The 2019 Adventure

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Ahoy friends! Welcome back aboard Second Star!

If you followed our sailing tales last year, you'll remember we drove to Maine to pick up our new 38ft catamaran from the builder and sailed her home down the New England coast, through the East River in NYC, down the New Jersey Coast to the Delaware Bay, through the C&D Canal and down the Chesapeake Bay.  We visited some lovely harbors with lighthouses, seals, puffins and lobsters. We had Cape Cod all to ourselves during a tropical storm, fought the battles of the ticks and biting black flies and little boys with fishing poles. Lois overcame her fear of NYC (well, almost!) by fortifying her courage with Peanut M&Ms.  Our dog, Shelby, pretty much slept through the entire trip.

This year's plan is to take July, August & September of 2019 to sail Second Star back to Maine, spend some time roaming Maine's coast, and sail home again. The timing was planned to sail north to escape the worst of the summer heat in Virginia, but so far it's been a cool & rainy summer here.  Regardless it will be a delightful time to be sailing.  Anticipation is building as we gather provisions, plan potential places to visit and watch the long range weather forecast.

We've been  busy over the last year with various boat projects. Lois sewed a set of bug screens that cover the companionways down to the galley on port & our bunk on starboard.  Another set of insulating cloth covers will keep the heat in during winter and save the air conditioned coolness in summer.


Brent is now a certified, bonafied, and licensed captain. He completed all the requirements and slayed the bureaucratic red tape of the US Coast Guard to check that box on his retirement bucket list. Congratulations, Captain!

In fall 2018 Hurricane Michael brushed our home on the Northern Neck of Virginia and blew down two very large trees in our yard- an oak and a black walnut. A friend who has a sawmill ripped them into lumber for us.  Brent used some of the boards to make a very nice chair for our helm. Until now we'd been using a backless stool that was from my high school physics lab- a real antique!

Another of Brent's winter projects was sewing an asymmetrical spinnaker sail  (think the big colorful balloon-y sails you see in paintings). The main sail and jib are good for most winds, but don't propel the boat well when the wind is low and/or coming from directly behind the boat. That's when we'll raise the spinnaker. We're still learning to use it efficiently, but have already enjoyed it on short trips on the river. 

We are looking forward to slipping off the dock the last week in June, and will be happy to have you join us via this blog. Look for more regular posts to begin around July 1st.

-Brent & Lois
Second Star

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