Today was a day of projects to catch up on a few repairs we needed to make, and there were sources for parts here. It was cooler and foggy today, and eventually rained late in the afternoon. One of the repairs was to fix part of the furling system (vertical lines on the Dutchman for you sailors) on the main sail and that required sending someone up the mast in the boson's chair, which is a combination chair/sling attached to a halyard into which one person sits while the other turns the crank on a winch hauling the one in the chair up the mast. Since I weigh twice as much as Nikki, she volunteered to be the one to go up without a moment's hesitation. While up there, she repaired the Dutchman and replaced the bulb on the steaming light, and took a picture, as did I from the deck. We figure her mother, Connie, will be calling us next from the cardiac intensive care unit. Other exciting stuff like replacing the fresh water pump (again, for the 3rd time) and repairing the boot around the mast where it passes through the deck on the way to the keel so we don't get wet in bed when it rains made for a productive day. This would be the less than glamorous part of cruising, but necessary, none the less.

We are going to move Kristinly 3 miles to the south to the Cranberry Islands and will go ashore to see what is supposed to be a very pretty place. This should be a good chance to take the boys ashore and let them get good and dirty before their next bath, which needs to be tomorrow. They are looking a little grubby. We will then start working our way back to Camden and plan to be there no later than the 7th. Nikki flies to Nantucket to start the reentry process to get back to work (big bummer for both of us), and Mom and Rudy will be arriving there the 7th for a 5 day visit. Jenni (and maybe Matt) and Kristin are planning to come over for the weekend as well. Hope to take them all out sailing while there.

Lastly, my friend Ted, who I mentioned was fighting a tough battle against cancer a few weeks ago, finally lost that fight and passed away yesterday morning. Ted was a sailor, and as they say in the sailing community, made his final passage. Ted was one of the neatest people I have had the privilege to meet. When you were with Ted, he made you feel like you were the most important person to him at that moment, and you were. Ted did it right, retiring much earlier than most of us would consider doing, and lived for the moment. This is a lesson I have been particularly focused on learning during this trip, and Ted has been a very real inspiration for me - for that and other reasons. His lovely wife Carol called him her best friend, and no doubt she was to him. Everyone who knew Ted will miss him greatly.