December 18 - We got up the next morning and after a quick breakfast, and a quick chat with Sandi, we said our goodbyes to Pat and John, who were going to continue along their southern route. After a nice morning greeting from the marina’s dog Maggie (a total sweetheart of a lab who was beyond smitten with Brian) Brian, Mark and I all piled into to the golf cart and headed over to the marine store that is part of the River Forest Marina to try our luck at finding a propeller that would fit our boat. Luckily for us, amongst the many propellers that Axson had on hand was one that was perfect for our boat, a 15″ x 16P RH 1″ shaft. A three-blade fixed, which isn’t exactly the fastest when you’re sailing, but the right propeller none the less. One way or another, Axson had to order us the right nuts to affix the propeller, so we knew we were there for another day. We took the propeller, and Mark let Axson know that he was planning to leave the next day with a flight around noon - as Axson had some contacts who would take Mark to the airport. We went back to the boat and logged on to see what we could do about getting Mark a flight home (with the thought that he’d be able to get home and surprise Adina in time for her Xmas party the next night. While we were sitting at the dock, the Song of the Mira, which had been anchored out in the harbor radioed in that they would like to come in and get a fill up on diesel and get some propane, and when Axson came down to the docks, he asked us if we could help them to tie up, and if we’d be willing to run them into town in the golf cart to get propane. Turns out that the Song of the Mira is being single handed down to the Caribbean by a nice Canadian named John, who I ran into town in the golf cart to get propane and to make a quick trip to the hardware store. When I got back to the boat, the guys had done some additional work on the bilge pump, and we made the decision to go out for pizza that evening along with a quick trip to the grocery store to get a few provisions. When all was said and done, we didn’t end up leaving until closer to 6, when it was getting dark, but I’d plugged in the golf cart in when I got back from my propane run, so we should have plenty of juice to make this longer run, right? We piled in, and I drove us the couple of miles through town and out to the second stoplight in town, where we pulled onto the “highway” to get to the Food Lion and the pizza joint. We poked along on the shoulder - finally making it to the plaza where the stores were. Seemed to us like the little golf cart that could was losing steam, but it got us there just fine. We opted instead to eat at the Chinese food place (bad choice on our parts) and after placing our order, we walked over to the food store to pick up our provisions, then went back and sat down to eat our dinner. All I’ll say is that the cafeteria version of Chinese food would have been better… suffice to say it wasn’t what we’d hoped for, especially on Mark’s last night with us. Now mind you, we’re in a golf cart, albiet with lights and all, but it’s still a golf cart… and as we were finishing our meal, in walked two State Highway Patrolmen. All I could think was, oh god, here goes my perfect driving record! We gathered up our groceries, and slipped out to the golf cart to head back to the marina. We pulled out onto the “highway” (for those of you familiar, think route 28 through Andover) and putted our way back, passing three police cruisers on the way, who didn’t even give us a second look. With much laughter, we cruised along in the little golf cart, whose lights were becoming dimmer by the second (we were running a flashlight as headlights by the time we came through downtown) we approached the marina and pulled it safely into the garage, where Brian plugged it in AND turned it on! We went back to the boat where we sat under the stars and shared a last couple of glasses of wine with Mark before turning in for the night.
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