Dates: November 16-18

Started winterizing. Accomplished:

• phone consultation with the cooktop company
• packed up the dinghy & outboard
• removed the knot log
• removed paper items from navigation station
• installed the portable radiator for the winter
• got lots of advice from Ron & Pat at the marina
• put a pretty big dent in the winterization checklist

October 12-14
Potomac & St. Mary's Rivers
Crew: Chuck

We arrived at the boat Sunday afternoon and got out on the water about 4:00. The plan had been to get somewhere that first night, even if only at anchor, and then make for a farther destination after that. The relatively light wind and the later than usual hour, however, left us with little choice but to sail back to Cole’s Point for the first night.

Despite the change of plans, we did get some decent wind and had a good sail. We also were able to have dinner at the Driftwood, which is always a plus.

The next day we got away early and headed down the Potomac with plans to go back to Kinsale where Patsy and I had been the weekend before, but the dead down-wind sailing was just too boring, so we made for the St. Mary’s on the Maryland side. The wind freshened and we had a nice sail up into the river and after making contact with the St. Mary’s Yachting Center on the way in we sailed all the way up to Horseshoe Bend.

I may have said this earlier, but St. Mary's is the colonial capital of Maryland, established in 1633, and adjacent to the historic site is St. Mary's College. The last time I was here, I just sailed around Horseshoe Bend and looked over the area from the river, but this time we dropped anchor and went ashore. As we strolled the grounds, I got this picture of the Goober at anchor.

After taking in the sights at the college and the historic area, we weighed anchor and headed back down the river towards the marina. There was not much going on on a Monday night in October, but I cooked a gourmet meal of cheeseburgers and we had a cocktail or two and caught a beautiful sunset.

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The next morning with light winds in the forecast we set out after a full breakfast - I love my new cooktop! We considered several options, but the light wind (clearly evident in the picture to the left) ruled out most of them and we motored on towards home.

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As usual, the weather altered our plans, but I did get in some new experiences: anchoring, using the dinghy, a new marina, etc, but I'm still looking forward to a longer cruise. Unfortunately after two weeks on the Outer Banks, it will be November before I can consider another sail, and who knows what the weather will be then. (Where's that damned global warming when you really need it!!)

blessing the boats
by Lucille Clifton

(at St. Mary's)

may the tide
that is entering even now
the lip of our understanding
carry you out
beyond the face of fear

may you kiss the wind
then turn from it
certain that it will
love your back

may you open your eyes to water
water waving forever
and may you in your innocence
sail through this to that


[I found this poem at St. Mary's College, St. Mary's, Maryland, 10/13/8. I'll detail the sailing trip in another post, but thought this might deserve its own place. I particularly like the second verse!]

October 3-5
Potomac & Yeocomico Rivers
Crew: Patsy

We got a late start on our trip for two reasons, both telecom related: First, we discovered on the trip to the marina that my cell phone was not working and since we were expecting some calls, we had to spend a couple of hours in Richmond at the Sprint store. Secondly, just as I was readying the boat for our departure, my handheld VHF radio snagged on a hose hanging from a piling and tumbled into the murky water. My friend Stephen graciously donned his full diving gear and went down to look for it, but was blinded by lack of visibility. DANG!

We finally got underway, relying on the main VHF below decks and took a very slow downwind sail down to Kinsale. The wind was so light, in fact, that we eventually decided to motor sail because we were facing the possibility of arriving after dark considering our late departure. It all worked out well, however, and we made Port Kinsale just as the sun clung to the tops of the masts in the marina.

After getting the boat all squared away, we headed up to the marina restaurant for what was surprisingly one of the best pizzas we'd ever eaten.

The next morning with some time on our hands, I decided to give the dinghy its first major test, and we motored up to Kinsale Harbor Yacht Club just to do a little exploring. We found Steve there and he showed us around the place including the store which had for sale - ta da! - a handheld VHF radio. I didn't have my wallet with me at the time so we took the Goober back there to buy it on our way out the next day.

Saturday morning after motoring upwind to the Potomac, we sailed all the way back to Cole's Point mostly on a beam reach under light winds, but we had plenty of time for our trip, so we just sat back and enjoyed the serenity of it all.

On the way we passed one of the many fish traps that can be found throughout the Chesapeake. This one was packed full of cormorants and pelicans, but by the time we got the camera out, we'd scared most of them away.

