Last I wrote, I didn't know what the future would hold. We had decided that the cruising life was not a long-term life style for us. I mused about it, possibly we might purchase an RV and cruise the land or maybe just hang out on Aurora for a while longer or even get jobs and return to land life. Since writing that update, life has changed for Ken and me.

I just completed my first week of work! But I'm getting to the end of the story before you know what happened. So here's how it came to be that Ken and I moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area and I started working again.

After the Annapolis Boat Show, I flew out to California to visit family and friends. Ken stayed in Annapolis with the boat. It was a good place to leave him on his own with Aurora, easy to get around, lots of boating facilities and a comfortable anchorage. Plus he had a long list of boat chores to keep him busy for the ten days I was to be gone as we had decided to sell Aurora. So on October 15th I hopped on the local bus, headed to Baltimore/Washington International and caught my flight to SFO. Little did I know that I would not be using my return ticket.

Our Aurora updates go out to a variety of friends and family, including friends I worked with at The Learning Company. So it was not surprising that Craig, a previous colleague who now works at PlayFirst, suggested we get together for lunch with some of the old TLC gang when I was in the Bay Area. Turns out that several former colleagues work at PlayFirst, a casual gaming company headquartered in San Francisco. I was delighted to hear from Craig and, of course, said yes to the lunch invite with the TLC gang.


Craig asked if I was serious about returning to work in his e-mail. However, my mind was so far away from the work world at the time, I didn't give it much thought. It crossed my mind that it would be fun to work with Craig, Kenny, Solveig and Nick again, but my focus was on varnishing the slats, stripping the cockpit table and finishing up the boat work on Aurora. Also, I was looking forward to seeing my mother, brothers and daughter again. Ken and I had talked about returning to work, but it wasn't my focus when flying out to California.

So when I arrived at PlayFirst for lunch and Craig gave me a tour of the offices and introduced me to a few folks, I was surprised at how extremely familiar and very comfortable the work environment was. I felt like I was at home, that no time had passed since I'd been in the work world. It was like two-and-a-half years were a two week vacation. It was an odd, but good feeling. Over lunch both Craig and Kenny asked me if I was interested in coming back to work. It felt so natural that without hesitation I said yes.

As they say, the rest is history. Interviews were scheduled, an offer was tendered and I accepted. This all happened in just over one week. Ken and I discussed it all over the phone. We decided I would stay out in California and get moving on the relocation; he'd stay in Annapolis a bit longer and put Aurora to bed. It was Friday, October 31st. I would start work Nov. 17th.

With the reality of a time-intensive job looming, we knew that we had to move quickly to get settled in or we'd be living out of boxes forever! Ken packed up Aurora (how did we have 50 boxes of stuff on a 46-foot boat?), secured a person to manage her while she's up for sale and took care of all the loose ends in Annapolis. Before Ken arrived on Wednesday, Nov. 5th, I rented an apartment in Burlingame, began clothes shopping (I had no work clothes!) and started a car search on Craig's List.

Ken arrived at SFO Wednesday morning at 9:30 and we went out furniture shopping from the airport! I can't remember the order of things but over the course of a week we purchased two pre-owned cars (Honda Civic and Toyota Highlander), furnishings for the apartment (much of it assemble yourself from IKEA), clothes for work and many of those small necessities of life one does not have on a boat, like trash baskets for each room. And remember the large screen TVs Ken was drooling over at Costco on the East Coast? Well we now own one. Our dining room table is a utility table from Target and we eat sitting on two $9.99 folding chairs, but we do have a 50" large screen TV in the living room! Per Ken, "Priorities, Maryann, priorities."

We quickly established ourselves in an apartment with basic necessities. However once we are settled, we hope to purchase a place of our own, probably on the peninsula and probably a townhouse or condo.

So I came out to California for a visit and never returned! I'm the Developer Relations Manager at PlayFirst (PlayFirst.com), a casual game company which sells downloadable games online for play on the computer as well as on a variety of other digital platforms--mobile phones, game consoles, interactive TV.

The past two plus years have been an amazing time for Ken and I, meeting new friends, living on a boat, visiting new countries, testing our limits. I'll miss the vagabond life where schedules are non-existent and roots are not planted. But it is time to move on and life has opened new doors for us. I'm looking forward to helping PlayFirst transition from a start-up into a young and thriving company in an exciting new industry. When I left, casual gaming was in its infancy; it is now reaching its formative years.

This is my last Aurora update. Thank you all for sharing our adventure with us. And thank you for your responses. Your e-mails have been a joy to read and a lifeline when we were out there on our own.

Safe Passages!

Maryann

P.S.
I had Ken read my update before sending it out, and he wanted to share his thoughts with all of you as well. So here is Ken's final Aurora update:

Maryann has posted her final update on the S/V Aurora adventure, and I feel I need to get a final word in as well.

As she mentioned, life's been a whirlwind of change these past 3 weeks, though it's been fun to rebuild a land-based life so quickly. However, the excitement of the past 3 weeks shouldn't overshadow the final weeks of our cruising adventure.

After Maine we transited quickly back through New England and on to New York City where we spent a very enjoyable week, then on to Washington, D.C. where we had a great time anchored in the heart of the nation's capitol.

Maryann has written of our experiences there, but I don't know that enough of the sheer enjoyment of our cruising in August and September and the first part of October came through. We really enjoyed our time in Maine and had a ball traipsing about in NYC and Washington.

Of course, a large part of it had to do with a lack of things breaking, which was really very pleasant. The beginning of the year was so frustrating in that regard, so it's nice to be able to report things just worked as they should the past 3 months.

Still, we had an uncorrected leaky rudder post, and we had an idea somebody visiting the big October Annapolis boat show might be interested in Aurora, so back to Annapolis we went, arriving about 10 days before the opening of the boat show.

We immediately headed for one of the larger boat yards in Annapolis, one which has a number of contractors on site. We asked around and got a recommendation for Seaside Boat Works and Ted Downey. Can't say enough good things about Ted. From the first moment we talked he impressed me with his no-nonsense and rigorous approach to diagnosing our leaky rudder problem.

In short order we had the boat out of the water, and the rudder out of the boat. Removing the rudder took about 2 hours, a task that had taken the previous folks we'd used nearly 2 days. Admittedly we had the experience of having done it once, but Ted and his helper Scott wasted no time in dropping the rudder.

It took s bit of work to correct the problem, but we finally had a solution that included re-facing the inner fiberglass/gelcoat surface of the rudderstock tube with epoxy, adding a thick ring of fiberglass to the top of the tube, and machining grooves into the bronze stuffing tube so that the 3M 5200 adhesive effectively formed O-rings. When we put her back in the water this time, there was *no* leak. And the rudder post had much tighter tolerances with no slop. All in all, an excellent repair. In this case, it's much better than originally shipped from the factory.

We also took advantage of the time out of the water to touch up the bottom paint (including the paint on the bottom of the keel where I had plowed a small furrow in the Potomac on the way from Washington, D.C. back to the Chesapeake :-), buff and polish the hull and topsides, and several other boat projects. By the time the boat was back in the water we'd spent about the same as we'd spent in July, except this time the rudder leak was a thing of the past and the boat was sparkling.

