June 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

Almost a month ago we arrived home to our little house in Tillsonburg. But, I am not sure where the time has gone.

Our computer problems continued.The Apple MacBook Pro died just before we left the boat. Once I had some time, I called AppleCare and talked to a technician. She diagnosed a failed hard drive. With Jeremy’s encouragement, we ordered a new hard drive from iFixit.com and Murray installed the new one successfully. Then I proceeded to re-install the software and our backed-up files. But, after a day or so, I noticed that the drive was running very hot. In fact, Murray measured it at 58C!

Communications with iFixit resulted in a new hard drive coming our way. This second one was again installed successfully and I re-installed the software. But, in the morning, the computer was D-E-A-D. This time, experts were called into play and we took it to the Apple repair shop in London. The diagnosis is not a good one. A terminal illness, for a computer, as the logic or mother board is caput.

Thus, my excuse for not writing previously. Luckily enough, we had purchased a small Dell netbook before leaving Florida. With it, we have been able to perform most of our usual tasks but my address books were in both the Apple and the Acer. So, please contact us to make sure that your e-mail address in back in MY memory banks.

The new grandbaby, James, is growing like a weed as he guzzles his bottles down to the last fraction. We are enjoying being able to see him frequently. This was something we missed with Matthew and Samantha, due to the distance between us and our cruising lifestyle. But, soon they will be returning to Ottawa from California and we look forward to seeing them more often.

Fandango, our Goman 20 foot sailboat, is being prepared for her launch, scheduled for later this week. It will be great to sail just for pleasure again. A dock has been reserved near Port Rowan and we will share the finger dock with Murray’s brother, George. They have a powerboat but we still speak to them anyway. Actually we have a good time with George and his wife, Barb. I foresee a barbeque or two happening near that dock.

There are no big trips planned for this summer and no major renovations on the house at this time. Thus we should have more time to play, either in the water or ashore. In his spare time, Murray is working with a couple in Port Dover who are sailing south with their family for a one year adventure. He and the captain are scrambling to get everything ship-shape aboard before their mid-August departure.

That is our life ashore. We hope that you can enjoy this beautiful summer weather with your family and friends. Stay in touch.

PS We just wrote our boater’s exam! After 14 years of living aboard and cruising, approximately 30 years of sailing/racing, passing Canadian Yachting on-the-water tests and for Murray, writing the exams necessary for his captain’s license, we STILL had to write the exam and pay our $50 in order to get the plastic card to carry in our wallets to prove that we can safely run a motor vessel.