i'm exhausted from all this character building

Lisa:

so it has been a very busy few weeks. leslie and i got here just over 2 weeks ago and i am astonished at the amount of headway i have seen happen. our boat and crew are really coming together. today we brought the boat over to the yard to have the mast pulled. as you've read, docking a 17 ton sail boat with a funny prop walk is quite the mission. just to throw a little more pressure on, carl's mom, dad and two friends were stopping by today to see the boat for the first time. don was at the helm and was guiding the bow in beautifully... then came the call from the dock "stern first". "ok!' gulp. round we go and don brings her in, overshoots just a little but with a little pull here and a tug there the guys on the dock help us stick the landing.  so we all start doing our part to help loosen the forestay, backstay, shrouds, etc.. then the big red crane pulls up and what seems to be a hundred yard hands, with otto taking charge, start prepping our girl to have her mast removed. leslie and i are at the ready with cameras. carl's father is watching knowingly, his mom a little nervously. and away we go! harry, the crane operator, gets her up and off without a problem. for tonight, at least, the mast will stay at the yard and they will check and address the pitting and corroding, but everyone seems optimistic (well, except andy, of course). now we motor back with the entire posse and don just crushes the docking. well done captain ron!
tomorrow we put the boat up on blocks to have the keel bolts checked and the mast step cleaned and repaired.  depending on who you ask (don or andy) we may be leaving as early as sunday or the start of march. but these past 2 weeks have been amazing. stitching cushion covers, measuring the amount of water each tank holds, setting up the galley, watching the boys interact, i am learning new things everyday and loving it. as don said last night "everything we do is because we HAVE to." i think that's pretty cool, but i'm exhausted.

The biz

"the FBI is gonna pay me to learn how to surf?!"

The Grodniks

Otto and the crew

and she's off

oh dear lord

seriously, stop that

Let's hope we never see it like this again

Spaz twins