With Judy an Chopin safe at her parents' home in New Jersey after an uneventful flight, I turn my attention to getting the boat ready for summer storage. While in Stuart, I service the engine, outboard, generator, remove the sails, wash the boat thoroughly inside and out and continue to pack all of our stuff.

Our last leg of this journey is the short hop (30 miles) from Stuart to Fort Pierce to Riverside Marina where we have Sea Sharp hauled and stored on land for the summer. I make this last leg as we started this season, in the company of Audacious. I have arranged to go directly to the haul out slip once I get to Riverside and this works out great as it is a congested and complicated marina with shallow water, tides, winds and other navigational complications and I'm on my own on Sea Sharp.

Shortly after I get in the slip, Sea Sharp is hauled out and blocked up in the yard. While Judy and I have both worked hard over the past week to get here ready for storage, there remain many things to do and I'm going to be busy for the next two days. Also, living on a boat stored on land is no fun but the folks at this Marina are very accommodating and allow you to stay on the boat while you finish the storage or launch chores. Also, there is a healthy camaraderie among the cruisers in this yard, and I know lots of folks here, including many Canadians; so there's no shortage of socializing.

I spend two very busy and tiring but rewarding days putting Sea Sharp to bed and, on Friday around noon, bid adieu to Rog and Jacquie and others in the yard, drop the key off at the office and begin the two-day trek north to New Jersey. It's with mixed emotions that I leave Sea Sharp. It's an exciting and rewarding lifestyle but we have our families, friends and other avocations home in Canada and I'm particularly anxious to see my Mom.