GroupWBench

I let the summer and fall slip by without spending any time here. I guess I'm just lazy, but I prefer to think of it as highly efficient.

So let's see. Big events and small… Boat stuff first. We've done a fair amount of sailing this summer. Not as much as we'd like but enough to say we really like those new winches. Ivy has docked the boat several times. She is starting to get the feel of what needs to happen. She did have a minor problem one time, but even that was a good learning experience. We replaced the head and painted the forward berth and have almost finished the headliner in the forward section. We sailed with a nice acquaintance who has a boat just down from us. It was nice to go out with someone like that. I think the next chore is to do the stuffing box. That is a chore I fear. It is essentially creating an opening below the waterline while you mess about with goopy string wrapped around the propeller shaft. We replaced the manual bilge pump and the electric one works fine, plus we have buckets. If worse comes to worse, we can probably get water off the boat faster than it will come in.

We took a very different vacation this fall. It was the first vacation we've come back from that we didn't need a vacation to recover from the climbing, whitewater, hiking, judo, and generally hard on the body stuff we have always done. I needed a break from work so we scheduled a week off and flew to Providence, RI. We drove through the state (about the size of a Texas county) and stayed in a couple of places in Connecticut. In addition to driving through long "tunnels through trees", we spent time chilling at a beach with the impossible name of Misquamicut.
It was too cold jump in the water, but it was really nice to chill out and watch the waves.
We went to the Mystic Seaport Museum and got on some cool old sailing ships and saw tons of neat stuff. It is set up like an old village from the nineteenth century. There were a lot of whaling and sealing ships that went out from this area. Lots of tough people to man them. We went to the Herrshoff museum, with was fascinating. They have a load of antique sailboats on display there. We even got to get on a couple of them. We also went and saw the US Navy Submarine Force Museum, which I found super interesting. I could have spent a couple of days poking around there. They have the Nautilus on display there – very cool.

We went and saw the lighthouse museum and a sea captain's old house in Stonington, CT. We spent a day in Newport checking out Ft. Adams and all of the sailing stuff there. We also made it up to Boston and had a nice visit with a climbing buddy who moved up to the frozen north from Charlotte. All in all it was a low stress and pretty interesting vacation.

We made a point of checking out a few boats while we were up there, too. We saw a Catalina 380, an Endeavour 38 CC, and an Island Packet 32. Mostly we were looking to see what type of boat we wanted to try to get in the long run. We weren't really shopping for a right now boat. The Endeavour was the second one we've seen and we were again impressed with the roominess and sensible layout. We definitely like the layout with the two straight setees over the one with the curved one and a round table. The Catalina was nice, and if all we would ever do is tool around from New York City to Maine for a couple of months every summer it would be great. It really isn't a boat to go away on, though. We loved the IP 32. It was in pristine shape. The owner was as spry as any 80+ yr old could be. He is a really nice guy. The 32 was a tiny bit small, but I think we could make it work.

When we got home we made a run to Kemah and saw an IP 35 and and IP 350. The 350 was expensive, but perfect. The 35 was all the good stuff from the 32 but with the extra space we thought we'd need at a good price. I believe that an IP 35 would be the answer for us. I've managed to not run back to Kemah with a check in hand prematurely, but it has taken a lot of effort.

Other big changes – I'm shifting jobs in a week. Going to travel a bit more for the new gig, but the upside is that I'll work from home. Back to the boxer shorts and slippers for work clothes! It actually sets us up for longer term plans and transitioning over to a getaway boat. I'm lucky I have a skill set that will let me work from our getaway boat someday. I think we'll make a gradual transition to eventually heading for the horizon. Coincident with the new job we are moving. We found a nice apartment closer to the lake and a bit away from the city madness. I can't say I'm thrilled about the process of moving, but it is a chance to get rid of some more junk and simplify some more. The increased travel means more travel mile points. I might be able to bring Ivy on a few trips or let her use the miles to visit her folks more. I know they would love to see her more than a couple of times per year.

Selene and the kids continue to amaze us and make us proud. Sophia is a bright and sharp as she can be and Julian is a happy spark of life and joy. Selene is doing a great job with them.