Where'd The World Go?

SHIP'S LOG:

When I got up this morning at the usual time, about 6:15am, it seemed darker than usual. In fact, I looked at my watch to check the time. The time was right and while dawn was still an hour away, it should have been lighter. I made coffee and went up to the cockpit and couldn't see a thing. We had FOG! And I mean a real Sherlock Holmes-London-Pea Souper!Looking forward I could just make out the bow of ABISHAG and then only because I followed the furled Genny down to the bow. It was, as many before have said, like being inside a light bulb, and in this case, a rather small light bulb. I expected it to burn off rather quickly but it stayed for lunch, dripping water everywhere, making everything cool and clammy and damp. Probably wouldn't have bothered a Mainiac(a resident of Maine) but I haven't been in a fog on a boat in quite a long time. It is a very strange sensation, feeling very alone and still knowing that one of the Carnival Cruise Liners could be bearing down on you and you would never know it until it ran you down. The only saving grace is that no Carnival Cruise Liner could get into where I was anchored but that wouldn't stop the local crazies. At least one went by in what sounded like a runabout doing what sounded like top speed. The boat would have been too small for radar( not that it wouldn't fit but that it would have been considered unnecessary bu the owner). I have no idea where he was going or if he got there, but he went by me like a shot. I doubt he even knew I was there.

Fog left after lunch and Brad Smith, owner of the Freya 41 anchored near by, came by and asked for help taking down his old radar dome. with nothing planed for the day, it was a good way to spend the afternoon. The job was easy and only had the typical snags that accompany most such projects, like of the four bolts that held the unit in place, one ( the last one) had a rounded head so that trying to unloosen the nut just spun the bolt. It to a bit of finagling with some vice grips and a fair amount of Anglo-Saxon expletives before the task was complete. Brad has a large Pyrenees dog - think Newfoundland - who is friendly to the extreme. It is not the type of dog I would recommend for living on board as it probably eats more than Brad does and as Brad noted "tends to leave large piles on deck. . . " which he did to show his judgement on the job we had performed.

There is another boat just beyond Brad's. It is a Nauticat 44, a large motorsailer. It is a really comfortable boat for people who are more interested in comfort than speed in getting to where they are going. It looks pretty much set up for cruising, with bikes and solar panels and extra fuel and water canisters tied to the rails, but no one has been on it since I got here. Brad said they showed up about four days before I did. Six people got off, queried him as to the best place to land their dinghy, and headed off to the spot he indicated never to return. They didn't even show up after last Thursdays exceptional weather to check and see that everything was alright. Their anchor could have dragged putting them in danger of grounding. Their anchor rode could have been at the point of chaffing through. There could have been a leak hose or and electrical problem, a hundred little things could have gone wrong. But no one has been by to check the boat. It is possible that what we are witnessing here is the end of a dream. Perhaps they wanted to go cruising and after a taste, some, perhaps all, decided it wasn't for them. And no they have packed up and left. I hope that's not the case but it is a possibility and I gather it happens more than people know. I'll have to ask Jerry to check the local papers and see if a Nauticat 44 is being offered for sale "at a discounted price."