| Easter On Rockhopper - continued |
However, she eventually found her fly swatter and then became Suzanne, fearless wasp hunter of the deep!
Wasps eventually began deliberately avoiding the boat whenever they flew nearby or - even better -
conveniently flying over and dropping dead. This happened at least twice.
We sat in the cockpit all day, reading and providing something for the passing fishermen to wave at (well,
they were waving at one of us - Frank suspects that it might have been the one in the bikini that was getting
all of the attention). Suzanne was deeply engrossed in Suzanne Geisemann's new book, It's Your Boat, Too.
Frank alternated between the Annapolis Book of Seamanship and Harry Munns' Cruising Fundamentals.
About four o'clock, Frank fired up the generator and charged the batteries for an hour or so, while Suzanne
prepared dinner. After a light dinner of hamburgers in the cockpit, we snuggled up and watched the sun go
down. It wasn't the spot we would have picked otherwise - the traffic on the Varina-Enon bridge competed
with the birds and fish to see which could make more noise - but it was being on the hook, somewhere not at
home....
Since we knew we'd be getting up early again, and Frank was still not sure about how long the charge on the
batteries would hold, we turned on the anchor light and closed up the boat for the night, just after the sun
dropped below the horizon and long before it was dark. Showers were the order of the day - even though the
electric water heater had been off all day, the engine cooling system also ran through the water heater and
the 230 degree coolant had kept the tank toasty warm all day - if toasty warm can be used to describe water.
Although the television in the aft cabin was working very well - even better than what we get when we are in
our slip - neither of us was awake enough to pay any attention and we decided that the extra power drain was
unwarranted. Suzanne dropped quickly off to sleep.
Frank continued the previous night's pattern - lie awake, worry, convince yourself that you have done all you
can do, roll over, lie awake - repeat as necessary. There must have been some sleep in there, but dawn
came and Frank was up and ready to go. Suzanne, too, was up and ready to go - back to sleep or at least to
get her back scratched. Finally, we rolled out and Frank checked the power supplies - low, but not dead.
Wasps eventually began deliberately avoiding the boat whenever they flew nearby or - even better -
conveniently flying over and dropping dead. This happened at least twice.
We sat in the cockpit all day, reading and providing something for the passing fishermen to wave at (well,
they were waving at one of us - Frank suspects that it might have been the one in the bikini that was getting
all of the attention). Suzanne was deeply engrossed in Suzanne Geisemann's new book, It's Your Boat, Too.
Frank alternated between the Annapolis Book of Seamanship and Harry Munns' Cruising Fundamentals.
About four o'clock, Frank fired up the generator and charged the batteries for an hour or so, while Suzanne
prepared dinner. After a light dinner of hamburgers in the cockpit, we snuggled up and watched the sun go
down. It wasn't the spot we would have picked otherwise - the traffic on the Varina-Enon bridge competed
with the birds and fish to see which could make more noise - but it was being on the hook, somewhere not at
home....
Since we knew we'd be getting up early again, and Frank was still not sure about how long the charge on the
batteries would hold, we turned on the anchor light and closed up the boat for the night, just after the sun
dropped below the horizon and long before it was dark. Showers were the order of the day - even though the
electric water heater had been off all day, the engine cooling system also ran through the water heater and
the 230 degree coolant had kept the tank toasty warm all day - if toasty warm can be used to describe water.
Although the television in the aft cabin was working very well - even better than what we get when we are in
our slip - neither of us was awake enough to pay any attention and we decided that the extra power drain was
unwarranted. Suzanne dropped quickly off to sleep.
Frank continued the previous night's pattern - lie awake, worry, convince yourself that you have done all you
can do, roll over, lie awake - repeat as necessary. There must have been some sleep in there, but dawn
came and Frank was up and ready to go. Suzanne, too, was up and ready to go - back to sleep or at least to
get her back scratched. Finally, we rolled out and Frank checked the power supplies - low, but not dead.
Penguin Dreams
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