settled in.

Blogging from the boat! First time for everything and this one of those things I'm glad came sooner rather than later. The wi-fi is sketchy at best so I suspect there will some delayed posts. Oh well. If that's my biggest complaint, life ain't too shabby. Plus, I'm sitting in the open cockpit, breeze on my shoulders, fresh cup of joe in hand and my faithful pup next to me. No, not too shabby at all. 

We came up weekend before last around lunch time, unloaded our many bags and dug in. We brought the pup with us who seemed to remember the drill from the brief time up here last fall. She jumped aboard like a champ. She and water are not buddies so the proximity of water, especially deep water, always makes me a little worried for her anxiety level. We even let her roam the docks off her leash for awhile later. 

Josh decided to do a bit of organizing below deck so I cleaned out the dock box so we could stow some folding chairs, our power cords and hoses there when we are out for day sails. Guess what laid in wait?? Spiders. And grime. Oh, and also? More spiders. Not tiny ones. Big ones with fat bodies the size of your pinky toe. I thought I might have nightmares of them crawling on me and I was right. I woke up in a cold sweat on Monday thinking one had climbed into my ear. Yech. 

We grabbed groceries at Aldi, popped in the local Salvation Army (which is a hidden gem near the marina--yes! going back on a lazy afternoon once i bring my bike up), and picked up some beer and made dinner on the grill.  Grilled baked potatoes, salad, and grilled pork chops. After a long afternoon tidying, fending off spiders, and cleaning, it was heavenly. 

The rest of the weekend was a lazy, windy, wonderful time.

a gift from a friend.

One of Josh's friends kindly sent us this stack of sailing books yesterday! Hopefully they'll be full of wonderful tips or insights we can soak up. Thanks, Rod!

I'm back to reading all our guides and how-tos, seriously taking the ideas of the authors into consideration now that we are pretty much less than a year from departure. Especially about provisioning. Starting July 1st I'm going to begin keeping close tabs on what we use for food and dry goods over the next six months. The idea is that I need to understand our consumption so I can better keep the boat stocked (we are talking toothpaste, t.p., ziplock baggies, shampoo, wax paper, bread, eggs, sugar, flour, etc.). This idea came from "Care and Feeding of Sailing Crew", which I mentioned in a post before. Eventually, I'll catalog, enter data in excel, and graph (Josh has generously offered to help me do this) the results. Woo-hoo!

at last.

Interlude is FINALLY back in the water, ladies and gents. Yes! Finally. It all happened in just a few short days. After much heel dragging on the part of the marina/shop where Interlude was being "serviced" (I very loosely will acknowledge that she did indeed have some work done though not near enough) they pulled it together, finished up 90% of outstanding issues. Thee is at least one that will be completed in the coming winter (supposedly) and I would guess the other one as well (chain plates STILL need replaced and there was some fiberglass work that needs addressing as well as the malfunctioning autopilot remote). 

But enough of the bummer part of the whole process! The fun now begins!  

We went up to Waukegan, where she's been all winter, on Saturday with Josh's parents who graciously agreed to help us get her put back to sailing condition and deliver her to her home port in Racine. We put up the sails, tidied the cabin, scrubbed down the cockpit cushions, filled tanks, checked electrical systems, hosed her down, etc. 

Bright and early, err...late Sunday morning, we came back, climbed aboard, stowed belongings and snacks below and motored out into the lake. Seriously you guys, the weather was unbelievably perfect. It was the type of day sailors daydream about: 8-10 knots per hour wind, moderate waves, sunny and clear. I had thought we might be sweaty beasts but once we got out on the lake it was clear the humidity was not going to be an issue. Heavenly. Magical. We motored out around noon and arrived in Racine just about 6pm. We only had to jibe once which was nice. There is a reef, of sorts, just outside the harbor in Racine so we turned on the motor to maneuver her in about 3.5 miles out since the wind wasn't ideal for bringing her in under sail. Once we switched on the motor there was a little hiccup where the propeller wasn't engaged and moving us forward so Josh was a little frazzled trying to drop the main but we got it all sorted out and then we were right as rain. 

And now Interlude is tucked nicely in her slip, waiting for us to come do a few projects and generally enjoy the remainder of the sailing season. We'll head up Saturday morning and stay a few days and hopefully next weekend or the following we'll be there for most of the summer!