As of today at noon, we'll have been here one week already.
And what a busy one it has been!

Reconnecting with old friends has been the highlight of being back at Jekyll Island, of course!
Lynne, Frank and Charley, on 'Milly B': what a delight to be with them again. We've already had our first, long awaited 'cook out', with homemade 'fries'! ~~Frank, you da man!!!!!~~
Diana: our 'kid activity organizer' and Randy: our 'dock elder' are still snugly tucked into a slip aboard 'Strider'.
Also back at the dock, after a summer in the Chesapeake, are Philip and Sasha with Chantelle and Corwin on 'Amazing Grace II'.

We met a wonderful new family aboard 'Charlotte Ann': Lisa and Mark, fun and easy going, with their daughter, Delaney, who immediately clicked with Zoe and Maia. And Mitchell, their 7 year old son, who became an instant buddy with Liam.

Not long after we arrived, another easy going and fun family sailed in: our friends on 'Las Sirenas', with Scott and Esme and their girls, Haley and Alanah.
We had met them in Deltaville, where the kids had instantly connected.

Then we met Cathy, George and son, Ben, aboard 'Ishmael'. They are docked here for a month like us, and are also heading farther south in January.

It's a wonder that we are getting any work done!
It has been a struggle keeping the kids concentrating on their school work.


Here are a few things that Michael is working on:
*He is replacing our battery charging system - parts are on order.
*He has removed (this took the better part of a day) the oil cooler and heat exchanger from the engine and sent them away to have one rebuilt and the other replaced - waiting for them to be shipped back.
*He has made a sketch of a attachment plate that we need in order to install an inner forestay. An inner forestay is a shroud (wire), that runs from the deck to 2/3 up the mast, on which a small sail is hanked (attached) when strong winds are forecast. It sits back of our jib (sail at the bow of the boat). Michael sent the sketch via email to a few metal fabrication shops to get quotes - waiting for quotes.
*exhaust fitting - trying to find a replacement for an exhaust elbow - a stainless steel 'Y' fitting
*replace a stanchion post (a post that holds the lifelines along the outside edge of the boat). This is the one that got bent when we hit the boat in Vero Beach
*ordering a modem for our SSB (single sideband radio)
*installing our AIS (automatic identification system)- this is a system that allows ships to 'see' us and for us to 'see' ships on the ocean using VHF and GPS
*BBQ - a fitting needs to be ordered so our new-used BBQ can be hooked up to our propane tanks

Some of my jobs:
*sail covers - I was to be sewing new ones, but they are now off my list. I just don't have time to devote days and days to sewing and still be able to do all the daily stuff like school, meals, laundry, shopping-you know, all the glamorous stuff! Michael would have to take over those jobs and then his list wouldn't get any shorter.
My, now shortened list, still includes:
*researching charts and cruising guides for Panama and the Pacific.
*defrosting and completely cleaning the fridge/freezer (another glamorous job)
*organizing our prescription drugs
*taking stock of all the food we have on board and reprovisioning
*and a whole bunch of little 'here and there' jobs that come up as the days pass

Thanks goodness for good friends here and passing through. They certainly enrich our lives and offer relief from the never ending jobs!