The season is winding down, but the weather this weekend is great: sunny, lower 70's.

Patti and I go to the boat around 2 pm after stopping to get her a sandwich at P&M. The plan was to just sit on the boat and relax, but Patti said that she was feeling ok, and bless her, she knew how much I wanted to go out, so out we went.

We left the dock about 2:30, with the wind feeling about 10 knots. Our departure was going in the right direction, but I didn't let the boat reverse quite long enough, so we nearly hit our new neighbor Memri and Sassafrass as we turned to out. We did a little bounce on a piling, but we missed our friends completely.

Once past the Mermaids, we decided to just unfurl the genny to keep the motion easy for Patti. But we couldn't weather the point without tacking, so we turned west, trying to sneak out between Taunton and Blynn rocks. But it wasn't to be as the wind seemed to shift and get much weaker. We finally decided to raise the main too in order to balance out the genny.

But by then, the wind had gone mostly calm, and we had to get back for the dog. So we furled the sails and headed back in. Docking was uneventful. We were probably out for about an hour.

And a stinky hour it was. The head is bad. It used to sometimes smell bad when it flushed. Now, it smells bad all the time. I think all of the hoses need to be replaced. And the vent may be clogged. I've asked the yard to take a look at it for me. They were supposed to take a look on Thursday or Friday, but I haven't heard from them. I think they did look as the steps were not where I left them, and I think they left the fan running.

I'd pay anything to have this fixed.

I didn't go on the boat the prior weekend as I went to the Newport Boat Show. I was a guest of Quantum Sails; Coop met me at the gate and I spent a little time with them at their booth, meeting the guy who will actually design my sails.

The show was packed. I didn't spend as much time as I might have going on boats; COVID, you know. But I did finally get to see the walkaround decks on a big Jeanneau. Can't believe no one has thought of that before. I only bought two things: a pair of reader sunglasses; and a rather tasteless chicken salad wrap. Only one Catalina was on display (425); lots of Jeanneaus, Hanses. Only one boat that I saw required masks and limited visitors (Passport). Lots of fun.