Arriving at a New Port: 5 things we do

 

Here are the first five things we do when arriving at a new port:

1.  Give Nine of Cups some attention. Assuming we've already cleared into the country, Nine of Cups gets attention first thing. If fresh water is available, she gets a bath and all tidied up from her passage.

2.  Go for a walk. As soon as practicable, we go for a walk to get our land legs again. If it has been a long and/or rough passage, we usually stagger around like a couple of drunks for the first little while until the land stops rolling under our feet. Taking a walk after several days at sea is sheer pleasure and we're always anxious to get the lay of the land in a new port.

3.  Check out the neighborhood and meet the locals. If there are other cruising boats around, we introduce ourselves and get some local information. We especially like to meet local folks who are usually more than happy to point us towards whatever amenities are in the area and answer questions.

4.  Find the local amenities. We check out the availability of showers, locate a nearby supermarket (or local market if it's a small port), laundromat, ATM and chandlery. Each place we visit is a whole new world to explore. Sometimes everything is close by; sometimes there are no services available at all.

5.  Find the Tourist Information Center. In large ports and first world countries, this is pretty easy. In little villages and towns in more remote areas, we rely on the locals to let us know what there is to see and do. We love picking up maps and brochures which we can study and then decide where and what we'll do.

Days and Ways to Celebrate

A daily list of mostly obscure holidays and fun ways to celebrate them.

Woody Woodpecker Day

Walter Lanz' lovable, screwball woodpecker character made his debut in 1940. Take a look at one of his early cartoons today.

Morse Code Day

It's Samuel Finley Breese Morse's birthday today (1791). One of his many inventions was the single-wire telegraph system and the Morse Code, still used today, to communicate with. Do you know Morse Code? Try it...it's like learning a new language.

Hubris - Neptune's Always Listening

Hubris, from the Greek, is defined as extreme pride or arrogance; an overestimation of one's own competence or capabilities. We learned early on that whenever we exhibited signs of hubris aboard Nine of Cups, Neptune was always listening and made sure to nip our arrogance early in the bud.  You can't have sailors becoming too cocky out there.

It seems whenever we feel we're getting good at something and say it out loud, we live to eat our words. It's happened so often and with such regularity that we chide ourselves now whenever we say something out loud as simple as “We never have problems dragging anchor.” We might not have dragged in years, but you can be sure once we brag about it, we'll drag almost immediately.

We sometimes worry that Neptune even reads our minds. It's one thing to curb your tongue and not brag out loud, but even thinking it can get us into trouble. What actually happens is I think something like... “Geez, we haven't had an issue with the nav lights in ages” and then unwittingly I mention it. “David, you must have finally found the fix for that nav light problem, huh?” We look at each other and sigh. “Sorry, I can't believe I said that out loud.” Invariably, the nav lights will flicker and die the next time we need to use them.

We do our best to assuage Neptune and keep him happy. We never leave on a passage without giving him his tot of rum. We never end a passage without paying homage and thanking him for our safe journey and arrival. But oh my, start beating our chests about something we think we do well ... he just won't tolerate it. We're good at eating humble pie.

Have you found the same thing happens to you? On land or sea, when you brag too much about something, does it come back to bite you?

Our favorite hubris story involves picking up a mooring ball in New York City. It wasn't funny at the time, but it certainly seems pretty funny now. If you're interested in reading this little anecdote, sign up for the JALF newsletter and Gentry will send it along to you.  If you've already signed up for the newsletter, look for the link in this Friday's newsletter.

Days and Ways to Celebrate

A daily list of mostly obscure holidays and fun ways to celebrate them.

Mario Day

Are you into video games? Then this is your holiday - so named because it spells out Mario when you write out the date as MAR IO. Clever huh?

What a Difference a Day Makes

 

Three sunrises and two sunsets and we were berthed in Crown Marina in North Haven, just south of Port Adelaide. We'd shed layers of clothing as we sailed up the Gulf Saint Vincent and by late afternoon, we were sweating as opposed to shivering. What a difference a day makes...and a few degrees of latitude.

David took no time in getting the hose and fresh water to work on Cups. Poor girl was covered in sawdust, bird poop and salt. What a mess! She cleaned up well though. While David worked on the boat, I wrestled with on-line airline ticketing in an attempt to get a flight out as soon as possible. Hot showers, a glass of wine with dinner and a relaxing evening seemed to take a good part of the stress away.

I awoke suddenly at about 0300. The boat was totally still and quiet … not rocking and lurching, no halyards slapping, no wind generator cranking out amps. Total silence. I'd slept through my watch. No, I reminded myself in a sleepy stupor, no watch shifts tonight.

There's a half-hour time difference here as we moved into the Central Time Zone. Can't figure out why half an hour instead of a full hour, but we didn't have any say in the matter, so we just adjusted our clocks.

We took a walk around the neighborhood early the next day before the heat set in. If we'd just been plunked here and didn't know we were in South Australia, we'd have guessed we were someplace in Florida or maybe the Gulf shore of Texas. Small streets were lined with single level, moderately sized homes. Palm trees sloughed their fronds and most yards were small, but manicured. Closer to the water, condos prevailed with a berth in front of each one. Masts alternated with power boats, one marina after another.

Silver gulls have the run of the place here … hundreds of them as evidenced on the dock walkways. We shooed several away late in the evening and by early morning, they'd re-congregated noisily just outside our open portholes. They are not as cheeky as the Portland gulls, however, and have stayed off the now-clean poop deck so far. We moved the boat to another slip in hopes of avoiding some of the noise and inevitable poop in the future.

I leave soon for Boston. David will remain with Cups. We scoped out the local supermarket and there's Saily's Pub as well as Indian and Chinese take-out nearby. He won't starve and his to-do list is long. As for me, I have a 40-hour flight in front of me and no idea of what lies ahead.

Days and Ways to Celebrate

A daily list of mostly obscure holidays and fun ways to celebrate them.

International Polar Bear Day

Polar bears are the first mammal considered endangered due to global warming. Their habitat is melting. Learn more about polar bears, great photos, videos and information. You can even adopt one!