We took a new set of pictures of the interior and some of the exterior and posted a for sale ad on www.boats.com. We had a couple of parties come by and kick the tires, so to speak, but not as much interest in the boat from folks visiting the boat show as we'd expected. Odd, because the boat show was well-attended and a new boat by Hylas would take 2 years after ordering and would cost nearly $200,000 more. But by the 2nd week in October it was clear the economy was down the toilet and circling the drain.

We really don't expect much interest in the boat during the winter. I left the boat in a slip, with the expectation that the boat yard would move her onto the hard once the fall rush had settled, and sure enough last week Aurora was moved from her slip and onto the hard. She's been winterized (antifreeze has replaced any drop of water that was aboard!), and put to bed for the season. She's being looked after by the folks at Seaside Boat Works, and they're able to show her to any prospective buyers.

So that's pretty much it. It was boring sitting on the boat, waiting for Maryann's return from California. Which, as it turns out, never happened. Instead we're suddenly back living life in the SF bay area, almost as if we'd never left. But we did and we had some pretty amazing times. And some fairly depressing times. But all in all it was an adventure of a lifetime.

And who knows, if the boat doesn't sell and the economy turns even worse we can always put her back in the water and continue where we left off. We've still got enough left in the cruising kitty to last us another 3 or 4 years; that should be enough to get through the downturn, right?

Ken

And our address:

Ken and Maryann Klingman
1469 Bellevue Ave. #208
Burlingame, CA 94010

cell phones didn't change:
Ken 650-888-3916
Maryann 650-218-6653

Hello!

My feet are sore! We've spent the last three days touring New York City on foot. Although I've been to NYC on business, I've never come just to visit. So glad we decided to take advantage of the 79th Street Boat Basin on the Hudson River to pick up a mooring. NYC for $30 a night! Can't beat the price. And the location is not bad either. We're three blocks from 79th and Broadway and not too far from Central Park.

Central Park exceeded my expectations, truly a beautiful park. Negative news is what we hear, so my impression of Central Park was founded on reports of rape, murder and civil unrest. Not favorable. So I was caught by surprise to be walking through a beautifully landscaped, lush, tree-filled park, an oasis of peace within the surrounding urban congestion and noise. We went to the Natural History Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim. Each offered visual as well as mental delights. And in each I was awed. The city's architecture is amazing. Every time I looked up there was another building worthy of more than the fleeting glance I gave it. Mostly we saw the exteriors of buildings, but in Central Park we ate lunch at the Tavern on the Green. The decor was so overdone that it was beyond tacky. (No offense to the New Yorkers reading this!) Yet it is a well known eatery in the park and we enjoyed the experience. After lunch we wondered over to the John Lennon memorial, an area in Central Park known as Strawberry Fields set aside to honor Lennon's memory. It was located near the Dakota where he and Yoko lived.

The city pulsed. It felt alive. And New Yorkers love their city. On Saturday we saw three wedding parties having their pictures taken in very public venues, the first on a Central Park sidewalk, the second in Times Square and the third on the steps of St Patrick's Cathedral as the 5:30 parishiones were making their way into mass! No one minded how public these events were. The couple in Time Square had to share their wedding video with cabs, trucks and the mass of humanity that fills the space. But they were enjoying themselves. The Catholic newlyweds didn't seem at all bothered by the throngs of worshipers and observers surrounding them on the steps of the Cathedral. On the crowded sidewalk by Lincoln Center we saw an older couple elegantly dressed for an evening out, he in a suit, she in a gorgeous black evening gown. They seemed out of place on the sidewalk with everyone else from street vendors to ogling tourists to serious business folks. But that appears to be New York, an eclectic mix of folks bumping and jostling as they move around their city.

In addition to the museums, we wandered around the New York Public Library. The interior was like something out of a movie. Grand, high-ceilinged reading rooms lined with books and filled with rows upon rows of wooden tables and reading lamps. And we went atop the Empire State Building. Too touristy for us. Felt like we were at Disneyland with all of the lines we had to wait in. Still it was a very NYC thing to do and I'm glad we went. A few mornings we had bagels and coffee in a neighborhood deli and one afternoon we even did a bit of grocery shopping in an neighborhood store. So crowded, but the variety of food was amazing. I only wish we could have spent more time in the grocery. But it was at the end of the day. We were tired and ready to get back home, to Aurora. New York is exciting, but exhausting.

We ended up leaving a day earlier than anticipated and didn't get to do everything on our list. We didn't get to see a show or go to the Fulton Fish Market. Still, it was a pleasure to visit New York City. And nice to do it for fun rather than for business! But I'll confess, as much as I enjoyed visiting New York, I was happy to return to the peace and quiet of our boat. The city assaults the senses; it's loud, visually chaotic and full of odors.


From New York we headed to Washington, D.C., sailing all day and stopping only to anchor overnight, Atlantic Highlands, Atlantic City, Worton Creek, Solomons Island on the Chesapeake, Wicomico River off the Potomac, and finally up the Potomac to Washington, DC. We anchored in the Washington Channel, just 4 blocks from the National Mall and within easy walking distance of many D.C. sites. For $15 per day we had access to the Capital Yacht Club dinghy dock, laundry, showers, lobby, bar, and mail service. Not too bad! And a metro station was within walking distance, so we easily traveled beyond the immediate locale. Not having a car, accessible and reliable public transportation is much appreciated.

We've enjoyed Washington. This visit we've spent days touring and still did not "see it all." The museums are amazing. The art impressive. The government buildings a bit different with their multitude of marble statues and neo-classical style. Still their embodiment of liberty is inspirational. We toured the Capitol, the Library of Congress, the National Archives and the Supreme Court. We viewed both the House and the Senate floors in session and sat in on a Senate committee meeting. We wandered through the office buildings of both the Representatives and the Senators. One day we visited the Jefferson Memorial and then walked across the bridge over the Potomac to Arlington Cemetery. The changing of the guard at Arlington's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was impressive and serious.

Security is everywhere and intrusive, but access to buildings and sites was not limited. Although I was surprised to see many of the guards carrying M-16s. One guard near the Capitol looked incongruous standing under a large tree holding an M-16 while dressed in shorts, his summer uniform. He appeared more like a boy playing "war" in his backyard than a man keeping watch over our Capitol's safety. Protection in the form of arms is necessary, but I'm not used to seeing such weaponry.

One day I went over to the Mall by myself and took in the Richard Avedon Portraits of Power exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Avedon is considered the most important portrait photographer in America during his six-decade career. Wandering through the exhibit I was reminded of the Diane Arbus show I saw at the MOMA in San Francisco. Although these artists approached photography and more to the point their subjects in different ways, Arbus capturing people, many times those on the fringe, candidly and in their environment while Avedon posed his subjects, mostly the famous and powerful, in front of a white background, each was able to capture the raw humanity of their subjects, the imperfections that make us human. The Avedon photographs were not pretty pictures, but they held the observer, evoking visceral responses. Although the Avedon show focused on the powerful, the photo that stayed with me was that of a napalm victim, an unknown Vietnamese woman. There was no hiding the horror of war in the image, in the woman's severely scared face and blinded eye. So what is more important, the wielding of power or the result of that wielding? The majority of Avedon's portraits are of individuals in which power is manifested. And yet the most compelling image I viewed called to task those who wield power.

