week 10 home for Christmas

This is a pretty park on the waterfront in Beaufort SC

You can see the marina in the background

Yes those are poinsettias planted with the pansies

Update.....for the last 2 weeks the short of it

The weather cold and wind held us up for a week so in the end we decided to stay put in SC as the calendar was catching up with us. The marina was nice enough to deduct our daily rate for the last week from the monthly saving us big bucks. FYI if you stay say 10 days at a marina (or so) it equates to what a month would cost. When we left SC it was 70 degrees the warmest in 2 weeks.

So now SweetPea is in SC and we rented a car for 2 weeks and are in Ma for Christmas. And wouldn't you know we arrive home to the first real snow of the season (go figure). Tis the season and lots to do, luckily Ashley and I put the tree up at Thanksgiving and did some shopping for gifts then as well. I also did alot of online shopping from the boat and shopped at shops that ship.

Jim and I will be hosting Christmas dinner so still tons to do. Tonight we are going out to the Sandbar a local pub to see our friend who is the piano man there, so it Christmas music and cheer!

Jim just got the computer back from the Apple store so here are some pictures........

Day58 Charleston SC

Entering Charleston Harbour

Homes on the ICW

Downtown Charleston

Beautiful home on the waterway to Charleston

SO peaceful and beautiful in every direction

as far as the eye can see

Just SweetPea and this view !

We have been in Charleston for a couple of days and it is really nice here, lots to do and most of my Christmas shopping is done. We are at the Harbourage at Ashley Marina in downtown it is nice to have use of a courtesy van to pick us up and drop us off. It is very strange to us to see all the holiday decoration and palm trees, just something we are not use too. It has been quite cool here about 20 degrees cooler than the, norm tomorrow promises to be in the 60's so we will head out and continue further south. Beaufort SC is the next stop then after that we will be in Savannah Georgia, (Saturday) the weatherman is saying it should be 70 degrees we shall see. Our internet connection still is not great and we are having trouble with the Apple computer so again pictures will have to wait.

Day 56 Georgetown SC

Yes! We finally moved, we traveled 55miles and are now in Georgetown, tomorrow we move on to Charlestown SC. Due to the Coooolllld and the calendar we will just be making pit-stops (1 nightstands) till we reach Florida. We will be in the sunshine state Thursday hopefully. It was brrrrrrr today and more of the same tomorrow, at least the sun is shining but the wind is howlin too. The internet connection is not the best so pictures will be added with tomorrows post.

Day 54? Myrtle Beach

We have been back from our trip home for Thanksgiving. Hel....lo baby its cold outside. AS we now prepare ourselfs and the boat to move on down the waterway, we are rethinking our travel plans. We will travel south in search of warmer weather that we know. But where is our next destination? Further south to ports unknown. I guess we will know when we get there. Stay Tuned!
Jim got his new anchor today and will install it tomorrow, now we can anchor out and hopefully sleep on the hook. Options are a good thing. We are planning on leave MB in the next couple of days, it will be a day to day thing, ideally the plan is to travel a min of 50 miles a day and if weather cooperates the more miles traveled the better.

Day38 been in Myrtle Beach for 10 days

We got in on a Saturday and we were joined by Esperanza on Sunday docktails on SweetPea it was coooold that night so they moved on Monday and are now in Florida. We wish them well and though we won't catch up to them again we will continue to follow their blog and hope to keep in contact. Who knows, maybe next year we will see them in the Bahamas where Scott intents to keep his boat.

On Wednesday we were joined by Liberty, we hadn't been in the same place with them since Cape May very nice to see them again though we have been keeping in touch via blog and cell. They spent 5 days here and we had great fun but it was time for them to move on and they left today for Georgetown. They too have many more miles south to travel. We will see them again that I am sure. The torch has been passed to them, as they are now the trailblazers. Keep us informed as to the best marinias and interesting stops along the way!

Weather has been very nice, nights are chilly(cold) but the days have been in the 70's and sunny. We have rented a car as you can't really walk to stores they are too far or on very busy highways. We have been to the Little River water front there you can take the casino criuse and dinner, and there are some some interesting eateries (mostly seafood) as the fishing boats unload their daily catch here.

Calabash, again a small working waterfront with resturants and you can buy some fresh seafood right off the boats. Also in Calabash is a GREAT gift shop, Callahans, where you can walk thru the Huge Christmas shop and look at all the X-mas decorations many many beautifully decorated trees. They have so many beautiful things in this store with many different depts. (we bought fudge) but will return before we leave.

Boardway on the Beach. in MB Enormous outdoor shopping/entertainment area built on a boardwalk with just about anything you could possibly want or need. We spent 5 hours there and saw about half of it.

We revisited Barefoot Landing as we were here in April, again open air shopping and resturants.

Across the ICW is the Barefoot Landing Resort where we stayed in April when we attended the AGLCA rendezvous.

The clouds are moving in today and the weather calls for showers tomorrow that means it cleaning and laundry day! More later...fair winds and calm seas for our friends traveling, till we meet again.

