Changing seasons, getting ready to go, and my birthday   Leave a comment

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Back to Mohegan Bluffs on Block Island

It is definitely fall in Maine. Summer ended right on schedule and cool, drizzly weather set in. We’ve had a couple days of indian summer but most days are chilly. The leaves on the trees are changing. This is the first New England fall I’ve experienced! It’s incredible how little patches and edges of trees turn bright red, orange, or pale yellow. The color creeps over the tree as the days pass. The summer produce is gone from the farm stands and pumpkins are showing up everywhere. Transition is in the air!
Pirat is in transition as well. She’s still out of the water, without a transmission, without an auto pilot, and waiting for new bottom paint. The transmission is on it’s way back from Florida this week but who knows what’s going on with our auto pilot. All I can say is never buy a hydraulic auto pilot from Simrad and seriously think about any other Simrad purchase you might make. Lee discovered that our auto pilot was poorly engineered in one very important way: no pressure relief valve. That means temperature increases cause hydraulic fluid expansion, burst gaskets, and leakage. The unit was quitting because it was low on fluid. The Simrad service center out here first sent out unit back, claiming there was nothing wrong with it. ugh. Lee spent all of last week on the phone trying to convince these guys the thing was leaking, He sent pictures. He did research. It was ridiculous. We sent it in a second time. Hopefully they replace at least part of it. After that, Lee plans to install a pressure relief valve himself.
Meanwhile, we’re trying to get everything in order to leave in mid-October (I know! So soon!). Lee is ordering spare parts, a new AIS radio, and various tools. I’m trying to pare down my possessions even more than I did when we first moved out here. We’re getting all our doctor’s appointments taken care of, stocking up on prescriptions, reading up on our passage south, checking the weather, and dreaming about Caribbean sunsets. The current plan is to sail south along the coast in little hops.
Hop #1: Maine to Cape Cod (hopefully to visit some family there)
Hop #2: mini-hop to RI to get some quick sail fixes done.
Hop #3: RI to Cape May, NJ (going farther than before)
Hop #4: Cape May to somewhere in the southern mouth of Chesapeake Bay (Ugh, back there again. At least it won’t be hot this time.)

After that it’s all new territory! I can’t wait to stop and see Sarah (who is Digging Down South) and Derek in North Carolina! Everything south of where we’ve been before is an exotic locale in my mind.

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The 3 Magnussons body surfing.

Since my last post, I believe, we all spent a week on Block Island down in RI. It was kind of a celebration for my 25th birthday but also just an excuse to go to Block Island, where Lee’s family spent a lot of time when he was growing up. My mom flew out and we trickled out to the island on various ferries. The parents (as Lee calls them) rented a house with a great view. We spent the week at the beach, hiking the island, eating tasty food, relaxing, and socializing. Lee windsurfed on an extremely windy day. The weather was beautiful but a bit chilly. We only had one really warm beach afternoon. There was a huge storm one night that lit up our room with lightening and shook the house with thunder. It was intense but really fun!
Lee’s brother and his 2 kids came on the second weekend, at the end of our stay. Noah’s birthday is also in September so he and I celebrated together on my birthday. Noah helped me make a cake (from a Trader Joes package), which was really fun. I guess I like cooking with kids! We both got good stuff for our birthdays. Lee schlepped a foam roller (for rolling on to give yourself a massage) from the mainland. It’s soooooo wonderful! Lee’s parents got me the new yoga mat I wanted. It’s really nice to practice on an authentic ashtanga mat. My mom got me some aptly chosen odds and ends and an Athleta gift card. Yay! Lee also got me a pressure cooker, which I’d been wanting, but that was waiting back in Maine. I cleaned up! I promise more Block pics when I can get my hands on Lee’s mom’s camera card. She took most of the pictures.

I’ll leave you with an invitation to visit my new blog. I’ve started a cooking blog (for real this time) called MuffinEgg. Lee and I came up with the idea when we were talking about my favorite thing to bake (muffins) and his favorite thing to eat (egg sandwiches). We decided they would make great fare for a cafe. For now they’re the central theme of my mostly baking oriented blog. Yep, the blogging world has me hooked.

Posted September 28, 2010 by Rachel in Uncategorized

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