Hurricane Sandy

What is the old saying about the frog in the pot? Or is it a lobster? There have been a lot of times in my life that I have looked back and wondered “how did I get here?” This is definitely one of them.  As I sit here, in a boat, in a parking lot, listening to the ‘Frankenstorm’ whine through the rigging, I am wondering just that.  I am also thankful we didn’t make it to Maine this summer which would have put us somewhere in the mid-Atlantic this morning instead of a very comfortable parking lot in NC.
Our first drive to the boat, in February, was through a wild winter storm. We arrived here in NC at dusk and moved onto the boat with flashlights. We had no electricity, no water, no bathroom. We spent a long, dark, windy and wet (condensation) night huddling in the stern cabin for warmth…and here I was expecting a long weekend at the beach.
After almost three weeks as permanent residents of Midwatch, we face our first storm. As Sandy approached, the locals were very nonchalant about the storm. Given that and the storm we and the boat, had weathered in February, we felt confident that we could weather a glancing blow of this storm. We spent a day preparing, putting things away and buttoning down the hatches. In reality, we were better prepared than most. We now have power, battery back-up and a generator, a well-stocked pantry of non-perishables and an on-board composting toilet, no need to walk across the parking lot for the potty! So far, so good. We have been shaking a bit, we have a bit of condensation. Bob has tightened the jack-stands few times and I’m making a casserole for lunch to drive out a bit of moisture.
We are now into our third day of the storm and we are still having fun. We have taken it all as a welcome break from the grinding, epoxy and minor engineering feats required to get the boat ready for our self-imposed November 15^th launch deadline.  Bob’s stiff neck is healing and we are indulging Finn’s new obsession with Superheros with a Superman movie marathon. We have left Christopher Reeves behind and are onto Superman Returns (PG-13). The kids don’t seem to mind the change in actors or the step-up in drama and violence.  Funny how it all sneaks up on you, isn’t it?

A Brief Summary of the Past Eight Weeks

Life has been busy. In summary we moved to NH, sold our house, visited Colorado, had stomach bug bring us to our knees, moved onto boat in NC, and are now trying to complete projects and launch by 11/15....all well trying to work, homeschool and maintain some semblance of order for the kids.  Are we nuts or what?

Mystery Fish Identified!

On one of our recent trips to Maine, I spotted a silvery-something in a small eddy. It looked a little like a piece of trash but was a little too shiny.  I asked Bob and the kids if they could see what it was and Bob quickly retrieved a small silvery fish that was on its last legs. Something had tried to take a bite and knocked off a mouth-shaped area of scales. The amazing thing was, despite the fact that it was floating, it was still alive and we could hear a faint grunting sound. We took a photo, which Anna posted a few weeks back, and we spent some time researching on the internet but we didn’t have much luck.
Last week we were at Odiorne State Park’s Seacoast Science Center and I asked one of the Museum guides if he knew what it was. My best and oldest friend Nina was with me and, in her efficient style, quickly pulled up the blog photo. The guide said likely a moon fish but referred me to the fellow that maintains the aquariums who after some thought, decided it might be an African Pompano which would be amazing since the farthest north anyone had seen one was Rhode Island. He also asked me if I was convinced, which of course I said no, and initiated my search again that evening with the knowledge provided and quickly found clear evidence at the following website: Atlantic Moonfish link. It turned out to be the distinctive grunt sound that we would not have witnessed if we had come upon the animal just a few minutes later.  I asked Bob if we could call it a grunt but he said no, there is already a fish called a grunt. Ah well.

Anna's Been Busy

See Anna's page for a new post from Anna.

Happy 8th birthday Anna

We had a fantastic day celebrating Anna's 8th birthday with sitings of wild horses, a giant horseshoe crab, swimming and a long dinghy ride.

Finn's Fishing Pole

We had a great shopping expedition tonight. Anna and Bob have been having so much fun fishing, we decided it was time to get Finn an early birthday present. It was dark by the time we got home (yes, we are learning to call Midwatch 'home') but Finn had to try it out! Enjoy!

Finn's new fishing pole

Uncertainty

One of the questions we seem to get a lot is where we are going to be at a certain time. Most of the time, we can’t answer. The closer we come to launch, the more plans change, drastically; I anticipate that uncertainty will be the only certainty in the coming years. As many of you know, we have planned to launch in November but with all the house activity we began to daydream of ‘fetching’ the boat and bringing it to Maine for the summer while the kids played on the farm and Bob and I got all the kinks (and yelling) out of the way before introducing the kids. A boat in Maine would be infinitely easier to outfit, trial and adjust kids to than one in North Carolina. But this almost-plan doesn’t seem to be taking hold.

Bob headed down to NC to work on the boat with his Dad in late June. There was a list of items that needed attention prior to launch. We both joked about doubling the anticipated time required to complete the projects. They spent 10 days and we are back again, anticipating another 10 days. We also had a surprisingly similar joke about the length of time to get the house closed/sold and that seems to be ringing true too. Apparently the advice I got from my realtor when I bought the Maine house all those years ago, not to get an FHA loan, were valid.

Enough of the serious stuff! We spent a few days in Cooperstown a few weeks back to thoroughly test-drive the new dinghy, ran a load of stuff to New Hampshire and returned to New York for a few more hours of fun at the lake. As we were packing to leave for NC on Monday, Bob and I were thinking, “This is it, this is when it becomes real!” Bob told me it seemed real to him now that we were bringing the dinghy. The funny thing was I had the same thought…only replace the dinghy with pots and pans. Is that were home truly is, where the pots and pans reside?

There is no way we could truly post about everything we have done the past month but I did develop a little photo journal below. Enjoy! Bob and Kim

Anna tested her ‘new’ wet suit (Bob bought it for her at a garage sale when she was about a month old!)

Finn and Bob testing out the new dinghy.

Getting in our last upstate New York summer nostalgia:

Corn and John Deere; visiting with friends and saying good bye.

We have been jumping through hoops for loan officers and appraisers. Here is Bob getting ready to scrape, prime and paint the BARN! I used my best engineering language and logic to talk our way out of this little hoop but to no avail.   

A “painted” barn…a finished set!

Here is Anna packing her ‘boat box’ for about the hundredth time. Each kid was allowed to bring whatever they wanted as long as it fit in their box.

Now in NC, we are taking morning and evening breaks from boat work. Anna was very excited to catch a speckled trout (see Anna’s page for her fishing story)

The kids have definitely made their room, ‘Atlantis’, their own! Most of the time Bob and I are not allowed in.