If you’ve wondered if we’ve been boarded by pirates and kidnapped for ransom since I’ve not posted in so long. No, they would have found we were too expensive to keep and not worth much in return.Truth is we made it safely back to Florida and I will get back to posting how we got there, soon, I promise.

For now we are back to our land based home which let me tell you, I much prefer boat projects over home projects, which of late has been plenty. Water penetrated the roof over the patio, which is never a good thing. Being DIYers we were able to accomplish in a weeks time with 106 degree temps by just working a few hours a day. As soon as we put away the tools and sat to admire our work the neighbors fence next to our lake boat caught on fire. We were off to the races, hose reels flying, phone buttons pushing and yelling for the neighbors attention. Crisis adverted, fire out before much damage was done and before the fire depts. arrival. So fixing the roof may have lead to saving the boat. I'm going with that, looking for the silver lining.

A nasty wind storm passed through the valley wreaking havoc. Sitting at the table we heard a crack and witnessed our tree in the front yard falling away from us into the street in ever slow motion. It had split leaving part of the tree still standing. Wow that was close, the tree resting across our picket fence now broken but just feet from the neighbors cars. The fence and the tree were the only victims. Tears were shed as this tree brought us much shade and a lifetime of memories. It was over 45 years old and 65’ tall. At the same time it left us thankful that no one or nothing was hurt. Again crisis adverted. It left us with a mess, insurance claim filed and tree service called. Tree has to come down. Now we are forced into relandscaping the yard and since my motto is go big or go home I was again off to the races to make new flowerbeds and a proper place for a much smaller tree. One we won’t be battling the roots of. Now do you see why I haven’t posted? Land life is busy.

Watching hurricane alley, it is hurricane season after all. There has been 4 named storms, the last one looking like it had potential to reach Florida where Sol Searching has been docked. The plan was if anything were to come close Ken would fly back and take down the mainsail and get more ropes and fenders out. We had already taken down the jib sail and had wrapped the mainsail with rope prior to our last departure. Thursday morning the marina called saying some high winds (precursor to Hurricane Erika) had damaged one of the docks there and our cat looked to be listing and we might want to check it out. Doesn’t know, maybe it’s a bilge pump issue. WTH? Ok that was it, Ken was booking a flight heading out that night. Turns out the boat was fine, maybe sitting a little stern heavy but not really listing. No water on board. Bilges and engine compartments dry. We had been totally freaking out, fearing the worst. Again crisis adverted and Hurricane Erika has dissipated into a tropical LO bringing in only rain and wind. Sol Searching is now tied in a spider web of lines to keep her from leaving the dock by herself. I think Ken is enjoying his alone time with his girl but I think she is being a bit of a tease. Take me out she is whispering in his ear.

Although we are enjoying time at home, time with family and sharing in their life events we're anxious to get back to boat life. Ken will fly home Thursday so we can celebrate middle daughters marriage. Then have some wine and a celebration for his Mothers 98th birthday. After that tickets are purchased for an October 12th departure. We can’t wait to see what this season brings us, where we’ll end up. We are being promised lots of family visits this season. We hope so.

So now I promise to get back to the tropical beach pictures and what we encountered on our trip back to stateside.