Seven thousand miles of outstanding cruising since November 2008 means it's time to do a little renovation and more planning for the future. Find out what ...
We have been waiting several days for some overcast, damp weather to pass so that Wes Summerfield could repaint Mandy's name and home port back onto the stern. Watching a competent artist at work is always captivating and this was no exception.
Wes is a bona fide 'Virginia Boy' - tobacco chewing, steel toe boots, shirt off for work with quite an appealing southern drawl to boot. He is a machinist who fashions boat parts out of various metals and he turns his hand to the artistry of sign painting somewhere in between. We first noticed his art work in the names painted on one of the dead rise boats (see last blog post) called Melissa Ann. It took some time to track him down but it was worth the search as you can see. He paints the letters more or less freehand and was finished in a little more than an hour. Several people stopped by in that hour to admire his work. He kindly told us that our topsides paint job looked good "for first timers" but when Mandy's name reappeared on top in such style, the job looked complete. As The Dude would say about his area rug, "It ties the room (boat) together."
Having spent 30 years in the racehorse business we felt it was time for a different kind of adventure.
Both originally from England we have sailed for fun for over 30 years. We have owned MANDY for five of those and are planning to head south for Mexico etc. in November 2008 - ready or not. [...]
When we get to Panama we will decide which way to turn; through the canal or across the big puddle. The eventual goal, whether by boat or not, is Galicia in north-west Spain where we have a ruined farm cottage and barn (pictures in the galleries) that we plan to restore.
We love our 3 grown children and our parents but this window of time is reserved just for us. It has been a long time coming. World economy sucks. So what?