A Cold Day for a Dinghy Ride

Day 251  |  Englewood   

It even looked cold outside. The overnight temperature dipped into the upper 40s, but the extra blanket was enough to keep us comfortable without running the generator. We definitely wanted to go ashore and walk the town, but waited until 10:30 to leave. By that time it had warmed all the way up to the low 50s. We bundled up and headed to shore in a wind-driven chop. Barry had on jeans, a sweatshirt, socks, sneakers and his foul weather jacket. I had on shorts, a long-sleeved T, my Keens, and my heavyweight jacket. I have landing and launching duty and knew I would be in water up to my knees. Better to have wet skin than wet pants was my  thought. We caught a good spray on our half-mile ride to shore and were thankful for the jackets. I had carried a pair of sweatpants in the backpack and I quickly slipped into them once we tied up.

Our first stop was the Artscape Sculpture Garden, a collection of a dozen or so pieces tucked in the middle of a neighborhood. "Catch of the Day" is a poignant depiction of all the trash found in our waters. Items such as cans, life jackets, mylar balloons, plastic bottles, and straws were showcased in a stack of crabpots. "The Nature of Englewood" is a chainsaw-carved tree trunk with branches re-shaped as dolphin, fish, pelicans, and even an octopus.

The large carving towered over Barry. Continuing along, we walked along the water to the site of the Veteran's Memorial. Attractive banners of several designs hung from the light poles. We spotted a sign for the Englewood Seafood & Music Festival being held at Pioneer Park, and made a U-turn to check it out. Seafood-themed banners and signs led us in to the free festival that actually goes on for three days.

There were craft, art, and natural product vendors in tents. The main draw, however was the lengthy setup of fair food (seafood served any way imaginable) and the large bandstand. Kettle of Fish, a local rock cover band, opened up the day's program. With the threat of rain we headed back to our dinghy at Indian Mound Park and found it just as we had left it, tied to a tree. The ride back to Crossroads was no warmer, but was much drier as we were traveling with the waves. We are enjoying the new outboard, although it is still in the break-in period and we have yet to test it at anywhere close to full throttle. The dinghy went back up on the upper deck. We won't be going anywhere in tomorrow's rain. All this was done by 1:00 and I was able to catch the tip-off of the UVA-Notre Dame ballgame. I enjoyed the entirety of the Cavaliers' sharp performance and comfortable margin of victory from the settee.

Barry and I spent a while charting out our destinations for next week. There are so many options and we want to make the most of our time in the area. The chart books, guide books, travel brochures, and computers were all pulled out. We noticed an orange glow coming in the window and poked our head out the door to check it out. Another vibrant sunset ended the day.

We will not see 70 degrees until next weekend at the earliest which has caused us to tame down our desire for open water dinghy rides (for now). After today we both agree that these dinghy trips are best done in the combination of warm air and water.