[For the purpose of this blog my definition for a “vignette” is – “A series of photos, complimented with a short story, to give viewers/ readers the sense of the current life and times of the crew of Flapdoodle.”]

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Many document worthy events have passed since I last blogged. There have been a number of inquiries as to when another blog might be appearing. I can assure you that many a blog has been documented in thought and photograph, but not reached the publishing stage. In order to fill in the time gap I will try to put together a number of vignettes to update the picture of our progress. These may come over a number of blogs. They may not necessarily arrive in order. For some of you it may be old news. If so, I hope you enjoy revisiting with me and my blog followers. I could make excuses like- “I have been too busy getting Flapdoodle ready for her adventures to take time to type on the computer.” or –“My social life is so out of control, I have no time to create blogs” or- “A shark ate my phone and computer, leaving me incapable of communicating.” They may all have partial truths; but one thing for sure is that as Harry and I get closer to the day that we let go of the bowlines and truly set sail on adventures on the deep, blue sea and beyond, blog writing is a great way of procrastinating, instead of attending to alternative activities I find boring, difficult, or frustrating.

Indeed the writing and reflecting on past events does remind me that we have actually been fitting a lot into our lives and that we have many experiences , events, and life opportunities to be thankful for.

It is well known that when sailing one should not be tied to a schedule. Trying to reach a certain destination on a certain date can cause sailors to make rash, dangerous decisions. One has to instead be able to go with the weather opportunities provided, in order to be safe and happy. We however keep playing the game of trying to set some limits and deadlines. Sometimes Harry says he is going to retire when he is 60. That was on October 1st of this year. That opportunity has passed. Sometimes we think we will set sail when we have everything complete on List A, B and some of C. This may never happen, so we might have to have something not complete or placed on yet another waiting list. Another thought is to go to Mexico during the season that is most likely to not present with cyclonic/ hurricane influences. That would mean leaving preferably in November. As the stars align the real departure date is getting closer. I am not sure that it would be an easily predictable date. The ‘bookies’ could make a fortune on the guessing of the actual day we head to Mexico. It is easy to feel defeated at times, when the date we thought we would move on has passed. It can be disheartening when interested, well-meaning friends ask when we are leaving many a time, because we have talked about it so much; but it simply hasn’t materialized. With those thoughts in mind I just want to say the truth is it is really getting closer. And, “Yes!” it may have been easier if we had built our own boat, as slowly we seem to be replacing every system that was on the boat at the time of purchase.

“A ship in port is safe; but that is not what ships are built for.” –John Augustus Shedd [FYI Harry reads this as we best get going, and I read it as it is not safe out there. That is a debate for another time.]

“There is nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worth doing as simply messing around in boats.” Kenneth Grahame [I think the messing around can happen on many a figurative boat . Others who are landlubbers all have their ways of discovering their own “boats” to mess with.]

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So look forward to some “Vignettes” in the not too distant future.

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