When we are at anchor, Gretchen and I have developed a ritual of sorts. It starts whenever the cats, usually Hawkeye, starts his efforts to wake Gretchen up, so he can be fed. He walks over her, meows, and generally makes a nuisence of himself until he gets the desired results. If it is taking too long, Radar will join in.
So Gretchen feeds them, and gets back into bed. This happens sometime around 5:30-6:00am. Then, one or both of us gets up at 6:30am to turn on the Ham radio and tune it to Chris Parker’s weather broadcast. In the Bahamas and the carribean, Chris is the weather God. We write down the forecast in a composition book. At the same time, we put on some hot water and make coffee. After 44 years, I have started to drink coffee, something as a kid I said I would never do. I will also put some shorts on and tilt the solar panel around, if I did not do it the night before.
The last part of the morning ritual is to check in on the Cruisheimer’s net at 8:30am. This allows us to tell other boats where we are, and hear where other boats are, are heading, etc. It also lets us call for other boats and talk to them if we want to. It is like a moderated party line. Speaking of which, it is almost 8:30, time to go!
