The weather here today was very cool and we had quite the storm front blow through last night with a lot of rain. The good news is that the waterproofing we applied to the seams of our bimini seem to work as we had a dry cockpit this morning. Check 1 more thing off the to-do list.

We prepped the mast for stepping but we're waiting until tomorrow due to the wind. As you can see from the photo our slip finger dock is quite a bit lower than the boardwalk on shore and it was a excellent place to put the instruments on the head of the mast and then turn the boat around and work at prep the mast base. When we took the mast down in Trenton, which seems like eons ago, but in reality was only 2 weeks ago, I had to lay on top of the mast out past the ends of the boat to secure all the lines and shrouds. This seems almost too easy here!.

The weather delay also gave me the chance to re-bed the mast tabernacle (the plate the mast fits into on the deck) as it has developed a leak which comes into the cabin above our table. I attempted to fix this with some caulking prior to launch this year but it didn't fix the problem. Fingers crossed this has done the trick...the next rain storm will be the test. We to also moved a couple of halyards around inside out mast to better align with our clutches and deck organizers which will make managing our sails much easier.

This afternoon, while Sam when shopping with Esther, I got the chance to go to a Looper chart seminar this afternoon put on by the marina staff. What's a Looper you ask.....well, besides being a caddy, it's also a boater that is doing the Great Loop Route. This consists of the intra-coastal waterway up the American eastern seaboard, the Erie and Trent Canals, through Georgian Bay, Lakes Huron and Michigan, and then back down the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico. We have met quite a few of these people, mostly Americans, over the past couple of weeks and they have some great stories of their journeys to share.

The chart seminar was a great chance to get some first hand local knowledge of the area complete with safe passage courses, anchorages, scenic highlights, etc. So we'll spend the next day figuring out where we're headed and then we're off! The staff at this marina can't seem to do enough for you. They certainly know how to treat their customers.