After a great boat-cooked meal aboard Saturday night and another beautiful sunset, we considered heading up to AC's for a little night life until we got word from a neighbor that it was karaoke night. That was enough to convince us that a bit of reading and off to bed was probably our best course!

We again put the galley to good use the next morning with a big breakfast of bacon and eggs (and more tomatoes which just seem to be overflowing from our garden), and debated a quick morning sail. The wind, however, seemed almost nonexistent, so we began to pack up for home. Of course, in the midst of that the wind freshened, but we figured if we'd gone out it probably would have died away to nothing! The usually monotonous drive home was livened up by listening to the Redskins come back to beat the Eagles.

Boat notes:

• The electrical system is all back in order, thanks to Ron and the two new batteries he installed. We spend Friday night in a marina, but on battery power alone, and all worked well.
• The repairs that I made to the running lights last time seem to have worked.
• I still don't like the way the dinghy rides on the davits (too low), but Ron had an idea or two that I'll try next trip.
• I've pretty much decided to wait until Spring to move to Urbanna, assuming they still have a slip then. I've got lots of repairs to finish (reefing system), and I'd like to do that with Ron available to guide me.

September 12&13
Marina & Potomac
Crew: solo

This was supposed to be the trip where I took a multiple over-nighter and anchored out in a new location at least one of the nights. That plan quickly began to unravel when I got to the boat Friday afternoon, dove into several maintenance projects (loose wiring and dinghy issues), and soon found myself looking at dinner time! Ah well, no matter; I'll make it a full day tomorrow and Sunday!

The unraveling continued Saturday morning when it came time to warm up the engine as I got her ready to leave the marina, and found that the starter would barely turn over. I'd had this problem after anchoring in the marina on the last trip, but I figured that after almost two weeks of charging on shore power, the batteries would be full of juice! I eventually used my trusty little emergency battery to get her started. She restarted immediately after running for awhile but would not after sitting for 30 minutes.

I tried everything that I could think of (which ain't much!), and eventually thought I'd seen some improvement, so after arranging with Don down the dock to stand by his radio in case I needed a tow, I set out to try to salvage the day. The wind was light, but at least I was sailing! I decided to sail for 30 minutes just off the marina and try the battery to make sure before I attempted to go anywhere.

Again, it didn't seem to have enough juice to turn the engine over, but my back-up battery came through for the second time in one day, and I was able to motor back to my slip. My usual maintenance gurus were not in attendance this trip, so having reached the limits of my expertise, I was left with nothing to do but back up and head home.

FRUSTRATING!!

August 20-23
Marina & Potomac
Crew: solo

I knew heading into this 3-4 day trip that I'd be spending a lot of time in port. My steering had been acting up, I hadn't even gotten my dinghy in the water, the davits needed new line, the running and anchor lights had been off last time I checked, and there was tons of organizational things that always need doing.

The steering was the first job we tackled. Ron who's boat sitting two slips down was my expert on this job that I had no intention of tackling alone. The first thing we had to do was get access to the guts of the system which required that I haul out all the junk I'd stored in the aft berth, shown here neatly organized in the main cabin! (There's just not a whole lot of storage space on a 30-foot boat!)

We messed around with it for the better part of the afternoon with no success until Ron said it just looked as if there was no way around pulling her out of the water, which I needed to request of the marina for the next morning.

After making my request, we had some time to kill as another boat was on the lift waiting to be put in the boat yard. That gave me some time to work on other jobs, including the dinghy.

After opening a few more steering access points for Ron to use after we pulled her, I took some time to putter around the marina in the dinghy. She's not exactly a speedboat, but I was amazed at how much pickup that little 4hp motor has. I also immediately saw the benefits of having the dinghy when it comes to anchoring out, which was another item on my list of things to do this trip.

Ron found me when it was time to pull the boat and we got her over to the boat yard with the help of Steven, a new guy at the marina from Belgium who's restoring a boat in the slip next to mine.

Once hauled, we worked more on the steering. Unfortunately, the cap that holds the rudder in place would not budge, leaving us unable to pull the rudder & look at the innards.

Fortunately, the steering seemed to have loosened a good bit from all the lubricating we'd been doing up to that point, so we decided to put her back in the water and let me take her out Friday for a shakedown cruise. While on the hard, Ron hooked up my knot log which had mysteriously never worked.