Washington is a place filled with history and at the same time is is a place where history is being made. Our visit coincided with the rejection of the initial bailout proposal by the House of Representatives and the first presidential debate between McCain and Obama. To watch the unfolding of a presidential election as it takes place from a Washington venue, is new for me. It feels different than on the west coast.

We've had access to the Metro in Washington and been able to get to Costco. The wine is priced well, so we took advantage and restocked our supply of California Cabernet Sauvignon. But while shopping for wine, Ken found the electronics department and the new large-screen TV's. Remember we've have no TV and limited internet access for the past two years. The array of TV's was too much for Ken. After thoroughly checking out their stock, he asked me what style I preferred, matt or glossy finish? Wide or narrow frame? Back lit or flat screen? 60" or 73"? Turns out we might have to settle down just so we can purchase an enormous TV. Ah, the joys of a consumer society! For the time being, we'll continue to live with our computer screen and the occasional DVD rental movie. Although,with the help of an antenna he purchased at Radio Shack, Ken was able to get broadcast TV on our computer while we were in Washington, DC. So we got to watch the initial presidential debate. Well, I did. After having set it all up, which was no small feat, Ken zonked and I stayed up by myself to watch McCain and Obama debate.

Two years ago we began our adventure not knowing what the future had in store. We anticipated an ocean crossing and possibly years of cruising. After two years of boat life, we realize that an ocean passage is not in the cards for us and that boat life, although interesting, is not how we'll spend our future. We're headed to the Annapolis Sail Boat show with the goal of putting Aurora on the market. We've enjoyed our adventure, but have come to understand that cruising on a 46 foot sailboat is not a long-term lifestyle for us. There are a lot of reasons, but mainly we've discovered we're not very good sailors! In addition, the constant maintenance and associated cost wear on ones spirits and pocketbook. So, we'll be putting Aurora up for sale soon.

What does the future hold? Not sure. We could always return to work. Or we might purchase a truck and trailer and spend the next year or two traveling around the Americas. We'll see. Of course all this might change if we spend any more time in Costco! We might just settle down so we can purchase a large screen TV! Of course with the economy where it is we may well end up living on Aurora for a good long while before she sells.

Tomorrow morning we weigh anchor and head back to Annapolis. It is 160 miles and will take two days, anchoring overnight, to get there. Once in Annapolis, we have to clean up Aurora and get her ready to show. Looks like we'll be working on boat projects for a while.

Cheers!

Maryann

It's been quite a while since my last update; we've been enjoying ourselves too much to have time to write about it, and a lack of serious breakage has stifled the need for furious spells of whining.

Last I wrote we were in Annapolis. We headed north on July 18 and did a fairly rapid transit to Gloucester, Mass about a week later. We re-traced our route through the upper Chesapeake, the C&D Canal, Delaware Bay, the coast of New Jersey, New York, Long Island Sound, Newport, and then direct from Newport to Gloucester. It was a pretty uneventful passage.

We kicked around the Salem/Marblehead/Gloucester area for about a week before leaving from Marblehead for an overnight passage to Northeast Harbor on Mt Desert Island in Maine. As Maryann has already written, we had dense fog approaching the Maine coast. It was indeed eerie, ghosting along on a nearly flat sea, avoiding the lobster pots and anxiously avoiding other boats and hoping we were where the GPS and chart plotter said we were - Maine is full of hard granite ledges at or just below the surface and it would really ruin a day to run into one of them.

We spent over a week exploring Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, and the rest of Mt Desert Island before my son Erik joined us. We'd had cold and foggy and drizzly weather from the time we arrived in Maine until the middle of Erik's visit when it finally turned clear and a bit warmer. We spent the week exploring the islands around Mt Desert, including Little Cranberry, Long Island, and Swans Island. It was truly gorgeous cruising. The scenery is spectacular, there are many sites to see, and the distance between islands short.

There are, however, hazards to cruising in Maine. There are over 3 million lobster traps in Maine, and each trapline has 2 or sometimes 3 buoys. Sometimes it seemed as if the sea was carpeted with lobster trap buoys. We didn't do too badly, only running over and severing 2 buoy lines, and snagging 2 others. Our line cutter on the prop shaft kept us from wrapping potwarps (the line that goes to the trap) around our prop twice. There's a sharp thunk when it happens, giving everybody aboard a momentary fright. We had a longer-term fright the 2 times (inside a couple of hours!) when we snagged a potwarp and were dragging the line of traps behind us. In one case I actually had my (very thin, tropical) wetsuit half on, ready to dive in and disentangle us from the line. Luckily in both cases the lines dropped away once we stopped our forward motion without a need to jump into that 58 degree water.

Lobstering is at an all-time high here in Maine, and it seems nobody knows if it's sustainable or not. The government biologists say it's isn't; the lobstermen say it is. If you are truly geeky enough you can find a copy of The Secret Life of Lobsters and read all about it. It was particularly interesting to read since it centers on lobstermen living on Little Cranberry Island, which we visited.

Little Cranberry and Great Cranberry were once noted for their many mosquitoes, so around the turn of the century they drained the bogs to eliminate the mosquitoes. The cranberries never returned, but the mosquitoes did. Even late in the season we had clouds of mosquitoes at dusk, and obnoxious flies day and night. Not enough to seriously dampen our spirits, but annoying nonetheless.

We had a visit from Maryann's daughter Julia and her husband Morgan for a long weekend after Erik left to return to San Diego. Nice to have visitors, especially to share the beauty of the Maine coast. Also nice to have privacy again in our little living space after they leave.

After nearly 3 weeks in and around Mt Desert Island we left for new cruising grounds. We went from Mt Desert Island through Eggemoggin Reach to Castine on Penobscot Bay, stopping at the Wooden Boat school along the way. Though never particularly interested in wooden boats, it was fascinating visiting the school. Almost made we want to try building a wooden boat!

We spent time wandering about Castine, Camden, and Rockland in Penobscot Bay. Camden in particular was nice as the weekend we were there they were hosting the annual Windjammer Weekend. That was somewhat balanced by the hordes of tourists. Castine has the Maine Maritime Academy and some lovely old homes and a lot of history (including the worst naval defeat the US ever suffered prior to Pearl Harbor). Rockland, though a pretty industrialized town, has the Farnsworth Art Museum and the Maine Lighthouse Museum. So all in all we had a pretty enjoyable time for our last week in Maine.

We left Rockland earlier in the week, with the intention of sailing overnight to Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod. Unfortunately, our autopilot decided to go nuts on us. We were headed downwind in a stiff breeze, would get a gust, and the boat would head up. The autopilot would turn the rudder to correct the movement, but then would overcorrect and with the overcorrection would then overcorrect wildly in the other direction. Out of control oscillations which were only stopped by steering manually. We didn't feel much like hand steering for 20 hours, so we reversed course and pulled into Tenant's Harbor. Next morning we talked with the Raymarine customer service folks. They suggested recalibrating the autopilot which we did; that seemed to fix the problem, so we proceeded on to Provincetown.

