I’ve had inquiries from a couple of friends wondering what’s going on with us, since I haven’t written in the blog lately. Well, we’re not with Earendil. I guess I figure that life on land is not worth blogging about. But I will do a quick fill-in for all of you.

Living aboard with the boat on the hard was difficult. Living aboard on the hard with the engine being replaced would have been really difficult, especially since the daytime temperatures were staying in the 90’s. So we packed up our stuff into the new old car (now affectionately know as the Land Barge or Grandpamobile) and headed off north.

The first weekend we came back to Western New York and our roots. This photo was taken Sunday afternoon on June 19th after the crowds for the Father’s Day Breakfast had left the Tuscarora Yacht Club. It was great to see all of our old friends and all of the people who had inspired, instructed and encouraged us. TYC is a big part of why we are now living aboard (or will be again soon, I hope). That first weekend we also visited our families and then headed east to visit Jon and Arlene at Fairpoint Marina on Little Sodus Bay.

From there we headed west and came to Saint Clair Shores, Michigan, where we have been staying with our daughter and grandson. Our grandson, Adler, just turned two the second of June and it has been great to get to know him again. He is much more verbal than when I left him last December. He may be more articulate and more opinionated than his momma was at that age, and that’s saying something. He’s loads of fun and a lot of work. Taking him out for several hours is much more tiring than a sail of the same duration. I can’t wait until he’s old enough to sail with us; with the rate he’s growing and learning it won’t be too long.

Meanwhile, work on the boat continues. Gary has been keeping an eye on things and sent some photos that enabled us to stop what might have been a mistake in the design of the arch we’re having built on the stern. They were supposed to send us sketches of the design before work began, but Gary’s pictures showed the beginning of the arch and no sketches. I called and that got straightened out. There’s also been a setback for the marina and us in the engine rebuild. The new v-drive transmission didn’t fit down between the stringers in the engine room. The stringers make up the frame of the boat. St. Augustine Marine Center brought in their marine engineer and they decided to take material off the inside of the stringers and add it back on the outside. That also meant they had to move a number of electric cables that ran along the outside of the starboard (right) stringer. In addition, they found our old propeller shaft was too short for the new set-up. We agreed to pay more, they are giving us the shaft at their cost and shaving some profit from the labor side, but in the end we all hope to be happy with the outcome. I’d be more concerned about someone messing with our boat frame if it wasn’t a marina that actually builds boats. While we were there they pulled a 76-foot trawler (the Walrus) that had been built there. It’s a beautiful boat and the reviews seem to be good, so we’re hoping they’re as successful with our alterations.

Today I finished making new covers for our cockpit cushions. I brought the old covers and tore them apart and used them as my patterns. It wasn’t an easy task, and without the actual cushions, I’m not sure how they’ll fit.

So that’s about it. I’ll update the blog again once we have more progress.