Catching up....

Finally, a day when I'm not traveling and can take the time to tidy and clean. When you're pulling ten to twelve hour days on a boat trying to outrun the snow and cold, things get out of place, cleaning doesn't get done as regularly as it should. And it doesn't make it any easier when you're on the canal and you have to carry your sails inside the boat - there's just that much less room.
Tonight, the boat is again clean and tidy - it really is and I'm hoping it will last, although I know someone who is shaking her head and wondering about this. Perhaps I should include video? After all the effort, the lock keeper let those of us at the dock know that he would open his building for - be still my trembling heart - hot showers!
Oh yea! The only way that shower could have been better is if an attractive woman had been involved....you know, the cleanliness is next to Godliness thing? What, you thought I had something other than good clean fun in mind? Perish the thought......oh, do I see a hand raised there? Step this way, bring a towel....and don't drop the soap!
Yesterday, I mentioned the guy who was rowing his sailboat down the canal? Ben and I (and Blue and Aduana too) had dinner here on Gypsy Wind tonight and I got more of the story - rather than tell it here, check out this newspaper story - it's quite the adventure. Here's a photo of Ben and Blue...

Ben and Blue on Junkyard Dog, a 21 foot Westerly - photo © WayneCountyLife.com

Tomorrow, it's laundry, groceries, some boat work, and then Sunday, head for the Catskills and the Hop o Nose Marina (yep, that's its real name), to get the mast stepped (put back up for you landlubbers). From there, it's down the Hudson towards New York and the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. 
And I'll tell you now, if there is even the slightest breeze while I'm on my way through there, you can start looking for me in New Mexico, driving an RV, yessir!