How to Survive and Enjoy the Winter While Waiting for Boating Season

October, November and December are filled with anticipation and holiday events making the weeks fly by. Family and friends, festivities and food all bring joy and happiness during the season. And then comes January……. and February….and March…….. a time for hunkering down, reading, weaving, and binging films and series.

We all know that Al must stay busy during the winter months. Without major boat projects to work on he will get antsy and potentially sell our boat and buy another.  History has proven that is what happens. Our Kadey Krogen 39 is in such good shape that there is little to improve. Just maintenance. I do believe we finally have our last boat so I worry much less about his need to fix/improve/upgrade (“watsonize”) a boat. Winters are now for land projects. Last winter he had the kitchen in Milford to remodel, rescued their front porch in the fall, and this January he built a beautiful wall unit/fireplace surround for the Canton clan.

Ever heard of “Ice Cream for Breakfast Day?” How could we, ice cream aficionados that we are, not indulge in this national event? How could we, ice cream aficionados that we are, not have known about this day before???? Never heard of it!! Tall Man’s Ice Cream was the only place near us that celebrated “Ice Cream for Breakfast Day” on February 3^rd. Oh yeah, we went!

Our family Valentine’s Day celebration was a warm day between the January and February snowfalls.

I discovered the most adorable stop-action film – Marcel the Shell With Shoes On finally arrived on NETFLIX. Marcel is a shell so, of course, I was drawn to it. Al and I watched it and then we decided to watch it again with Caleb and Ceci when they were here overnight. Looking for something fun to do the next day, I thought why not make our own Marcels?

A basement hunt unearthed three perfect shells in my stash of shells, plus googlie eyes, paint, brushes, and wiki sticks for the green surrounding the eye. There were three pairs of Ken doll shoes from my old Barbie doll stuff (yeah, I still have some of it.) that we painted. Worked perfectly.

We had such spontaneous fun!

In the midst of all of this fun with family, hikes, and house projects, Al found a new boat project, of course! We have had solar panels on our boats for over 20 years. They are an integral part of the boat’s energy systems, even though the do depend on sunshine in the right direction (“Watsonizing – Let the Sun Shine!“) It’s that “right direction” part that often frustrates Al when the solar panels on top of the pilot house are shaded by the bimini on the flybridge.

Back when we spent those two winters in the Bahamas, Al remembered how our friend, Sam, had a solar panel that he moved all around the boat to catch the best rays the sun could provide. “Channeling” Sam, Al researched foldable and stowable solar panels that he could set up in the right position for the sun when the main panels were shaded.

And then back to more family time! We made a road trip to Pennsylvania to visit with my sister and sister-in-law (not photos) and then on to Delaware to see Al’s daughter, Alicia and family.

Al’s birthday was the week before Easter this year, which was quite early.

We spent Easter Sunday hiking with friends at Chatfield Hollow State Park.

On April 8th, a total solar eclipse, known as the “Great North American Eclipse,” traced a narrow path of totality across 13 U.S. states. It was the first total solar eclipse to move across the continent since 2017 and was the world’s longest land-based solar eclipse in over a decade.

Tim and Amanda trekked across the country from Oregon to the east coast in their camper truck to see the eclipse in its totality in Indiana. We totally enjoyed a visit with them while they passed through Connecticut. We spent a day in Essex at the Safe Harbor Marina for the first in-water boat show in New England for 2024. Half of the proceeds were given to Sails Up 4 Cancer. Their mission statement is “SU4C is a non-profit organization dedicated to funding education, prevention, care, and cure for all types of cancer through the art and enjoyment of sailing.”  Sound like a perfect fit for us since we are sailors and have both had cancer. The show included both sail and power and we had an enjoyable day exploring the boats. We left knowing that we love our boat and did not see anything that would suit us better.

And that brings us to the end of April. It’s time to get that boat launched! (Spoiler Alert – We launched on April 29th!)