"Semi-retirement" begins officially for me in two weeks. "Semi" means that I have to return to my lab/office for at least one week per quarter to review paperwork, observed the techs, do my quarterly stats, blah, blah, blah. I will be doing this for the next four years. When I am not here in the Bay Area though, I can be anywhere in the world. Hmmm. Where might that be? The possibilities are pretty much endless!

The first place we plan to go is to a new marina. We want to get to somewhere a little cheaper, somewhere a little bit further out of the city, and somewhere preferably up in the Delta region of CA. The Delta is such a unique part of the world we want to spend our last few months exploring and enjoying what the Delta has to offer, including the spectacular sunsets. That seems like such a simple thing. And it is--in theory. In practice, not so much.

For one thing, we have no mast. Now if we were a powerboat that would not be a concern; however for a sailboat that is a rather major issue. The mast problems began as so many do in the boating world: you want to do something simple like get new cushions for the salon and before you know it you are having to change the windlass. Two completely different parts of the boat, and two completely unrelated processes you might think. But in some boater's Twilight Zone episode the two have become linked and now you are stuck! It is a long and sad (and expensive) story.