Work's a Four-Letter Word
Well, I have been threatening to do it for the last couple of years, but I have had the amazing opportunity to ease into retirement early and sail a couple of semi-sabbaticals while working part time in my old job. But July 31 was my official last day of work!
Having said that, working through all the health care mess has been a full-time job in itself. Suffice it to say there's a lot of cr@p out there and at least in our situation, the so called "Affordable Health Care Act" is abysmal, and anything but affordable. So for now, we are moving ahead with COBRA - which is also pitifully expensive.
This will be a very short post as many projects are calling. But, yes, I can't believe it, I pulled the plug and this is the first time in my life that I have been "unemployed" since being 15 years old. Its a strange feeling! So what has been keeping me busy? - well here's a quick outline:
Purchasing Midnight Sun III (Lagoon 40)
I have been working through all the logistics of getting ready remotely for an Atlantic Crossing on a new boat we have not seen yet. Thinking through power and propane issues using a boat set up for the US in Europe......to mention a few things!. Ordering a downwind sail and trying to figure out what the various "packages" we added on to the boat really include. And France closes down about now for summer!!!
Fleet Captain at Point YC
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| Race Start |
I now have two regattas under my belt as Fleet Captain, and absolutely understand why this is the hardest job at a yacht club! However, I do think its fair to say that our little yacht club had two successful events - the last one being Fast Women 2018, the culmination of the Ladies Trilogy Cup sponsored by Point YC, Pensacola Beach YC, and Navy YC. Eleven boats raced and it was a wonderful day on the water. Here are a few pics
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| Madcap - J30 |
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| Albert J. Rice - Viper |
Boat Projects
B-O-A-T.....Bring on another thousand!....yes, the front AC quit on Midnight Sun II (Hunter) quit. After a day of messing with it I decided the compressor had locked and despite jolting it with high current - it would not start. So I pulled it out and sent it back to the manufacturer - Ocean Breeze. They fixed it, and returned it to me pretty quickly (new compressor). I re-installed it....it worked for an hour and sprung a leak discharging all the refrigerant. So tomorrow I get to take it out and send it back to them. Hmmm..not impressed with their repair and warranty so far as they say they will not cover shipping on a $800 repair that doesn't work. Since I am now on a fixed income, I will have to press that one with them. Stay tuned!