We'd been to Provincetown out on the far tip of Cape Cod previously, so didn't spend a lot of time wandering around. It is an incredibly touristy place, but still fun to walk about, have lunch, and people watch.

The day before yesterday we left Provincetown for the Cape Cod Canal and Wood's Hole, with the goal of heading on to Nantucket Island for a couple of days exploration. We made good enough time, though, that we kept right on through Wood's Hole and on to overnight in Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard. For old farts like us, it was interesting being on a mooring between Martha's Vineyard and Chappaquidick Island, where Ted Kennedy drove off the causeway years ago, most likely erasing his chances of ever being elected president.

Though we'd wanted to spend some time in Nantucket, tropical storm Hanna changed our minds. The remnants were predicted to pass over southern New England early Sunday morning, bringing torrential rain and wind gusts up to 50mph. Given the center of the storm was forecast to pass over Nantucket we decided that Newport Rhode Island would be a better place to ride out the storm. So yesterday we left Edgartown after refueling and headed for Newport. We had a wonderful sail with a bright, sunlit day, sparkling sea, consistent wind, and mild seas. We arrived in Newport yesterday late afternoon and picked up a slip (an expensive slip - I think Newport is the most expensive yachting destination on the east coast!). We'll park ourselves here until the storm passes, hopefully by sometime tomorrow.

Finally, for those keeping track, in the past month we've had surprisingly little breakage and very few maintenance jobs. Oil changes on the main engine and generator and filter changes on the water maker were pretty much it, other than a mild fright about dirty fuel which necessitated changing fuel filters. But in thinking about it I'm almost certain we switched to an empty fuel tank and simply ran of diesel fuel and did not really have dirty fuel; sometimes you can get confused managing 4 separate fuel tanks. I can't say how nice it is, though, not to have things breaking left and right.

We are hoping to spend a couple of days in New York before heading to the Chesapeake again. We'd like to spend a week or so anchored off the tidal basin in Washington D.C., then plan to return to Annapolis once again where we'll see if we can't get the boat in condition to sell. We've both decided we're mediocre sailors at best which precludes long passages across the Atlantic or Pacific oceans and costs are going to keep us from continuing this life style for much more than another year. Given we've heard it'll take up to a year to sell we need to get her ready. We're hoping get some interested parties passing through the Annapolis boat show the 2nd week of October, folks that are going to have sticker shock when they see new boats on display. After the boat show, presuming we don't get an interested buyer, we'll head south once again, how far south and for how long is yet to be determined.

We're in Maine. I'm wearing long pants, shoes and socks and a sweatshirt! It's cold here. Gone are the sunny, hot Caribbean days!

After our month in Annapolis, we headed north. Ken and I decided against another long passage and opted to day sail up the coast repeating our journey south of two years ago--Chesapeake Bay to the Chesapeake-Delaware Canal, down the Delaware Bay, up the coast of New Jersey, through New York Harbor, up the East River, east through Long Island Sound, stopping in Newport, Rhode Island. Each night we anchored at sunset and were up early the next day for a full day of sailing or motor-sailing depending on the wind. Although we anchored each night, we never got off the boat so it was akin to a passage in that we were on the boat for 6 days.

We joined the throngs of boats moored in Newport Harbor. I don't think moorings could be any closer! After three days in Newport, we made a one-day, 90-mile passage to Gloucester, MA. It was a long day, but nice to be moving north as we were hoping to spend August in Maine.

Gloucester, a working harbor, appears not to have changed in over 100 years! John and Karen, who helped Ken sell the Lexus two years ago and who live in Massachusetts, came to visit us while we were in Gloucester. Curious about boat life, they asked all sorts of questions: Does the boat always move? How do you cook? What is it like to live on a boat? Fun to share our lifesytle on Aurora with others in real time and wonderful to have guests visit us. We went out to Karen's favorite Gloucester eatery, Woodman's and enjoyed a quintessential New England meal of fried clams, chowder and cole slaw.


From Gloucester we motored across the bay to Marblehead which is renowned for its yacht clubs and yachting community. Marblehead was a treat. We were able to secure a guest mooring at the Boston Yacht Club for two nights. Walking around Marblehead is like stepping into the past. The neighborhood near "Boston," as the yacht club was referred to on the VHF, was residential and, due to preservation requirements of the town, filled with well-maintained houses dating from the 1700's. We wondered narrow, winding streets lined with clapboard homes sporting shuttered windows and small porticoes. The famous painting "The Spirit of 76," housed in Abbot Hall, embodies the history of the town and the pride of its citizens. A very American town, Marblehead, Massachusetts.

Salem, where we purchased Aurora, was our next stop. For me it was a nostalgic experience. Took me back to the beginning our our adventure. We had lunch at the Jaho Java coffee shop, across from Bunghole liquor, where we had spent many, many hours on our laptops ordering parts and getting ready for our big adventure. Ken didn't share my sense of nostalgia, and initially I couldn't understand why. It's true, one can never go back, still I wanted to revisit places that held special memories. Turns out what were special memories for me were not so special for Ken. I learned that he didn't savor the time we spent in the coffee shop and was quite anxious as we outfitted Aurora and prepared for our adventure. This time we left Salem familiar with Aurora, comfortable with sailing and confident in our ability to make the over-night passage to Maine.

As we entered the Gulf of Maine we entered the fog. Eerie. Quietly we moved across the water peering into the fog looking for boats and listening for the chime of bells on the aids to navigation. One relies on equipment, radar and chart plotter, but never completely. Our senses guide us as much as our equipment. As we entered the channel between islands on our way to Northeast Harbor on Mount Desert Island we could make out shapes on the water ahead of us. As we got closer the fog shrouded shapes turned into lobster boats. We watched lobster men working at their day's catch. Quickly, no movement wasted, pulling lobsters from cages tossing back those too small. Placing the catch into tanks. Reloading the cage with fish. Over the side and into the cold Maine waters goes the cage to snag another lobster tomorrow. So busy they didn't look up to see us sail pass. A cold, wet, physical life, that of the Maine lobster man.

Maine's coast is rugged and tree lined. Reminds me of the Pacific Northwest with the ocean meeting forested hills and granite outcroppings. And like the Pacific Northwest it is damp, rainy and cold!

Friday, August 8th

Been a few days since I started my update. Northeast Harbor in the town of Mount Desert is where we originally landed when we arrived in Maine. A charming little village, about 3 blocks long, with a picturesque harbor located just outside of Acadia National Park on the southern end of Mount Desert island. Unfortunately, the weather has not been cooperative and so we've not explored the island as much as anticipated. The sun came out one day and we hopped the free Island Explorer Shuttle to Jordon Pond, a glacial lake set in the lush green forest of Acadia park. After a hike around the pond, Ken and I
enjoyed lunch at Jordon Pond House, known for their popovers. Seems every dish comes with one, sometimes two, of these delicious accompaniments. And they were served with fresh, home-made blueberry jam. Delicious! From Jordon Pond we hopped the shuttle to Bar Harbor where we made reservations with the Harbor Master for dockage on Tuesday, August 12. Erik, Ken's son, will be joining us for a week, and we'll meet him in Bar Harbor on Tuesday. After a quick walk around town, we grabbed a shuttle bus back to Northeast Harbor. Nice service.


