Well, here I sit and wait, mostly for Ontario to get on track. I have lined up a good friend of mine here in Oromocto to help me bring the boat home. He's an experienced sailor having left from here to the Caribbean several years running. I also have the previous boat owner lending a hand to bring her home. So, a guy who knows the boat well, and has taken the trip from North Hero Marina to New York City several times, and a guy who has been up and down the Atlantic coast several times right up to the backyard of the house. I'm all set for knowledge with me as the least. The saying goes to always surround yourself with people smarter than you, so I'm all set. It now seems the USA is on track more so than we in Canada are. They are trying to entice people to come in to get their vaccines as they have ample supply, while we are still struggling to get the supply needed. I have an appointment next week to get my first AstraZeneca shot. It will be good to know I have started to be more protected in the current environment with NB starting to get more variant cases. We are nowhere near the mess Ontario is in, but you are the one affected, it matters little how big or small the issues are elsewhere. I did consider moving the sailing course in Ontario back some to get the boat earlier, but I don't like to bounce it around too much. If the course does get rescheduled, I think I will get the boat earlier as I feel less concerned about the Vermont infection rates. While I wait, I am assisting to get dingy docks built at the yacht club, and gardens sorted out in the yard. We would like to grow most of what we eat, and adopt a smaller footprint one step at a time. After all, we did move out to the country to live better, smaller and with more quality of life. Sailing of course fits right in with that motto. It will be good to get her home, although it will not be a quick trip. Three of us guys together for a few weeks should be fun. Eat too much, have a few tasty beverages, tell some tall tales along the way should make this a fun trip.

Well the world changes quickly and it has been a bit since I posted and....well, we're not doing all that now. So, when we decided we would attempt our aggressive plan during COVID, we knew some things would change. Then COVID ramped itself up again with the daily new case count in Ontario hitting nearly 4500 people. No, I won't be taking the boat there. I bumped my Dayskipper course with Topmast to July, as I should have the first vaccine by then. Suzanne is deciding if she will come. Staying home with gardens, the pool and a wine on the deck while watching the waves roll on the shore sounds like more fun than sitting in a camper with all the pets waiting for me to come home after course each day.I'll still get the boat home at some point this summer, hopefully taking it down the Hudson to New York, then up the coast to New Brunswick. Most likely it will stay on the hard in Saint John and not the Fredericton Yacht Club, where I will usually keep her. We are starting to warm up and starting another year of boating season, and we are hoping we will get at least some time on Untide. If not, I just may have to show up for our weekly race night just to be able to keep my sea legs. We continue on in crazy times and I think we are all tired and desire a return to any semblance of normality. My summer boating may just be motoring around in the dingy. 

Fair Winds,
Joe