The raft is back!

A tiny victory today--we got the life raft back from Vane Brothers!  We even had a little fun with some of the expired contents.

Now we have lots of non-boat prep to do before the move, but at least we got that major bit over with!

Mount up!

Well, today we busted out some chores!  Frank's main job was to mount the life raft rack.  That took some dock consultation and measuring about 40 times before drilling, cutting, sanding, shimming, drilling...  I cleaned a nettle net, repaired and packed Legos, packed up fish we got from one neighbor to share with others, cleaned a bit, and eventually took the kids to the pool for a bit.  In the end, the rack was mounted, the kids had fun, and we had a nice dinner of grilled rockfish.  It was a good day.

The final sail (for now)

Today was bittersweet.  It was our last day of sailing on the Bay before we move, but it was such a great day of sailing!  We headed out, bound for the Choptank River.  After hearing the freshwater pump running dry and looking at the 20+ knots forecast for Sunday, we decided to turn it into a day sail and end on a high note.  Plenty to do back at the marina anyway (it's movie night on the beach!)!  It was so nice to enjoy the sail with the whole family on deck.  I hope we don't have to be away for too long.

The Fondest of Farewells

Last night our dockmates came together to wish us well on our departure.  We are one week out from leaving, and it was nice to see them all again.  Some of our local, non-dock friends even came, too!  I have truly loved the years we've had at Herrington Harbour South and U dock is more like family than neighbors.  Kind words were said, glasses raised, tears shed, and cookies eaten.  Thank you, and we will absolutely miss you all.

"See you later"

This move is the first we've done where one of the kids has a good friend that they are leaving.  As I talk to my daughter about the ways to stay in touch and how this doesn't have to be a final goodbye I'm realizing that I am also struggling with this move!  I love my boat home and we are going to leave it for 2 years.  I love our marina, the beach that we often have to ourselves, the kids' school, the neighbors who will loan a tool with no concern, the friends who will drive my whole dang family to the airport at an obscenely early hour, and the kid homes that have their doors wide open to my crazy crew.  Usually I'm excited for our moves, excited for what the new area will bring.  But this isn't a new area for us and maybe that's part of it.  We know the town and the house--it's the last house we lived in before the boat.  The excitement lies totally in our new school and job, which could both be totally amazing, but this move is definitely missing the spark that some of the others have had.  That said, we will press on because that's what this little Navy team does and in just under 3 weeks, we will be saying "see you later."  

There is a little comfort in knowing that this is practice for the reality of life ahead.  Changes happen, and they will keep their good friends for years no matter where they are.  As Navy and cruising kids I expect they will experience this many more times than I ever did with my transitions from home to college to job to job, but I hope that they, too, will have a crazy collective of good friends around the globe.