We have agreed as a family that Jenna will spend the next several weeks in the “owner’s hull” with me. I am relocating Jenna’s collection of stuff to our hull for the passage and letting our crew use her aft (rear of the boat) stateroom with a queen bed, shelving and a very small closet. I put some of her clothes in our closets and the rest the forward berth.
This means that Scott will sleep up in the forward starboard berth (yes, next to all the food that I showed in my last post). There he will definitely feel how the boat is handling in the water. Sit in the forward stateroom for a few minutes in rough seas, you find yourself losing contact with the mattress. Unfortunately, no seatbelts up here. Sleeping alone, as captain on this passage, it will be easier to wake and jump in and out of bed for a few minutes every hour or two to check on things without disturbing anyone and likewise no one will feel guilty about informing the captain about a radar target (boat or storm.)
In theory, that also means that I will get a more comfortable nights rest, I can keep an eye on Jenna during the passage, and we don’t risk crew mutiny. If you have ever shared a bedroom and bathroom with a 12 year old with ADHD, this needs no explanation. I “affectionately” refer to her hull as the “hull of despair” a phrase I heard on “The sailing family” Youtube channel when referring to a hull lived in by three young boys. It includes a constant string of towels, laundry, and toys EVERYWHERE, despite years of reminders.
Moving her plethora of stuff into our owner’s cabin took more than a day. Suddenly our tranquil, contemporary cabin looked like a rainbow had puked in it! We have been invaded…. Every open ledge is filled with stuffed animals and fidget toys.
A comfortable night’s rest? Jenna is now taller than I am and has a tendency to “stretch out” while sleeping a.k.a. STARFISH style. I quickly realized that she was going to take over the whole bed, maybe this wasn’t exactly what I had envisioned.
During the week, Jenna worked on her online schooling, but we have downloaded several videos for her to watch on passage, because I had agreed to give her the passage time off. While in Hampton, we also spent one afternoon at the Virginia Air & Space Science Center for a field trip. My favorite part was the Blue Angels IMAX 3-D film. It was so impressive to see how they train and how close those jets get in formation for each performance. I think Jenna’s favorite part of the center was the space exploration portion and the three story climbing tower. We would visit different areas of the museum and then return to it. Given the rainy conditions we were having that week, I was happy to find a place for her to dump some energy.
The day after our field trip, there was discussion that we might be leaving in 24 hours. On Halloween day! What? Why? Did you not hear the weather forecast? A Friday departure, would almost guarantee that we would sail through a front of thunderstorms. On the first night of sailing for a 10-14 day trip? I hate, no….…FEAR thunderstorms. The challenge is that the next weather window looks like a delay for four to five more days. What if staying put leads to even worse conditions? The weather in Hampton this week has been on and off raining and the nights are getting colder. By the way, my new bunk mate spends half of her sleep time as a starfish and the other half as a burrito. I needed to grab my own spare blanket and she is “loaning me” one of her puffy stuffed animals as a second pillow. After the noon weather forecast on Friday, we decided not to depart that evening and to wait four more days in Hampton. Scott took Jenna back to the science center one more time. Several boats decided to head south on Friday, but I am relieved that we have decided not go yet.
