Let's see.... Is it "foiled again" again.... or deja vue all over again? or what....

CRAP! Just when I thought things were going well and we were off to adventure, the darn (ok, damned!) dinghy outboard motor crapped out.  It will start.  Oh, sure.  But it won't run.  A 20 - 25 minute row to shore is not acceptable in an inflatable dingy.  The old style hard dinghies are fine, but inflatables are not made to row.  They like outboards.  WORKING outboards.  All sort of issues/worries come up here  - where are we going to get it worked on? when are we going to get it worked on? (it's the weekend, of course) How are we going to get an outboard that weights over 110 pounds to anyone to work on it.  stress....

One step at a time.....we arranged to  move from our anchorage in the south side of the harbor to a mooring on the north side, close to both shore and a marina that does outboard work.  Next, get the owner of the repair marina to agree to take her in asap (like in 3 or 4 days).  Learn that we can take (row) the dinghy to their dock to leave it for work.  Go to the marina and discover that the moorings have been double booked.  Take a graciously offered stay for one night at the dock of the mooring marina at the mooring price ($30) instead of the dock price ($95).  Breathe a big sigh of relief.

With plans - of sorts - in motion, we moved to the dock and took advantage of a lull in the wind to reattach the mainsail.  Luke worked diligently to feed the sail up the mast while I used the electric winch to raise it.

Success!!

The sail was dutifully rolled back up, waiting for open water and breezes.  Don't you just love it when even the tanks are "lobster-ized"?

Typical Maine tidal range of 12 feet means some steep gangplanks from the shore to the docks.  We are having  exponentially low tides of 2 feet below normal low.  It's a loooong walk down....That's me in the middle of the picture.

  Latitudes was moved early this morning from the dock to a mooring.  We plan to take advantage of low winds tomorrow mooring (early...) to put on the jib sail.

And now, I have to say that the offending outboard is purring like a kitten now, running happily.  More stress about whether or not to take it for evaluation or now.  An expensive option.  We will take runs in the dinghy for another day before we make a decision.  more sighs... Smokey is, of course, oblivious to all of this.  She is enjoying the freedom of the boat, complete with tummy rubs on the back deck and deliriously chasing of the evil tail on the back deck. She doesn't have complete run of the boat at a dock - the little rascal is prone to "wandering" about the docks.

Friends for NC are up for a visit -  Phyllis and I did the yarn shop crawl today.  Peter has come down with a nasty cold.  Hoping that tomorrow we'll all 4 be able to do some tourist stuff.  AFTER the jib goes up :-)