and waiting......

My mom and dad left yesterday morning and we missed them as soon as they left. Our week together was very special and I have a whole new respect for my dad. Jack, Dad and I spent hours at the pool trying dives from different heights and all trying to learn how to do a forward flip. We were acting like we were all eleven. At one point Dad figured he could do a forward flip from the top of the waterfall - about nine feet up. The sound of the impact when his back flop hit the water was like a sonic boom. Thankfully he wasn't hurt. Dad, Jack and I laughed and laughed afterwards. I will never forget how game my dad is at the age of 75 and I hope the genes came through to me.

We are still waiting to hear anything from Yanmar about the faulty sail drives that they sold to us. And we have not received new ones. The serial numbers of the two drives are very close to each other and there may have been a bad batch that was put up for sale. By any account, it is very odd that two drive shafts from a reputable company would both have the same manufacturing defect.

In the meantime, we continue to check things off our to-do list. We now have dinghy chaps custom made for our dinghy. They will help Rudy have traction getting in and out of the dinghy and protect the rubber from sun damage.

Also, our dinghy engine has not been running properly. The poor thing only had FIVE hours on it in the last seven years. Patrick figured that there was some gunk in the carburetor. He talked with a mechanic here, but it was going to cost a lot of money to have him fix. Jack and Patrick took the carburetor out and brought it on board to work on. After some consultation with our friend Colin, and after skyping our friend Mack who has outboard mechanic training, Patrick and Jack pulled the whole thing apart. They not only got it all put back together, but it's now working great!

Laura