So another hurdle is passed. In the end TS Henri juked to the east and weakened considerably. For those in Rhode Island with boats washed ashore or up on rocks, they’ll certainly disagree. For Atlas and our location in Connecticut, it wasn’t much to discuss. Some rain, some wind. Hardly something that necessitated 2 full days of prep and an enormous amount of consideration and consternation. But it was done. Another hurdle negotiated. I must say, again, how much I love my wife. We work so well together. Being together 20 years has taught us so much about ourselves and each other. When we’re facing something difficult, we know our roles. We’re supportive of one another. We work hard until the job is done. I dare say it’s fun. Regardless of how one describes it, I’ve certainly married a very capable woman and it’s great to be on the same team.

So now we’re able to look forward. We’ve been presented an extremely large bill from the marine yard to do, from my perspective, a really small amount of work. But I can’t say I’m surprised by this. Disappointed? Yes, but we’ll leave here with our generator working, though perhaps critically ill. We’ll address that later, with more willing/able/patient partners. So Atlas is in pretty good shape. I’m dying to polish the hull again but don’t have the energy to make this happen right now. We’re on to the next phase of our trip and it’s exciting.

After 10 days in a marina we’ll be leaving for Newport on Wednesday. We’re excited to meet up with some friends there but the visit will be short. Newport, while fun and scenic is much too posh for our young family and dog. We’re really excited to head to Martha’s Vineyard, a place Melissa and I have loved visiting in the past and we’re excited to introduce the boys to it and catch up with old friends. And with the generator now working we’ll be able to stay moored for as long as necessary, comfortably, which is a wonderful feeling.

From there we plan to sail directly to NYC (maybe) and spend a week there. The thought of a week in NYC with the boys is incredibly exciting to both Melissa and I. After NYC we’ll likely sail directly (maybe) to the Chesapeake and work our way up the Potomac to Washing D.C. where we hope to spend 3 or 4 days exploring and seeing the sites. After that it’s to Annapolis for the boat show. There we’ll meet up with KVP and her family and also, hopefully, finally, meet up with a bunch of kid boats. Our boys have been suffering and doing it really well. But they need some time with kids their own ages. Badly. They need to form some friendships. And this will be hard because we keep moving. Thankfully there are other families in the same situation and looking for the same outcomes, so with interests aligned we hope our boys make friends…soon.