From late June to early August, we spent a fabulous five weeks at Wasahamnen marina in downtown Stockholm. Wasahamnen is centrally located with great views to the Stockholm islands, convenient access to ferry and transit services, and is close to many restaurants and local attractions. It was definitely one of the more busy marinas we’d…
Our Home on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile
This article focuses on our unit at the 100 East Huron Residences, which is located at the corner of Michigan and Huron on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. See the previous article for a description of our “neighborhood.”As always there’s a story to tell, w…
Stopping is the problem…
Red Head was splashed this week, but not before there was one last issue. After having the mufflers and exhausts on both engines worked on, a leak was discovered in the port muffler when Dad powered up the engines.
Red Head had to be towed from the haul-out well to the dock by a boatyard skiff – actually, two skiffs, one in front and one in back. While it was impressive to watch them get her underway, it was more impressive to watch them bring her up to the dock and stop her – with no damage to the people or the boat. A quick repair followed and she was ready to set off.
There’s been several days of cleaning boatyard slim off Red Head, a final run to the grocery store, and general tidying up. Tomorrow the crew looks forward to throwing off the lines and heading out.
Updates to The Pearl (Part II)
“The big lesson in life is never be scared of anyone or anything.” ―Frank Sinatra
The Pearl is a Monk 36, hull #21, built in 1983…she’s old, 36 years old. We’ve done a lot of work on her, but this summer we’re giving her a facelift on the inside. Since the boat was built in the early 80s, it was built with ugly gold formica and gold vinyl in the shower. We painted the shower when we first bought the boat and it has held up very well. Our formica was so worn out the color was completely gone in some areas. We had several options for improving it…we could have new countertops installed, new formica laid or paint what we have. The easiest and cheapest way to go was paint.
CONTINUE READING HERE…»
Tracy Arm
Several whales are asleep on the surface this morning as we cruise down Stephens Passage. Our destination is a tiny cove unnamed on the nautical charts but referred to as Tracy Arm Cove by boaters. This will be our staging anchorage for our 44 mile round trip exploration of Tracy Arm, a beautiful deep water […]
Two Weeks in Seattle
In mid-July, we made our annual summer trip to Seattle for James to participate in a multi-week AWS business review. It’s a busy time, with lots of meetings, plus we picked up about 300 pounds (136kg) of spares and supplies to bring back with us. We also found time to have some fun, including attending…
Updates to The Pearl
“Learn to depend upon yourself by doing things in accordance with your own way of thinking.” -Grenville Kleiser
Last year I did a post that took readers on a tour of The Pearl…today’s post is an update to that tour. This summer we’ve been doing upgrades to the boat to refresh its look and make it feel a little more like home. When we bought the boat 9 1/2 years ago the saloon cushions were in good shape, so even though they weren’t the color I would have chosen, we left them alone and decorated the boat to match. After spending over 1500 days on the boat the cushions have gotten pretty worn out and needed to replaced, so now it was our chance to choose exactly what we wanted. It’s amazing how wonderful the new cushions feel and look…we love them.
CONTINUE READING HERE…»
Something Nice?
When you have 3 dogs, it’s hard to have anything nice.
Since our summer plans were disrupted, Mom and Dad decided to tick off some additional items on the project list.
They had previously picked out some lovely vegan leather fabric for new settee cushion covers in the salon. The local canvas shop was able to fit in the job and the new cushions arrived last week. It was $$$ but everyone was pleased with the results.
Especially the Red Head crew. Dee Dee wasted no time reclaiming her spot.
While Dylan and Dora quickly joined in. Mom thought this was just a little too nice for this gang.
She quickly created a bottom cover using some outdoor canvas and well placed Velcro. Hopefully it’ll keep the settee “nice” for a little while. But honestly, a good crew beats a nice settee anytime.
Aug. 1 – Covered Bridges & Cute Towns
“Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, leave the rest to God.” –Ronald Reagan
When Kyle and Brytanie moved to Pennsylvania in 2016 we enjoyed finding covered bridges in their county. We haven’t visited them all, but we’ve found seven just doing a little exploring. Pennsylvania is one of the leading states with the largest number of remaining covered bridges.
We really enjoyed driving the back roads through Lancaster county. We had the chance to see some beautiful farms, cute little towns, lots of horse and buggies and we found six magnificent old covered bridges. There are 27 covered bridges in Lancaster County…so finding a few bridges was pretty easy.
Our Chicago Neighborhood
It’s the real estate agents’ mantra: Location, location, location. You’ve probably heard the phrase often and may wonder what inspires agents to say the word three times. In a nutshell, location, location, location means homes can experi…
