Dinghy Improvements

Brother Dale was down for a visit the first weekend in May. The conditions were far from tropical but it was nice to see him and show off the boat nonetheless. His visit gave me an excuse to try out my dinghy modifications. The inflatable has never planed very well so I had modified the floor boards in hopes of rectifying the sluggish behavior. I am happy to announce that the dinghy now planes nicely an will be a great dive boat once we reach the Caribbean or clear, warm water. Karen and I have been going out for evening tours up the Tombigbee River just to get away from the marina and start to enjoy some of our labors. One of our favorite spots is a cypress swamp.

Leap Interior

A better title for this post would be - Everything Has A Place, Everything In Its Place

We have spent many days stowing everything in an orderly manner, cataloging its location, entering the info on a spreadsheet (so we can find it again :)  but also because, at most ports of call, to clear customs you have to provide an itemized list of all the items you have on board. We also have to consider where to put items by weight, so that the boat is balanced and true to her waterline. We are fairly certain that the occasion will arise that something we need will be in the bottom of a compartment, but alas, such is the way of life on the water.

Launch Day

7 years, 3 months, 24 days, was all it took for us to complete our little repair and get the boat in the water. So whoever was running the betting line, you can cash it in today. Thanks to all who have helped on this endeavor. It has been entertaining, amusing, educational and frustrating, sometimes all at once, but it is as finished as it needs to be. So as the song goes ..."take me to the river and drop me in the water..." we want to get started on the next phase of our sabbatical. For those of you still following our 12 step countdown, today has to be 11.5. Sea trials to follow then we will be off on the next leg of our adventure.

Alabama Gypsy Camp

We have spent several days packing up the Gypsy Camp in preparation for the trip home on 4/11, We will return our tools (what to keep what to send home) to their respective cubbies in the shop and, return the trailer we borrowed from our friends, Dennis and Mary Therese. The trailer was invaluable to our success in getting our work done.
The weather for our trip north looks horrible, in keeping with the weather we have had all winter, cold and rainy,but with the addition of ice and snow.

road trip

Back in Demopolis, safe and sound. We wanted to see everybody back home but realized it would takes days, if not weeks to make the rounds. We're sorry if we missed you but you can't come sailing with us if we don't get in the water someplace nice. So we focused on that. Of course we stopped by to see the kids and then scooted back to the boat as quickly as possible.

Waiting Game

The bottom was prepped before we left and painting proceeded quickly upon return. It is now finished (April 20th) and the waiting game has begun. The surveyor who was supposed to be here this week will not arrive now until April 29th. Another delay.If it does happen on Monday, we will be in the water Tuesday, provided the yard travel lift is available. The good part is that another dozen items will be off the punch list before we launch. We will be just shy of 5 months working in the yard. Hopefully, the month of sea trials will not stretch out as long. Leap is washed and waxed and looking the best she ever has. We are ready to splash.

First Sit-Down Dinner

When Bryna and John came for a visit we had our first sit down dinner in Leaps' main salon. (Bryna is taking picture).
We used our new wood fired Keppers Pottery plates. We also celebrated receiving our new Toughbook lap top, a Christmas Gift from Bryna, John and Burklin. I used it today to make all the posts to the blog. John spent a great deal of time loading in charts and GPS info as well as some other useful programs. Their gift and work is greatly appreciated. We now need to spend some time coordinating the Toughbook with our navigation station.