Hello everyone! Winter is drawing to a close, at least here in Ireland, and all three of us are eager to get underway once again. With the exception of a twenty-minute blizzard two days ago thanks to an intense low pressure system that came roaring down out of Iceland, the weather has been positively spring-like. We've even begun having high pressure systems again after not seeing any from mid-September until early January. The green leaves of daffodils and crocuses have pushed through the soil in every garden, and we've shed layers until we're routinely wearing only a light jacket ashore. Out on the water is a different matter, though, as the water temperatures have not yet begun to rebound from winter lows. Still, we've been out sailing several times and found it quite comfortable with three layers of clothes and the protection of our hard dodger.

While we enjoyed a few of the long, lazy days reading and studying Spanish we envisioned last fall, after Christmas these gave way to quite a bit of traveling. We spent a week in London around the London boat show, and both of us got a good dose of the big city - and a good dose of germs. It took us several weeks to recover, and we realized how long it has been since we've been in crowds and exposed to some serious colds and flu. Beth traveled back to London twice more to give slide shows and talks promoting "Following Seas," her second book that the UK publisher Adlard Coles brought out in the fall. Beth also returned to the States to spend some time with her father after he had hip replacement surgery. He's doing very well, though the six weeks non-weight bearing restriction has tested his patience to the limits.

During Beth's last trip to London last week, Evans painted the bottom. Hawk was hauled out a few hours after she left, and splashed again a few hours before she got back. Evans put on lots of layers, enough so we hope we won't have to haul in Chile, and he changed our prop in hopes of improving our motoring performance. Beth was grateful to avoid living on the hard, painting the bottom and the cussing that accompanied both - but she owes Evans big time for all his hard work. Our recut main came back from the sailmaker last week, and we've re-run all the halyards we'd taken down for the winter. We went sailing this weekend to brush the cobwebs off and try everything out and came back in 20 knots of wind with Hawk close reaching at 8.5 knots.

Today we rented a car with Klaus and Maria, the German couple who wintered over in the marina with us, and tomorrow we begin provisioning. Over the course of the winter, we've eaten all but a dozen cans of soups and fruit, and every plastic container is empty. We intend to fill the boat to avoid spending money in the Faroes and Iceland, so we'll make several trips to the store and buy several hundred pounds of supplies. After that, we'll be ready to start moving again

We intend to explore this area a bit more while we wait for spring to settle in, and then start slowly up the west coast of Ireland. We'll sail when the highs fill in bringing several days of light winds and good (though cold) weather, then hunker down when we see another gale on the way. There are plenty of snug harbors from her to the southwestern corner of Ireland, and then up the first half of the west coast. We'll just be changing the view out the portlights and the walks ashore every few days.

We hope you all had a good winter and are looking forward to the spring, to getting boats back in the water, and to sailing!

Fair winds, Beth and Evans s/v Hawk