Yesterday morning we left Northeast Harbor and motored up Somes Sound, the only fjord in the continental United States. Somes Sound is a six-mile-long fiord that cuts Mount Desert island almost in two. The terrain along the coast of Maine including Somes Sound is different from the places we've sailed to date. Evergreens cover the mountains which come right down to the water. Granite outcropping meet the water rather than sandy beaches or marshy shores. And the forested islands are shrouded in fog and mist much of the time. All very dramatic. At the end of the sound is the Somesville Harbor where we are anchored. Somesville, the oldest village on
Mount Desert island, is tiny. I did find a gas station and mini market, a post office, a nice bookstore, what appeared to be an antique store and the Masonic Hall which hosts theatrical performances during the summer on my walk around town. That appears to be it for Somesville. Although small, it is quite picturesque, white clapboard houses, large lush trees, lovely flower gardens set against a backdrop of the harbor enclosed by forested mountains and a few islands.

Tomorrow the forecast is for sunshine! I'm sooooo looking forward to seeing the sun. We're going to explore the park! And we can with ease on the free Island Shuttle.

Safe Passages!

I'm sure everyone is mightily tired of hearing of boat maintenance woes, but the latest on the leaky rudder shaft is too good not to share. We had 2 techs working most of last week, from Monday afternoon until yesterday afternoon (they didn't work the weekend, though), removing the rudder and reassembling things such that they would stem the slow dripping leak where the rudder enters the hull.

It was a learning experience for all of us, quite painful to be paying the boatyard for their learning curve on our boat. We had instructions from the factory for how to remove the rudder, but everything just seems to take way longer than you'd think or hope. We did find some problems with the fiberglass tube where the rudder enters the hull and we did a better job at sealing things up than the factory did originally!

We did have to manage some issues, like the lead tech wanting to go home early on Friday. We needed to lift the boat to have enough room to get the rudder shaft up into the hull and the TravelLift had 2 other boats ahead of us, it was 1:30 on Friday, and the guy who runs the TravelList was still at lunch. We got the tech to agree to stick around for an hour and sure enough inside 30 minutes the other 2 boats were done. Of course the tech was then grumpy for the next couple of hours, given he didn't get to start his weekend early.

At any rate, Monday they finished up the last bits of the installation, and true to form the TravelLift wasn't available until close to 4:30PM, closing time. No way we were going to spend another night on the hard, and we got them to drop us (slowly and gently) into the water. I jumped below and found the leak was just as bad as it had ever been! We theorize there's a microscopic crack in the fiberglass tube that will require the entire process be repeated, only this time we'll have to replace the fiberglass tube.

That makes for 2 boatyard employees working pretty much full-time for 5 days. Take your favorite auto repair shop hourly charge (slightly reduced as these guys aren't as "highly trained") and do the arithmetic. All for nothing, other than the learning process. Oh, and next time it'll be more difficult to disassemble since the techs were extra careful to use *lots* of marine adhesive in the futile attempt to stem the leak.

Needless to say we were seriously deflated. After sleeping on it overnight (with the boat in the water) we decided to postpone another attempt at a fix. We measured the leak to be about a cup of water an hour, which isn't too bad. Still, it's got to be fixed sometime since if both bilge pumps failed and we weren't around to check it could conceivably sink the boat. Besides, it'd really be nice to have a dry bilge.

Yesterday morning we moved the boat to a mooring in the Annapolis Harbor where we continue to monitor the leak. We need to stick around for a couple of days to retrieve packages we've had sent care of the boatyard. Once we have the packages, the plan is to head out to Maine and try to enjoy the rest of the summer. Further plans beyond that are up in the air.

This boat repair stuff has gotten ridiculous. Here's that list of things we've had done or done ourselves to the boat in the past 2 months:

tighten rudder packing & locktite screws (I did this - didn't help)
remove, repair, and re-bed rudder packing and bearings
fiberglass and epoxy aft holding tank (small leak, seems to be fixed)
new forestay and jib furler section; rework jib halliard at masthead
new jib sheets
new outhaul
rework running backstays
install permanent preventer
replace tri-color/anchor masthead w/LED version (low energy)
install 1 1/2" PCV on outboard tiller
change oil & oil filter main engine (twice)
change oil & oil filter generator
bottom cleaning (dumb - a month later we had the bottom painted)
replace zincs (also dumb, a month later we could have done it ourselves)
remove, refurbish, reinstall Spurs line cutter
new transmission dipstick (plastic threads were cross-threaded)
clean A/C raw water strainer (removed a plastic bag and lots of leaves)
top off refrigerant in reefer (at least in the future I can do it myself)
remove refrigerant forward A/C (compressor was over-charged)
intall quick disconnect fitting reefer compressor
repair/PM on genoa and mainsail (main in Lauderdale, genoa in Annapolis)
fins on outboard (makes the dinghy plane better)
change gear lube on outboard
rebed 3 hatches (they are now dry in a downpour!)
replace refrigerator & freezer gasketing (better energy efficiency)
salt water washdown valve replacement
re-seal mast boot and re-tape
new bottom paint (next time we do this ourselves)
clean level sensors in aft holding tank (a delightful job; not!)
replace valves on forward and aft Vacuflush toilets (paid for this - well worth it!)
clean boat speed paddle wheel
update radar firmware

Florida is long behind us. We made the passage from West Palm Beach in southern Florida to the Chesapeake in 4 days and 3 nights. At more than 750 miles, this was our longest passage to date. Although long, it was extremely uneventful until just after we dropped the anchor in the Great Wicomico River off the Chesapeake. But I'm getting ahead of myself. We had nothing but calm seas and light winds during this trip. Even the seas off Cape Hatteras, known for treacherous conditions that have bested and sunk many a ship, were benign--less than two feet with virtually no wind. When making a passage we have to "stand watch" every 4 hours. It took us at least 24 hours to settle into our watch routine of 4 hours on, 4 hours off. But we did. One finds a groove and time passes easily. Although, I have to admit this passage got boring. Not much to see or do for 4 days on a very calm sea. We did pass Navy war ships practicing. Got a call from the aircraft carrier to pass them 2 miles off their stern. We complied. Got me to thinking about what it could be like to cross an ocean. Tedious? Scary? A little of each?

