WE CANNOT CHANGE THE WIND, BUT WE CAN ADJUST THE SAILS

Saturday, May 20, 2016.  Obsession has been launched.  George and his crew at BLM worked magic, driving the travel lift down the parking lot of the marina, weaving around boats and cars, put the slings around Obsession and reversed the trek through the maze of boats and cars to the launch site.

In the water she went, but this time she had to be towed to a slip because the engine isn't connected to the fuel line.  Now Fairhaven Marine will work their magic and get her running. 

Meanwhile, Neil Thurston from Thurston Sails/Canvas in Bristol delivered the new Dodger and Bimini.  The isinglass is so clear it looks like there is nothing there!  More Magic!  And he added a few little things, like a D-ring above in the top of the bimini so we can hang a solar lantern, and a special little piece of leather so the radar pole won't ruin the canvas as well as nice gray leather covering along the edge of the dodger for dirty hands.

We will start to move more "stuff" aboard this week. Our hope is that she'll be ready to go by Memorial Day, but I think June 1 is a more realistic date.

On the home front we've had a set back.  Shortly after  David's routine colonoscopy in March, he was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer.  This was shocking news, and has forced us to re-think our plans for heading south down the ICW in the fall.  He will undergo chemo treatments at the Cancer Center here in Fall River every 2 weeks for 6 months.  So...it means no trip down the ICW until the fall of 2017. His prognosis is good - he's strong, healthy and we are confident he will beat this.  Just a bend in the road.  What is the old saying?  We can not change the wind, but we can adjust the sails.  Well, we have done just that.  We will summer on the boat, as we always have done, sail around our favorite haunts here in Narragansett Bay and Buzzards Bay, and Long Island Sound in between treatments. Another old sailor's saying, A bad day on the water is better than a good day on land.

I will continue the blog this summer.  It's also an opportunity for me to try new things with design and editing. So, follow along, if you will.  Our adventure is just beginning.