Janet and I have been playing with our grandkids, visiting lots of Doctors (groan), skiing, shoveling and shoveling snow (Omaha in winter), and playing with projects. We also visited with Paul and Susan Banas in Oregon and toured Howard Hughes's Spruce Goose including a detailed cockpit tour (see photo). Paul sailed with us from Mexico to Tahiti last year. Our return to New Zealand was delayed due to some unplanned return trips to doctors for John. All is well and we will be back in New Zealand on 1 Feb 2020!

Tango has been hauled and is enjoying a spa treatment. Up first is a new bottom job to replace the poorly done job from Mexico. So far they found some superficial blisters on the hull and some damaged areas on the rudder. Nothing the normal grind, fill, feather, and paint can't fix. Up next is resetting the bow thruster so the prop is in the middle of the tunnel rather than scrapping the bottom. We are also replacing the inner forestay and one section of the furling foil that has a significant bend. Then there is the varnishing project for the railcaps (yuk). We are installing a new whisker pole on the mast. It is an "extendo" pole made of aluminum and carbon fiber. It will be way more manageable for Janet and I (yippy - we can sail down wind again). We are also regalvanizing our anchor chain which is 1/3 the cost of buying new chain.

We hope to have our home floating and shipshape when Anne and Scott Campbell visit in mid-February. We plan lots of exploring by car and boat, wine tasting, wine pairing, wine dessert... In March we plan to start cruising New Zealand's North Island. At the end of April there is a planned trip back to Omaha followed by Tango's return to blue water n May ias we return to the Tuomotus Islands and Atolls. We plan to drop into Tahiti and Tonga again, briefly, as we sail to Fiji for an extended explore. Next Nov (2020) we plan to return to NZ for the storm season. After that... who knows.

Happy 2020 to all and we are looking forward to returning to SUMMER and Tango. Janet thinks we should rename our blog "Chasing Summer"; we love warm water, weather, and cruising!