And so, in five swift weeks, from listing to the sale of the boat, a chapter in our lives has closed and with antisipation, we await what might lie ahead.

In Ft Lauderdale we listed our Blessed Spirit and turned her North thinking that it may take her quite some time to sell and she would be on the hard in Maine for who knows how long. We wanted to be certain that we would be able to care and maintaian her as we have for the past fourteen years so the decision was to keep her close by in Maine. However, when we got to Annapolis we had a buyer and she was sold.

The new owners, Craig and Carol, from New Hampshire, plan to sail her in Maine in summers and then explore the Bahamas in the winter months just as we have. The decision on the name has not been made but "Blessed Spirit" is being considered so keep an ear out for her on the VHF!.

In any case, it is our sincere wish that all of our friends that have helped, taught and welcomed us so lovingly, continue that warmth to our new friends Craig and Carol. They are wonderful people and are experienced sailors.

As for us.... I will put my arm affliction at the top of the "to do" list and follow up on all possible help that might alliveate the pain. Tita will paint, garden and cook and have our house in superb shape as to welcome all our cruising friends that choose to head to Maine. We have a dock and now a spare mooring ball. We also have Demitasse, our 30 foot Cape Dory Motor Sailor to take you cruising the coast of Maine.

We will miss the sand, the gin clear water, the palms and those we have met from the Islands. But most of all we will miss the comradery and friendship of those with whom we have cruised over the last many years.

God bless, be safe and please come visit if you are any where close to Boothbay ME. We have plenty of room and love to share our beautiful water views and good food and fun with all our friends.

Corning, Tita and Demi

P. S. Please go to www.sailblogs.com/member/demitasse and follow our Maine adventures

Just before we got to mile 0 on the ICW, I had to go under a new bridge with 135' of clearance above the water. Since our mast is 63.5' above the water, the clearance below the bridge which was under construction was a breeze compared to going under the 40 or so bridges with 65.0' clearance.

But..... this piece of concrete was about 300 feet long, 4 lanes wide and 135 feet above the water teetering on a single colume. Yes, the crane had a small line connected to one end, but if the wind suddenly blew hard, would the crane have been effective? All I could think of was "Humpty Dumpty" as we went under the new span.

Anyway we went through with no problem and now we are sitting at Mile 0 staged up to fly off on a buisness trip for a few days.

Blessed Spirit was officially put on the market and given to David Walters Yachts two weeks ago and so many of you have understood our sadness and expressed your empathy toward this big move in our lives. Unfortunately, because Corning's arms are not getting any better, we need to scale down for safety reasons. I would like to quote what my sister, Joan, had to say as she hit the nail on the head. "I looked on the blog and saw the "For Sale" sign on the boat picture. It must be very hard for you and Corning. Of course if you could sell your experiences while sailing on the boat---that would be priceless. Not to mention the friends you two made. In fact, whenever I read the blog, Corning always wrote about the friends. Those things that last are in the heart and no one can sell it or take it away from you. I like the sign in my vet's office that says --There are no strangers here, just friends we have not yet met "

That saying Corning and I have heard countless times and it must apply especially to cruisers as some of the best friends we have were the friendships formed during our cruising years.

To see what we are giving up and to see on what we have spent our years of cruising, please "cut and paste" the following into your browser.

http://www.davidwaltersyachts.com/yachtPage.cfm?y=132&w=s&l=5

For full details with photos, don't just do the photo gallery on the first page but click on "View Listing".

If you know some one who is looking for a boat like Blessed Spirit, tell them to check her out on the website. We are offering a 5% referral fee to you should that lead to the sale of Blessed Spirit, BUT "we" must be the ones to pass the name on to David Walters.