It was the gift of a summer day delivered in mid-November. The sun was shining and the marina was active. Shorts and sandals-type weather, shirts optional.

We had settled into the boat the night before with our first opportunity to use the oven in the galley. The goal: Pizza. Starting with a whole-wheat Boboli crust, Sheryl constructed a masterpiece topped with onions, banana peppers, tomatoes, cheese, and LOTS of garlic. Soon the aromas wafting from the boat were commented upon by those on the dock. It was dinnertime, and it was delicious. Test complete: the oven works fine.

Saturday brought unseasonably high temperatures, and were it not for our exhaust leak, we probably would have left the slip to do some sailing. The day was put to good use, though. Sheryl fixed the hatch screen in the v-berth, I removed the corroded pressure tank from our Force 10 cabin heater, we played around trying to figure out how to apply some of our 'extra' canvas with some degree of success (still a few mystery pieces to decipher), and I constructed a cockpit mounting solution for the chart plotter and our handheld GPS/VHF. Not a bad day of boat chores, if I do say so myself.

One of the best things about keeping our boat at Ensign Harbor is the frequent and spontaneous gatherings of the Whortonsville Yacht and Tractor Club. Saturday night was another fine example. Dinner became a sharing event, where shrimp was served for an appetizer, followed by pressure cooked potatoes, hamburger or steak, southwestern-style rice, and saut�ed onions. Chocolate chip cookies and red wine rounded out the meal. The wine carried the conversation late into the night and a good time was had by all.

We awoke Sunday to a day which was diametrically opposite from the previous day. It was cold and growing colder, with wind and rain. The parking lot cleared relatively early. We spent the day doing mostly nothing. A little reading, a little napping, and general downtime took us toward the evening hours. By the time we tied the boat off around 5:30pm, the wind had driven the water level down about 3 feet. Time for us to go back to the apartment until next Friday.