Wow. Life works out a little strangely sometimes. Still trying to figure this one out. So we left Wanchese and sailed out across the Pamlico Sound to Ocracoke. We stayed there for a few days to rest and catch up with friends. The plan was for John to meet me in Oriental and we would head south along the ICW from there. Pollux and I took Arcturus from Ocracoke to Oriental. Pretty uneventful sail. However, I went on deck to straighten up a few things and noticed that there was a crack almost completely around the mast step. The step was opened up on the aft port (left) side. Woah! It must have happened while we were offshore. Of all the things to cause a problem I was confident the mast would not be it. We put new rigging up, had everything inspected, all new instruments, etc. We were so lucky it did not come down offshore! It was a Saturday when we came into Oriental and we stayed at the Oriental Marina. I called Deaton on Monday and they told me to bring Arcturus on over. I filed an insurance claim and just heard back on Friday that we have the green light to begin the repair.
So many strange circumstances surround this event. First, the mast did not come down offshore. We had enough trouble getting in without throwing our boat balance completely off. Next, we happened to be within five miles of my preferred repair facility when we noticed the crack. We could have been offshore. We could have been further south on the ICW and would have to find a yard to make the repair. Very strange that we happened to be right back where we started. It was also right around the holidays when we got to Deaton’s. This has slowed us down significantly. We are just now getting started after being there for over three weeks. This is no one’s fault, it’s just the way the calendar and holidays fell this year as we tried to work out the details of the insurance claim.
The up side of this is that we were home for the holidays. I have not been home for Christmas since 2009. It was great to see friends and family one more time before heading out. Things have also slowed down to a pleasant pace. It will be quite a while before I forget the chaos of October and November 2013. I have never felt such stress and pressure in my life. So many different aspects of my life up in the air and I was trying to juggle all of them at once. I definitely dropped a few. Everything feels like it is under control now and life is moving forward nicely. I am probably a lot more pleasant to be around as well.
So what’s next? That’s the big question everyone has for me. We received approval for the insurance claim to repair the mast step. That was huge. Coming up with the funds for the repair would have delayed us significantly. Once the repair is done we will take off and flee the cold as quickly as possible. John Cappel and I will make our way down the ICW and aim to head from southern Florida to the Bahamas. We will focus on the Exumas down to Georgetown, then head across to the Far Bahamas and down to the Turks and Caicos. From there we will cross to the Dominican Republic and head east across the northern coast. Jimmy and Pollux have said they would like to join us at some point along the way.
It has been very surreal to be back in New Bern and Oriental. Not a bad situation by any means. Just very strange. It’s almost as if the offshore trip didn’t happen and we are right back in Fall mode working to get things ready. However there is a different air surrounding the boat. Less of a need to rush. Thankful to have her back and clean her up. Work the business and come up with an alternate route. Plan A is no longer in existence but there are 25 other letters of the alphabet to work with. On the scale of a lifetime adventure, a few week delay becomes less significant. Everything in time.