Shore leave ...

We've been on shore leave for the past month, spending a week in California to celebrate my daughter's birthday, visit bay area friends, and even spend a night on Dog Days.  The night aboard provided a mishap, as Pen fell down the companionway steps and badly bruised her shoulder and cracked a rib or two.  As she put it: "Two months on Alizee and being banged around mightily on offshore passages, and I get hurt in calm waters at the marina."  Well, she's on the mend, but it's taking time and isn't very comfortable.

On our return to Florida, we only had a day or two and then drove up to Sugar Mountain, just a few miles from Boone, North Carolina, where we spent Thanksgiving week in Pen's sister's time-share at the top of the mountain.  During the course of the trip, my distant cousin Irma Sohnchen drove over from High Point, about three hours away, and we had our first face-to-face meet.  She is a delight, and we had a wonderful lunch down at a barbecue place in Boone.




                                                                        

Pen was counting on snow for Thanksgiving Day,and she wasn't disappointed.  It snowed late in the afternoon, and the next morning, following a night of 50+ mile-an-hour winds, the snow on the trees had frozen into ice, giving us a truly wonderful visual experience.

We're now back in Florida, and I'm starting to organize work on Alizee to get her ready for us to set out for the Keys and Bahamas in late-January.