the dinghy and works in process

Still chugging along --- the dinghy and motor are here and work great. We took a day and drove to Annapolis to pick the dinghy up. It was one of those gorgeous spring days, so we spent time at the city dock while we were there. It seems like the inflatable will be a good replacement for the old 8 ft hard dinghy. We learned last year that it was too small, unstable, and not seaworthy in a chop. Our trip last Labor Day to Deale Island for the skipjack races was the clincher. We anchored further out than we thought, and then the winds came up while we were away from the boat. It was a rough ride back to the boat. The new outboard has an electric starter button. With the electric start, now I can start the outboard and run the dinghy alone. This would be especially important in the case of a medical emergency.

Luke has been making progress. He's installed the electrical panel for the back-up bilge pumps, designed a harness for the new dinghy (to carry her on our davits), designed and installed an anchor locker divider (need 2 anchors for Maine/Caribbean), and is working on the second anchor roller.

Luke is also working on blocking off some of the space under the bed for storage.

I've made the sun shades for the cockpit enclosure, plus a heat reflector for the top of the bimini. A lot of time spent, too, on deciding where to best stow all of the foodstuffs, etc, for the northern portion of our trip.
Wick has helped by sleeping 90% of the time and helping his daddy the rest.

He's proven himself to be a true cat. oh, and the enclosed cockpit is part of his world now. In fact, I have to be sure it's closed in, as he's started to wander out onto the topside of the boat. We've got a harness for that (lucky cat...)

still workin'

Still working. We hope this will be one of the last pushes before we can leave. Lucky little Wickie got his first car trip and exposure to the boat this time (we want to stay for over a week, so decided to bring him along). After a light sedative that made him into a groggy, limp, and uncoorporative cat, and 6 hours, we made it to Latitudes. I think he has finally forgiven us for the car ride. Plus he seems to have gotten comfortable enough with the boat that he isn't spending all of his time in the back berth. Now THAT is one RELAXED cat!!!

Not very sure of the topside cockpit yet, though.....




Luke has finished the solar panels installation. They worked perfectly today, giving us electricity all day! I'm working on shade screens, compliments of a borrowed sewing machine from our boat neighbor Nancy.

Tomorrow we will try to bring over the new dinghy, inflate her, and get her on the dinghy davits. That will be a big step towards being ready to leave.

lots of work & some play

We've had a few busy weeks. First, we returned to Latitudes in Deltaville and intalled the beautifully designed solar panels, sure to give us all the electricity we can stand! A looong drive back and forth to Washington DC and Annapolis, where we picked up the new boat "car", an AB brand inflatable dinghy for trips back and forth to the shore from the boat. But she's still in the wrappers and QUITE heavy. It was a long slog back to Deltaville in pouring rain. We figured that the water-logged cardboard wrap probably added another 30 pounds to the weight.

On the bright side of that trip, though, we got to visit with Erin and her husband Cian for the day. Lots of tourist stuff, all the monuments, sight-seeing, and lots of fun. Erin and her sister Lisa are both due with their first babies the end of June/early July.


Home for a day, and then back to DC to pick up Luke's cousin from Belgium, Paul, and the lovely, fearless Titanic Lady, Jenny. It was Paul's second sailboat voyage and Jenny's first. She got the feel of it quickly :-)

Captain Paul took over the wheel and handled her beautifully.

Next to Charlotte for a visit with Bobbie's dad, some boat homework, and back to Deltaville next week. We hope this will be the start of the last big push to start the sailing adventure.