Update on our Boat and We're Commited

I talked with Keith yesterday, who watches our boat, and he said everything has been looking fine. He said that he was grateful that I called him about Hurricane Ike because when he reached the marina, even though our boats were safely tied, the water had risen considerably higher than during Gustave. Two other boats in the marina had sunk to the bottom. Yikes... He, again, commended Brett on his ability to tie the lines just right.

I purchased our airline tickets for January 6th to head back toward New Orleans. Brett was very happy to hear it. I seem to always need to convince him that I really am in this for the long haul, that I have chosen to live the boat life. Buying the tickets, again, confirmed to him that we are indeed headed back to our dream.

Keith was excited to hear that we would be heading back and arranged to have a cookout with us on our arrival. It made me feel warm inside to feel the hospitality of our friends in the South again. Even people who hardly know us...

I'll update again when I hear from him on the status of the interior and our batteries.

I have been researching some gear we are needing inlcuding an EPIRB and an autopilot.

The rain has started here in Oregon. The leaves have quickly turned color. It is so nice to know that we have a destination in a couple months to get away from the dreaded, dreary gray, wet winter that hits Oregon for so long.

I can't wait to begin preparing the boat to head offshore.

We are preparing for two huge shows to sell jewelry at. One is the Eugene Holiday Food and Gift Festival Oct 31-Nov 2 in Eugene at the fairgrounds and the other is for two, three day weekends in Portland at the Expo Center called AMERICA'S LARGEST CHRISTMAS BAZAAR. I am very nervous as they were a lot of money to get into, huge shows and because of the economy. But Brett feels confident about them. I have a ton of work to do to get ready for them.

Brett is doing ok with trying to stop smoking. The Chantrix made him sick so he quit taking it again. But he is trying so hard and seems to be doing really well. We both terribly miss our friends in Palacios... We always say, "Home is where the keel is" and we are excited to soon be heading home.