Cape Cod

Well, folks, we're here. In Plymouth, MA actually. We're here for Bev's son Matt who graduates Sunday from UMASS Dartmouth.
We have a few little bits of news.
First, I think we've settled on a name for "that bird." Combining suggestions from some of our readers, my daughter included, we decided on "Barnacle Bill Buffett." That way we can call him Barney when he's behaving, or Mr. Buffett when he's not. And what's more "salty sailorish" that Barnacle Bill? (There's even a bit of double entendre with the "bill." Get it?)
Also, we sent a fax to Phil Bolger who lives in Gloucester, about 2 hours drive from here. He's the guy who designed my boat. He invited us up to his home to visit with him next Friday so we can talk about the boat, show him pictures of our trip, etc. Wow! How cool is that?

The bird, the play and other things

Here's a shot of the bird (still unnamed) perched on the computer, checking my spelling. (LOL). He still has no name, but I am leaning toward "Paintball" as he looks like someone popped him with a paintball gun. Bev is leaning toward "Speedbump." Please vote on what name you think is better.

The play had its last performance Sunday afternoon. It was sad to see the set taken down. That little town had been a second home for us for two months, now it's gone. It was a ton of fun doing the show. Even Bev managed to get her name into the program as the official "backstage" person. She really did a good job making sure all the actors had the appropriate props before they went on stage.

We had a cast party at the Producer's (Jim Tobin) condo. Rumor is he made his money as a financial advisor for a former US President. He won't say. But he does own the penthouse apartment in his complex and his walls are decorated with paintings done by Picaso's last living student.

I've spend the last two days repairing a small spot of delamination on the bow. I think some moisture had gotten in behind the patch I put on after the attack of the angle iron at Oswego Lock #3. As of now I've got the small patch of rot carved out, the hole filled, glassed and two coats of epoxy on. If I can get one more coat on this afternoon, I should be able to sand and paint tomorrow.

We're also packing for our trip north. We will be going up to Cape Cod for Bev's middle son's graduation for UMASS Dartmouth. After a graduation party and some visits with her family, we will head to NY so I can retrieve some stuff from my storage locker, renew the contract, visit folks, etc. We will be gone from the boat for 2 weeks. We've arranged with the crews of two other boats to watch over the bird while we're gone. It will be weird to live on land after living aboard for a whole year.

I've included a few pics of the cast party, and the scene backstage on the last day of the play.

A visit from my son, the play and other things

Last week my son, Mike and his girlfriend Kari came to visit. The saw the play on "Friends and Family" night. We tried to go out for a sail, but smoke from the fires in Georgia was so thick, there were marine warnings posted. Visibility was down to about a quarter mile. We had a nice visit anyway.
We spent a day at the beach, went to the farmer's market and the Dali museum and spent some time on the boat hanging out and talking. I hadn't seen him in nearly a year, so it was good to have a visit, even if it was too short.
The play officially opened on Thursday. We had shows on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Crowds have been thin so far, except for Saturday. The people who have seen it have all said they enjoyed it. We have one more week of shows. It has been a blast, and it will be sad to close the show next Sunday and strike the set. We will miss cast and crew.
After the show Sunday afternoon, the marina folks had another pot luck dinner. Some folks we met in Pensacola, Alan and Lynette, finally made it here. They've been trying to get a spot at this marina for several years and finally one opened up for them.

Scapino dress rehearsal

Here are a few pics from the full-dress rehearsal on Sunday.

Gulfport Community Players

Here's the link to the official website for the Gulfport Community Players

Check it to see some more photos of the cast in costume.

Scapino!

OK, dear readers, here are the first few shots of Scapino, taken on stage at the theater at a non-dress rehearsal.

The set is not quite finished, but major construction and painting are done. We've started using props, but we don't have our first full dress rehearsal until tonight.

Please note that these pics are in reverse order, the end of the play is first. I'll try to post some of the dress rehearsal tomorrow.

Parade, Jim Morris and a bird.

Well, yesterday was certainly an eventful day.
We went with our friends Julie and Tim to a parade in Clearwater. It seems that every year they have a "Fun in the Sun" parade to kick off the summer season and the end of "Snowbird" season. The floats were quite elaborate and the marchers all threw strings of beads to the spectators in the fashion of Mardi Gras.
After the parade we hitched a ride with one of the marchers over to a new club that had its grand opening. Jim Morris and Sunny Jim were there performing. I've been a fan of Jim Morris for a while, but hadn't really followed Sunny Jim. I liked the songs they both did, and bought a CD from each. They autographed them and we had pictures taken with them.
It seems that "trop rock" appeals to folks of all ages. This 86 years-young lady was dancing up a storm all night with Bev and our new friend Sandi.
On the way to the parade our friend Tim spotted a cockatiel struggling to get out of the way of an SUV. He didn't make it and was hit by the car. Tim stopped and picked up the bird. It was shaken up, and had a scratch on the side of his head, but was otherwise not seriously hurt. Bev and I had been talking about getting a bird, so we decided to adopt him. He sat on my shoulder for a long time and ate chex mix (all we had at the time) out of my hand.
Now we have to give him (her?) a name. So we decided to leave it up to you, dear reader, to suggest some names. We will be taking him (her) to the vet this week for a check up and hopefully get the gender right. In the mean time, start thinking of a name.