Sailing refreshes our souls.
The hurricane damage was a personal injury. Like a broken finger or a knee that needs replacing.
It's not a permanent disability. It's something we'll either get over completely, or, we'll learn to live with our new body in whatever shape it takes.
The separation for months and months is a deeper wound. One prone to infection if not cared for.
A sailboat exists where wind and water meet in harmony. It takes some doing to get her there, but once the sweet spot is found, sailing is a thing of startling beauty.
Of course, it requires a boat. It also requires some skills. Both of these require a bit of patience. Boats are expensive, skills take time to develop.
Wrestling with Red Ranger on the hard is a lot of work. It's work that wears down our spirit. It's hard work without joy.
(I know many, many people forced by capitalism into work without joy. I have pity and pay that -- someday -- the political class realizes the importance of a universal basic income to handle food, shelter, and healthcare. This permits people the freedom to find work with joy, free of cruel exploitation.)
Juan took us out sailing on Uhane Kai.
It restored our sense of perspective.
The hard work has a reward. We do have the patience to get past our current problems. The watery part of the world awaits.
Dockage
We'd like to Dock-and-Daysail to get our sea-legs back. The long trip down from Maryland was a lot of motoring, a little motor-sailing, and almost no sailing.
We haven't really been sailing -- proper no-engine sailing -- in a few years.
A dock on the Gulf Coast of Florida? Prices are -- compared with Maryland -- outrageous. (CA collected the data, I may have some of this wrong, but...) The cheap joints seem to be almost twice what we paid. The posh joints may be as much as 4×.
This, too, is a bit disheartening. But. We have lived transient slip to transient slip with lots of anchoring out. That may be our best choice for now. It leaves plenty of opportunities for day-sailing.
