The day started as many long weekends in the Marine Corps have; An unneccessarily early wake-up, followed by a room inspection to make sure that we were all good boys and cleaned up so we can go play on the weekend. A long span of nothing, followed by a formation at noon to get off for the weekend. Immediately after being released, Daniel and I loaded up the car and headed off base. After sitting in bumper to bumper traffic for what felt like an eternity, we made it to highway 17, and were on our way to Washington, NC to take a look at the boat Daniel was thinking about buying. At around 1500, we got to John's place and went to look at the boat, a 1970 Irwin 28.5' sloop. The boat was in great shape, and fits Daniel's needs perfectly, he made an agreement to buy it in October, and after hanging out for a bit longer, we headed off to the marina to work on my boat, Justus. On the way to my slip, I met a guy named Mark, (the second Mark at the Marina so far that I've met) who was very friendly, as has been everyone I've encountered there so far. I boarded Justus, and opened her up. I got down below, and checked her out to see how she weathered the recent storm. I was actually glad that it rained on Thursday, because it gave me the chance to ensure that the leak fix from last weekend worked. It did. I set up the coffee maker that I bought, and tested out the head, I had been concerned that the head wouldn't work, but was pleasantly surprised when, after a minute of pumping the manual handle, everything was in working order. One of my main missions for the afternoon was to take measurments for a board to turn my settee into a double berth, but I had forgotten to pick up a measuring tape. Daniel stopped by the office and asked Mike if he had one, and sure enough, he did. A few minutes after Daniel got to the boat, my port-side neighbors arrived, and we greeted each-other. David and Anna, a couple about seventy years old, invited Daniel and I aboard their boat to go out into the harbour and link up with eight other boats to watch the sun go down, and the blue moon come up. Being a very rare opportunity, we agreed. We boarded their ship and set off into the harbour. Along the way, we both learned a bit about marina navigation and regulations. Pulling up to the cluster of boats, a mixture of sailboats, motorboats, and one impressive catamaran, we came along the port side and tied off to the next boat. This was a learning experience in itself, effectively docking with other boats, all using one central anchor. I learned how to tie off a line to a cleat, and the difference between actual and apparent wind. It's pretty cool to know that the wind is blowing at around eight knots, and not be able to feel it at all because you're moving in the same direction at the same speed. After lashing together and settling in, David and Anna broke out the snacks and wine. We settled into friendly conversation, and people from other boats started coming over, soon enough, the deck was filled with people, all but us over sixty years old. We were enjoying the conversation, and suddenly, Daniel and the woman next to him began singing "Blue Moon" by Ella Fitzgerald. A fitting song. The sun set at 1924, and the moon began to rise at around 1938. We were invited to come aboard the center boat, an amazing thirty-six foot sailboat (I'm not sure of the make or model), and we hung out with the owner and his wife, and the owner and wife of the catamaran to port. We stayed there for about half an hour, until David turned on the deck light on his ship, signalling that he was ready to depart. We released from the boats on both sides of us, and headed off towards the marina. It was very dark, and David couldn't see the markers to guide us back in, so Daniel operated the spotlight to find the markers. Anna and I stood on the aft deck and watched the moon glisten on the water for a bit, "Isn't that amazing?" she said, to which I replied, "The way I see it, God saw fit to make the world 72% water, we were meant to be on it". We pulled back in to the dock and lashed the boat to the cleats. Daniel and I returned to Justus, where I finally took the measurments for the settee board, and tested out all of the lights on board. Before we left, Daniel got David and Anna's phone number so we could stay in touch. David has offered to go out on Justus with us and teach us the finer points of sailing. He had been considering buying her before I did, because he misses sailing so much, and is happy to have met, and befriended the new owner. All in all, there were many lessons learned, and many jokes told tonight. I still haven't stopped smiling, it has been a very long time since I've felt so satisfied and happy.
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