Today the graphics arrived from SpeedySigns.com and from a brief inspection, all looks good. Of course the final conclusion will be once the graphics are applied.

We also ordered bootstripe tape today from an Ebay vendor, which we anticipate arriving by early next week.

We picked up our topside paint locally, so short a few roller supplies, we are ready for the March 2 haul-out.

This coming weekend is looking cold for overnight on the forecast, so we aren’t planning to stay the night on Monomoy, but it does look like it will be a nice enough weekend to get a sail in.

Till next update… Fair winds.

We will be putting new bottom and topside paint on her to freshen her up a bit for the spring sailing season. Hopefully we won’t be out of the water for more than a few days.

We ordered new name, port, and registration vinyl for installing after the paint is done. The vinyl was ordered from SpeedySigns.com, who we have used in the past for a great price and excellent results.

The Micron 66 bottom paint was ordered from WholesaleMarine.com for $199/gallon and free shipping.

Progress will be photographed and daily updates will be posted when the time comes.

We still have three potential sailing weekends between now and the haul-out, so if we get on the water, I’ll be sure to update the blog with that as well.

There were other boaters hanging out and cruising around.

There were some floating condos backed to the beach.

Jimmy Buffet on the radio and sipping the good stuff.

We carried firewood with us for roasting marshmallows on Robertson’s Island that night and enjoyed watching the dolphins.

The sky was clear with a full moon and a perfect view of the stars; Sailor Jerry’s Rum tasted extra good!

We slept in till about 6am Sunday morning, fixed breakfast, and made coffee. It was perfect.

Around 8:30am we made our leisurely way back to Chico arriving around noonish.

Here’s a map of our weekend traveling.

Overall it was a great weekend to be on the water.

We did ordered a new dinghy today from BoatsToGo.com. Very good customer service who has been prompt in returning emails. Even price matched a competitor who I didn’t choose to purchase from due to the lack of customer service.

Below is a pic. It is 7’6″, which should fit on our deck nicely while underway. It is inflatable with a high pressure inflatable floor and v-keel, so we’ll keep it below deck during the days we daysail and keep it on deck otherwise. Our current dinghy is about 9’6″, so it takes up a lot of space on the deck. It also doesn’t tow well at anything above about 4.5 knots, so I hope the new dink performs better in that department too.

We’re still going to use the electric motor though. I typically take our dog to shore to do her business around 5am; that’s easy to sneak over and do using the electric motor without disturbing other camped boaters, so we’ll stick with that for now.

Just as our current dink is apparently easy to spot, being not your typical dink, the new one should be easy to spot as well with it’s large name “Saturn” plastered on the side.

We shoved off from the dock around 4:30pm on Friday and headed to Ft. McRee. The temp was great over Friday night.

We got up around 5am Saturday morning, fixed coffee and had breakfast, then went for a couple of hours sail before returning to Ft. McRee around noon.

Had lunch, then went swimming. The water was crystal clear, so I took the opportunity to scrub my prop and glance over the entire boat bottom. The color and clarity of the water reminded me of the Bahamas.

Around 2:30pm we were getting cleaned up from all the swimming and noticed Nightwatch prepping to drop the hook, so my son and I dinghy’d over to say “HI” after they settled in. After touring Nightwatch, which is an absolute beautiful vessel with obvious hard work put into her, we were invited back for 5pm cocktails. So my wife, son, and I headed back over for cocktail hour and really enjoyed ourselves chatting the evening away with Ralph and Mary.

As the sun set on Saturday, the three of us headed back to our own boat to cook some dinner and turn in for the night.

We woke around 5am Sunday morning, had coffee and breakfast, then headed on back home so we could visit with my mother for a while, since it was her birthday.

Carol commented how this was one of the best sailing weekends we’ve had in a long time. It was perfect all around.

Ralph and Mary, it was a pleasure to finally meet with you both in person.