Has it been more than a month?

It has been more than a month since I last posted on the blog. So here is a little catching up.

On one of the sunny days in early February, Rich and I decided to go out and explore. We drove to Half Moon Bay for lunch at the Brewing Company. It was warm enough to sit outside and look out over the bay. We anchored here in 2001 on our way south and the plan is to visit again after leaving the San Francisco Bay in late June or early July. After lunch we drove down the coast a way. The ocean looks different when you are on the shore looking out as opposed to being on the water and looking back at the land.

In mid February we drove up to Portland, OR to visit the kids. As snow was predicted for the Siskyous we took Hwy 101 to Crescent City and spent the night before continuing north. On the suggestion of Chuck and Margie of SV Dreamcatcher we stopped at Los Bagels in Arcata for lunch on the way. They have great bagels, especially for the west coast. We continued up Hwy 199 to Grants Pass and on to Portland. Jesse and Rae were kind enough to let us stay at the new apartment in the downtown area. They are on the sixth floor and overlook a park. It is a short walk for Jesse to catch the light rail to work. We enjoyed visiting with them and with Sarah and her girlfriend, Ianthe. We helped Rae pick up some bookshelves at Ikea and select the style for the wedding invitations. Sarah and I went shopping for fabric. Rich helped Jesse and Rae put up pictures and shelves in the apartment.

After the weekend we took a quick drive up to Tacoma to visit my mother. She seems to be doing well and says she likes the facility which is a very positive note from her. After a bit she would close her eyes and doze. At one point she started to talk to herself, wondering who we were and would open her eyes just enough to see if we were still there. So her memory continues to fade but she is eating well and enjoyed the chocolates we brought her.

As you remember from my previous post the problems I am having with my passport. On our stop to Seattle we went to the safety deposit box so I could get the certified copy of my birth certificate. The rest of the day we ran errands and transferred items from the Subaru to the storage unit and picked up items to take back to the boat for our next set of boat projects. The next morning we went to the post office downtown and I submitted my passport application, again....

We managed to dodge the snow in Seattle and Portland and continued back to the boat. Visiting is fun but we still enjoy sleeping on the boat. It is home.

This weekend, Paul and Suzette of SV Altair are in town for Suzette's father's memorial. On Friday we joined them to check out a sailboat for sale at Marina Bay in Richmond and then we had lunch at the Red Pepper in Pt Richmond. The memorial was at Goat Hill Pizza on Potrero Hill. We sat next to Joe and Charlotte. Charlotte is a quilter and has been part of the quilting group that includes Suzette's mother, Jean. Joe is retired and his hobby is bonzai trees, of which he has over 300. We enjoyed talking to them.

As we are back on Windarra we are back to boat projects. I finished compounding and waxing the deck before we left for Portland. Now I am sewing cloth doors for the forward head and the pullman state room. Neither room has a big enough hatch for a person to get out if the door should jab so we are replacing the doors with cloth. It will still aloow some privacy as a trade for safety. Rich is filling holes with epoxy that were left in the cockpit when we moved the throttle and the VHF remote microphone to the new binnacle. After they dry and harden we will sand and paint over them.

Today we had a visit from Duey and Nan of The Great Escape. We met them during the Baja Ha-Ha in 2001 and sailed with them in Mexico. They have sold the boat and now they are land cruising in an RV. It was great to catch up and re-establish the friendship. We hope to visit them in Hollister or when we sail down to Monterey Bay.

Cheers