A door closes...

and another one opens.
This will be the last update on this blog for a while. Walkure is presently enjoying a long overdue and well deserved rest. She is sitting "on the hard" in Driftwood Marina. Bev and I have moved aboard Queequeg, where we will be living for at least 6 months or so. Our current plans are to live and work on Queequeg until she is presentable and suitable for cruising. Walkure will remain in storage until we can afford to ship her north to serve as our "summer home" while we visit family. We are hoping that someone in the family will take an interest and help us maintain her in good shape. We have too much "sweat equity" invested in her to let her go.
For those of you who subscribe by way of Yahoo groups, you will no longer be getting automatic updates unless you sign up for the Yahoo group based on Queequeg's blog. To sign up, go to Queequeg's blog:

http://www.svqueequeg.blogspot.com/

Scroll part way down the page and look on the right hand side for the Yahoo Groups button. Enter your email address, click the button and follow the instructions for joining. The group is moderated, so I will have to approve your membership before you start to receive automatic updates.

Bev and I hope you have enjoyed reading about our adventures in Walkure. We have certainly enjoyed our time on board this unique vessel. But the time has come to move on. Queequeg will take us places that Walkure cannot, and get there a lot faster. Once repairs to Queequeg are complete, look for more of our adventures as we cruise the Bahamas and beyond.

Thanks,
Mike, Bev and Morgan

Morgan enjoys his morning coffee...

Well, not really, but he thinks he does. Actually, the cup is empty (parrots aren't supposed to drink coffee, but he always tries.)
It's been a busy few weeks since our return from KW. We've done a lot of cleaning and painting on Queequeg and we've rebuilt the subfloor and installed the new flooring in the aft stateroom, the galley and the nav station. We put down a temporary floor in the dining room pending other repairs. The bottom has been sanded, the prop polished and the new cutlass bearing installed. Once the bottom gets a fresh coat of paint, we'll be ready to launch.
It will be sad to leave Walkure, but it will be a joy to have the extra space. We definitely have mixed emotions about the move. But Queequeg will take us place Walkure could not (and vice versa.) We are hoping to keep both boats, but that decision will be dictated by finances.
For now, Walkure will take Queequeg's place "on the hard" in Driftwood Marina and Queequeg will take Walkure's place in the harbor. There's still a lot of work needed on Queequeg and it will be a pain in the a#* working on her while living aboard but again, finances dictate choices. Storing Walkure on the hard instead of Queequeg will save almost $100 a month, plus we won't have to take a cab back and forth every time we want to work on her. That alone saves $15 a day. So...working while living aboard is the only choice.
Our ultimate hope is that we can hold out until my Social Security kicks in. Then we will truck Walkure somewhere north to use in the summers, and keep Queequeg south for the winters. Again, money will tell the tale.
Be sure to check the Queequeg blog for the latest pictures of our progress.