November 13, 2009.

It was gray and windy here yesterday. It was just so nasty out that none of us left our boats or even ventured topsides.

Right after my last post there was another change in the forecast. It seemed we were right on the edge as to whether the wind was going to continue subsiding or if it was going to build markedly. Either way it was going to come out of the northwest. Last night we were within 6 feet of the dock behind us as the wind pushed Veranda back against her anchor chain. If the wind did reach the mid thirties it might have straightend the chain enough to actually reach the dock. I couldn’t afford to pull in any chain as we’re already at less than a 3 to 1 scope. So Christy and I had to go up on deck and prepare to drop another hook. This involved me bringing the dinghy around to the bow and then Christy lowered our second anchor into the dinghy along with 130 feet of anchor rode. I took the anchor out across the creek towards the windward shore and dropped it over the side. Once back aboard the Veranda I pulled the rode and set the hook. Now with the hook firmly set across the creek I was able to pull Veranda 40 feet further away from the dock. The wind did build a bit but we were away from the docks and slept like babies.

Today we decided to get out and blow the stink off. We didn’t really need anything but we walked down to the grocery store for a few odds and ends. On our way home we stopped in at the liquor store. There was wine on sale at a decent price so we decided to buy as much as we could carry. It turns out we were able to carry 40 litres of wine and 2 full bags of groceries the full half mile home. I thought it would be easy, but I was wrong. It was a long half mile.

While we were at the liquor store I saw one more reminder of why I love the south. Right there on the front door they had this 4 picture series from one of their security cameras posted for all to see. At first when I saw the billowing red shirt and the flowing golden locks I thought that it was a Fabio sighting. Upon closer inspection I realized that it was just a hillbilly sneak thief caught on camera as he stuffed a bottle of ripple up under his shirt. I’m sure his Mom will be mortified when she see’s the picture of her son caught in the act. She’ll probably be more than pissed when she see’s that he’s wearing her shirt.

And that boat that had sunken the other day.....well, the guy got it floating again.