I left the marina about 1:00 Friday afternoon after rigging the dinghy and found the steering to be vastly improved. Unfortunately, the dinghy was just not riding right on the davits, so I had to get it down in the water to be towed. The easterly wind allowed me to head up the Potomac which I'd not done to any extent in the past, and I decided to head for Breton Bay and possibly all the way to Leonardtown, Maryland.

I was amazed at how perfect the wind was as I sailed almost all the way up into the Bay. Unfortunately, Leonardtown's harbor, although recently renovated, is not yet able to handle the deep draft of saiboats, but it was just as well because it was time for me to make for home where I got this picture of the sunset.

The steering had passed with flying colors, and I had only one more item on my agenda: anchoring. In discussing anchoring with Ron while I was checking all my ground tackle, I had hit upon the idea of anchoring in the new open part of my own marina. If I had any problems or needed help all I'd have to do is dinghy ashore and get it!

So, instead of mororing into my slip, I just motored into the open space, next to another sailboat and dropped anchor - after a few rookie, first-timer mistakes! I cooked my first real dinner while on the hook and headed to bed after relaxing on deck for awhile. The combination of worrying about my anchor drifting and all the new noises that come with sleeping at anchor had me tossing and turning for a good bit, but eventually I dozed off.

The next morning with tons to do before I made it out of there in time for a social event in Waynesboro, the engine wouldn't start!! I theorized that it was because I'd left the water heater on all night with no water in the fresh water system. However, my handy little portable battery, which I always charge every trip, came though and I was soon back in my slip packing up for home.

Despite only one day of actual sailing, this was a very satisfying trip. Thanks to Ron, I learned so much more about my boat than I'd known before, I got the boat a whole lot more well organized, and I checked several things off my 2008 to-do list.

Next time, a multi overnighter in a new marina and at anchor!

July 30-31
Potomac River
Crew: Patsy

Well, I'm way behind in my posting! This entry involves a quick trip to the boat with Patsy before another trip to the Outer Banks.

As a gas saving move, Patsy and I fit in a quick one day trip to the boat on our way to Duck on July 31. After arriving and unloading, we had enough time for a brief afternoon sail. We made our way over to Tall Timbers, just across the Potomac and motored our way around that scenic area. There's a marina there, but I've never taken the time to go there.

The next day, we decided to just get a few things done in the marina and head on out for the OBX. We began our beach trip with scorching heat, but after the first few days, the weather moderated and the rest of the stay seemed more like June than August.

The sea oats on the dune outside our place seemed particularly prolific this year which is encouraging, considering that after a bunch of nor'easters a few years ago, we barely had any!

July 20-22
Potomac River
Crew: Chuck

We arrived at the marina early afternoon on Sunday with intentions of sailing somewhere and anchoring overnight for the first time, but after a rather rambunctious sail in big chop, we decided that we’d rather not spend the night on that rollercoaster and returned to Cole’s Point for the night.

Friends John & Marty from Charlottesville were there and talked about taking a trip down to Point Lookout Marina on the Maryland side, almost to the Bay. My goal this season is to experience new things and go places that I’ve not been before, and this was one, so after talking it over, we decided to join them.

We left the marina Monday morning and found little to no wind, but about half way there the wind picked up and we had a nice sail down to the mouth of Smith’s Creek, and I got this picture of “Nova” along the way.

After getting settled into the new marina, and taking a long cool soak in the swimming pool, we followed the advice of some other sailors who were visiting and walked to Courtney’s for dinner. Despite décor and a building straight out of the ‘40s or ‘50s and service that can be described as laissez-faire at best, this was a great seafood restaurant! When I asked which of the fish specials was the most local, the waiter/fisherman said, “all of them.” Apparently he catches the fish and his wife cooks them. A great meal, except for the steak that Marty ordered, but we decided she deserved that for ordering steak in the first place!

The next morning after posing for the picture above and backing out of the slip (left), Chuck and I took off a bit before “Nova” and started for Cole’s Point.

We motored up river for 75% of the trip, on water as smooth as glass, but eventually we were able to get the sails up and start a bit of tacking into the wind. But we didn’t have the sails up more than 45 minutes before the weather alert came over the radio. John radioed and said that they were dropping sails and making for the marina. Chuck and I, being a bit closer to home than they, thought we’d maybe get in one more tack and then do the same.

However, the second radio warning was for Calvert & St. Mary’s counties, just across the river from Cole’s Point, so we quickly got the sails down, got everything below that we didn’t want to get wet, and got into our foul weather gear.

Marty got this picture of the “Goober” just as we approached the storm. (You might have to click on it to even see the boat!)

