July through mid-November were challenging for us. Janet broke her foot but has now recovered enough to safely work aboard Tango. We had planned to attend John's 45th USCGA reunion but caught and recovered from Coved, then rebounded and recovered again. All that said, we also had a lot of fun visiting friends and family while Tango sat safely in Baltimore's Inner Harbor and Janet healed.

During this time Holly and Bruce Penn graciously welcomed us into their home, helped with boat projects, let us borrow cars, and put up with our crazy ways for MONTHS! We enjoyed lots of hikes and walks through the Maryland woodlands, a visit to the St. Mary's Maritime Museum, and endless laughs. Bruce and John completed many car, house and bridge projects.

Instead of taking Tango to Connecticut for the USCGA Reunion, we had to drive a car. While we couldn't enjoy the reunion (our Covid), we visited with Kris, Vic, and Jack (the dog) Schiavi. Through the early 1980s they were our neighbors in Colchester, CT. Our two boys and their two girls were born during this time and we all learned that the kids would be driving our family dynamics. Through much of October, Vic and Kris let us Covid isolate in their beach cottage. They helped and supported us with frequent food deliveries, virtual happy-hour discussions, and made sure we were as comfortable as possible. When Janet and I were able to rejoin civilization we spent a couple of fun filled days sight-seeing, telling stories, and relaxing with the Schaivi's. Janet and I finally visited the Coast Guard Academy and seeing how things in CT had grown.

We planned to visit friends in NH and while heading there, we drove through Topsfield, MA.
Topsfield was John's home for 5th and 6th grades. We saw his old house, his historically preserved elementary school, and were surprised that there were almost no changes throughout the village. No McDonalds, no gas stations, a gorgeous town square and village with lots of fun memories.

Lee and Elaine Alexander have been friends since the 1990s and we were finally able to visit their beautiful home on the estuary near the coast in New Hampshire. We enjoyed catching up on the Harrington and Alexander adventures and touring inland New Hampshire including their lake house, Mount Washington, and many beautiful sites. Lee and Elaine showed us the beauty and serenity of the area. Yup... tempting.

As Thanksgiving approaches we are completing preparations to sail south to FL, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. A big part of our preparations is the outfitting of a new rigid-hull-inflatable dinghy. Janet is sewing "chaps" to protect the inflatable hull tubes from abrasion and ultraviolet wear. This is a GIANT project requiring her to create patterns, and carefully sculp the chaps to the curves of the dinghy, and engineer ways to hold the chaps in place. We hope to depart Baltimore before Thanksgiving.

Pictures from our time in MD, CT, and NH are in two new Galleries, called Ellicott City and CT & NH.