01 June 2011 A Command Is Like An Order

“We cannot get out.  We cannot get out.  They have taken the Bridge and the second hall…We cannot get out”

Those of you familiar with J.R.R. Tolkien will recognize the above passage from The Fellowship of the Ring.  I found it highly appropriate for today as Amy just finished reading the book, and the weather foiled our plans to go ashore.

We got up early in anticipation of Ethan’s arrival and while the skies were sunny, the wind was freshening rapidly with the seas just starting to stack up.  We began hustling everything down the hill when we got the text from Ethan “not today guys”, the seas being a little too rough.  I was not joking when I said Amy is going from all stop to full ahead with her Seguin experience.

We came inside and dropped our gear.  I was ambivalent, Amy was pissed, and the dog was cranked up into high gear because he had his leash & harness on and couldn’t figure out why.  I went about the business of making coffee while Amy vented on me, culminating with a command of sorts for tomato soup and grilled cheese for dinner.  In an effort to dispel her mood, I related an allegory of getting turned around on a ship about fifty feet from a pier and sent back to sea, having already been at sea for several weeks (the point being things could always be worse/ you make the best of what you have).  In return I received a look that cooled the temperature off about 5 degrees.

I made tomato soup and grilled cheese for dinner.

I will admit that as a first introduction to Seguin, it would have been better to have timed it so we did not have four steady days of dismal fog, followed by three days of nicer but cold weather, followed by one day (probably two, I’m not optimistic about the forecast) of dirty clothes, dirty sheets, and a scarcity of fresh dairy & vegetables.  Still trying to brighten the day I casually remarked to her that scurvy takes weeks to develop, not days.

Did I mention I made tomato soup and grilled cheese for dinner?

In all seriousness we had a good day regardless of the inclement weather.  We read books, played Scrabble, played cribbage, walked around a bunch, and watched one heck of a squall rip through; I’m reasonably certain that it was Amy’s first time watching a line squall bear down on her at sea, and she was impressed.  I also finally got the cistern topped off with our water which looks like orange juice and smells like a sea chest.

 We’re hoping to get off the island tomorrow afternoon and come back Friday, we’ll see how that plays out.  I’m dubious that the seas will subside enough tomorrow, but time will tell.  The S’ly wind is still blowing stink in the 20kt -25kt range, with a good 5ft – 7ft sea running.  The barometer appears to have leveled out at 29.69 inches, however visibility is down and the fog horn blowing, very little rain but I suspect more coming, looking at the surrounding cloud development before the sun went down.