It's a Wrap!

We are back home in Kentucky and what a fantastic and industrious summer we had. We managed to get more done on Refugio than we had anticipated and planned for, starting with the haul-out and various paint jobs. Tom’s glassing of the pilot house went very well. The back wall, of the pilot house, stills needs to be completed, which he intends to do in September when he returns to Texas. We did find a color we intend to paint her next summer, as you’ll notice on the new pilot house. Neither of us has enjoyed having a “stark white” boat, when the sun is out - the glare is a killer; so she’ll be off-white. Tom also installed clear vinyl as temporary windows. We were also privileged to have our boat name hand-painted on the stern, by our dear friend and fellow cruiser, Kyla. We especially like the palm tree!

Brett and Kyla recently began their own sea adventure, be sure to check out their blog to watch their travels.(http://www.benevolentwanderings.com/) Kyla also makes and sells fantastic jewelry (I should know I've purchased lots of it!!) Help support their journey and buy some - www.kylacorbettdesigns.etsy.com
Next up we're off to Florida to baby-sit our Grand-daughter, Stella, while her Mom & Dad enjoy a vacation in Costa Rica.

Until next time - fair winds and happy travels.

Dolly

After a wonderful weekend of enjoying Wendy and her family and celebrating Kenny’s 2nd birthday we sat back and anxiously watched the weather.

Personally, first hand knowledge of a hurricane is something I never want to experience. Thank you Mother Nature and Neptune,I didn’t have to. Not knowing which way this storm was going to turn, we secured Refugio with more lines and installed the back wall of the pilot house. WOW It’s great to see what the pilot house will look like once it’s painted and windows (albeit plastic) in place.

The gulf appeared to empty out of boats yesterday as we watched a constant stream of shrimpers come in. So many that they had to raft them together in the basin (rafting means tied together side-by-side). Torrential rains began in the wee hours of the morning; fortunately we did not get the wind speed we thought we might. I doubt we'll see the sun all day and the bands of rains are less frequent than expected. This is the closest I'd ever like to get to another hurricane.

We are doing fine, Tom is enjoying his last day of work at Serendipity and I'm hankered down in the motor home needle pointing a christmas stocking for grand-daugther #2 (Alice) expected late in September. We hope to finish up the pilot house windows, some engine work and securing Refugio this weekend then leave for Kentucky monday.

Work, work, work

I figured out why I’ve been having such a difficult time sitting down to update our blog; it’s no longer a fun travel-log, but a lackluster labor-log. I’m not sure I can make this narrative truly interesting to any that read it but since you’re here, I’ll update you on our summertime goings-on. Ok, it’s safe to say these past few weeks have not totally been about boats (mostly) and we have thrown in some R&R outtings.

One such outing was a drive to check out Matagorda Beach. We had read and heard it was a unique place, and so it was. On this beach cars are allowed to drive right onto it. There were plenty of activities the day we were there, a couple of ultra-lights continually buzzing overhead flying up and down the coast line, we saw a couple of horses being unloaded as we left and some folks brought their 4-wheelers to torture the dunes directly behind the beach. We too joined in the fun and amused ourselves by getting wet. After we left the beach we drove to the local pier and walked the length of it. It is at this location you can see where the Colorado River joins the bay and hence empties into the gulf. We had been to Matagorda before, aboard Refugio the day before we arrived in Palacios. It was interesting to see it from this perspective.

Do you like to stroll through cemeteries? I do and always seem to seek them out no matter where we travel. It always interests me to see how old someone was when they passed, or perhaps there is a small story associated with the deceased. It’s generally very peaceful, and quiet. On this particular day (it was Sunday, usually not a typical day for a funeral service) we thought we had stumbled onto a burial service, but what it turned out to be was an anniversary of some kind with many folks gathered to pay their respects. We found several special engraved headstones, either by implanted pictures or special carvings. One showed a picture of a married couple on the day of their wedding on “his” headstone, and another picture taken perhaps 60, or so years later, on “hers”- sweet. Another gravesite, of a young boy, had cards and letters tucked in behind his cross, (to be read at a later time) and many toys laying on and encircling his plot. All very respectful and yet thought provoking.

Wendy (#2 daughter) and her family relocated to Austin this summer. Seeing that we were already in Texas, I was fortunate enough to pick her and #1 grand, Kenny up at the airport, meanwhile her husband, Keith drove down from San Francisco. Wendy, Kenny and I spent a few days touring Austin and checking out surrounding areas, including their new home. It was wonderful to spend a few days with Wendy and Kenny.

Enough R&R talk - let’s talk boat. After seeing how fantastic our new green boot stripe looked on the hull we decided to paint out the blue on the hull as well. It was relatively easy to pull the boat along side the dock, tape and paint, and then turn it around to paint the other side. Along with the large accent stripe on the hull we painted two smaller ones along side. Finally, I painted the eyebrow of the pilot house. This entire painting process took well over a few weeks and the boat looks GREAT!! Better and better every day.

Unfortunately, it did cut into Tom’s work time on his pilot house windows, but he’s back at them now and talk about looking wonderful. It’s going to be unbelievably great, a true pilot house trawler, when the windows are finished.