Some of you will be horrified 😱 some of you will chuckle 😆 and some of you might consider trying this for yourself. 👍
SSpirit has a large mainsail with the baton pockets sewn shut. This makes it pretty much impossible to fold the sail neatly and into an easy to handle package... as so many 'good' sailors do. Dealing with this challenge has inspired the intervention of 'mother nature' who is, after all, the 'mother of invention'. And that has led me into the paths of horrification. What I do now is flake the sail down onto the boom as usual and then I truss it up like a very large sausage. In this configuration it slides off the boom quite well and becomes a 12' monster to transport and stow for the winter. "Leave it on!" you might holler... That my friends (and I've proven this) is a great way to open up a 'green' mainsail in the spring; all slimy with green stuff that never comes off. Sooooo, our trick, and we've done this for a couple years now, is to slide said main off the boom, dangle it out the open tailgate of our pick up truck, transport it home and carry it into the house. Turns out the sail lives very comfortably hanging from the top of the stairs to the bottom of the stairs (thankfully they have a landing and allow for this) for the winter. It looks so natural even our friends don't comment on it any more... There goes that topic for conversation! Anyway, it works. Feel free to try it if you dare.
On another note, yes, winter is on its way, complete with very cold and damp air. No doubt the white stuff will appear any day now and crazy, swirling winds seem determined to stay.
It is indeed time for those of us who have developed allergies to cold and wet weather to begin preparations for heading south. To that end we are endeavouring to do all that must be done to winterize our Maple Bay Home and SSpirit. TT (Travel Trailer) Oscar is on his way to being ready to hit the road and T (Truck) Ricky has already been processed and given the 👍. Our travel plans have settled into an itinerary (written in sand below the high water mark - as usual) and we will be on our way during the first week of December. I'll keep the Blog updated as much as time, adventure and happy hours allow :-)
We'll be celebrating Christmas in Desert Hot Springs (staying at Catalina Spa and RV) and moving to Rio Bend RV in mid January. Our 'tour' this year will be a little less scattered than previous years. Our goal is to spend longer periods of time in fewer places (with a lot less driving). We'll also be visiting a few of our favourite state parks in southern AZ as we do a big loop before heading home by the end of March.
That's all my news for now... hoping all is well with each of you and that you find a safe place to hang your sail. :-) CJ
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