Cold Feet No More.

by Riley

So we've been on the water traveling now for over 50 days. Up until the last week it's been mainly cold and wet and injury involved. Perhaps that why I haven't been writing as much, just hadn't been feeling it. We left Jekyll Island, Georgia the day after Thanksgiving, freezing, and made a mad dash south. We covered a lot more ground per day than we had been, mainly attributed to good tide and the motor. For the past few weeks I haven't been able to do much sailing because every time I do the stitches would pop out and my hand would be back to bleeding again. This has been frustrating!

But the thing that has been a plague on my entire experience living on a sailboat has been the inflatable dinghy that I use to get to shore. I should have figured it was garbage when it came with the sailboat. What made this inflatable so bad is that it leaks not only air, but water also! I only brought one pair of shoes along, everything else was, well... flip flops. And for the past 50 days those shoes have stayed wet, making for an even colder experience.

I've always prided myself in the ability of being able to fix ANYTHING! We'll let me tell you, I can't fix leaks. I first tried to patch the boat before we left, then in Charleston, to no avail. When in Cocoa, I made another attempt. It was like having a car and every morning you have to pump up all the tires, and the windows were stuck down while it was raining on your way to your destination, then you have to pump the tires up again before going home.

My frustration increasing daily, it became clear there was only one thing to do to solve the problem...I needed new tires. I've been a fairly tight person with money all my life. In Fort Pierce there was a West-Marine store right beside the grocery store. Allison pointed out that the inflatables were on sale BIG TIME. We went back to the boat with our groceries, knowing what we needed to do. After counting our "freedom tokens" we headed back. When we got there I really didn't think I could do it. Some might laugh, but my chest hurt. I would say I was getting "cold feet" but they had already been cold for weeks!

Now for the past day and a half I can't stop smiling! This thing is awesome!! My feet are dry and it's fast :) I'm so in love with it Allison is starting to wonder about us. I woke up this morning not having to wondering if my outboard motor had sank to the bottom of the anchorage with the old dinghy. I even leave the pump on the sailboat now. Now, I'm not one to put much stock in material things, it's experiences that get me. But man, am I having a better experience now!

Just a few side notes on the trip… we're in Florida. We saw a launch from Cape Canaveral that was really cool to watch. And the temperature is now in the 80's during the day. The water is super clear now and warmed up to about 81 today. We're finally getting somewhere.