Changing of the Guard

Cath flew in yesterday to relieve yoeman David from the arduous task of helping out and entertaining the old man. No stranger to life aboard, particularly with respect to the bathing challenges, she seriously lightened the folicular load before reporting for duty. Also makes it a bit harder for the captain to get a good handhold.

For a little retrospective, David, as in son-in-law David, spent two weeks with me in Mystic. Just the two of us. Just consider, for a moment, the relational risk involved here. The two men Shelby loves most, in close proximity, on a boat, for an extended period. We might have had an annihilation somewhat akin to crossing the beams. But we didn't. It was pretty awesome actually. A quick study and super handy to have around, David helped finish off a ton of those pesky projects on the never ending list. We had a chance to get to know each other in a real and positive way. I'm not letting him off the hook for a dowery though: just reduced it to one camel.

Sails! We drove up to Newport to pick up the mainsail and get it bent on while the winds were calm. Newport was crazy. I'm pretty sure I couldn't afford a cup of coffee there. It would also be just fine if I never had to go there again. The genoa (the front sail, or fro'sail for you land lubbers) was due Saturday morning. Lo and behold, when we returned from dinner this evening, she was sitting there in the cockpit. If we had had more the 15 minutes of daylight left, I would have hoisted her up proper. As is we'll have to wait until morning. Spencer comes in mid-day Saturday. If the weather holds and I finish a bit 'o splicin', we should be able to have a first sail Sunday!

Cath and I have been walking around Mystic to help get her bearings, which are sadly misaligned. "The Sound is that way, right?" Uh, no. It's a river so you have a 50/50 chance. I guess it's a lot easier when you have a mountain range next to ya.

Many of the houses date back to the 1800's, a few to the late 1700's, when Mystic was a working seaport. Some are even labeled with the date as well as the name and occupation of the original owner. Merchants. Ship builders. Captains. The most impressive was apparently for the banker. Some things never change. Particularly outside of the weekend jam, we enjoy walking the quiet streets of the neighborhoods.