June 27, 2010

Hello everyone,

Fandango hit the water as planned but she is having her difficulties adapting to the weeds of the Inner bay at Long Point.( Just a reminder that Fandango is our Goman 20 sailboat.) We launched her at Booth’s Harbour Marina in their travel lift. The charge to launch was almost double what it costs to haul the 40 footer in Florida! And then we paid $50 to use their equipment to raise the mast! Yikes!

But, she is in the water and I have made a new sailcover for her as well. The boat is light grey with stripes at the waterline of burgundy,orange and yellow. The previous sailcover had been orange and, as this is not my favourite colour and because it fit too tightly, had been on my list of things to replace. The new cover is silver grey Sunbrella and fits very well.

So far, we have motored from Booths Harbour to Bayview Marina on launch day, a distance of 2-3 miles and gone out sailing one afternoon. Fandango didn’t have a depth sounder installed and this seemed just fine while we sailed her in the Killarney area. But the inner bay is shallow!! So, the next job is to install the depth sounder/fish finder that has been rattling around in our stores. Murray plans to put the transducer into a wax toilet ring against the inside hull. We have been told that this works quite well. Report to follow.

The sail was lovely though. It was a weekday afternoon with a nice breeze blowing but flat water on the sheltered bay. We tacked our way out towards the markers pointing the way to the deep water of the outer bay before turning to dash back to the marina. Here we share a dock with George’s ( Murray’s brother ) powerboat. The marina staff said that they don’t usually dock power and sail together but since we requested it, perhaps it would be ok. George and Barb have brought down a barbeque and a dock box while the marina provided picnic tables. With some chairs and umbrellas in the dock box, we are all set to share a dinner or two. Again we plan to sail or motor during the week as much as possible to miss the busy weekend influx.

Mom has been down for another visit and we have enjoyed the Aqua-fit classes at the pool each weekday morning. Murray is busy working for his “little ladies” as he calls them, the women of the neighbourhood who need assistance with various things around their houses. He is also assisting Scott and Lisa re-fit their sailboat for an adventure south this fall. The third thing on his plate is assisting George in re-building an airplane from the mid 40’s. And, last but not least, he will be helping George with the harvest at the farm. So, he is quite busy. My next sewing job is to cover the seats for the airplane and the fabric arrived just yesterday. Now to carve the foam with the electric knife we picked up at a garage sale and then figure out how to cover the seats.

James is growing like a weed ( almost 15 pounds! ) and we have been lucky to have Steve and Kath visit two Sunday’s in a row, to celebrate my birthday and then Father’s Day. My mom was here last Sunday and thus got to spend some more time with her youngest great grandchild. Jeremy and Cynthia are back in Ottawa, arriving just in the last day or so, and will be moved into their new home in Kanata soon. We look forward to spending some time with them and especially with Matthew and Samantha.

Basically, life is good, whether afloat or ashore. Hopefully it is treating you well also.

Hugs
Heather & Murray