Smile for the camera?

Moss and Simon are sitting on the boom. Simon is mustering up about as much of a smile as he can. He is sad because we are leaving home and he will miss us. He does not express this sentiment in words, he expresses it in non-verbal ways. Just ask Moss. (But don't ask her this week because she is off at summer camp getting her fill of fresh-water fun in the Adirondacks.)

Seriously though, what is seldom seen on cruising blogs like this is how difficult it is to cut ties with loved ones ashore. Ellen and I have made a point, over the past several months, of going to every wedding, family gathering, awards ceremony, dog and pony show that we can so we are able to spend time with our friends and family. We will miss them all and hope they will miss us at least a little.

Our departure date is coming up much faster than we would like. (How's that for ironic? Spend all winter dreaming about sailing away, when summer hits, there's no reason to sail away.)

We need to be out of the house by July 16. In-between now and then we must clean the house and put our clothing and valuables in storage so the tenants can move in. Then we have two weeks on the boat in Freeport while I wrap up some last minute work obligations. We set sail as soon as the weather cooperates after July 26.

In other news I installed a new mast boot last week. It's a big sheet of rubberized butyl-type tape. Went on clumsily and leaked like a sieve. I don't really know why I switched from the tried and true big hose clamps and strip of truck inner tube that has worked faithfully without leaking for the past several years. I reinstalled the old truck tire yesterday afternoon and will see if it leaked when I get out to the boat tomorrow. Big gear upgrade tomorrow also. Stay tuned.

Brother Jeff and sister-in-law Eileen are visiting us this weekend. Poor Eileen is all banged up from a bike accident so I don't think we will be doing any sailing.