A motoring kind of day

This time we knew we'd have a late start - a morning softball practice and some errand-running would keep us busy until after lunch. The weather turned out to be better than predicted, but with one problem - no wind. Well, the next day was booked solid, so we better get out on the water when we have the chance. We brought Cleo the cat along, and she complained bitterly for most of the ride to the marina, but settled down once we were under way.

The balloon climbs over the trees

These guys found enough wind to ghost along

After a somewhat hectic morning, I was in the mood to just anchor and chill out in the cockpit. Julie was not entirely of the same frame of mind, but went along with me anyway. We found a spot and dropped the hook after bumping the bottom a little too close to shore. Another sailboat had followed us and anchored a hundred yards downriver of us. The kids jumped in the water and commenced splashing, after the requisite complaining about the cold water temperature. It was a nice day to relax, though a breath of wind to keep the heat at bay would have been nice.

Suddenly, Mandy let out a yelp! She was being bitten by a fish! A huge, fang-toothed monster from the deep! No, wait... it was just a clump of weeds. Nevermind. Needless to say, the rest of the day was punctuated with fish monster jokes, which Mandy took pretty well. But the attack of the killer muskie^Wweeds made us take note of the time. We broke out the grill and in no time we were enjoying steaks in the cockpit. Yum. After letting the grill cool down, we stowed in and got ready to weigh anchor.

As I was securing the anchor on the foredeck, Julie spied a balloon to the the north. It looked like it was descending. She throttled up and we motored north to get a better look. Usually, we see several balloons on a weekend afternoon, but this was the only one today. It descended until it was just above the river and hovered there a few minutes. Then it began to climb back up over the trees. About this time, a slight breeze picked up and pushed the balloon along.

After the balloon was gone, we turned south and headed for the marina. The wind was too light to get us there before dark, so we kept motoring. We got on the road about 8pm after cleaning up.

We just liked this picture

Nutfarm Index | The Boat | Sailing Adventures | Hotlist