Impending Departure

Tomorrow we will leave the place we've called home all summer on our first overnight trip on the big ocean via teeny tiny sailboat. Are we nervous? Probably.

The plan is to sail out of Penobscot Bay to Monhegan Island, and from there South across the Gulf of Maine to Provincetown on Cape Cod. It's about 130 miles, and we're guessing it will take us 30 hours or so. Once we're out in the middle of the gulf, there's really no turning back toward land as it will be faster to just keep going. The wind is forecast out of the Northeast with low seas. A good time to go.

I asked Jon a few days ago if he was nervous and he answered, casually enough, in the negative. At that time I was decidedly very nervous. Now, I'm just ready to get this part over with and no other emotions are making themselves known. Once we're in Cape Cod we'll be back to day trips all the way to Florida. No more overnights. 

Though we could spend another year working on the boat and preparing ourselves for this trip, the boat is at least as prepared as it can be unless we want to spend the winter in Maine. We finished up a handful of little projects over the last couple of days which we will share here soon. I even made up our abandon-ship bag, a task I was blissfully hoping to ignore because the weather would be so calm as to force us to motor the whole way across a sea of glass. But better safe than in a life raft with no signaling mirror.

One advantage of keeping busy with all these last minute tasks is that there has been little time to think about all of the terrible things that might happen. Or maybe each task better prepares the boat, leading to a feeling of increased confidence and an erosion of doubt. Or yet another option, I'm just far enough removed from the last time I felt momentarily panicked and terrified that I've forgotten what there is to fear. Perhaps the fact that I would prefer to motor the whole way would indicate that I am not as prepared for this voyage as I had hoped to be.

It's possible that Jon and I have the same coping mechanism for dealing with the unknown. Denial. Somehow I feel as if I should be packing a bag so that I can be magically whisked off to Cape Cod where I will again meet up with this boat. Are we really ready for this? I don't know. But we will soon find out.