It's Small World | Or God Winked Again

Today we arrived at Wrightsville, North Carolina. A charming town that old postcards call the Atlantic City of the South. The town revolves around boating and the ocean. It has a very busy harbor surrounded by houses and "cottages". There are many boats anchored and it takes some planning to find he right spot to drop anchor. If you do not plan ahead your boat could ride up on someone else’s boat when the tide changes or the wind. Majestic Dream is 50 feet long. You have to plan for her length, plus 15 feet of anchor chain for every foot of depth in the harbor. It was 20 feet where we squeezed in between a trawler and a sailboat, who was just dropping his own anchor and a large powerboat behind us. We would need to put our anchor down, off our bow, 200 feet in front of the powerboat behind us. I am certainly glad my father, or Captain Don as he sometimes known on the boat, was here to teach me all of that because I had no idea how to plan for the anchor. We stood on the bow ready to drop "Bruce". Bruce is the name brand of a special anchor made to hold large ships at sea, our Bruce is a scaled down for smaller boats.

As we readied to drop the The Bruce, our First Mate, John, was at the helm, following the Captain's directives by hand signal. A friendly looking man stood on the bow of the nearby trawler, watching our movements as our decisions could potentially effect him if we did not plan well. Captain Don glanced over at the trawler a few times to judge distance. Than name on the bow was Delphi. Captain Don suddenly remarked, " I know that guy, I know who that guy is! Why, that is Ben's brother!".

Ben is one of friends, who was currently traveling aboard his own sailboat in Key West, Florida. Ben had suggested Don keep his eye out for his brother who was traveling on a Trawler named Delphi. The last time Captain Don knew the Delphi was Stuart, Florida. He did not expect to see him on this stretch of the trip up the Intercoastal Waterway; much less anchored right next to us!

Don called over to the man on the Delphi and said "I know your brother, Ben! He told me to watch for your boat and say hello if I saw you!" He smiled back at us as with all of the engine noise he probably only heard half of what was said.

After we were safely at anchor with the sun setting, the other boats shining silhouettes against the brightly lit sky, Don called Ben on the phone and told him he had just anchored next to his brother! Just then we heard the Delphi calling us on the radio. Ben was even able to hear him over the phone.. Acquaintances and hellos were exchanged all around.

Two days before, Don had remarked how strange it was that almost every time he thought of his friend Ben, Ben would, soon after, call on the cell phone to check in. I suggested that when that happens to me I tell the person who called me how good they are. I will say "Boy, you are good!" Of course they will always ask me why and I respond that I was just thinking about them or wishing they would call. It's a small, small world, a person could say, as they day at Disney or....you could think of it as one of the ripples that builds the waves of life....God winked at us again today!

Unfortunately we did not get to visit with Ben's brother. Usually an evening at anchor might be spent taking the dinghy over to visit a neighboring boat. Alas, our alternator had gone out on the boat as we motored past Cape Fear. Yes, just like on a car, stuff breaks! The day before it was the pumping arm for the head. The entire toilet had needed to be removed and re-plumbed. Our night in Wrightsville Harbor was spent, flash light in hand, down on our knees in the engine compartment, putting in a new alternator. Years of living on a boat will teach your to be prepared. It can be a long trip to get a new alternator. This time we were actually in a town where they might have been a Marina that carried this type of alternator but just a last week Majestic Dream was making the trip from the Bahamas to West Palm Beach. Losing the ability to run your boat when traversing through the beautiful, yet desolate reef filled waters could be treacherous.

I was reminded as I watched the men on their knees, repairing the boat, that we have many reasons to be on our knees in thankful prayer.