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Boston, MA (04/01/03) - It's been a long hard winter. The drifts in
the Constitution Marina parking lot towered to nearly 20' last month. It's
April and
we're still getting snow. We've had a couple spring-like days, but
we still haven't had enough decent weather
to
move the
boat.
Our plan is to move to Boston Boatworks in East Boston in the next week or
so to have the Aerorig removed. Then we'll strip what we can re-use from the
old rig and a week or so later we'll be installing the new mast, boom and a
five foot bowsprit.
We also need a coat of bottom paint. Even spending the winter in Nova Scotia,
we didn't have as much ice damage to the bottom paint as this year. For much
of the winter, we've been living with an inch or so or ice, breaking up and
reforming twice a day with the 10' tide here in Boston Harbor.
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Once we get the new rig installed, we plan to head
up to Boothbay Harbor, Maine, for a month and then, depending on
all the timing, we may be in the Marblehead to Halifax Race on
July 7.
We hope to get a lot of northern cruising in this summer,
perhaps as far as Newfoundland and St. Pierre. We've decided that
we definitely prefer the ambiance, isolation, and friendliness of
the
Canada coast
to the heat and crowds of the Caribbean.
All of this, of course, depends on getting the new
rig installed and tested. It's all going well but boat time is always
several times longer than the worst cast estimates. We've got winches
to install, hydraulic lines to move, sails to test, etc. etc. It's
going to be a busy spring.
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S/V
Barbara Ann