Hello everyone,
You could be forgiven for thinking we'd taken wing and flown off to some uncharted place.... somewhere that doesn't understand currency, mean dogs, paper work, home inspections, renovation challenges, that water 'always' runs down hill... even if your house is in the way (no we didn't have a flood), and somewhere without communication and technology. Sorry I haven't written for a while.
We have been busy; very busy. It feels like we work from dawn till dusk... but we are slowly moving forward, toward the place where we can dust ourselves off and carry on enjoying life, sailing, gardening, and just plain hanging about with our friends. Sounds marvelous doesn't it? We think so.
You know we bought a house and moved in on March 2nd. From then until May 5th we have been living on plywood floors and using our camping chairs and dishes (with a few additions here and there) and a borrowed blow-up bed; and we have had workmen (painters, plumbers, floor layers) in and out of the house much of the time. While that sounds rather uncomfortable, it's been pretty good. We've had a chance to get to know the house and property better and to make wiser decisions re the priorities of the renos' we had hoped to complete. Suffice to say by May 5th we had a fantastic drainage system in place, new carpets and flooring, fresh paint on the walls and a few changes to the gardens and yard completed; and we now sit surrounded by boxes of gear we hadn't sorted before packing up the old house. It's amazing how much 'stuff' one (or two) can collect over a life-time... and it's crazy how some things (that look like absolute garbage to someone else) can feel like such treasures of days gone by. Like Dosey. Oh, never mind, I expect you've all got a stuffed pink cow you nursed through years of your childhood.... You know what I mean.
Like all of life there have been some celebrations and some trials over the past couple of months. One of the neat things that occurred is the retrieval of our little dinghy... the one that we bought in 2005 and then carried aboard Shannon all the way from Victoria to the Sea of Cortez in 2011. During that trip it sat semi-inflated, lashed to our bow, while I scrambled over it.. jumped on top of it.. abused it in many ways... yet he was still there, ready to go when we arrived in La Paz. 'Dobbey' as he was named (after the famous house elf) served us well during our explorations of the Sea. The first year we left for the season he was deflated and shoved into Shannon's not-so-spacious interior. The second year he was deflated, wrapped up and tied up with rolls of shade cloth and yards of line... and then strapped onto Shannon's cabin top. Then, to add insult to injury, he was dragged off Shannon, lashed onto the top of Chuck (you remember Chuck the truck) and driven north, back to BC, where he was then unceremoniously dumped into the workshop/garage of a good friend who didn't mind keeping him for us until we found a home. Well, we picked up the little dinghy last week and carefully unwrapped him in our back yard. I'd figured he'd be crispy and cracked in most of his folds....but, no, to our grand surprise he unfolded very well. While scrubbing him off (he was covered with wind dust and road dirt) I did hear a tiny hissing and discovered one small pin-hole on the port side rear pontoon. That is the ONLY one discovered so far and Kathy has already done a fine job patching it up. This morning we're taking him down to the water in preparation for a short outing on Mojo. I must tell you I am very impressed with this staying power. In case you're interested, the dinghy is a 2005 Aquapro 8'6" with an aluminum bottom. You've seen photos of it on the blog and I can tell you that, so far, it has handled up to a 4 hp, 4 stroke Yamaha outboard with no difficulty. It's also a delight to row as the aluminum hard bottom has a good keel to it and, overall, it's quite light to carry.
Princess Sophie is doing well. She is definitely getting older..sleeping more and less inclined to play with her toys... But, she is healthy, she is happy, and she's really enjoying her yard, her short daily walks, and of course...most of all... her garden chair. Kathy and I are also well, albeit a little tired with all the unpacking.
Tomorrow, all going well, we're going to take a few days off and go 'floating' on Mojo. Probably not far, but the change of pace will be great. Oh, did I mention? The little ship Mojo was actually together enough to participate in this years Sail Past for the Maple Bay Yacht Club. She was a long way from the prettiest ship there, but she strutted her stuff, enjoyed a brisk sail around the bay and managed to pass the Commodore's platform without hitting it and with a sharp release of the jib, a snap of a salute, and a sound retrieval. What she lacked in looks, I believe she made up for in performance.
I hope you are all doing well and enjoying early summer. I know we are and we count ourselves lucky that we are into our new home and already looking forward to a full summer. Take good care out there. Enjoy, and 'live' every day.
CJ