The waters of the Chesapeake were calm when we arrived in the morning. We had a day of sailing ahead of us. Looked like we could make it to the anchorage behind Sandy Point on the Great Wicomico by early evening. As the day progressed the Coast Guard weather reports on the VHF radio began to warn of serious thunder storms coming our way. In the afternoon, the reports became gale warnings and small craft advisories instructing boaters to seek shelter. Although we heard the reports, we didn't see any menacing weather and continued enroute to Sandy Point. The sky was clouding up a bit, but didn't look threatening as we entered the river. We rounded the point, dropped our anchor and were settling in for a nice non-sailing night when all of a sudden the wind began to blow, the sky turned dark, the water started to rage and lightning began to flash. The storms that had been racing across Pennsylvania at 40 miles an hour and had been the source of ongoing Coast Guard gale warnings were upon us like that! The rain came down in buckets! Bolts of lightning filled the sky, thunder boomed all around us, the boat rocked and rolled with the waves. Think Dorothy and the storm in the Wizard of Oz. That's what it looked and felt like. I was so glad to be at anchor and not on the Chesapeake during this storm. It was a doozy. But our anchor always holds us, so we made dinner and enjoyed not being on passage. We'd been in thunderstorms before. In a few hours the storm had passed and we went to bed. The next morning we were up early and on our way to Solomons Island for a get together with several other Hylas owners.

A three-day get together was planned for the first Annual Hylas Owners Get Together. Nine Hylas boats along with their owners made it to the get together. Although we'd met folks in the islands, we really hadn't socialized since we'd been back in the states. It was wonderful to visit with other Hylas owners. We had met Bob and Sharon on Shazaa in the Bahamas our first season out and had bumped into them again this past Spring on St John in the USVI. Great to see them once more. Everyone else was new to us. Although we've communicated with many of these folks on the Hylas owners e-mail forum, it was fun to meet them in person. Several couples opened their boats for the group to view. I was impressed with how others outfit and decorate their sailboats. Amazing! There were two other couples who cruise and live on their boats full-time like us. Those who don't live aboard, can keep their boats so tidy! I reminded myself that all they own in the world is not aboard with them! Most of the boats were 46 to 54 feet in length, but we did have one couple join us who own a 70 foot Hylas. Seventy feet is a lot of boat! They brought their captain and crew with them to the gathering or should I say their captain and crew brought them?!

After three days of socializing and exploring Solomons Island we headed north to Annapolis. Historic Annapolis, home to the Naval Academy, is a lovely town. Very walkable and oozing charm. We stopped here on our way south two years ago, and so know the harbor. Nice to be familiar with a place. Well that was a month ago, and we're still here! Been a busy month for us.

It was time to haul out Aurora for the once-a-year bottom painting that is essential to keep marine life from growing on the boat. Annapolis, "America's Sailing Capital," is well equipped with several boat yards and resources to get the work done. So we made arrangements to have Aurora hauled and painted. As our boat was going be on-the-hard for several days, I took advantage of it and visited Morgan and Julia in Ithaca, NY. Train travel is easy on the east coast, so I traveled on Amtrak from Baltimore to Syracuse. Caught the bus in Annapolis to the train station and Julia picked me up in NY. Piece of cake. And the trains are full! All seats sold out.

Julia and Morgan were great hosts. They live on the second floor of a two story house located right on the southern tip of Lake Cayuga. Really. Across the yard, over the train tracks and one is at the lake. What a view! Their porch and living room overlook the lake. Must be something in the fall with all those trees turning color. Julia and I spent time walking around town including Cornell's impressive campus, playing scrabble and just catching up. With Morgan we toured the labs where he's doing research on triblock polymers. (Right Morgan?). All very impressive. Amazing setup of tools and equipment. Julia and Morgan took me to Buttermilk Falls Park for a lovely hike. So lush. Everything is green this time of year. Not at all like the brown hills of California or the low, sandy geography of Florida. Oh, not to be forgotten, we stopped by a berry farm and picked fresh strawberries from which we made the most delicious strawberry shortcake. Yum!

And I met Clover, Julia and Morgan's Boxer. A well behaved dog, with the exception of her licking habit. Although she does stop when told. We spent Sunday morning at the local dog park. Ken would have enjoyed the dogs. All in all, a wonderful visit with my daughter and her husband. Hard to believe they'll be celebrating their first anniversary in two weeks! Time flies.

The train got me back to Baltimore no problem where Ken met me with a rental car. He'd gone to see the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport. He took some great shots. His photos are in the latest album on our site.

Back at the boat yard, Aurora's bottom was getting painted. We splashed end of day on Thursday, July 3rd, just in time for the 4th of July weekend. We were excited about heading to Baltimore and enjoying the celebration in the Inner Harbor. I had secured reservations at a marina just to make sure we had a place to land for the busy holiday weekend. But, the best laid plans....... Once we were back in the water, we discovered that our rudder needed repair. It wouldn't be wise to head to Baltimore. So we enjoyed a fine 4th in Annapolis and on Monday had Aurora hauled out again. Cha Ching, Cha Ching. $$$!! Interested parties can read all of the technical details in Ken's journal entries of July 8th, Least-Coast Summer and July 9th, Rudders, on our web site.

So we lived "on-the-hard" for the past week. A boater we met likened it to living in a tree house. That about sums it up. Climb up a ladder to get onto the boat which has no running water, limited electricity (one extension cord) and is torn apart due to repair work. Fortunately the boat yard had a very nice bath house and laundry. There were convenient eateries in the neighborhood and we rented a car for the weekend to visit Washington DC. Still, nice to be in the water again!

It has been 30 years since I toured Washington, DC. Where did the time go? Anyway, the heat and humidity were the same. Ken and I walked the Mall and took in the sights. First visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial for me. The wall of names evoked emotions in a way the other memorials didn't. Possibly because I lived during the war, but more I think because of the nature of the work itself. One experiences rather than views the memorial. My favorite was the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Interesting to see the paintings, the different styles, the abilities of the artists and the likenesses of historical figures. There was a painting of John Greenleaf Whittier in the gallery. I was born and grew up in a town named after him. Odd to see his portrait, to look upon the same canvas he did, to react to a likeness of him that he must have also reacted to. I'm always struck by the how objects enable us to span the space-time continuum and bring a shared experience to people who in no other way can have a tactile connection. It is not like music or text, which make a connection, but rarely through the original manuscript or score. Our one day in Washington was not enough, but it was time to head back to Aurora.

As we were in a boat yard, I took advantage and worked on some of the varnishing. I'm redoing the slats from the stern deck seats. It is a long, tedious process as old varnish must be removed, the piece sanded, then sealed and finally several (up to 10) coats of varnish applied. Between each coat the varnish must dry and be sanded. I didn't finish my project, but did complete 4 coats of varnish. I'll see how it goes finishing the work on the boat.

And I decided to get my hair done. Remember we're back in the states and salon prices are more than when I left. So given the money flying out of our pockets, I decided I'd just go to an inexpensive chain at the local mall. I've had my hair cut under the trees in the Dominican Republic, at the boaters swap meet in St Maarten and at a neighborhood salon in Puerto Rico. What could happen at a mall salon in Annapolis? Well, the good news first. The cut was okay. But I decided to have my color touched up too. They couldn't use my dye, so I had to go with the salon's product. The bad news is I look like a goth! Well, it's not black, but close to it with no highlights. A uniform almost black color throughout. Looks like I did it myself in the garage without my mom's permission! Oh well, it will fade and grow out! On the up side, I feel 14 again! =^) Maybe I should just go gray???

