I love this duck picture taken by Ben (all these were taken by Ben)... Is the duck fluffing? shakin' out the water from its ear? tipsy from the water? or just plain dancing for joy for being a duck? what do  you all think?

I also love the osprey around here! look at the wings on this picture!

next this is the Cricket's home for now. We made progress again! Mike showed up and did a lot of the wiring except for the cockpit unit cuz we are a bit stuck... the safety bar is the thing you hang on to when you are at the wheel and need a hold... that is where the chart plotter is going and we need to pull it up off the floor. ha ha ha easier said than done! one side came right up and the other side is totally stuck. not good... we shall wake up in the morning with a new day a dawning on us and the foot piece will come off so sweetly!

Remember last year with the electrical ... meaning the batteries were bad.  Welp they are still bad. we were thinking just go and buy two new big honkin batteries and install them, finally a plug and play operation that Ben and I can do successfully! right? until Mike says, "your AC converter is old... does it still work?"  "ahhh yes but the batteries are bad."  "The old inverter probably caused the batteries to be bad"  "WHAT?" we would have bought new batteries and them fail again within one year.  So we are going to budget next year for "power" put the solar panels up, maybe a wind generator and new batteries but for this year like last year we will go without refrigeration again.  All the more reason to get ice cream when we are in port! yumm!

I been thinkin' lately... welp we are in the boat yard and we hear about all the trouble boats have. how is it anyone gets anywhere. I had omitted an event that had taken me by surprise a few weeks ago when we were all on a boat anchored in the bay When All-of-a-sudden the thunder boomed and crack a boat in the yard was hit by lightning! it was on the hard and next to our boat, luckily we did not have a mast at that time. (good thing or God thing). In the BWCA we know to come ashore or don't touch metal etc... but here this boat that got hit... the lightning made a hole clear through the hull!!! yikes I can't tell you all this. yup one other boater said they onetime were in an anchorage and the boat next to them got hit... they called the coast guard cuz no one was on the boat, the coast guard was the wrong people to call... I think... but the next morning the only thing showing was the mast. oh my! sure enough here we saw a boat with a spider crack hole about 6 inchs spread out like a spiderweb.  then my mind went to... hummm how will we make it around the world? crazy! most people tell me we are crazy but those people have never done it before. Plus everything we do on the boat is for our lifes well being... or so it seems... so making little decisions on the boat seem so big sometimes. But then I was looking at the many boats on the hook/anchored... they raise their country flag... French, New Zealand, Austraila, etc... just right here.  How did they get here? by boat.... a sailboat.  Thor (a sailor in the 50's made it on a raft for miles and miles and months.... amazing) When I take a deep breath and look around me... I get inspired. We can do this one day at a time. one trip at a time. one decision at a time.  I have to admit We have a lot to learn, but learn it we can. We just met a man - he and his wife spent 7 years in Hawaii and around in that area and sailed the boat back to here.  there are many cute adorable couples that are way older than we are that seem to get around. they all say, sail safe, watch the weather as best you can, think twice. With that I will leave you with inspiration... God is good! And we are well blessed! amen