Back to Sea Sharp
23 January 2012
So, with summer waning and fall approaching we considered what our winter would bring. As I noted in an earlier blog, I committed to do what I could to dispose of our family home but there appeared to be few prospects of an expedient sale so we figured that we should resume our winter on Sea Sharp but be ready to get home quickly of need be. Also, Judy's parents were considering moving from their family home to a smaller, more manageable situation. So we set out to return to Sea Sharp but figuring into our plans the possibility of a return to one of our homes.
We left Fredericton on November 11 and arrived at Judy's family home that same day. I stayed a few days and left Judy and Chopin with her parents while I drove the rest of the way to Sea Sharp. She was in good shape for the most part with no mildew of other noxious conditions other than a water soaked anchor locker.
While Judy and I don't have children, I'll liken my reunion with Sea Sharp with seeing your son or daughter after the first semester that they've left for college. They're immediately recognizable but never quite the same; a bit older and more mature.
Our plan was as in the past, for me to ready Sea Sharp for launch and Judy and Chopin to join me a few weeks later to commence our winter cruise. I had a long list of projects, including some of which I'll talk about in more detail on a subsequent post (I figure that's how authors and TV producers allude to their next work and entice the reader to commit to the anticipation of a next episode).
Previously I have spoken about Riverside Marina, where we keep Sea Sharp for the summer. It is a "working yard"; anything but fancy but owned and operated by a family of honest and reliable folks. We are content to have Sea Sharp spend the summer here. On my return, I renew contact with various other cruisers, most Canadians, who are on the same schedule as us. Bill and Bob, in particular, are regulars and after a long, hot and dirty day of boat projects, we adjourn for a bite and a cool one and many stories.
While productivity under these circumstances is only modest, I get Sea Sharp ready to launch and knock off the several projects we identified this summer (does this sound like a trailer for the next blog?). Unexpectedly, I get a call from my sister that we have received an offer on Mom's house and I hastily arrange for a trip home to finalize the preparations for this prospective sale It was indeed fortuitous that this offer came in at this time because, notwithstanding that I would have found my way home despite where we were, it was so much easier with Sea Sharp not yet in the water and Judy and Chopin happily ensconced at her parents' place in new Jersey. So, home I flew and spent a frantic, productive but emotionally charged week helping getting the "old place" ready for the new owners.
Exhausted but satisfied, I flew back to Sea Sharp, now determined to launch soon and have Judy and Chopin join me for our winter adventures.