News Flashes!

Admiral Maggie Awarded Ambassadorial Status! 

Admiral Maggie has assumed a leadership role in our COVID-restricted social life.  Her waking hours are devoted to roving ambassadorial outreach, introducing herself to everyone she sees.  Fellow boaters, a wedding party, marina staff,  fishing charter clients, shipyard workers, and restaurant customers.  None are safe from her charms.  They all joyfully greet her by name, even when they have never met her minions (i.e us).  Tells where we rank.  Sheesh.

They Ain't Comin'  😦

Our son Daniel and his fiance Alexandria were scheduled to join us in Annapolis on the 8th for a few days.   Unfortunately, Maryland is not on the list of "safe" states in the eyes of the governor of Massachusetts (where they live) and travel there could subject them to some draconian quarantine requirements.  So, they ain't coming.  We are BUMMED but simultaneously pleased that they are being cautious with their health in the midst of all this madness.   (Besides, they need to get ready for their WEDDING next Memorial Day.👍)

Captain Pat IS Coming

We have hired Captain Patrick Davis to join us aboard for three days next month to provide us some instruction.  Ther plan is he will focus on making Kathleen more comfortable operating the boat (with no yelling😀) and helping Wade fill some gaps in his knowledge.   So we are busy planning the COVID management measures we will employ during his visit. 

The New Dinghy Has Arrived!!

Our new 10' Zodiac and 6 hp Tohatsu outboard arrived by truck on Thursday.  👌The guys at the boatyard graciously brought the palette to our dock with their forklift and refused our tip.  (Ambassador Maggie had previously seduced them, See above.) 

 In keeping with the spirit of this adventure, buying it has been a process.    In shopping, we quickly learned that COVID and trade wars with China had laid waste to inventories all up and down the east coast.  We were quoted unguaranteed arrival dates in Sept and Oct.  As reported earlier, Beach, we contacted Inflatable Boat Specialists in Venture, CA (yes, really).  They offered good prices and fast, inexpensive shipping but also did not have what we wanted in stock,  What they DID have was 10 of the model we wanted in transit from the manufacturer (Code For: in a shipping container somewhere on a ship in the Pacific.)  And yes, we could reserve one, if we hurried.  And while we were logging in to make our order, they were all spoken for by salivating sales reps.  We got back-ordered to Sept.  

😡POOP! DOODO!  CACA! #2!  CRAPOLLA! (and other words to that effect) 😡

But.......

They did have a "blemished" boat of our model they could offer s at a discount. The purchaser used it a few times, decided he wanted a different boat and exchanged it.  A few smudges and scuffs but with a full new boat warranty.  We could have it by August 1st.  DEAL!!  👍😁

THE NEW DINGY HAS NO FLOOR!!

😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡

After unpacking it on the dock, it was immediately apparent that they had not shipped the "air floor" for the boat.  The owner's manual and patch kit were also missing. 

(see scatological expletives above)  

We chose a soft bottom, inflatable floor boat in the interests of weight and off-season storage.  Its multi-chambered construction makes it very rigid when fully inflated.   (Think inflatable SUP.)  Makes for a light, easy-to-store boat.  Anyway, after a few hours of scrambling, our dealer notified us that the missing components were on the way via 3-Day UPS.  

Hey...........

This feels kinda familiar.

Like we've been here before

Yes, once again, we are:

Waiting For Parts!

(Heavy Sigh)