It's ours!

Boy, did we do it now. Looks like we're eating a lot of spaghetti for a while. We are now the proud owners of a "previously enjoyed" Catalina/Morgan 44. She's a big boat, but it's our future home. Check it out. So this will be the fist center cockpit boat we have sailed on. We did a sea trial on this tub in the Chessy, and we found the view from the cockpit to be about the same as the boat we have now. I will just have to remember that I have another 20 feet behind me when I turn into the slip. I think I have just entered the world of slow. WhisperIII was oh so fast, and now I'll be lucky to pass a Beneteau! Sorry TreBoni :) I'll blame it all on Deb, who gets claustrophobic if she has to sleep in a tube. I once slept in a large dry bag, so no problem for me. No I wasn't drunk, just damn cold. Another story for another time. If Deb can't sleep in this aft cabin, then.....I get to stretch out in a queen all to my self :) Deb, there's always the cockpit! We're getting her by truck this week, unless it falls off or something. I can't wait to see where they put this thing at the marina. I'm hoping for a day off to see the truck arrive. Maybe some champagne would be in order? Oh crap, I've got to cover another boat!

1800 mile long weekend

Back To Annapolis We went back to the sailing capitol for a survey and sea trial of our future floating home. Things look good. Some work to be done, but nothing major. I've got five years to get her ready. So here we go! Should be interesting from here on out. Anybody want to buy a Hunter 34?? You can see from the picture that we are sailing the Chesapeake, and we look pretty focused. Deb had her turn at the wheel, and we were all helping her dodge crab pots! Between the pots and freighters, this place is pretty crowded. Back to West Lafayette, Indiana From Annapolis we trekked west to Purdue University to see my baby girl. We watched the boilers put away Iowa, then watched the students put away my beer at the tailgate. I managed to make a few disappear myself :) At Purdue they have this tradition called Breakfast Club, where the bars open to students at 6am on gameday, and most of the students are in costume. It is amazing what costumes you see in the morning. Sometimes they come to the game in costume. We saw Moses parting the student section with his staff, and starting a wave going in both directions around the stadium. Pretty funny. My daughter and friends getting smurfy at breakfast club.

Makes you want to go back......only if I could be sailing smurf. Well back to Webster NY, after 1800 miles of fun on the nations highways. I really need some sleep.

Back to Annapolis

We're back in the sailing capital. We'll take another look see at the 44 foot bathtub, and imagine us on it. This could be a really big mistake, or the first step of the semi-retirement years. I'm hoping for the later. Happy Anniversary to us! Number Twenty Six. Time flies.

Annapolis Boat Show

The Annapolis boat show was great. Hot, sunny, and damn humid. The tents were steaming, but the boats were gleaming. We went on one 60 plus yacht, and we were told to be careful, not to take the backpack, and to not sit down on anything. Why? Because somebody bought it. Geez. Imagine walking through a multi million dollar yacht and saying, "I'll take it!", and actually mean it. We made the usual stops at O'Briens, The Federal House, and some others, and ventured outside the town for a bite. The Crab Cakes were great, and the beer was cold. We drank more this trip, than last, because we took a cab into town from the hotel. This was a great idea, as we didn't have to park at the stadium, and get on a bus. We got dropped off right at the show, and were able to have a few without worrying about DWI on the way back, plus I got to make interesting conversation with the Pakistani cab driver. I would have to say the best boat at the show is the Gozzard family of yachts. Beautiful woodwork, and a mighty fine layout. We met the owners too. Nice people. Overall, it was a great show. Not too crowded, and the weather was great. We met some interesting people, including one of our fav authors, Suzanne Giesemann, who signed a copy of a new book. The most important thing we did was possibly finding the boat we're going to sail away on. Not a new one at the show, but a used one at a local marina. Could this be the one? Stay tuned....

For My Little Yankee Fan.