After two years we are finding boat life not what we envisioned. Time to weigh the pros and cons and decide what to do. It is exciting, challenging and I love sailing to new places. The vagabond life appeals to me. We're much better sailors than we were two years ago and I like being at sea, but not for extended periods of time. We know our boat now. On the other hand, maintaining the boat is expensive and things break constantly. It is, we found out, part of boat life. Unfortunately our sailing kitty is not going to last as long as we planned. And a boat needs constant care. One could work 24/7 and still not be caught up on boat chores. And neither Ken nor I like doing chores that much! At one point this past month we were ready to toss in the towel, call it quits and purchase an RV and cruise the land. But once we slept on it we weren't so sure. So we'll head up to Maine for August and then south again in the fall. We might just keep going south and visit the southern and western Caribbean: the ABC's (Aruba, Bonaire & Curacao), the San Blas Islands off Panama, Belize, and Cozumel. We'll see. At the moment we're headed to Maine which I'm very much looking forward to.

As for good reads, I'm almost done with My Life In France by Julia Child. It's slow to start but the second half picks up and is worth plugging through the first chapters to get to the later ones. An interesting woman who at 6'2" with a determined and spirited personality must have been a odd duck in her day (Born in 1912, Smith College in the 1930's, Paris in 1946). But she took on life and enjoyed herself and shared her enjoyment with all of us.

Erik, Ken's son, is going to visit us next month. Looking forward to seeing him. It will be his first Aurora visit and I believe his first visit to Maine.

We pulled the boat out of the water Monday afternoon. We had 2 techs from the boatyard shop working all Monday afternoon, all day Tuesday, and so far nearly all of today. We started by thinking we could just seal the bronze stuffing tube to the fiberglass tube with a little more 3M 5200, and then use a couple of more bolts and nuts on either side to make sure the bronze tube was in good contact with the outer fiberglass tube.

But when they went to pry apart the bronze tube, it lifted about 3/4" from the fiberglass: enough to show there was a poor seal there originally, but not enough to allow us to create a good seal. So we had to proceed with rudder removal. We received step-by-step instructions from the boat's manufacturer on how to remove the rudder, but getting to the necessary nuts, bolts, retaining pins, split rings, setscrews, and more all disconnected and undone has been a bear. After they assembled the rudder post at the factory they pretty well sealed it up with woodwork - nice teak woodwork that we don't really want to destroy. I'm still amazed these techs can work in incredibly tight spaces with their bodies contorted all about, all day long without swearing a blue streak. I can't. Guess it's part of their professionalism.

We did find that at least 2 previous attempts to stop the leak had been made by adding layers of stuffing to the stuffing tube. Well, we don't actually know it was 2, all we know is there were 8 layers of stuffing rather than the factory-installed 3. I did one which makes for 4 done by others. I suspect they did 2 separate additions of 2 layers each time, but it could have been 3 or even 4! Who knows?

At any rate, we still haven't got the rudder out and until we do we can't get the bronze stuffing tube out. There's still one more bolt and nut the factory says has to be removed, but the techs have just thrown up their hands on it. If the so-called pros can't get it...

All the while, the meter is ticking. OK, maybe I'll spend some time looking myself. Don't know what I'll see that they don't but sometimes a second pair of eyes helps. Isn't this fun? At least it's not in the 90's again today.

Welcome back to the continuing saga of our soon-to-be-penniless cruisers.

We are still in Annapolis, doing yet more boat repair and maintenance. It really is a never-ending story.

We arrived in Annapolis on Friday, June 20, over 2 weeks ago. We're getting very well acquainted with Annapolis, and must say that we enjoy it very much, other than the weather. The setting is lovely, there's a huge amount of history in the area, and the people are all quite enjoyable. Good food, good services and every amenity possible just a short ways away. But there's that weather thing. We're into the dog days of summer with temps in the high 80's and low 90's every day and the humidity approaching 100%. And the frequent lightning storms would be cool, if we didn't own a boat with a high mast and lots of very sensitive very expensive electronics.

Last I had written we were about to investigate having the bottom repainted, the genoa refurbished, and possibly getting the dings on the bow repaired. We spent Monday and Tuesday locating a boatyard and did pretty well. Eastport Yacht Center is a pleasant little marina (106 slips) with a TraveLift (boat hoist) and an on-site full-service boat repair shop, J. Gordon. They offered us a reasonable price on hauling, pressure wash, and new bottom paint. In the course of our time here we added repair of our bow dings and a complete polish of the hull.

Since the boat was going to be out of the water for nearly a week, Maryann took the opportunity to visit her daughter Julia and son-in-law Morgan in Ithaca, NY. Wednesday morning, the 25th she headed off to catch the shuttle to the Amtrak station at BWI airport, and then on to Syracuse. By all accounts she had a nice long weekend visiting in up-state New York.

Thursday morning I cast off our mooring and motored around to the boatyard. They're located in Eastport, which is just across Spa Creek from Annapolis proper. The boatyard is on the south side of Eastport on Back Creek. The Chesapeake is full of these little creeks and it seems nearly every one of them has a boatyard; in this case, being Annapolis, there must be half a dozen boatyards on Back Creek.

By Tuesday the bottom was repainted and Maryann was back from New York. By Thursday the dings had been repaired and the hull polished. We had the genoa back with a new UV cover and some other damaged parts repaired. I had done some miscellaneous maintenance while Maryann was gone, but mostly just melted in the heat and humidity.

I did manage to add a layer of packing material to our rudder stuffing box, which is the opening where the rudder stock enters the boat. There's 3 layers of an impregnated flax packing material that keeps the ocean from entering the boat via the rudder stock, or at least that's the way it's supposed to work. We've had a persistent leak here since we purchased the boat, and were anxious to stem the leak and perhaps have a dry bilge for the first time ever. It wasn't a serious leak, maybe a tablespoon-full every 10 minutes or so, but still annoying.

It was a difficult job, as the only access is under the after berth, where we sleep. There's enough boat parts in the way making it a job that has to be done mostly by feel. And, in fact, I couldn't get enough access to remove the old packing, so contented myself with adding just a new layer. If I'd been willing to remove the steering quadrant (the large bronze casting that actually turns the rudder from side to side when the steering wheel is turned), I probably could have done a better job, but it seemed at the time like another layer of packing would fix the problem.

We were anxious to finish the work and get the boat back in the water. It's a nuisance trying to live aboard while "on-the-hard". At least this time we had new refrigeration that doesn't rely on the boat being in the water its operation. We had been hoping to be back in the water by Tuesday, but we didn't get splashed until late afternoon on Thursday, right before the 3-day holiday of the Fourth of July. We tied up to a dock here at the boatyard, intending to leave for Baltimore early on the 4th where we were hoping to tour Fort McHenry (of Francis Scott Key and the Star Spangled Banner fame), and then watch fireworks over the Baltimore Inner Harbor. But as usual, fate had a different plan.

