Getting kinda chilly here in Maryland. Think it’s time to move south. Mom and Dad have been real busy getting the boat all fixed up so I think it’s getting close to moving time.

Dad built mom a neat little place to hide all her shoes (if she’d put them away)! The up side was that it gave me just the step I needed to get to the little seat and then to the bed. Now when they leave me I lounge on their pillows all day. It’s pretty comfy up there.

We’ve been staying at a marina way out in the middle of nowhere. It is quiet and sometimes creepy. There’s been a rumor going around that there are dog vampires in these parts. I’m not sure but I want no part of it. They scare me almost as much as those big ladies in Bimini!

Dad finally let me have the computer. Man, he gets to write all sorts of stuff but me, never!

Last time I posted we were in Marathon and I was hanging with my dog friends at City Marina. Since then, boy have we covered some territory. I got to go to the Bahamas! The trip there was too bumpy for me but it wasn’t too long and after awhile we were back on land. Dad went ashore to sign us in with Immigration but they said I had to be “declared” like baggage. He told them I was “family” but they had no sense and so he went to customs and got me a permit.

The ladies here scare me! They look all nice and everything and when I start wagging they growled at me! Imagine that! I bark at em all now.

Lots of my people friends were in Bimini and we stayed a couple of weeks. When we left it was real calm. I like that.

I got to see some pretty cool places and meet a whole bunch of new friends. I get to run on all the beaches, except the ones with the big iguanas, they SCARE me!

In Georgetown mom and dad dressed me up in some silly clothes (did I ever mention I HATE that) paraded me around with a bunch of other dogs. I won some sort of flag for my humiliation. Someone call the ASPCA!

I liked the Bahamas. It was warm and I got to run all over the place. I like that in a place.

All good things come to an end and we had to come back. We’ve stayed the summer on land which does have its perks. I got to see my Aunt Sher and all the kids, big and small. I’m tired of riding around in a car but soon I think we’re going to start back on the water. Can’t wait, although I don’t want any big waves.

The best laid plans … oh well, maybe sometime this coming week. We’ve worked real hard to get the boat in shape so we could move back to Mill Creek in Solomons. If I shut the door to the aft cabin, the varnishing is done. The shoe locker is done. The storage shelves are done. The boat is CLEAN!!! The boat is ORGANIZED!!! All the stuff going back on the boat is organized. The canvas is clean and retreated. Well, judge for yourselves. This is out to do list. The top jobs were priority. Red means finished, done, completed, finis! Yellow is in progress and almost done. Light green is, we’re working on it. I’d say we made a pretty good dent in that list and especially since we were gone most of the summer.

Well, Saturday morning was the day. The tides would be right. The weather was “supposed” to be perfect but all that changed. Funny how meteorologists can forecast that the earth will melt by 2196 but can’t get the forecast for the weekend to be even close. Small craft warnings were out. Wind gusts to 30 knots, 3-4′ waves, cold and rain is what we got.

So here we sit and wait. I was able to get my new AIS (Automatic Identification System) installed. I had just finished hooking up the last wire and noticed the green data light flashed. I glanced at the chart plotter and there was my first AIS acquired signal, floating 4.2 miles out in the Potomac. It showed vessel type, heading, speed and other useful information. Pretty cool stuff! Now when we are out to sea in the middle of the night and can’t quite figure out what that light is in the distance we hopefully will be able to not only know which way it’s going but how fast and how big it is!

We have so much fun.

By the time we got back to the boat after multiple excursions inland (to the tune of 8,000 plus miles) we only had about six weeks left before heading south again. It was time to put in some overtime.

The cabin is coming along nicely. Over 75% is stripped, restained and has been varnished. The companionway and galley were in bad shape, but NOT ANYMORE!

I’ll post a complete album on Facebook once we’re completed.

Always in need of storage, you have to get creative. There is only a finite amount of space on the boat so sometimes you have to utilize it better. I built this shelf unit for the hanging locker so Mary would have more space for her clothes. I only need a drawer for my swimsuit and Hawaiian shirt. I designed it in June, built it in July and just now finished it and installed it. After minor heart failure I managed to squeeze it into the space. I allowed 1/4″ tolerance for the install. Next time maybe I should allow a little more.

Sewing projects were next in line. The headsail UV cover was coming off (the threads rotting). The Mack Pack had a small hole in it from the headboard and I had torn the zipper loose in a spot forcing it to close after it was stuck on a sail batten and the dodger and bimini needed general cleaning. It was while cleaning the dodger that we discovered that the seams were rotting and the zippers started to tear out. This in a dodger that was only two years old!!! Thanks a lot Genco!!!

Our friends Cathy and Tom on Perseverance II (Oday 39) live nearby in Burgess, VA. Nearby, as in across the Potomac which is a 100 miles by car. I had offered to install their paver walk in turn for some sewing so off we went. Here’s Tom and Cathy working hard on the headsail.

The walk before …

and after.

I’m still pretty stiff and sore but everything is all stitched and reinstalled.

Hopefully in the remaining 10 days here at the dock we can get the rest of the varnish work done and the decks and stainless all cleaned.