Our Journey Transitioning Back from Hikers to Sailors with the Support of Loved Ones
September 28 - October 11, 2024
Hayesville, Tallahassee, Shell Point & Brunswick
(some overlap in the timeline)
This week’s post was difficult to prepare in light of damage caused by Hurricanes Helene & Milton, the loss of a very dear friend, and some other personal challenges. Much this was prepared earlier in the week and shares what it is like to make an earlier than expected shift in plans from living in the mountains to returning to the marina, with the incredible support of amazing friends and family.
Getting by with the help of others
As Jimmy mentioned in last week's post, Hurricane Helene brought on the end of our Appalachian Trail hike for the year. Although our situation was miniscule compared to others, we found ourselves in a tricky situation: stuck at a hotel with no means of transportation, nor a place to go to.
Transportation was difficult because nearly all roads to the south of Newport, TN had been flooded or damaged by Helene. In addition, most of the local shuttle drivers were trying to deal with their own storm damage. The nearest car rental agency was a town or two away and closed on the weekends.
As for a place to go to... we live on our sailboat Utopia and do not own a land-based home. The boat was hauled out of the water in March to better protect it from storms during our hike, and the yard Utopia is located does not allow overnight stays on the boats.
Then we received a call from friends in a part of western North Carolina that did not sustain major storm damage offering us a place to stay while we sorted things out. After that call, we managed to find a shuttle driver that was able to reach us and take us to a car rental in Knoxville. We both felt a sense of relief after arriving at John & Beth's welcoming home.
Once we realized that the hike was over for the year, we struggled with figuring out how to get to Brunswick, GA from Hayesville, NC (it turns out that one-way car rentals between two small towns are rather difficult to find). Jimmy had formulated a very expensive plan to get us back to Brunswick via Tallahassee when l received a text message from another friend from the Hayesville area indicating that they had a car available to use. After the generosity of Beth & John, Martha's text nearly brought tears to my eyes. I had not realized the underlying level of stress from this storm until that moment.
Our next post-trail angel came from friends in Tallahassee who happened to be out of town, offering their place while we gather up some personal belongings (we love being able to write our blog posts from laptops again!) and to visit family, friends, and colleagues in town.
Resetting Comfort Zones
When we hauled the boat out last March, I noted how much I loved cruising and was really looking forward to exploring more areas on Utopia after the hike. So, it was interesting for me to feel sad as we drove south out of the mountains towards Tallahassee last week. After nearly six months of living on the Appalachian Trail, it apparently had become my comfort zone. Although the hike was physically challenging, I really enjoyed staying in the woods and thought I had another three weeks of hiking to handle a mental transition from living in a tent to moving back onto the boat instead of this sudden shift in directions.
Heading back to the boat also meant recommissioning the boat, relearning the boat’s systems and getting reacquainted with docking maneuvers. These things made me feel a bit nervous, but the memory of the joy I felt after our first five months of cruising help with the adjustment from boots to boat.
Perhaps the biggest adjustment for us was simply being around noisy places and crowds of people. While in Tallahassee we attended three events that involved a lot of talking. Both of us felt a bit overwhelmed in these situations. We enjoyed seeing everyone although we felt a bit awkward in our new surroundings.
Settling in near Utopia
While hiking, we felt comfortable with our tent being our home even though we were constantly on the move, just like on our boat. After Helene halted the hike, we entered a period of being in limbo: not on our long-distance hike, and not living on our boat, but staying in places temporarily. Since we cannot move back onto Utopia until she has been returned to the water on October 31, we have rented an apartment for 23 days near the boat yard. Although this is another temporary housing situation, it felt good to arrive on Tuesday, to unpack and to settle in. I think having Utopia nearby helped with feeling more at home in our little apartment.
The apartment is a 10-minute walk to the downtown area, and two miles to the boat yard. Jimmy and I are getting a lot of walking in now that we are here in Brunswick. Our hiker-hunger is still quite strong, so we hope that lots of walking will help keep our metabolism up a little bit, as we attempt to cut back on how much we eat. I sure enjoyed nearly six months of eating as much as I please and am sad to go back to a normal life of careful calorie intake. It is not uncommon to gain more weight after a hike than what was lost during the hike because it takes a while for the hunger level to normalize after a sudden decline in activity. It would be great to only gain back five to ten pounds, which I think I have already accomplished.
We have started some of the re-commissioning tasks on Utopia, along with beginning a few new projects while we wait for her to be returned to the water. For the most part Utopia was in great shape after months of storage in the summer heat and enduring some very fierce storms. However, we have found a few issues that we will need to address before moving aboard. I suppose the next two weeks will cover our recommissioning tasks and what damage the gremlins caused during our absence (like moldy clothes and failed halyard mouselines...).
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