Another day in the boat yard. At least today we made some progress. Our new drive shaft and refurbished prop showed up ($$$$$). We got the drive shaft and new cutlass bearing installed and readied the engine for alignment. We also installed the new shaft seal. The cutlass bearing needs to sit in the epoxy over night so that tomorrow we can install the propeller and align the engine. With any luck, we'll be back in the water by tomorrow afternoon. It has been a long, expensive week; but we hope it has been worth it. Our friend Susan stopped by today on her way to Seattle. It was nice to see her.

Tami fell in love with making wood look better. After sanding and oiling the boom gallows, she decided there were several other areas of the boat that needed attention. She sanded and cleaned the cockpit and cockpit table. It looks fantastic! We also cleaned the hull and removed the old registration stickers. Yesterday, we ran the new furling line from the head sail furler back to the cockpit. At least we have been making progress.

It is funny how smells and sounds remind us of places we have lived. Today as we were walking around the boat yard we missed our home port. We missed visiting with friends, and remembering how you couldn't walk very far without seeing a friendly face and being greeted by some of Toby's friends too - Joey, Gunner, Ruby, Salty, Cooper, Franzel, Rasha, Tucker, and Sailor. But today we missed the sounds of the port cranes and the logs being moved about. We missed the sound of the 5 o'clock whistle, Yaba daba dooo! But most of all we miss the "stinky low tide" and "burnt toast" of the nearby coffee roasting company. The smells and sounds that at one time woke us up early and bothered us, now are the signs that the Home Port on the stern of Andiamo III is really the place we call "HOME". We love Olympia, WA and would not object to returning here someday. It is such a great place to live and cruise!

But, anyway, we digress...We have been in Anacortes now a week. Our friend Susan told us to send her a postcard from anywhere we spent a week or more. So, today, we mailed her a postcard from Anacortes - kinda lame, but we didn't want to let her down.

With any luck, we will get the propeller installed tomorrow and be back in the water by the afternoon. We are all ready to be on our way and to get cruising once again. But when it is all said and done, we will have a new drive shaft, new engine mounts, new cutlass bearing, new coupler, re-conditioned propeller, new furling line, a clean cockpit, and numerous other improvements.

We miss our friends back in Olympia and our friends from work. We pray they are all doing well.