Mud, Anchors, a Wedding and the start of Phase II

What's with this Chesapeake mud we have stuck all over this chain? Tenacious stuff. I really can't believe this crap is still stuck after a year. I didn't realize it had fallen down into the anchor locker, so I had to remove all the chain and hose it off. Looks like a little corrosion has set in as well on this pricey anchor rode. The mud has formed little balls the roll down the deck and are getting stuck in places. Weird.

I have to make a decision on an anchor for the second phase of our escape plan. The Bruce or Claw has served us well, and I think I may continue to use it as the primary, though I would like to go one size larger. Our second choice is going to be one of the new styles like the Rocna or Manta. Everyone seems to really like that type, and if the Claw has some difficulties I will swap them, but until that happens I will go with what has worked for us unless I hear that the Claw has poor holding in sand. Maybe I need to do a little more research.

The big wedding is behind us, and it was a fantastic time. My Daughter looked beautiful and the Boy looked good too. Handsome couple. Oh, his name is Jonathan. Nice guy. For some reason I was blessed to have two fantastic son in law's. I feel I deserve it after the stress of raising two girls.

We do not have all the wedding photos yet, but I stole a few off of Facebook from our friends. We had a great time and the wedding went off without a hitch except for the Gypsy tailors curse (See prev post). I half expected the stitching to come apart in my fat pants while I was walking Nicole down the aisle, but the Gypsy woman had a more devious idea. While we were all up on the dance floor with the Bride and Groom, Nicole winced in pain and grabbed at her leg. Her Bridesmaids lifted her dress to find a tailor's needle stuck in her calf! Apparently the dress tailor left the needle in her dress and it finally came loose when she was dancing. There was a lot of blood and Nicole was rushed to the ladies room, but emerged smiling after a quick patch job. She continued to dance the night away. The blood stain was under the dress so everything was cool. Coincidence or curse?

Some photos.

We had a great time meeting the other side of the family and their friends, and it was also great to have our friends and relatives there as well. We had a special reunion with our long time friends and their gang which made for a really good time. Our group called the Garratmauryans, a combo of our last names, has been together since college with the exception of Frank and I who married in a few years later. Good thing there wasn't any voting on that. We all lived in Rochester and watched our kids grow up and marry, and have kids of their own. Michelle is next on the wedding list so I better save my suit, and watch my calories. It's been a special treat being so close a group all these years. We started the party by dancing to the song Shout, and doing our best Animal House dance scene. There may have been some Georgians in the crowd doing a "Why I never..."
All good fun. Congratulations and thank you to Nicole and Jonathan for a spectacular wedding.

Garratmauryan group. Gen I. The name is a combo of all our last names.

Some of Gen II, III

We have a photo somewhere of all the Garratmauryan gang on the front steps of the country club. We were still missing five people from the group, but it is amazing how it has grown. We could buy a town and start our own little society. Hmm, that sounds creepy. Maybe not.

Phase II of our cruising plan has started. We are relocating to St, Augustine very shortly. We need a change of scenery and the ability to day sail else we will go INSANE. This is a sailboat, not a floating cottage. So we are making preparations for our HUGE cruise of thirty miles south. We have a slip reserved, hopefully, in a nice marina where we will reside until we are ready to make the next leap of faith. We also need a place to keep the boat stored when we drive up north to welcome our Grandson Mason James to this crazy world.

Good times. Cheers!

P