Once we were splashed (and the boatyard staff all went home) I checked the rudder stock and found that water was coming into the boat at a prodigious rate, maybe a gallon a minute. I tightened and tightened the flange that compresses the packing material, but it didn't seem to have much effect. I finally held our small digital camera where the fittings are and took some close-up pictures. When I got them up on the computer screen I found that I had actually warped part of the fiberglass tube where the rudder stock enters the boat! Oh crap! And when I went to make sure the bilge pumps were handling the water I found the primary bilge pump inoperative and the secondary not working either. Oh, isn't this fun? We're going to fill the boat with water and sink it at the dock. The few moments of panic passed as the bilge emptied and I realized the electrical breaker for the backup bilge pump had been turned off. OK, so we have an automatic bilge pump that works.


Note the warped fiberglass beneath the bronze stuffing tube, and the water rushing in!

After a somewhat sleepless night we were up bright and early on the 4th. We canceled our reservations for a slip in Baltimore and I found the primary bilge pump working just fine. Still have no idea what was going on there! Perhaps just the panic of the previous night when water was overflowing the bilge? At any rate, we now had 2 bilge pumps working again, and much to my surprise the water coming into the boat had slowed considerably. We knew we'd have to pull the boat out of the water again Monday and have someone with a bit more experience effect repairs on the rudder stock, but at least we probably weren't going to sink at the dock before then.

Friday evening we headed over to Annapolis, had pizza while the 4th of July parade marched by, and then walked out by the state capitol buildings while waiting for the fireworks to begin. Unfortunately, we had a pretty intense thunderstorm come through while on our walk; luckily we had our umbrellas with us, so didn't get too terribly soaked. We caught one the free shuttle buses back to town, and watched the fireworks over the naval academy. Would have been better with music as we're used to from Shoreline Amphitheatre on the 4th, but it was still nice.

Yesterday morning we made arrangements to have the folks at J Gordon repair things and the boat was pulled yet again in the early afternoon. We've been going back and forth with them, trying to figure out the best way to fix things and whether or not to remove the rudder entirely. We finally made the decision to repair things in place, and those repairs are continuing as I type this. We're hoping to be back in the water tomorrow, though it's remotely possible they'll be done this afternoon.

Meanwhile, we're getting pretty discouraged. Things seem to continue to break or require maintenance at a furious rate. We determined the other night that we've spent nearly half of our 10-year budget in just 2 years of cruising. Not to mention the rather ridiculous amount we spent to outfit the boat (we bought things that we just won't need if we aren't doing a circumnavigation, and I'd say it looks pretty doubtful that we're sailing around the world anytime soon). I would list all of the work we've done and have had done since we arrived in Lauderdale in May, but it would only depress me. And with our principal invested in the tanking stock market, we have even less.

Is it time to throw in the towel? Stay tuned.

After trying to post the previous entry using our Iridium satellite phone and having the email application repeatedly die, it wasn't clear that we had sent anything at all. As it turns out, the email did get sent, and my trustworthy son, Erik, posted the entry. We didn't know that, though, until we next had internet access, 4 days later, so we didn't post any more updates from our longest passage to date.

Strange that nobody seemed to care that we were underway from Palm Beach, posted one update, and then went silent for a week. For all anybody knew we could have been lost in the Bermuda Triangle!

Anyway, picking up where we left off, we continued our very uneventful sail up the coast from West Palm Beach toward North Carolina. Things were so uneventful and the weather so benign we continued sailing and motor-sailing Sunday and Monday, right around Cape Hatteras (the ship graveyard of the Atlantic) and into the Chesapeake Bay. We finally dropped the anchor Monday evening off Sandy Point in the Great Wicomico River, where we'd anchored 2 years previously on our way south through the Chesapeake. We managed to travel 763 miles non-stop over 4 days and 5 hours. More importantly, nothing broke!

About 5 minutes after we anchored, we had a thunderstorm wallop us! Winds gusting to 40 knots and torrential rain, with lightning and thunder to match. But we were well-anchored and felt quite safe and serene, other than some nervousness about how close the lightning was getting. The storm passed and we slept well that evening, after standing 4 hours on, 4 hours off watches for 4 days.

Tuesday we motored to Solomons, MD for the Hylas owners get-together. We had 3 lovely days meeting new friends and decompressing from our long passage. We toured 2 other Hylas 46's, a Hylas 54, and a Hylas 70. Interesting to see other folks' boats, particularly boats that aren't lived aboard 24 hours a day, boats that probably have professional cleaning regularly. Amazing how much more room there is in a 54, only 8 feet longer than our boat, and absolutely astounding how much room there is in a 70! The 70 even had a full-time captain and cook.

Friday we left Solomons and motored (not much wind on the Chesapeake and what there is has been contrary - as usual, right on our nose!) to Annapolis. We'll investigate getting our genoa refurbished here, as well as possibly get the bottom paint re-done and some dings in the bow attended to. We also need to get a handhold on the dinghy repaired that we severed when leaving the dock in Nassau.

Just one other tidbit. We met some other cruisers in a Hylas 49 in San Juan, Puerto Rico and learned that they were fearsome fish killers. They gave all credit to a magic lure purchased at a boat show. Given our lousy record fishing (several strikes, but only managed to pull in 2 barracuda, both of whom were released), I was willing to try anything. I ordered one of these magic lures and it was delivered while we were in Lake Worth. I put it out right after leaving Lake Worth and damned if we didn't get a strike about an hour later! We landed a very nice 5 lb. Little Tunny. Now if you take what I've spent on fishing gear and divide by the 3 or so lbs of meat we ended up with, you'll find that fish cost way more than the most expensive Bluefin Tuna in the Tokyo fish market. Still, it was reassuring to finally land something! We didn't do any more fishing on the passage north, but have great hopes for the future.

We'd been waiting for the sail loft in Lauderdale to refurbish our mainsail and genoa (large jib) since well before we left Lauderdale for Lake Worth. They were finally delivered Wednesday morning; the mainsail was completed, but the genoa was not - apparently a bad couple of weeks at the sail loft. Would have been nice to have left Palm Beach earlier, but what can you do?

We put the genoa up, returned the rental car, and left the marina for one that has diesel. We only needed 66 gallons, but at $4.75 a gallon it was a bunch of money.

We anchored Wednesday night in Lake Worth south of Peanut Island, and after futzing around getting the mainsail hoisted, we finally managed to leave Lake Worth Inlet around 1:30PM yesterday.

It's been fairly uneventful, though we had to motorsail until just a while ago, due to lack of wind. We went through a couple of squalls, one with winds up in the low 30's; funny how the wind can go from 5knots to 33knots in no time!

Once we found the Gulf Stream we were doing 10+ knots consistently, up into the low 11's. We managed 220nm from 1330 yesterday to noon today, an excellent run.

This morning we were overflown by both a Navy jet and helicopter. Later we spotted the aircraft carrier (#71 - anybody want to look that one up?) which called us and requested we scoot around their stern while they were doing aircraft landings and takeoffs. Big honking carrier.

We finally have enough wind to sail, so we turned off the engine a short while ago, and we actually were doing 12 knots under sail. Haven't gone this fast since we came through Hell Gate on the East River in NYC with the tide.

We'll continue on and decide if we want to go all the way around Cape Hatteras and into the Chesapeake without stopping. We'd like to join some fellow Hylas owner's on the Patuxent River this coming Tuesday, though it's going to tight.