Blue to black

Well, we had a great time in Bermuda, and sitting on the pink beach overlooking the bright blue water was what we needed. Now we have to start winterizing KellyNicole. She just got hauled out this week from the cold black waters, and we have to start the framework for the tarp. Fifty degrees, high winds, twenty feet off the ground, carrying boards and drills. Lovely. The joy in Deb's face means this will be a fun time :(
At least we have sun!

I have Monday off, and plan on finishing off all the winterizing duties under the cold black skies of the South Shore of Ontario. Then I will kiss the old girl goodbye for a while, but I'm hoping we get a mild winter, so I can get a few things done out there. I am really going to push myself to ignore the cold and snow, and knock off some things that need to get done so we can get the heck out of here. Can't let Mid-Life Cruising beat us to the islands :)

Ice cold delivery

A friend asked me to help deliver his Sabre 34 from Sodus Bay to Rochester yesterday. What looked like a bumpy motoring for 30 miles into the wind, ended up being a dead motor, close hauled adventure through four foot waves. Not the most pleasant ride I've ever been on, but a good adventure on a nice boat. We pinched most of the way, with only one tack. As we entered the Genesee river, the wind got light, and allowed us to ghost up river, where we fired up the engine to get her into the slip.

The Westerbeke ran smooth for about a half hour after we tied up. Figures. I believe the problem to be a dirty Racor filter, but my fellow sailor had none in stock. No harm, we made it just fine, and I feel better for sailing the whole way. My toes and fingers did not share in the thrill of sailing, as it was about 45 degrees...same temperature as the water. So to thaw out completely, we booked a cruise to Bermuda!

I feel the need for pink sand, sun, and dark rum.

Anniversary

Thirty years of marriage!. Where did the time go?

If it wasn't for our love of tacky wallpaper, we may never have met.



There's a few more wrinkles now, but that's from smiling all these years.
 

Reality

I have to dis-assemble the boat this weekend, so they can haul it next week. The weather is starting to get a bit dicey, and it's quickly becoming the real October at Latitude 43. I remember putting a tarp over WhisperIII in November, and it was not fun. Deb's fingers are still recovering from that event, so I better get moving. This year I have to take off the stanchions for re-welding, as they look pretty bad, with about 4 of them that have busted weld joints. Having the stanchions off will make covering the boat easier too. Not so much framework required. So, the fun is over, and the cold weather work begins.

Here is the weather outlook for the weekend. I really picked a good one to start all this. All the pink is 40+ knots of wind. Oh yea, it's going to rain all weekend too.

We had a great time in Annapolis, and even attended the boat show for a few hours. Yes, we did not spend much time there. I don't know, I guess we were not in the mood to wait in line to see boats that were so far from our reality. I'll post about all this later, but for now, it's back to engineering, that full time gig I'm still involved in. 

Annapolis

Not much else to say. We are here, and we are not buying a boat, no matter how much we drink.