Calm Water and Blue Sky

Not much going on around here. We've rid ourselves of the chill, blustery, wet, windy weather. Since Saturday it's been blue sky and calm sea. On my bike ride this morning the Neuse looked like this:

Those are ducks, dotting the water. I've never seen so many ducks on the river before; they sit and then ... bloop! ... bloop! ... two of them disappear underwater for about 15 seconds. They must be feeding on the bottom, on something.

One lone sailboat was motoring out to the middle of the river in morning light.

On my return ride by the river's edge, a man dressed in camo in a pickup sat smiling and looking at the ducks. I think he had a little duck murder on his mind.

On Saturday Adam rode his bike out to the marina where we keep our boat, and he sailed her back to the town dock with his bike aboard.

There she is, all 18 feet, 6 inches of her, a Cape Dory Typhoon.

We left her there overnight Saturday, intending to sail on Sunday afternoon when the wind was lighter and the day was warmer. Adam found, on going to the boat on Sunday, that some thief had stolen a small piece of hardware off the boat. Rather sad. We sailed anyway, although tacking was a little tricky without the piece they'd stolen.

We hadn't been on the boat (I think) since New Year's Day -- way too long! I forget how calming and relaxing and lovely it is. It's a wonderful time to refresh our relationship a little, to chat, and to see afresh God's gorgeous creation.

We hugged the water's edge a little closer than we usually do. This is Lou Mac Park seen from the water.

This is the partner of the piece that was stolen, a track block, a moveable pulley on each side of the boat that changes the direction of the line coming from the jib sail, before it goes on the winch. It's a small piece, and popped off easily in five seconds, but a new one will cost us about $60 - $70, unfortunately.

A used piece like this is hard to find b/c it's a 3/4" base. Most of them are for larger boats and are about 1". Adam checked the two nearby marine consignment stores with no luck. When we do get a replacement, Adam says he will fasten the two permanently to the rail -- screw them down. Right now they pop off easily for the purpose of adjusting the jib sail -- "fine tuning" the jib, which you really only need to do if you're a racer. We like to sail, but we Do Not Race!
And I'm happy to report that the weight loss journey is back in full swing. While the weather was so bad, we exercised little. We didn't gain any weight, but we stopped losing for the most part. I've now reached my first big goal -- to get below 200 lbs. I weighed in at 198.2 lbs. this morning -- yippee! Quite excited, and I rewarded myself with that lovely, 55-minute bike ride. The more you lose, the better you feel, the more you want to exercise and lose more. It's a good feeling.
Happy sailing through your day, all you friends out there!