Sailing Club.  Here is the Board of Directors:

From left to right: Debbie, Lola, Jim (Cut), Brian, Tina (Thanks to Lola for the photo!)

We got a very late start the next day but got to visit with Jim on our boat a little while before heading back to the hills of Virginia Sunday evening.  He brought a Sailmonster burgee to fly on Kozmik Kaos and we managed to get a picture with the emblem showing in spite of the, shall we say, gregarious winds that day.

(Thanks go out to Jim for the photo!)

I can't remember if I've told the story here yet but we've been lucky enough to dock our boat at the home of some truly wonderful folks, Greg and Susan, that live on the Shallotte River Inlet.  We were hoping to be headed for warmer, more southern parts by now but, alas, we are still in Virginia.  Greg understandably wants to be able to use his dock for his own boat now that fishing season is upon them so we will be looking for a new home for Kozmik this month.