End of Season

Well the season for us has officially ended. Yesterday I was up covering the boat with the winter cover and removing things that need to be varnished or changed out. One of the items was our shelf that I had made for us as we found out that lights are needed over the sink and our dray storage compartment.

One of the items we are getting is a new mattress for our v-berth. Something we have put off for years but Jeannie said if we are going to live on the boat we need a better bed. Ah she is right. Dam! Our toilet needs new hose also as it is the old black hose and is over 19 yrs old. As it does smell, yuck!

Now the winter can set in as the waiting and planing has started for next year. There is much to think about as I am one that something on this magnitude I am trying to think way ahead. From friends many couples we have that are out there cruising now are telling us you can plan all you want but it will change once you start cruising.

Trip to Annapolis Boat Show

The trip went fast for one thing. I had Ken meet me at our home and we drove out there Thursday night. Took us 9 1/2 hours which went by not to bad. Had rain going out most of the way but the temp kept climbing so that was a good thing for us at is was in the 40's when we left Michigan. We had a motel in Glen Bernnie MD for Friday and Saturday night. As we arrived around 12:30 am Friday morning. We needed a place to sleep. So after tooling around Annapolis for a bit we had to ask if there was a Denny's around. Yep we found one. So after Ken and I got filled up we went back to an area that we had known in advance that we could sleep in the car, Yes the car. Told Ken this was like my younger years. I told him if anyone knocks, just tell them we are on a all night stake out.

The trip was kind of a 2 part adventure. 1 part was looking for a few pcs of equipment and seeing what it was like out there and scouting around to see where to come to next year. I had never been in that part of the country before and was surprised by it. The town is very laid back and was not to bad to get around by car. But each time we came int the town it seemed like we came in at different points.

The 2nd part of the trip was to meet some friends that I have been chatting with for over a year on SeaKnots. It is a boating web site that has many great people on it that is out there living the dream or wanting to. A couple that left Whitehall a few years back Mike and Kathy we were able to hook up with a couple of times for drinks at the Fleet club. They have been helpful in helping us prepare our self for the same trip they took to get to the east coast.

The other group of people we got to finally meet were the ones from SeaKnots. Some came as far as Texas. One couple lived in North Carolina and one other Lady was working the show and using it as a stop over. She is in route to Cuba via a Irish flagged vessel. Were all sailors and over the year have gotten to know each other well, It was finally nice to be able to put a face with words we see typed.

Things that go Crash in the Night

Last we had a cold front go through which produce winds of 30 to 40 kts. While not at the boat but all snug in our bed at home. I was listening the wind howl and the trees whoshing out in back of our home. We back up to our wood lot here in the country. Well just as a big gust came so did the craaaaaaack and then the big ole thuuuuuud. I thought oh shit one of the big trees out back went down. Sure enough, our biggest right out back went down.

Kind of reminded me when I was lot younger and camping in a tent up in northern Michigan. I had the same thing happen as a tree fell very close to us in the night and we knew it was close, but not until we woke up did we realize that it was right next to our tent. So the grandson came over tonight and he had to go see it as grandma had told him. So looks like we got our firewood for the season and then some all in one tree.