B-Dock-henge and Sailing with Craig

This was a great weekend of working from the boat, getting some cool photos and sailing with a friend from work

I finished working on Thursday and then having packed everything, I had to cool my heels for a while until Amazon delivered a package.  I'm working on a project to be able to watch movies on Seas The Day when the WiFi is sketchy (which is most of Saturday and Sunday when everyone else is also trying to watch movies).  A key component was supposed to be delivered during the day on Thursday but was running late.

As a result, I arrived at Osprey Point right at sunset and caught two photos.  Note that this weekend was "B-Dock-henge"!  Twice each summer the setting sun aligns perfectly with B-Dock.  I don't understand why we don't have a party (sort of like Key West) to celebrate such a momentous occasion.  We have until July 30th (the next B-Dock-henge) to plan better.  There are better photos of this phenomena farther down this post.

On Friday, the rising sun woke me and I stuck my head out of the companionway to see this scene.  I captured this with my iPhone and used PRISM (an effects treatment app) to get this final look.

There's not much else to show from Friday... it was a full day of work.  

Here's a better pic of B-Dock-henge and a capture from TPE showing the alignment at sunset on Friday night.

Sol Searcher returning from a sunset cruise B-Day party!

On Saturday, I FINALLY got my friend, Craig, to come along for a day of sailing.  Craig was one of the first people I met when I joined my current company.  I first knew him as the loud voice on the other side of the cubicle wall which developed into a warm friendship.  We are both in a similar stage of life (pre-geezer) and can share experiences and viewpoints.  We can also disagree and then forget about it afterwards - not out of any magnanimity, but because aging brain cells help with that. 😉

Full disclosure:  This is actually the second time Craig came along sailing.  The first was in Sept 2018 as shown by the photographic evidence below.  Despite those party shoes, it must have been so uneventful that I neglected to write a blog post about the day

On Seas The Day (315) in Sept. 2018

We had been trying to get Craig out on the new Seas The Day since we purchased it.  He was our last planned guest in 2019 but "his day" turned out to be bitter cold (it was early November) and we cancelled.  Then last year in June, he was bumped when my son was able to visit at the last minute (we were uncomfortable mixing more than one family during COVID).  The increasing COVID concerns last year caused us to cancel a few more times.

But he showed up Saturday!

We once again (note the photo above) had very little wind.  But despite this, we set the sails and nudged along at about 2 knots.  After an hour or so of a great conversation and little headway, we realized we were going nowhere.  It didn't matter... the conversation was great... I was reminded of my old Men's Group motto  "We share our sure-fire secrets for keeping our wives and children in line, then commiserate when they fail to work as expected."

Craig's photo

Around this time we decided we would start the engine and head down to check out Thomas Point Light, passing a number of different vessels along the way.

After we returned, we had a quick dinner at Harbor Shack and then Craig headed home and I headed back just in time for another B-Dock-henge shot.  I also caught Shardana returning to her berth.

Early on Sunday morning, I updated my Raymarine firmware AGAIN.  This was a 2 GB update that took more than 30 minutes.  I completely get why people are reluctant to update firmware, but since part of my job is to convince people to do just that... I need to set a good example.

While the firmware update was progressing, I used that time to renew my Navionics card and app subscriptions.  During the last week, I briefly flirted with changing to SavyNavy -- a newer entrant in this app navigation market that touts all their digital interconnectedness.  But their main objective seems to be monetization and (during my free trial) the app informed me that despite my paying a premium price for their app, I would have to pay even more to get tidal information.  Navionics includes tides in my current (and cheaper) plan.  (Needless to say, I cancelled the trial subscription -- lots of promises... not much that was working.)

Firmware updated, it was time to go out sailing again.  Nothing special... just out in to the bay for a while and return.  It was cold when I first left, but slowly warmed up a bit.

I got back in time to cook a late lunch.  I was hungry for dumplings (and missing my dumpling supplier).

Finally, I packed up and cleaned up, leaving Seas The Day ready for her next guest.