Some folks have commented that we have not been updating our blog. That is because we are not sailing. We are working on the boat, still tied up at Larry & Dottie's house in Naples Florida. Nonetheless, this is what has been happening: We installed a new stove - four burner propane with oven and broiler. It is wonderful! We have installed the SSB radio - all except the antenna - waiting on a worker to complete the stern rails for that. We have built and installed shelving in both forward cabins. The starboard cabin is my workshop though it can be quickly converted back to a bed. The port forward cabin is still a bed but has lots of long term storage. We have installed a home theater system - not TV, just DVDs. We have installed a power winch. Eventually all lines from the mast will be led back to this winch so there will be no need to leave the cockpit to raise or lower sails or to put in or shake out reefs - a major safety issue. We have ordered solar panels which we will install as soon as we return from Panama (see below). We bought 10 T-105 batteries and are in the process of doing all the wiring to install them as our primary bank. We have installed the mast mount for the radar - it will probably go up tomorrow unless we play hookey for the day and go sailng. We have installed "hidden" wine racks for transporting large amounts of wine to Central America where it is generally unavailable and expensive. Deb has done a fantastic job of making this once charter boat into our HOME. We wer happy to see JAck & Ellen who drove down from their new second home in Venice and also Currie who came for a visit between seeing both her grandparents who are in Florida. We have also had a wonderful time with Larry and Dottie who have proven not only very gracious hosts, but just delightful people. Finally, we have just received notice that our "pensionado" visas to Panama have been approved. We will travel to Panama on Wed. (28 Jan) for a week to get them and also to check up on how our house is coming - picking out tile for the bath and kitchen, choosing fixtures, etc. So that is what we have been doing. We hope to be back sailing again by the first of March when friends Ray & Nadia are coming to visit.