Ever wonder who reads your blog?
Well, I have. This summer I have been neglecting our blog and to all our devoted followers, my apology. It's just that when we return home to the boat in the evening after work and more work on our (new to us) summer home/cottage I don't have the energy to write a blog after making dinner, followed up by doing dishes and showering. So after days that ran into weeks of the same, it was time to let you know what's happening.

So far, it has been fun to work at remodeling our house. Benno discovered new skills he didn't know he possessed and I am suddenly faced with landscape decisions in addition to learning construction lingo. A few months ago I didn't even know what a sill plate is. We decided to have weeping tiles around our house and a sump pump installed. Being located close to Lake Erie and to avoid any moisture from heavy rain falls in our crawl space, it seems to be the prudent thing to do. Of course all that digging and moving of additional sand and gravel made a mess of the lawn but that is a project I need to tackle next year.

While work inside and outside the house had been going on, our friends Marcie and David Lynn, from the S/Y "Nine of Cups" came by for a one day/night visit. As per chance it was the 1st of July (Canada Day) and in celebration there were fireworks in the evening at the marina. We had met Marcie and David first while cruising in Panama and then again in Chile. Marcie and David happened to be in Windsor the previous day and I spontaneously invited them over. Meanwhile, their boat is stored on the hard in Tasmania, Australia, as they are driving through USA by car during the summer.

At the beginning of May, just as we came into Canada, we received an email from someone who asked us if there was a possibility to visit and view our boat. She had been following our building website which has been discontinued, but can still be found under MSdieselduck since its inception and she also follows my blog. She said they owned a Diesel Duck 462-12 which lies presently in the Philippines.

Now you see what I mean ever wonder who reads your blog?

A couple of weeks ago, we finally met. As it turned out, Drs. Janice L. and Rosario B. were delightful visitors. They own "Wendake" a 46'+ Diesel Duck built by Seahorse Marine in China and they had just returned from the boat to go back to work in Toronto. In the course of the afternoon they earned my respect and admiration by being so meticulous in their research and approach regarding the technical issues every boat has. Our conversations had been most pleasant and it would be great to see their Diesel Duck someday also. Thank you both for taking us to dinner.