September was tough. More seems to be apart on the LiveMore than together and Larry and I both hit a low. We each had to take a breath and regroup. We knew to expect setbacks on our journey, but we just didn’t expect them all in one month!
The davit system needs to be modified. It was too high, but that has been removed and is currently being reworked. We put the dinghy in storage until later. When moving the Starlink, a bolt was found broken on the mast. So, the mast has been removed for repair and painting. Our windlass has been taken apart and the part we purchased does not fit. We are weighing options to rebuild the bow thruster or rebuild it. The winds in Southport, though salubrious, also present lots of challenging docking!
We must hold off on ordering our new mattress until repairs are made because of a motor under our bed. We have not yet practiced anchoring out, and we expect that to be a big part of our Loop. With a lot of life demands keeping us from the water, we have not been able to practice operating the LiveMore as much as we had hoped. This is causing me more strife than Larry and he asked me to trust him that we will figure it all out as we go. I trust him.
Our fishing boat has not sold, and diesel is at an all-time high, so we needed to update our budget again. Those were the hard things this month, but we remind ourselves how lucky we are for the adventure ahead.
On some positive notes, the air conditioning was serviced, and we had the radio installed in the downstairs helm. We found a perfect tenant for our house. We found someone to do our haul out and replace the zincs. Larry’s company found someone he can pass the baton to when he retires. Planning ahead gives us time to adjust our budget and still stay on schedule. We went fishing on our boat we haven’t sold yet, and it was a wonderful time even if we didn’t find the king mackerel we were after. We love our new marina and have had fun meeting our neighbors there. I spent a Saturday giving the LiveMore some love with a deep clean. This cheered me up tremendously.
I recently committed to a 21-day poetry challenge, so to conclude I want to share a poem I recently wrote:
King Mackerel Tournament October 2, 2026
A day to remember, out at sea.
A King Mackerel tournament, this is new for me.
A last minute decision, how bad could it be?
I’m “‘out of the office”, and aha, I’m free!
The marina was quiet, coffee in hand.
We loaded the boat, Larry had a plan.
In the pre-dawn fog, we said goodbye to the land.
With a new casting net, the bait didn’t have a chance.
The live well was full, we were brimming with hope.
The sun came up and there were hundreds of boats!
Who would get the big one, we did not know,
but we hoped we’d come back with something to show.
As the day wore on and the sun beat down,
despite not much action, no one had a frown.
We shared stories and laughs, joking around.
We were about to doze off when we heard the sound!
We woke right up to the whirr of the line.
It only took a second and we were all alive!
Get the net, get the gaff, will we win a prize?
It was on the stern, then the bow, then the port side.
The excitement was short, the fish was mistook.
Instead of a mackerel, a shark ate our hook.
It wasn’t too big, and we got a good look.
Then I went back to finish reading my book.
As I thought that this day without mackerel was a waste –
The universe responded before me in haste.
Dozens of dolphins appeared giving chase!
And I realized at once this was just a taste,
of the things that we miss when we don’t slow our pace –
and what wonder appears when we step out of the race.
Until next time,
Leave a comment