After watching the darkening skies come down river at us, the storm was on us in an instant and we were soon engulfed in big waves, flashing lightning, winds that the radio later said were up to 60 knots, and driving rain that stung so much we thought it was hailing. We fought our way into the wind as the storm worsened to the point that we couldn’t even see the shoreline. The bow was buried in the waves a couple of times, and steering became almost impossible if I didn’t keep her dead into the wind, but the bulk of the lightning, although awesome to behold was thankfully over on the Maryland side.

Like most Summer squalls, the winds started to let up after about 15 minutes (although it seemed much longer!) and the shoreline became visible again. By the time we made the channel into the marina, the sun was out and we were sure that everybody at home port would be saying, “Storm; what storm?” Ron, however, reported that all the chairs had been blown into the swimming pool, so they knew what we’d been through.

John and Marty got in shortly after we did and after he helped me with a couple of maintenance issues we pooled our resources for a late lunch. Chuck and I packed up in the still sweltering heat and headed for home.

Although the storm is not something I want to go through on a regular basis, it's exactly the kind of experience that I need to get under my belt. Similarly, John's help with my maintenance issues and his general sailing knowledge made this a great trip.

Patsy and I went to the boat for a few days prior to attending the 50th anniversary of her old swim team in Richmond. We arrived on Wednesday, July 2nd, and spent the afternoon loading the boat and getting a few maintenance items out of the way. We set out to dinner and found that neither AC’s nor Good Eats were open on Wednesdays, so we tried the Driftwood. No sooner had we gotten our drinks than the power went out, so we had to abandon that idea too, and finding the Tavern also closed, returned to eat sandwiches at the boat.

The plan for Thursday was to sail down to Lewisetta and the Coan River on the Virginia side where sister Barbara & bro-in-law Ray have friends. We didn’t intend to visit, but to check out a new area. The wind, unfortunately was practically in our face, so we sailed to the mouth of the St. Mary’s and back. After almost no wind at the start, we made the other side of the Potomac just in time for it to pick up. For this tack, the wind was perfect, and we made 6-7 knots for most of the trip home.

Close-hauled at 7 knots from the helm.

The old captain at the helm.

As we approached the slip, Patsy noticed Cleo (below) on the boat next to mine. My friend Mike was there replacing his toilet (fun!) and had brought his faithful companion along. After we got the boat all squared away and started happy hour, we got a few pictures as she wandered around the helm.

The breezes we found on the river were nowhere to be found in the marina, so we eventually headed up to the pool to cool off for a bit. We tried Good Eats for dinner after a shower, but found it just packed, so we went next door to the Backdraft for a less gourmet, but great shrimp dinner.

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While we sailed on Thursday, we noticed some water in the galley floor. Patsy mopped it up as I sailed and we didn't seem to have much of a problem after that, but when we fired up the engine again as we came into the marina, the water returned. We again mopped up and all seemed well, until the next morning when Patsy awoke to about an inch of water under her bunk in the main part of the cabin. We found Ron from the marina who's boat sitting two slips from us and he showed me that the stuffing box was leaking way more than it's supposed to and the bilge pump was not working at all. This sounded like pretty frightening combination to this rookie who's never had to deal with it before, but Ron assured us that he'd get the bilge working and that they'd get on the other problem after the busy weekend. Thanks to him and Marc down the dock who loaned us his spare float switch, we at least had a bilge to pump out the leaking.

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After those repairs Friday morning, we headed out about 12:30 for what looked like a great day on the water, but again found almost no breeze. The plan this time was to sail up river and just go where I'd never been before, but the almost dead calm wind prompted us to turn around after a short while, and when the wind seemed to be just nonexistent, Patsy persuaded me to fire up the engine and at least get some breeze in our faces. Within 5 minutes if doing so, we had great wind, so I got the sails back up and we had a great sail to the Maryland side and back to Cole's Point. The winds weren't as fresh as the day before, but we made 5-6 knots most of the way.

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We decided to give the Driftwood another try for dinner that night and surprisingly ran into my co-workers John & Faye from Richmond. We had a great meal there, as usual, and headed back to the bar at AC's to watch Cole's Point's Fourth of July fireworks. The nice thing about them is that people all up and down the river seem to get involved, so there were fireworks going on somewhere for hours!

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Saturday morning was all spent in getting packed up, car loaded, and my giving the topsides a good washing, which I'd not done since last season. After that we headed to Richmond and Patsy's reunion.

