The Northern Season Comes to a Close

The fall weather has been so darn lousy that we actually haven't been for a sail since the end of August!  With all the cold & rain we had in September sailing and golf came to an abrupt end and even though we hoped for sunny days we should have hauled out before the end of October.  Each year we make this pact, and each year finds us trying for a low-wind, dry day to get Blew-By-You out of her slip and stored in the yard.  Well, we're finally out and the only focus now is getting south to Mowzer and the sunshine again!

The Countdown Begins

The planning is afoot with John and Eleanor for rendezvous November 2010.  We got together just the other night as the cold winds howled and the fire crackled reminding us that we'd much rather be in paradise where the water is almost 80 and the air temperature about the same!  Are the Chrsitmas winds blowing yet??

So, after much thought we have decided to head west to the Spanish Virgin Islands:  Vieques and Culebra beckon, "Venir por aquí."

Boat Show Fun and Surprises

Annapolis Boat Show - the largest in-water sail-boat show in the U.S. and for the last three years, a Thanksgiving (Canadian) tradition for us.  Let’s do a little recap:  2008 we made our first visit and toured boats and tents in awe; 2009 we met up with CYOA and amazingly (to us at least) set up the purchase and adventure with Mowzer; now in 2010 we’ve returned to see what fun the boatshow brings this year.

As we’ve found in the past, the weather gods have smiled and it has been spectacular.  Highs of 29 on Saturday and 25 today brought out the sunscreen and flipflops - what a treat in October.  The boats as always are the stuff of dreams but this time, now that we have our own dreamboat, we enjoyed checking out some of the smaller boats and looking for ideas that we might incorporate into our own setup in the future.  We also managed to get into a few of the seminars, this time a weather briefing with Lee Chesneau, a trip down the ICW reviewing navigation aids and lessons learned and finally a tour round the Abacos Islands in the Bahamas with Pam Wall.

Of great interest was checking out the changes to the Mahe 36 for 2011.  Dubbed The Evolution, these changes include modifications to the layout inside and in particular the change to a hard-top bimini and the traveller lifted up away from the cockpit.  The hull is still identical so this new cat looks exactly like Mowzer in her lines.  The Mahe is doing well in charter and CYOA has another owner joining with an Evolution that is currently in transit across the Atlantic.  Mistina has moved to another location but there will still be two of these great cats available to charter this season.

A highlight of the show was meeting up with the folks at CYOA:  John and Jo Anne, Nancy, Kirsten, Camille and Lonnie.  The booth on dock B looked fabulous and we were pleased as punch to see Mowzer front and centre on one of the display banners.  Earlier in the season, Mowzer and Mistina went out on a photo-shoot and the results are fabulous by way of great shots for advertising for CYOA.  So professional!  She’s even in a photo gracing the 2010/11 line of CYOA lip balm!  The crowds on Saturday were thronging, and on Sunday, while a little quieter, were only so in comparison to Saturday so we’re hoping lots of business will come to CYOA’s doorstep.

Finally, to really put the icing on the cake, we were delighted to see Mowzer featured in a story in the October edition of Sail Magazine. It was a little surreal but we could instantly relate to the fun and appreciation Adam Cort had for Mowzer as he and his young family toured around the USVI.  (Note the shot in the top right of the cover.)

(Pretty amazing, huh?  I’ll set up better links once I  get soft-copy of the article but this gives you the idea - or check out the October issue of Sail.)

We’re really on the count-down now, just six more weeks and we’ll be back aboard!