We have not been advancing very well on our to do list resulting from the cruise. Only yesterday did I manage to get the anchor windlass back aboard and installed. For well over half of the cruise, our windlass chose to misbehave. I attempted several times to overhaul it but had only temporary success. The major challenge was getting my carcass in the anchor locker to unbolt and unwire it so I could work on it. It required mostly indirect, out of sight work in some contorted position always causing severe cramps at the most critical moment, lest I drop the part. That said, I finally decided to take it home and work on it in the lights with the right tools. It was a success.

We still have six sticky notes on the cabin bulkhead with fairly critical stuff to fix or maintain. Of course none of them would prevent a daysail. I am embarrassed to that we have not been out of the slip since our return to our Home Port. We have managed to offload stuff not needed for local sailing which includes some heavy things. Each time we leave the boat, we take a few pounds home. It helps to have a dock box to store things and Why Knot is rising steadily toward her old water line.

Being back home still provides opportunities to meet interesting boaters not known to us before. Our wharf has a former submarine sailor, a former Crusader pilot, two former military academy, grads, a couple that volunteers lots of time to the local marine life rescue, three crews who have done extensive cruising and a once beautiful Cal 28 (we had one and loved it) that has not moved in twenty years. Speaking of that status, every marina has many such boats. One across the fairway from us is a wooden sloop that also has not moved in decades. No one can remember ever seeing anyone aboard. Bear was sitting out the other day and noticed that the mast was leaning and the boat was not. Over the next few days, it leaned more each day. We thought it might just fall over. Marina staff attempted to stabilize it but it continued its move overboard. Finally, someone untied to the boat and pushed it far enough into the fairway to safely cut the mast free. Then they hauled it back aboard, ten feet at a time and cut the mast up to haul it away. Others went aboard to see what happened and they did not stay long. Seems all the wood below, including the mast base, had become a sort of balsa that had no structural integrity. Oysters were actually growing in the bilge, big ones. Now, she is a threat only to herself. Supposedly, the slip fees are current, most likely by an estate with no interest. How sad. Right next to her is a good looking older sport fishing boat that was also taking on water and was down by the bow about two feet. Whats with that?