Continuing preparation of "Every Day" Part 8

Vince Verdone, Marshall Fernholz and I sailed the boat down, 24 hours from Sturgeon Bay to Montrose. It was very nice of them to help transport the boat, due to the fact Mallory was recovering from surgery, and unable to help with the transport. Although there was a significant lack of wind we were able to put up both spinnakers for a couple of hours with a top boat speed was 13.3 knots. The new autopilot and radar worked beautifully. It reminds me that the cruising is 80% motoring and 20% sailing. This trip was about this ratio.

Thanks for everyone's support with Mallory's health issues and now that we have gotten over this phase, we can move onto the next important issue. The wedding. September 11, 2004, 6 pm champagne and appetizers to follow and then friends of ours (a popular Chicago "mystery" band) will play some music from 8 until 11pm. This will take place at the Corinthian Yacht Club and everyone is welcome. (Yachty attire, not black tie, if you have questions e-mail us)

Finally sailing. We did the Power fleet cruise to Winthrop Harbor. It was a very nice weekend and we had a great time with everyone. Mallory and I did the trip up ourselves, our first time sailing this boat alone. It was very nice as well. Mallory already knew know why Dodgers and Biminis are so popular with cruisers. I have never had a boat with one and as we were crashing through the waves (motoring into 5 to 7 foot seas), I commented about how nice it was to staying dry and warm. I understand why they are often a necessity rather than a luxury. We had the pleasure of sailing back from Winthrop with Vince and Barb Verdone as our guests, and made the entire trip back under sail (except for the last 1/2 hr). We would like to thank Bob and Laura Kurz who took the first pictures of the boat under sail.

This winter we spent most of a week taking a de-waxer first, wet sanding the freeboard of the boat with 800 grit sand paper then used rubbing compound and finally applied the wax and buffed it off. Several people commented on how it looked like we painted the boat this winter. We suggest before you paint the freeboard you try this to remove the oxidation that builds up over years of exposure to the sun. We believe this is a first step before investing thousands of dollars on Awlgrip….just a thought.