Yearly Archives: 2026

Eve of departure

Reflection went into the water almost two weeks ago. We launched with everything from the gunnels down polished, waxed, or painted. Every system gone through, but still a lot of work remaining.  The new dodger that Marcia made needed to be fitted, twist & turns and lift-the-dots marked, punched and set. The sails needed to be installed, tweaked and furled away. Go home taking one load off, pick up the last load. Friday’s list - 14 items checked off, four inflatable personal flotation devices (pfd’s) checked. Green, green, green. RED. Marcia’s wouldn’t have worked. (Did we check it last year? We can’t remember.) We need new ones shipped in. I can get some delivered tomorrow. Amazon Locker Whiskey here at the marina. And they won’t deliver it to the locker (because explosive?) . Rose and Dave are home, we get it shipped there…

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Getting our ship together

Thursday May 28: Four dock cart loads. Three backpacks of clothes - everything from 40ºF to 90ºF - flannel lined jeans and long underwear, to swimsuit and t-shirts. Provisioned with shelf stable and canned goods, to fresh vegetables and meat. We’ll have to hand carry everything when we restock. Half the boat lockers have been rearranged. I even made an interior plan, gave each locker and cubby a letter from A to N, made a spreadsheet for an inventory of everything that isn’t clothes or food. It all fit. Mostly. Sent the electric coffee pot and power washer home with Tim. There he goes, we’re on our own now.  No car in the parking lot for us. What’s left to do: Wash, polish and wax the cockpit. Keep stowing stuff into the aft lockers. Go aloft to check the rig. Check the shroud…

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Oh, those sailboats are so pretty! or What happens when the boat is out of the water.

October 15, 2025: Reflection is hauled out of the water. Mixed emotions. Sailing season ends, but time frees up for land activities. For Harold, that meant cardiac rehab. Testing out the heart repairs to be sure everything works correctly, don’t want a problem next season. But still, no more sailing. It’ll be seven long dark Michigan winter months until Reflection floats again.And there’s the repair and maintenance projects. And there’s the improvement projects.Making a spreadsheet to track what needs to be ordered and what vendor has it for the best price and who is the most reliable. We want to replace the dodger windows. Install a mainsheet clutch. Be able to charge the dinghy electric motor battery from our solar system. Fix the seepage from the holding tank and install a locking valve - no sewage into the clean lakes. The anchor windlass…

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