Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Wayne, may you rest in peace

My stepdad, Wayne McGill, had an accident and passed away on 4 October 2010. Even though he had 4 grown kids of his own when he and my mother married, he opened his heart and his home to her 6 grown children. Wayne was much more to me than a second father, he was a wonderful friend to me and Bobby. When Bobby's building was blown up in Saudi Arabia, I lived with my mother and Wayne until Bobby found a job in the U.S. The night I flew in from Riyadh, Wayne's favorite horse Candy had her second foal. I couldn't sleep and happened to look towards the pasture and saw a streak of roan and white. Wayne thought I was playing an April Fool's joke on him and almost didn't get out of bed. Imagine my surprise when he let me name her. Wayne spent countless hours in the mall parking lot teaching me how to drive the truck and horse trailer so my sister-in-law, Patti, and I could take the horses trail riding anytime we wanted. He and my mother flew out to Virginia and helped us remodel a kitchen, then we went out on the Chesapeake Bay and caught a mess of striped bass. Wayne and I fished and went trail riding every chance we got, ate hamburgers in the local greasy spoon, coconut shrimp at Red Lobster, and pie and coffee anywhere and anytime we could get away with it. We played tricks on and told stories about each other, played a lot of cards, and thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. Wayne made a sign that read "Lesley's home away from home" and propped it up next to his pop-up camper. Overnight visitors were teasingly warned not to overstay their welcome; the threat of brown sugar in the sugarbowl meant it was time for them to go home. One of my last trips to Colorado I made Wayne a coconut cream pie, his favorite, from scratch. I didn't get a chance to make him one last pie, but I see him every time I tell one of our stories, and he's smiling.

Lesley


Saturday, October 16, 2010

Ready to return to Grenada


We loaded up the truck yesterday and headed to Miami to deliver our 2010 shipment of boat parts and supplies to Grenada. The trip over was uneventful (unlike last year) and everything is staged for departure on the vessel Tropic Unity (Tropical Shipping) on 21 October. The warehouse folks in Miami were very surprised at the weight of our "small" barrel - weighed 243 pounds - anchor chain.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

US Sailboat Show


We had a great time at the show in Annapolis staying aboard Hayden and Radeen's IP35.

I did not take the camera with me but Hayden got a picture of a friend who dropped by!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Eastern Shore

I forgot the camera so just doing text blogs for now.

We stayed with friends Buzz and Cheryl on the Eastern shore for 10 days and had a great visit - Lesley had lots of quality time with their dogs and we got to help power wash the decks and do some computer maintenance. Lots of good food, beverage and company.

We also got to have dinner with friends Reuben and Mollie while on the Eastern Shore.

Moved over to Swan Creek yesterday afternoon and moved aboard Island Packet 35 Island Spirit. Radeen fixed a nice lunch and we got the low down on systems aboard from Hayden and Radeen. Bumped into friends on another IP - CAVU, Ron and Maryanne, and had pizza with them and sat around talking till late in the night.

Left Rock Hall this morning (4 Oct) about 10:00 AM and headed for Annapolis. Windy - 30 knots on average with gusts to 40, sloppy swells, and rain/mist all the way over. Once we crossed under the Bay Bridge things settled down some and the trip up Spa Creek, where we tied up to a mooring ball, was fine. Got thru the Spa Creek drawbridge at 1:30 PM took the mooring and Lesley made grilled cheese sammies with pickles and potato chips.

Hanging out now taking it easy and trying to adjust to the cold (55 degree) temperatures!