Well, I finally got to sail! I left home Friday, June 13th (oooo, that "Friday the 13th" thing never occurred to me until just now!), and spent Friday afternoon on all manner of maintenance items such as fixing a leak in the galley sink and cleaning the bilge (ewwww!). When I headed up to the restaurant, I got my first look at AC's new sign welcoming visitors - presumably from the north - to our quaint little marina! (Click on the picture if you can't read it.)

(What a hoot!)

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Saturday found me up early, cooking a huge breakfast on my new cooktop, making one little repair to my topping lift, and being away from the slip by 8:30. My goal was to sail all the way up the St. Mary's River (on the Maryland side of the Potomac) and get a look at Horseshoe Bend which I'm told is a great place to spend the night "on the hook".

St. Mary's city is the colonial capital of Maryland and would likely have remained the capital if the Anglicans hadn't eventually outnumbered the Catholics and moved it to Annapolis. (Let's hear it for my Episcopalians!!) St. Mary's College is located here and they are home to a nationally recognized collegiate sailing program. There were kids everywhere, kayaking, sailing, and just hanging out on the beaches. Looks like a great place to go to college!

My sail back to Cole's Point was uneventful, but just as I entered the marina a huge simultaneous crack of lightning and thunder exploded just overhead! I got to my slip and thanks to Pat from the marina who'd seen me coming in and had come over to help me dock in the impending storm, I was in the slip in short order and off to the shower before dinner. While I showered, the heavens opened and I had to run to the boat in a flashing downpour. I decided to wait out the rain with a fine rum drink in the boat before getting up to AC's for dinner, but after the second drink, the storm was still raging. So I put on my slicker and made another rainy dash back up to dinner. Thankfully the storm had abated by the time I'd had my fill, so I strolled back to the boat and slept like a baby after having sailed 10 hours that day.

The next day I took my time with breakfast and the paper and decided to just take a quick sail down to Kinsale - the place I took my first over-nighter to last season. The sail down was mostly downwind, which was pretty easy, but I made a mental note that I'd be doing alot of tacking on the way home. The only incident sailing to Kinsale was a badly bunged up left ankle suffered when I scampered down the companionway steps to get a cool beverage to go with my lunch only to find that the steps were slipping out from under my considerable bulk! When I hit bottom, my first thought was that I'd broken something, but other than some pain and nasty swelling everything seemed to work just fine.

The second major bit of excitement came after I sailed past Port Kinsale Marina up river to within sight of the Kinsale Harbor Marina. I'd visited this marina by land, but had never sailed this far up the Yeocomico, so I thought I'd take this opportunity. The trip up was fine, and the start of the trip back out was fine too, but after getting comfortable that I was all set on the return leg I suddenly found myself aground!!

It was actually not the nightmare I'd imagined it to be. The bottom was soft and the grounding was almost unnoticeable other than the fact that I'd stopped dead in the water. I followed all the standard procedures that I was able to follow (sails down, try to motor off from whence I'd come, etc.), but nothing worked. I radioed Port Kinsale and the guy that answered informed me that he was the only one around and couldn't leave, but he'd keep an eye out for a likely tow. He suggested that I try to hail a boat that might be passing and see if they could help.

Just as we ended our conversation, a sailboat came upriver and was willing to try, but after several attempts and his getting grounded once himself, he said he'd better give up and go get me a motor boat from his marina, Kinsale Harbor. So, for about an hour I ate a snack, iced my swollen ankle, talked to the guy at Port Kinsale on the radio a few times, and occasionally tried the engine to no avail, but mostly I just sat and waited.

To make a long story less long than I've already made it, about an hour later, I had three boats there to help me, and the second one got me off the sand bar. Two old quotes came to mind as I thanked everybody profusely: The first is that there are no better people in the world than those that you meet on the water, and these folks certainly proved that to be true. The second is that if you're sailing the Chesapeake and you haven't run aground, you haven't really sailed the Chesapeake, so I guess I've arrived!

As expected, the sail home was slow as I tacked upwind back and forth across the Potomac. So my "quick sail down to Kinsale" turned into a longer day than I'd had the day before, but the experience was worth it, and the good news was that I was rewarded with...

a beautiful sunset, and...

an equally beautiful moonrise.

I tend to wax overly poetic about sailing, but I can't describe how wonderful it was to be back out there again after all this time, despite the swollen ankle and the grounding. I'd do it all again - well, minus ankle & grounding parts - and plan to as soon as possible!

