Coming Home

Welcome back at the club.

Thank you to members of the CSS and others from the club who gave us such a nice welcome back to our dock and to those who planned and came to the gathering on the south island. Bob and I very much appreciated the warm welcome and we are happy to be back among you.

Thank you also to the many people who have told me that they've been reading and enjoying the blog. I've certainly enjoyed writing it.

The last few days of our trip became a re-immersion into the life we left behind. The sun came out on Friday and stayed throughout the weekend as we returned to the Lake Ontario version of our life on the water.

On Friday, when the Mursells joined us at Youngstown, Mary greeted us wearing an "Eleuthera - Not for Everyone" t-shirt. We all find the t-shirt comment hysterically funny - it's a kind of in-joke referring back to the days we spent together trapped by weather and tied up to a crumbling wall at Hatchet Bay (Eleuthera). We had dinner that night with the Mursells and told stories of our travel adventures and misadventures. Looking back, even our mishaps have become the stuff of tales we laugh about. Whatever else the challenges were, they were part of a unique experience that we can't believe we've had.

Race to Youngstown Awards

On Saturday members of the Cruising Squadron arrived from across the lake and tied up or rafted with us along the wall at the Youngstown Yacht club. It was great to reconnect with everyone and to laugh together while Terry did his always fresh stand up comedy while handing out beer mugs for real and fantastical achievements.

We had an easy motor sail back across the lake to the club where we were greeted by friends standing at the dock. Shortly after, we joined others who came for a picnic table gathering to have a glass of wine and say hello. How very nice that was.

We are fully at home now - wondering what to do first. There's the laundry, the first grocery shopping, the jungle in the garden, the pool to open, the boat to unload, the appointments to keep, the piles of mail to attend to, the phone calls to make. It might help if we weren't intent on getting everything attended to all at once. What - you have no sympathy? You say, "What are you complaining about after your 9 month great escape?" I agree. In truth, we are enjoying getting our house in order and we are glad to be at home and back near our friends and family.

After we settled down, I'll do one more posting - a sort of looking back and summing up. Until then - thanks for reading!

Sunset at Youngstown