Andante

1990 Caliber 38, Hull 24

What Have I Done? That, my friend, is the question. You would think that after owning two boats and working a lifetime as an economist I would understand some simple facts of life. Woe is me: I am a slow learner. The plan is to retire in spring 2012, sell my house and put the realized equity toward my daughter's college education, then chase the sunset. Think about it. If I work it right then I won't have to endure any more cold, wet winters.

The BLOG of the sailing vessel Andante, starting with October 2012. Or pick a month from the following list: November 2012, December 2012, January 2013, February 2013, March 2013, April 2013, May 2013, June 2013

The BLOG continues: October 2013, November 2013, December 2013, January 2014, February 2014, March 2014, April 2014, May 2014

A Journey to Maine 2015

The adventure continues for another season in the Bahamas.  Departing Rock Hall October 2015 and back to Rock Hall by some time in June 2016. Visit the blog from the table below:

2015 October November December
2016 January February March
April May June

I am not the only Caliber owner heading south for 2012-2013. With the assistance of another owner I have started to put together a spreadsheet with the particulars of other owners; click here.

Now that I am back in Rock Hall I have assembled a page of links to the web sites or facebook pages of those with whom I spent the cruising season in 2012 - 2013.

Trip Home: The Voyage from St Petersburg, FL to Rock Hall, MD.

Projects finished in 2011 in Preparation for Running Away; er, that would be retirement.

Projects finished in 2012 and an accidental movie.

Projects in 2013

Added a Pioneer media control head. This piece of electronics plays CDs and DVDs, has blue tooth, outputs the DVD to a TV, is an AM/FM radio and has a USB port. It has proven to be a great addition.

Projects in 2014

In 2014 I refinished the cabin sole, the companionway steps and sections of the nearby bulkhead. I added a remote microphone so that it is easier to use the VHF from the helm. This summer I had the stainless bow sprit tubing remanufactured to replace the one damaged the previous fall in Florida. A friend in the marina was able to restore the teak anchor platform. Summer of 2014 also saw my first pass at rectifying the rudder problem I found on my return to Florida from the Bahamas in May.

Projects completed in 2015:

Boarding ladder treads, exterior teak, foil backed foam board insulation in the refrigerator, A second pass at the upper rudder bearing.

Putting a new mast in the boat, summer 2012.

Planned Interior Modifications: Vanity Drawers and Galley Shelf. The galley shelf was done in 2012, but instead of the drawers I did a cabinet. You can see these on my 2012 projects page.

Chesapeake Bay Scenes

To take a look at an index of my other sailing adventures click here.

To take a look at my career as a university professor and scholar click here. You can also find links to my efforts as an amateur competitive cyclist at the bottom of the table of contents frame on that page.

One of the blogs that I follow is Bumfuzzle.   Pat recently wrote an essay about the thousands of sailing blogs  now online, their near invisible following and their common mistakes.  All I can say is that I started my sailing blog long ago, I am proud of my meager number of followers, and I shall persist in the common mistakes made by bloggers.  You could read his essay about bloggers and see if I would get a passing grade.

Testing FP and Adobe