Spent a good part of the morning cleaning and organizing Sparrow. Hadn't been up in a while and it felt so good setting foot on the dock that leads to her. The weather was great, the birds were singing and it was beautiful out. Felt at home and at peace all at once. Can't wait for the weekend to get here and go out for a long sail.

Thursday night the boys and I stayed on the ol'gurl at the marina. It was a cool, cloudy night and we slept well. Eli woke up and the first thing he said was "that was cool." We had breakfast, capn crunch and while I prepared the boat for getting underway, they stayed warm in the cabin. It was a bit gusty and I was a little concerned about headin out but we were ready. I started the engine and while it warmed up I saw to the anchor, in case I needed to drop it quickly, and the rest of the preps. I cast off the lines, backed out of the slip and we were underway. The visibility was poor and getting worse. Rain picked up so did the wind, but I gotta tell ya, it was awesome. I love a storm. Lindley noticed we couldn't see the marina anymore and the bouys were hard to spot as well. The boys stayed dry and warm, me, well I had a good coat on but no rain pants and it got cold. Again, awesome. We motored and talked and saw few other boats out. Saw some sailor birds and some osprey hoped for eagles but no. Arrived at the new marina after a few hours, soaked but very, very content.

Went up last week with a friend of mine to show him the boat and we ended up pumping out water from the fuel. Met some new people and enjoyed a really pretty day. Made baked lemon pepper chicken for dinner and had a few beers. Organized the boat some and had some nice quiet time after my friend left. Man, its great on the water, wide open spaces, beautiful clouds and a blue sky. Going back up Monday to do more to the boat and spend the night out somewhere. This feels good.

Sparrow it will be, the kids voted on it and I like it too. The meaning behind it suits us. We will be heading up to her shortly to check things out and have lunch. It feels good to finally be moving towards realizing a dream.

Took possesion today of our new boat and new plan. Keeping the name(maybe) as we never put it on the other boats. This is finally it, the kids and my new home. On the lake now but eventually the coast. We will be spending time on her this weekend and will put keeping the name or changing it to a vote. At peace at last.

So, here we are again, new boat, new addition (Cullie), sans wife (divorce?). We now have a Catalina 22, easy to take to the coast or lake and river. Side tracked for a while but back in the saddle again. Kids are looking forward to sailing with dolphins and snorkeling and I am toooo. Hoping for a summer full of adventure, family and friends. Right now I am doing some work to Sol Gypsies but hope to be out in a few weeks.