It's Good to Be Home, Can't Wait to Get Back!

The Admiral, Bosun, and I arrived at Cottage Point from Pensacola just after 12:30 am on Thanksgiving morning. Son, Sam, his wife, Lindsey, and our grandson, Charlie, had arrived late the morning before not only with a "starter pack" of groceries but with a fully planned and prepped Thanksgiving dinner. Sam, the family chef celebre, treated us to noon time Thanksgiving hors d'oeuvres followed by a late afternoon dinner of to die for Beef Wellington, "Brussies", sweet potato casserole and a choice of pecan or pumpkin pie--every last bit of the meal home made.

The time together was, of course, the most precious part of the holiday--especially with ten month old Charlie--and it certainly took any sting out of interrupting our trip a couple of weeks earlier than planned for the holiday season.

On Friday morning, we headed off to the Christmas tree farm where both the Admiral and I and Sam and Lindsey found our special trees for the holiday season. Sam helped me erect ours and did the lighting. The gang then decorated the tree while I headed into one of our favorite Bangor restaurants to pick up a take out dinner.

While we were waiting on Monday afternoon and Tuesday to travel home, we had a chance to explore a bit of Pensacola and its history. Palafox Boulevard was just down the street from the first marina we stayed in and it sported pleasant restaurants, bars, shops, and a bit of history.

We had forgotten the role Pensacola lunch counter sit-ins played in the whole integration movement though it's hard to believe that was 50 years ago.

Tuesday morning, we met with Clint Herrin who owns Boca Marine Technology to detail our electrical issues and charge him with getting us back in shape. Only a few hours later and completely unsolicited, the wonderful folks at Back Cove Yachts who have been following my blog reached out with what they think is the likely problem, a blown 300 amp T-Class fuse protecting the house battery bank. The fuse probably blew as a result of poor (uninformed) ACR (Automatic Charging Relay) management by the Admiral and me. We have connected Clint with the folks at Back Cove and the owner's manual. Given his extensive experience and thoughtful approach, we're confident that we'll be getting a call in the near future saying he has resolved the problems and Katahdin is ready for a sea trial. It will be a relief to have those issues behind us as well as some other less existential upgrades and maintenance work we identified during two months plus on board.

With our needs fully communicated, we took advantage of Tuesday afternoon to visit the National Naval Aviation Museum. Truly a gem, the museum houses dozens of planes and historical exhibits from the very first days of our US Navy to the present. Though a bit overwhelming, we enjoyed them a great deal along with one of the several movies offered and a somewhat disappointing simulator ride.

I'm happy to report that the Admiral has taken my concerns about long days in stride and is already reporting the results of her research planning shorter, more flexible cruises when we pick up the Loop again in early January. We're hoping that more of the Big Bend and Florida west coast marinas will have reopened after hurricane damage last fall and that the bolus of Looper boats competing for spaces will have spread out and moved on.

All that said, while challenging, our two months on the inland rivers was a blast. We had adventures, saw places, and met terrific people that we never would have otherwise. We're going to live in our moment and enjoy the holidays but we truly can't wait to get back to the Loop!

Stay tuned.