It feels like there is never a dull day or consistent day even since we’ve moved aboard Matriarch :) Sure we have some mini-routines like food and a coffee, boat jobs, work, a beer and bed…usually in that order…but today felt like a particularly interesting one so I thought I'd capture it tonight. To be clear, this afternoon I was planning a different, more vent-y blog post about the challenges we faced while out but the day took an unexpected turn so here we are....

We woke up early with intention to sail today and sail we did. But the first action of the day was at the pool where Herrington Harbour was hosting a slip holder breakfast. So we ate a large (and free!) breakfast and returned to the boat without having to clean up the oatmeal pot. Side note: Last night the kids watched Paddington 2 and we ate a large (and free!) dinner at the marina as well! Herrington Harbour is honestly an amazing place to spend the summer with kids…no regrets AT ALL choosing this as our home base before we head south for the winter.

So after breakfast we readied the boat, which meant mostly stowing loose items and checking engine stuff before heading out of the slip. Everything was looking fine; the new hoses and exhaust mixing elbow Greg installed looked good and there was no exhaust leaking into the engine room when it was running (phew...we didn't mess up the install). We were hoping for enough wind to sail and got a good, if not gusty, 18-20 knots by the afternoon with some good wave action, which Matriarch handled like the tank that she is. Was it a perfect sail? No. We jammed the mainsail as we unfurled it because we’ve never had electric winches and hydraulic furling and, although we've read about it, still didn’t do it quite right. We unfurled (we think) too fast right at the start and didn't keep enough tension on the outhaul...it got stuck a few feet out and stopped furling, and we couldn't furl it back in either. Super. We are pretty sure we could have made it work but a sailing friend (Michael Judd) once said, you NEVER force anything on a boat…if it’s not moving right, there is a reason. So we didn’t force it and just sailed with the headsail. Without bothering to trim too much we made an easy 5 knots in 12 knots of wind with just a lazily trimmed headsail which was a pleasant surprise. Why didn't we bother to trim too much? Because shortly after we got the jenny out, Grace came up and said “Red alert, red alert! There is water on the wood in your room!”. So down Greg goes to check it out while I helm and sure enough lots of water coming down from the corners of the ceiling and running over my clothes in their cupboards…where did it come from? Not sure. But it was hot, slightly salty and we think may have found it’s way under the deck somehow and sat there waiting to be dumped out once this boat heeled over. So we have that mystery to solve now. On the way back to the dock the zipper on the bimini started to pull apart so I strained to hold it in place for about 10 minutes until we were protected enough that Liam and I could unzip and rezip without the entire thing blowing off. We got the boat back in and it was ok despite a strong breeze pushing us firmly onto the dock. Sure we were happy we got out and sailed but we were frustrated with the water and the bimini and the mainsail so we grabbed some beers and went to the pool to literally and figuratively cool off.

We arrived at the pool and were hailed over by some other HR owners and friends of ours were we shared boat woes and tried to bolster each others optimism. After they left we met another amazing couple and had a fantastic conversation which lasted many more hours in the pool than we intended. They live aboard a power yacht here with a swimming cat (yes the cat swims in the harbour with a life jacket on!) and two dogs. He is in a band, DJs and has an entertainment company while she works for a government lobbyist. We made some spontaneous dinner plans and they took us to an amazing Latin restaurant where we had margaritas, shortribs tacos and churrasco with chimichuri. The food was amazing as was the company. Honestly I don't know if our Canadian-ness plays well down here or something but it's strange how quickly we are making some great friends...maybe it's the kids. People keep telling us how cute and funny and smart they are and we try to not laugh or make a sarcastic comment because they are being totally serious. I mean, of course I think my kids are awesome but it's unnervingly lovely when other people really take to your kids too. At the pool while Greg and I chatted with our new friends, our kids played with other slightly less-new friends who are 2 of the kindest, sweetest people and have adopted the kids as surrogate grandparents. They invited us over tomorrow night for a movie and “music appreciation night” (they think my lack of general knowledge about music is funny…I have a terrible memory for song or artist names…like really bad). After dinner with our new friends, we talked down the dock, said goodnight to the surrogate grandparents...and felt much lighter than we did earlier (despite the short ribs!).

I cannot express what a delightful turn the day took from frustration to fellowship with new friends and great food. Honestly all five of us feel so grateful tonight…the kids kept marvelling at the amazing day and Greg and I feel content and capable to take on the challenges of tomorrow. One of which will be trying to find out where that damn water came from, but for tonight, we are going to read and maintain the good vibes for a few more hours.

Much love,

M