Well, Phil and I are finally having a quiet Sunday breakfast together
on Moon Dancer. Still on the dock but getting close to departing
toward Grenada once again.

Although I really don't like being on the dock, the time was very
productive. In addition to accommodating Daisy and Nancy during their
visit. We accomplished many needed goals such as running the wires and
installing an external sat phone antenna and also an external wifi
antenna. We also repaired the grounding wires for the ssb which was
corroded. We re-seated the forward and aft lower mid ship chain plates
which were leaking. Both power winches were serviced and our windlass
was finally fixed. I also had a solenoid installed that now allow
power up and down on the windlass. I purchased the solenoid a while ago
in Miami and was waiting for the time and talent to get it installed
with a new heavy duty hand held switch. This was a big safety problem
for us.
This Tuesday we are having welding done on the davits and the bow
roller. The davits bent due to the new bigger engine we put on the
new larger dinghy and the rocna kept hopping off the bow roller so we
are welding cheeks on to the sides of the bow roller to keep it stable
and reinforcing the davits. I was always worried that Phil would get
injured. On two occasions the anchor jumped off and chewed up the bow
of the boat...Not fun;Not safe.

This Tuesday we re-provision and head off to sea. Phil and I are
happiest when we are at sea. Phil's kids are meeting us in St Lucia
in November; Diane, Rene, Pete and Tanya are coming in December and
the Jaimesons are anticipated to visit early next year. We are
looking forward to these visits. Sail, Sun, Swim and great fishing are
on the agenda for all. We will keep you all posted on our developments
and if you want to hop aboard just let us know..

We keep discussing our plans for next hurricane season. Trinidad is
not in the plan. We are considering touring the carib this season and
then heading to Columbia and Panama for next year's hurricane season.
We will either go through the canal or cruise north along the central
American coast, work our way toward Miami, get a refit done, head
north along the US east coast and jump to the UK from New York. Phil
wants to visit Daisy once again before we depart and Daisy wants to
come back to the boat as soon as possible. I want to get in some fun
diving in Belize, Cancun, the Caymans, the ABC's and other world class
dive sites. I'm also eager to see Cartagena which other cruisers are
saying is super nice and has richly preserved Spanish historical
sites. The good news is that we are FINALLY not in a hurry to do
anything and everything important is fixed and working.

Of course anything can create a change in plans but this is what it
looks like for now. The ONLY down side is how very much I miss my sweet dog, George. Nothing can fill that hole in my heart so for my birthday I
have committed to fly to Miami and spend some time with George and my
friends.

Our love to you all...
Nell and Phil
Moon Dancer

PS - for those of you who don't know Daisy. She is my sister and has
severe Downs Syndrome. She LOVES sailing on our boat and we LOVE
spending time with her. Nancy is my older sister and Daisy's caretaker.
Our plan is to fly Daisy and Nancy once a year to Moon Dancer so she
can see the world from our boat. Daisy has the heart of a sailor and
adventurer.