To the Sea, She calls us...

Well, she may call Luke and me; I'm not sure Smokey hears her... We are heading out on Latitudes again, after having her on the hard for almost a full year. This summer, we will be going north to Maine! It's been about 4 years since we've taken Latitudes to Maine, so it will be an adventure to see Maine again from the perspective of the water.

Having Latitudes on the hard has meant getting her ready to go back into the water also. She needed a new paint job on her bottom, waxing the topsides, a new battery (1 of 4), a new holder in the cockpit for the various instruments (the old one was held together with electrical tape - it was time!), and some repairs to the sails and the enclosure pieces. Plus the usual cleaning and multiple "small" projects.

We got smart this time - drove the RV to the Chesapeake to live in while we worked on the boat. What a luxury to have a dry, warm/cool place to retreat to after a long day, running hot water, a frig, the ability to cook, and a toilet.   Here is the happy trio of our "vehicles" sitting in the boatyard.  Look carefully and you'll see Luke, outfitted in protective tyvek, painting the bow of the boat.

 

 

We took a break from boat work to go home for various appointments, etc, leaving the RV in the boatyard for our return trip to finish Latitudes.  Back again after a week, finished up, and all we have to do now is put her back in the water, put on the sails, put up the enclosure, pick up our life raft from the shop where it's being refurbished, get water, get diesel, provision groceries....well, ok, there is still a lot to do! LOL

 

The adventure never ends - we had a visitor here at home in the wee hours a few nights ago.  We heard a loud "clunk, clang" on the back porch (under our upstairs bedroom window).  The cat jumped to the window and froze.  A very large black bear had pulled down the steel pipe from the porch in a effort to get seeds out of the bird feeder - which he demolished, too.  We knew the bears were out of hibernation and in the neighborhood and dutifully emptied the feeder.  Except for about a dozen seeds...what harm can a dozen seeds do?  Well, apparently bears can't discern how full a feeder is, just that it smells like birdseed.  The big rascal paced on the porch for a few minutes until we opened a window, yelled at him, and clapped our hands.  Scared the crap out of Smokey.  The bear finally ambled down the steps and meandered through the back yard into the woods.  The feeder in inside now!

 

 

 

With some good packing, good weather, and a little luck, we will leave for Latitudes early this week.   Hope to have beautiful sea pictures soon!