The First Night

A little over a month ago, on October 14, we purchased our Catalina 25 sailboat.  Since then  I've made a few trips to the boat to check things out and do some work on it as we get her ready to sail.  But I'm the luck one as Angela has only been able to make one trip...a brief one at that...since we bought her.  But the one thing I have wanted to do but haven't is go spend the night on the boat.  That is until this past Sunday evening.

First, let me describe the problem we currently have with spending the night on the boat.  OK, it really isn't a problem, but it is a big inconvenience.  At this time we are focused on getting our boat rady to sail and haven't spent any time outfitting her for overnighting.  What does this mean?  Well, there is nothing on the boat we need for overnighting except a single burner stove.  That means we have to not only pack our clothes and food, but sleeping bag/sheets, pots and pans, utensils, plates, bowls, and cups.  Basically everything.  And honestly, this means that packing for one night isn't a whole lot different than packing for several.  After I packed the car I assured my wife that despite looks to the contrary...I was only going to spend one night on the boat!  We will soon begin working on this, and once she is outfitted right going to stay a night or two won't be so bad.  Of course...we also got to figure out where everything goes!

While I had hoped to do one little job on the boat, the main goal was to relax and rest for the night...which I did.  With a little heater to take the chill out of the air, I kicked back and watched some videos on YouTube.  What kind of videos do you watch during your first night on your new sailboat?  Well...sailing videos, of course!

One of the things I enjoy doing in marinas, particularly at night, is taking pictures.  So, I bundled up (it was rather cold...not really, but at this point in the year it sure felt cold to my little bald head!) and headed out with my camera.  It was a beautiful night and the stars were showing off.  But my focus was not in the stars tonight, but on the marina...mostly.  Honestly, I didn't spend a lot of time out as my mind soon got to thinking about how good some hot tea would mean.  But, here are a couple of my favorite photos from the night.  The first is Disciple Ship snug in her slip.  The other is the ferry landing for the Bald Head Island ferry all lit up for the night.

After some hot tea though, I was faced with a rather major decision...where do I sleep on my first night on the boat?  I could sleep in the quarter berth in the stern of the boat, one of the two settes in the cabin, or the v-berth.  Decisions, decisions, decisions!  So, I chose the v-berth and I will say that it provided a great night of sleep.  Of course, the gentle rocking, swaying, and moving of the boat certainly didn't hurt.  I could really get used to that!

Well, while I slept good, 5:00 a.m. came pretty early...just as it does every morning.  So, I took a pretty easy approach to eating on this overnighter...I ate dinner out and had yogurt and berries for breakfast.  But while this was a very simple meal, the hot coffee provided the perfect touch for my morning worship time on the boat.  

My first night on the boat was a great night...now I'm looking forward to many more!