This is a test post using a picture from our June trip to the OBX and placing it on the left side of the post. I figure I can save lots of space this way and I'm experimenting with exactly how I would do that.

There are several things I like about this picture. The first is how few people there are in it! We expected that we'd find pretty much peak-Summer crowds in late May and early June, but as you can see, it was very uncrowded. The second is that I, quite by accident, captured two cormorants flying in front of Patsy as she sat on the beach.

Our trip was pretty uneventful, but exactly what one needs in a vacation: relaxation!

Date: April 12-13
Commissioning trip, so nothing spectacular to report.
Lots of cleaning, re-installing of stuff removed at winterizing, fueled & got the engine running, charged handhelds & jumper battery, flushed & filled fresh water tanks, rigged her for sailing, etc. No sailing, but I rewarded all that work with a great meal at the Driftwood

I visited Urbanna & Deltaville on February 20 to scout out new marinas. My driving time is 30 minutes (20%) shorter to Urbanna than Cole's Point, and I felt like I should at least see what they had to offer.

I've loved my time at Cole's Point and will always count those kind folks as giving me the best possible start in "big boat" sailing, but I really feel like it's time for a move. The marina at Cole's Point is in financial trouble, the facilities get a bit more run down every year, there is no "town" there (for groceries, marine supplies, etc.)

Deltaville is almost too much town, but it does have all the ammenities that you'd want in a boat town, and is the only location on the planet that has two West Marines! Despite that, I came away from the trip with Urbanna being my top pick. In addition to a nice collection of "town stuff" and a 20% shorter drive from home, it's only about 15-20 minutes from Deltaville for those times when I just gotta have a West Marine!

We had a weird schedule at the Outer Banks this winter: about a week in early-mid January and back again for another 10 days in early February. The weather ran the gamut while we were there, from a dusting of snow one day...

...to another day in the mid 70s!
(The best thing about the picture above is no people!!)

As usual, there were lots of pretty sunsets, but this picture also captures the high winds that we (and the rest of the east coast) had right before we came home.

I spent a quick day with Goober today (on the hard as you can see in the picture below) taking down her sails, getting her deck all ship-shape for the next three months of Winter, and bringing lots of stuff home for cleaning and airing out.

As with last time, it was fairly satisfying work, but it's just not natural for her to be on dry land and for me to be with her and not sailing! I told the guys from the yard that I want to get her back in the water late March or early April this year! The paint on the bottom seems to have held up pretty well over the last two years in the water, but I've got a good bit of barnacle scraping to do! Come Spring, though, I'll do it gladly to get her back in action!

(She looks kind of lonely and out of place, doesn't she!?)

I went to the boat Wednesday to get her winterized and pulled out of the water. Most of the trip to Cole's Point was driven in light snow and the temperature was not expected to get above the 30s. The local weather was calling for 20+ knot winds with gusts into the 30s, and that appeared pretty accurate to me. Waves seemed to be whipping up on every inch of the Potomac, and for the first time since I've been going there, there were waves in the marina!

I got the fresh water system winterized, removed the dinghy and outboard for storage at home, and ace mechanic Jason let me watch him winterize the engine. Turns out his job was one of the simplest things on the list, but I wanted to watch him do it so I'd know I was doing it right in the future. I removed the propane tank (after using my new cooktop to heat up some soup for lunch!) and removed various linens for washing and storage at home until Spring. My winterizing checklist remains largely un-checked, but I did manage to get her ready to be left in the boat yard in sub-freezing temperatures. The boat yard is pulling her out in the next few days, and I hope to get back up there a few more times over the Winter when the weather's a little balmier.

I was pleased with what I got done and what I learned from Jason, but the net effect of the trip was actually a little depressing. I like working on her and planning for things to come, but it seems that every step I took, every check mark I put on my to-do list, was just another reminder that I'm not only not sailing, but I'm probably not going to sail for a good 3-4 months. I've learned so much over the last two years, particularly this last season, and now I have to just go home and put it all on hold. I get more and more inclined to sail her down South in the Winter from now on, so I can at least go get my sailing fix every month or so! (..but then I'd have to pay double slip fees for half the year, buy enormous amounts of gas to get there, etc!)

So, a sense of accomplishment tinged with frustration. But, given a balmy Spring (Where's that damned global warming when you really need it?!) I could be back on the water in less than three months!