Kin Beach Park - Cruisers Pig Roast -

Having a terrible time (not!)... yup, we ran away. We're in Comox at a Pig Roast set up for our cruising (via sailboat, not the other kind :-) crowd from the Mazatlan area. The roast is tomorrow, but we ran away today so we could get here and get Lucy set up early enough to enjoy the sunset.

This past Thursday we had a terrific reunion of some older (not too old) retired gals, along with some younger wonderful women currently working... and it went very well... so well, we've vowed to do it again in a couple years. The gathering came about as the result of some of my research for 'Women in Blue' and it went even better than we'd expected. We had been working on the planning for this event for the past couple of months (in all our spare time... along with house stuff and boat stuff and family stuff) and we were pretty exhausted by the end of the day.... Made it home on the late ferry from Horseshoe Bay.

One days rest and we were back at it! 250' of new anchor chain needed to be painted with the new length markers; 240' of backyard fence is failing and needed to be shored up to get through the winter; new parts for SSpirit (it never ends)... And, as we hope this will be our last year driving down... We want to make sure we get as much as we re going to need.... (won't be able to carry much on an airplane in future years).

And then we looked at the calendar...yikes! Only 23 days before we head south... Unbelievable. We have so enjoyed this summer, living in our new home, visiting with friends and family. It's hard to believe it's already time to pack up and head south.

Anyway, we re taking a couple days off and then we'll be back home doing what we do. IF the photo comes through to the blog, it's a picture of a neat piece of art work (pieces of drift wood 'knit' together on the beach at Kin Beach Park where we're staying).

We hope you are well and enjoying the summer... Adios for now... CJ

Will you look at the date?....

WOW.  That's all I have to say... wow!  We got home yesterday (didn't we??) and now it's time to leave (feels like tomorrow).

We have gone from 'glad to be home'; to grieving the loss of Miss Sophie; oh God, the fence is falling down; oops there goes the lawn with no water; bye bye Mojo; the rebirth of Women in Blue... the writing project; family stuff;  and pretty much everything else that involves friends and family.

Yes, we're tired... but we're also looking forward to a wonderful cruising season on SSpirit (for those that have forgotten... SSpirit is short for Shannon's Spirit, our boat in Mexico).  Suffice to say, we've met the neighbours and have a plan for the fence (which involves shoring it up for the winter and rebuilding it in May); a plan for the house (which includes just enjoying what we have and unpacking and sorting as we have time); and ourselves (newbies to cycling ... Kathy;  busy researching and writing... CJ; prepping both body & soul for a 'more fun' next year... Kathy & CJ).

By the time we're ready to sail, dear SSpirit will be spiffed up with a new windlass and anchor chain, a bunch of electrical stuff that Kathy feels necessary :-), a few mechanical upgrades that CJ wants to take on; the return of our trusty dinghy and outboard from SV Shannon, and all sorts of bits and pieces that have made the TuDu list.  We're really looking forward to a wonderful season this year.. and are excited that Sue and John haven't given up on us but intend to join us once we make it to La Paz.  All going well they'll join us for some cruising just north of La Paz and then cross over to the mainland aboard the good ship SSpirit.

That's enough planning for now... no need to tempt fate.  Suffice to say the next four weeks will be filled with preparing, building, ordering, organizing, packing, sorting, house prepping, and everything else that belongs in the 'going sailing for the winter' hand book.

We hope you are having an enjoyable summer and that your dreams are all coming true... or at least taking shape :-)  Take good care... Will write again once we hit the road ... mid-Sept.  Adios for now.  CJ