Blue Moon Over Nantucket

Don't suppose you can see this very well but it's the view of the  'blue moon' shinning down on Nantucket Island shot with my iPhone while waiting for the launch to take us back to the boat.

And oh, what an evening.

There are an average of 15 weddings a weekend in Nantucket so it makes sense that we got a 'save the date' notice for this one about a year ago because hotels and restaurants get booked far in advance.  Everything about this destination wedding weekend so far has been a once-in-a-blue moon kind of experience.  Tonight was the rehearsal dinner hosted by Melissa's sister.  All of the people we are meeting have been extraordinarily accomplished and interesting and our hosts and hostesses couldn't be more gracious.

Our friends Beth Newbold and her husband Pat Winkler joined us shortly after 1 p.m. today. They came in for the wedding and will be joining us for the next week aboard Bel Sito. Beth and Pat are very experienced boaters who not only own a 57' Tazwell sailboat which they've cruised from Maine to the Caribbean, but also joined the trawler world recently by buying a Menorquin 36'  which they've been cruising around Maine lately. I wondered how they'd feel about coming aboard yet another boat for yet another week, to which Pat said:

"Are you kidding? It's like asking if you can have too much garlic or cinnamon!"

Well said, Pat.

These two are great boat hands. Pat and Richard have already started playing around with the electronics, moved a table and discussed how to get the water flow meter working.

I'll get a better picture of Pat and Beth tomorrow

Ah, water.

So, last night I tried to turn on the water to wash dishes and nothing came out of the spigot.

No water. And no water in the heads, either. This could be really bad news.  Richard crawled down into the engine room area and checked the water pump. Visions of a Nantucket yard bill started dancing around in our heads.

But then we wondered: could we have run out of water?

It couldn't be that simple, could it?  That would be the equivalent of an I.T. person asking: 'Did you turn the power on?' when asked why the damnable machine isn't working.

Let's see. We filled the tanks in Mystic...now remember, we just got the boat in May and this is the longest cruise we've been on so we are learning as we go. Could we have gone through 190 gallons of water so soon? Nah. Could we? Maybe.

But nothing's really ever that simple, is it? We wouldn't know for sure until the next morning when we could move the boat to the water dock.

Richard obsessed about this all night long...he runs through all the options in his mind...and usually figures it must be a worst-case scenario (because it often is).

We got the boat to the dock, fingers crossed, and plunged the hose down into the tank and started filling. The minutes dragged on and on...and then, miracle of miracles, the water started streaming from the faucets.

YEA!

So here begins an ongoing series I'm calling "You know you're a cruiser when___________"

For example, You know you're a cruiser when you get back to land and feel guilty for taking a long shower.

Or, you know you're a cruiser when someone uses the term 'head hunter' and your first thought is of the Nantucket Pump Out Boat.

Got the game? Cruisers, feel free to add your own.