I won't mention her age, but I think regular readers know how old I am so that should put you in the guessing ballpark and the neat thing is that besides still being with us she and Dad are still living in their own home, thanks in most part to the fact that my brother is living there with them helping out. How great is that?! She doesn't want anything for Christmas or birthdays so I end up buying her something small that I can wire up. For the last couple of years I have sent her a potted orchid which went over well and since she does exceptionally well with African violets I don't have to worry about being cruel to the plant.

I am in the process of making my own StormRider Drogue. The commercially available GaleRiders, which are very similar, are a great looking product, and one which has received numerous glowing testimonials but the $500-$770 price tag is just too much for our cruising budget, especially as Barb has just spent an apprenticeship in a canvas shop and I am the rigger at one of Canada's premier yacht supply stores. My estimated bill of materials for a DIY model is less than $80Cdn with the most expensive single part being the swivel for the attachment point, so for us that is definitely the way to go. I will be making up a plan booklet as we go and I'll make that available electronically once it is done for anyone who might be interested.

I am also putting the annexes from my cookbook into an e-pamphlet format to distribute electronically. For anyone wondering, I am still looking at getting the cookbook itself finally finished and ready for publication. The holdup has been that even with the vanity press ie self publishing, there is an initial cost that although it is not huge it is more that we can deal with at this point with the yard bill in Virginia and paying down the credit cards from last trip.

On a different note there were a couple of things that the trip last year did teach us other than don't try to get to Bermuda on the 1st of November, at least not unless you are happy dealing with storm after storm, are:

1. We were, and I emphasise the "were" part, basically lazy. At the end of the day traveling along the ICW it is just too tempting to stop in at a marina. It's easier to keep the batteries charged up, you don't have to launch the dingy to get ashore, walking Peri is simply a matter of stepping ashore, getting groceries aboard just means walking along the dock and passing them over the gunnels, etc. As I said, lazy. Once in a while as a treat I can see it but simply for the convenience? Nope. Not in any future cruises. Not especially as we have our little gen set fir those occasions that there is no wind and the sky is overcast. We also need to take our time and wait for the right window so that we can make offshore jumps rather than rushing to scoot along the ICW. Especially with the marina stops at night this is false economy and since don't travel at night we really don't make up any time versus waiting for a day or so for the weather to suit us. Of course if we did that all the time we would miss a lot of the sights along the shoreline, but we have done if a half dozen times now and watching the depth sounder is getting a little old.

2. Be careful about your cruising permit. Canada and the US are so much alike it is sometimes easy to forget that you are in a different country with their own rules etc. and that those pertaining to visitors are designed to welcome people for a visit, with emphasis on the visit part. Canadian Customs have the same sort of rules for American visitors and we have friends that have faced the same challenges as we are when they overstay the period of their permit.