Our Bad (New way to say we are late)

Captain serves Admiral breakfast in bed to celebrate end of season

Cruisers syndrome finally caught up with us during our last weeks aboard. Almost all things could be done tomorrow and life was easy. If tomorrow ever comes there is going to be a ton of stuff waiting for us there.

Basically, Laura and Joan continued to drag the boys around exploring every last nook and crannies of Calvert and St Mary's counties.
We did get in two delightful nights anchored at Broomes Island and Mill Creek. Then the work began to haul the boat and prepare it for the winter. That was done on 1 Nov at Washburn's boat yard and it went very smoothly. We were most pleased with the condition of the bottom after a year in salt water (Admirals note: One of us on board ran aground twice and we were a bit worried about the amount of living creatures we would find attached to the hull.) which will make preparation and relaunching next spring quite easy. Applying the 40'X75' 120lb piece of shrink wrap on a windy day was a new and exciting experience. The result was a really tough total enclosure which will provide much peace of mind as the winter stroms swirl.

After a frantic weekend 3-4 Nov chasing around we were off to Ft Walton and after a delightful night with our wonderful friends, the Paul and Nancy Goldsmith, in Greenville SC, we arrived home on the 6th.

It is difficult to find words to describe the joys and pleasures we experienced this summer. They greatly exceeded our hopes and dreams and more than rewarded the 5 years of boat building effort. . Although we feel unworthy and undeserving, we saw God's hand up close and personal as time after time mini miracles happened to pave and comfort our way. Not the least of which was the continuous fun and quality brought to our cruise by Laura and Jason, our boat buddies. We will miss them greatly and pray that our paths will cross again.

So this is it for the winter. We will relaunch Charis on 15 April, God willing, and wend our way North to cruise the Canadian canals. Most are unaware of these spectacular waters and if you are looking for something to do this winter Google up " Trent Severn Canal" "Rideau Canal" and "North Channel Cruising".

We thank all of you for your interest in our odyssey and look forward to an encore next year.

As usual more and final pictures at picasaweb.google.com/lropka in album "End of Summer"

Joan and Larry