A picture says a thousand words

After a gorgeous day and peaceful night at Baby Owl Cove, our luck changed. As I was applying anti-corrosion treatment to the mast I discovered a crack ~1' long near the base of the mast. Some online searching has revealed other 393's with similar issues (due to freezing of water that doesn't drain well) and have also possibly seen it in pictures back to when we lived in WA. Much more to follow, and our spring break plans are now possibly on hold, but we plan to meet this challenge like any other on the boat. Wine, anyone?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

And we are off! No clue where we are headed as of yet...winds out of the east. Happy to be underway after an exciting Friday night of watching the VOR Auckland in-port race. Those guys are amazing!

And we have the luck of our Irish Captain with us--won $30 in the lotto!

Long overdue sail

It feels like its been forever (10 weeks!) since we were out on the water so today we got underway! First we tried out our new slip which is ridiculously tight and will essentially require us to remove all of our safety gear to make it work. Then we took to the bay for a Gilligan ("a 3 hour tour!") where I actually sailed with only a little intervention from the Captain for about half the trip. It was nice to shake the rust off and I'm more comfortable with our loosely planned spring break trip now. The only downside? Baby, it's cold!

New toys!

While I must admit that we now have a Honda generator onboard as well, the new geeky fun toy is our telescope! Frank found this Galileo FS120 on Craig's list and tonight was a great night to look at the moon and a few planets!

A little drama, but still a happy birthday!

Today is my little girl's 6th birthday, and since I missed the last one due to deployment I wanted it to be perfect! Well, perfect isn't always what you initially think it is. We had cake drama (the bakery didn't have chocolate even though we ordered 3 weeks ago!), Trent got in trouble at school, and while thinking about the first and "discussing" the second with the little man, I rear-ended another commuter. Totally flustered! Thankfully all were ok, the cars looked ok, and the lady I hit nicely took my info and we were on our way. I may have to buy a Subaru bumper in the near future!

In the end, the birthday was great! Katreina ordered all her Chinese favorites and loved her Barbie cake (even though it wasn't chocolate). She got some nice gifts and really loved her "level 2" book which she immediately read to her brother. It was perfect. We love you, Beaner!

Fun + chores = weekend!

What a weekend! It started off with a special girls night with our nearly-six year old, then a morning of cleaning, lunch at the local market, and a trip to Gaithersburg to visit family and pick up some shipments that couldn't go to a PO box. Saturday night was "adult night" with a great dinner with family and friends while the kids, amazingly, slept!

Today we returned home to continue with our chores and some outdoor play for the kids. We managed to cut foam for 2 cushions, fix the dinghy (or at least we hope!), and give the kids a few hours of riding bikes and scooters. In a word, awesome.

To the Presidents

After an unsuccessful trip to Mt. Vernon (super crowded!) we scored a great parking spot right by the tidal basin in DC and spent the afternoon visiting the monuments and memorials to past Presidents Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, and FDR. It was a great day for a walk around the basin! It's so awesome to live close to DC for stuff like this.

Misc. February

After Frank got back from CA last weekend we stayed around the marina doing maintenance and watching my Patriots lose the Super Bowl. Then something crazy must have happened...I somewhat consciously made the decision to attempt to re-make our bench cushions. Mind you I haven't sewn in years and don't ever recall sewing a zipper, but I'm going for it. We've ordered what seems like a million fabric samples and some of "the best" 4.5" thick foam for the seats. And to really top it off, Frank ordered me a Sailrite sewing machine (I tease that it was for Valentine's Day!) so I can do the cushions AND do some repairs to our dodger. Aghhhhhh! What have I gotten myself into?!?!??!

And to keep things interesting we ordered some foul weather gear that was a super deal on Overstock and went ahead and ordered the generator Frank has been wanting for what seems like years. Next up? Extended coastal cruise for spring break??? Please, weather! Cooperate!

Staycation: Baltimore

With the Captain catching a very early flight out of BWI this morning we had decided to make this weekend a "Staycation" and headed to Baltimore for a visit to the aquarium and a stay at a hotel with an indoor pool. We had a blast! The National Aquarium in Baltimore is really quite nice, though it was definitely crowded. Last night we checked in, enjoyed the manager's reception for dinner and drinks, then headed to the pool! The kids haven't lost too much skill in their ine out of the water, so that's good. The kids and I even headed back to the pool this morning before checking out! Good, simple fun!

A tough good-bye

Tonight we had the crew of Libre Vie over for a send-off dinner as they are making a quick move up to New York this weekend. Both being in the military and living on a boat have shown us that neighbors come and go quite frequently compared to our landlubber, non-military friends, but this particular departure will make me pretty sad.  I've never felt insane for living aboard with my family or always wanting to travel when talking to them, and they don't mind that our crazy kids attack them with hugs.  They are fun, easy going, and have a thirst for life that just automatically makes me smile.  I will miss them, but am happy that our timing at least worked out to allow us to meet them!

Make a wish!

Tonight the winds finally cooperated for a good Wishlantern launch, and the sky was perfectly clear and full of stars.  We launched 3, and the kids even got in on the action.  It was beautiful!

Ready to launch.

Up, up, and away!

Happy Weekend!

Where to begin? Friday Frank was out with one of "the boys" while the kids and I hit up gymnastics and had a Wii rally. Saturday we drove into the city to pick Frank up and enjoyed a mini stay-cation in D.C. with a trip to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. As a special treat we went into the butterfly room there and spent a while admiring and identifying the butterflies. We even got to see one emerge from its cocoon! Today was all about two things--maintenance and football! It was frigid outside today so we (Frank) knocked out flushing/changing the engine coolant. It was a pretty messy job, but we managed to wrap up just as the first football game got underway. And I'm pleased to announce PATS WIN! PATS WIN! Yep, that just about covers this awesome weekend!

Thank goodness for nap time!

Happy Birthday, Captain!

Tonight we celebrated Frank's birthday with a decadent meal of sloppy joes followed by a football-shaped ice cream cake. Nothing but class! We also tried out his new handheld VHF, with call-ups between "Big Daddy," "Beaner," and "T-Bone." It was very cute and the kids did pretty good for their first time live on the circuits! After the kiddos headed to bed he was able to try out our first "adult" Wii game, Call of Duty MW3. I guess he likes it...been playing about an hour so far!

Actual home remodeling

This long weekend was spent away from our beloved boat. We made good on one of our Christmas presents and set to remodeling my sister-in-law's powder room. The job went reasonably well considering we were without our usual tools, but alas we couldn't finish due to a damaged vanity (not our fault!). We'll be back in February to wrap it up!

Snow!

Yesterday I was waxing the boat and today we got snow!  It wasn't much, but enough to play in a little!

Katreina and her snowman by the beach.

The docks were a little slippery!