We're baaaaaack!

Well, it's been 14+ months since our last post and A LOT has changed since we sold Virginia Dare (now named Estelle in Holland, Michigan).  We've settled back down in northern Michigan and have mostly readjusted to land-based life.  However, David bought an S2 6.7 after college and will never part with it (yay!).  So, he's been sprucing her up for the past several weeks and she splashed down this morning!

My standing Wednesday night date is with knitting friends and I hate to miss it, but I bagged out to bake David's birthday cake tonight.  But along came an even better offer.......to take advantage of this picture perfect weather and take her for the first sail of the season.  So off we went.  I'll keep the prose short and share pictures today.

Inland Seas traditionally-rigged tall ship schooner

Heading north out of Suttons Bay on a gorgeous evening

Cap'n Crunch :)

Dave took a break from working on his boat to join us.

Couldn't have asked for better weather

The sail loft accidentally sewed closed (!) the batten pockets on our new mainsail, so we hanked on the old.

:)

Summer Solstice 2017
(as I write at this post at 10:30 pm, the sky is still pale blue in this northern latitude)

One happy guy!

Another happy guy!

Beautiful evening

Nice breeze

Thank you, Mother Nature, for the gift of today.

A new chapter

We've turned a proverbial page in this chapter of life and have sold Virginia Dare.  It took us awhile to come to the mutual decision to part ways with her, but in our heart of hearts, it was the right decision.  Saying goodbye was bittersweet, but we will cherish the memories and new friendships we made along the way.

Our final sunrise at Herrington Harbour North

She's ready for inspection!

The eagle that I'd been trying to capture for a couple weeks did a fly-by the morning of the survey and sea trial.

It was a brisk, beautiful morning for the sea trial.

Virginia Dare leaving Tracy's Creek

To say the wind was howling for the sea trial would be an understatement: sustained wind in the low 20s, gusts in the 30s(!), provided a rollicking ride that Mark and Heidi declared "couldn't have been better!"

Returning to the haul-out basin for final inspection

It was sad to say goodbye to Roger and Liz from Free State Yachts.  They are more than friends, they're our "family" away from home.

"Spring" has not quite arrived in Michigan.  We'll make our way back north, settle down for a little while, and formulate Plan B.  We will "dust off" the sailboat waiting for us in a barn and sail her this summer.

Picked up this guy today :)  THANKS inadequately expresses our gratitude to Jim and Jack for taking such good care of him.

Kisses for the missus

Virginia Dare will be renamed Estelle (Swedish princess) and will sail in Lake Michigan for a couple years before heading across the pond and points beyond.  I sure hope there's a blog about her new travels and will provide a link when we hear anything of the sort.

In the meantime, there will be sailing posts this summer.  No doubt they'll be fewer and farther between, but stay tuned (if you'd like).  I've found blogging to be a fun way to document our adventures and stay in touch with lots of friends, old and new.

It's time to turn the page.  Thanks for following along!

Wintry mix

We woke up to the sound of shoveling(!) on our dock.  Yes, it's the mid-Atlantic "wintry mix" that screws with all plans.........snow, sleet, and freezing rain.  One of my best friends in the whole wide world was planning on visiting from Philadelphia, but the weather trumped our hopes of catching up today.......watch out weather, there's always next week!  We WILL make this happen :)

It was so crappy outside that David didn't go to West Marine for a few parts today.  So any plans for us to be productive flew right out the frozen portholes.  We spent the day reading, napping, knitting, and generally being L-A-Z-Y.  A perfect winter day if you ask me!

David made lamb stew with sweet potatoes for Valentine's dinner

Don't have Valentine's napkins, so snowflakes will have to do.

I made warm chocolate raspberry cake for dessert (negated all calories burned at the fitness center!)

We need help finishing the cake!

Today we woke up to snow-covered portholes.

A true "wintry mix" fell all day.

Snowy cockpit

Snow on the teak grate

Strange phenomenon in the marina

Virginia Dare thinks she's in Sweden, her motherland!

D dock

Warm and comfy down below

By this evening, a glaze of ice covered everything.

We hope all our friends stayed safe and warm during this latest winter storm!

Out with the old, in with the new!

H O L Y    M A C K E R E L !

It finally happened, our old engine was removed and the new one was lowered in this morning!

The sole (floor) of the cockpit comes out, so this is looking straight down into the engine room.

Thankfully, David waited until the last minute to remove our diesel furnace.

Looking into the cockpit (cardboard for extra protection).

Here comes the crane!  Aric used hand signals with the crane operator to get it right where we needed it.

Pulling the old engine out.  The "ball" of the crane is padded with carpet and duck tape.

Out with the old!

New engine is sitting "at the ready" on the tailgate.

New engine being lowered into the engine room.

David was guiding it from the companionway.  Jim was in the engine room.

Busy morning!

After the crane left, David and Jim rigged the engine on a steel bar to fine tune the installation.

I got to raise and lower the engine with this ratchet-y device while they made adjustments.

Tight quarters!

In order for the engines to move around today, the diesel furnace had to be removed from the engine room (second photo, above).  That black and gray "shoebox" keeps us toasty warm on these winter days.  Hallberg Rassy sailboats are also very well insulated.  We keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer!

With the companionway and engine room wide open this morning, it got down to 49* in the cabin.  However, the furnace has been reinstalled as of 2pm and we are already up to 63* right now.

Two boats were hauled out this morning.

Ice in the haul-out basin early this afternoon.

Getting pushed back to our slip.  The ice ends near the yellow cat up there.

Gray on the bay today.

Back "home" at the other end of the marina.

So there you have it.  This is what we've been waiting for for a long, long time!  David will make all the connections in the coming days and we'll schedule a sea trial with a certified Volvo mechanic.