Day29 Wrightsville Beach NC to Myrtle Beach SC

Yup! 63degree yesterday was cold 53degrees today was freezing, hey we are going SOUTH!!! Now in MB SC yaaah!!! I love it when the sun comes out when we pull into a slip. We shall be here for 4-6 weeks probaly 4 it will be nice to be home for awhile. Time for cocktails.... More later...Jim will add photos later as well.
Oh to all our boater friends we are at the Myrtle Beach Yacht Club located at mile marker 345.9 just off the ICW at the Little River Inlet there are 3 marinas in this Inlet. Stop In if you haven't already gone by it. Cell #508-838-4858

Day28 Beaufort NC to Wrightsville Beach NC

Brrrrrr I never knew 62 degrees could be so cold! When we started out this morning it was a brisk 53 degrees and cloudy later the sun came out and the temps rose but it didn't feel like it. We pulled into our slip at 4:45pm it felt much later. We are now in Wrightsville Beach NC and only 65miles or 1 day from Myrtle Beach SC. After such a long, cold, day it feels really good to be tied to a dock. Once in our slip the sun was shining and we could begin to shed our layers of clothes. Today was by far the prettiest as far as scenery, all the beautiful and colorful homes along the ICW, the dolphins playing in the water along the many boats heading south. It really is beautiful here, all the homes on the ICW with their long docks jetting out into the waterway facing the beautiful marsh lands and many creeks that face all the hotels and homes along the Alantic coast not far away. The only problem we find now we are traveling in the waterway, is all the small fishing boats and crabbers you must slow down for as to not wake them. There are so many that it really slows things down. Tomorrow, if weather permits, we may travel on the outside (Atlantic) to cut off some miles and move at a much faster pace. We are now anxious to get to MB and unwind, And the captain has been on HIGH alert for almost 4 weeks and is drained. A few rounds on the golf course should take care of that. We have a couple of old friends from Raynham that moved to MB almost 10 years ago we are looking forward to seeing and it gives Jim a partner or 2 to golf with. More later and pictures to follow.

Day 26 Still in Beautiful Beaufort NC

We will be here until Friday as we are now so close to Mrytle Beach we have decided to stay awhile and enjoy. This morning there were only half a dozen motoryachts here and maybe two dozen sailboats. But by 2:30 the boats started to pull in for the night It was like a parade, by 5 o'clock the place was packed. They have 90 transient slips here there are very few empty slips now. Today it rained most of the day, temps were cool 64 degrees tomorrow looks to be the same. When we leave here we plan on spending a night in Wrightville Beach then onto MB SC.

Day 24 Belhaven NC to Beaufort NC

On day 23 we traveled from Coinjock to Belhaven both NC got a very late start 10am had to get fuel,pumpout etc. got to Belhaven at 4:30 a late day. The Albermarl Sound lived up to everything we heard (nasty trip) windy sloppy.

So today we left early (for us) in the channel by 7:30. Traveled alligator river nice easy trip. Then into the Pamlico River very ruff it threw us side to side for about an hour (felt much longer) after we made our turn it was following seas for the rest of the way on the Sound. We saw Dolphins today !!!! yeah! Definitely a good sign that we are heading in the right direction. Now in Beaufort NC a must stop, we were here in April by car. Nice small town with a great main street right off the docks. Didn't take any pictures today to busy holding on to our seats. We will take pictures of Beaufort. We will be here for at least a couple of days. We are now less than 150 miles from Myrtle Beach which we will stay for 6-8 weeks while we travel home for Thanksgiving at my sister Nancy's always a good time. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Nancy!!!! Love you!

Day 22 We are on ICW (Coinjock) NC

We decided on the Virginia Cut numerous bridges some swing some railroad and our first lock!
Timing is everything as some bridges open every hour some every 1/2 hour. Bridge number one there were 12 motor yachts and 14 blowboaters, 26 boats all treading water for 1/2 hours or so waiting. Quite the experience, all huttled together and then all into the lock (directly after the first bridge). Well not all fit so the motorboats went first (faster). We cruised 6kts-8kts 1/2 the way till we got to the Currituck Sound then 10 kts till we came into Coinjock NC we basically followed the same boat all day. We are now at Midway Marina, I highly recommend making slip reservations in advance as so many boats are heading south and slip space is limited. We reserved a slip last night here. The boat next to us is from Falmouth Ma and on the otherside a sail boat from Jamestown RI. I took lots of pictures Jim will load them in later.

Day 20 Norfolk/Portsmouth VA

We finally had a day for travel though a short day 4.5 hours at 12 knots. We made it to Norfolk/Portsmouth and are now mins to the ICW. Weather on the Bay was overcast but no rain, waves were comfortable a bit choppy at the mouth of the bay going into Norfolk but not bad at all. Coming into Norfolk you could see all the military helicopters (security) and lots of chatter on the VHF from warships stating their intentions and warning boaters to keep 500yards away. Very intimadating to say the least! As we came into the Harbour there were Naval Ships EVERYWHERE and of course lots of security boats. And the sun came out just as we pulled into dock now 80 and sunny. Not sure what the plan is for tomorrow as we are waiting to see where Liberty and Esperanza land as they are 1 or 2 travel days away.
Heads up! We are at Portsmouth Boating Center cheap money for a slip $50 with free internet and cable but very industrial and noisey! We'll have picures later!

Day 16 and 17 Yes, we are still in Deltaville Va

Yes, we are in a holding pattern too! After this weather front blows out of here we can all start moving again. So, yes we are still ahead of you but not gaining any more ground. At least we are in a good spot, with all the amenities. It was a beautiful day here (at dock) those very few that traveled said it was nasty out there. I guess that's the consolation. Well, we dropped all our chain and inspected it. You would of thought we had done that before we left, but no we did it today! Everything is as it should be, and in working order. Now when Esperanza says we can meet up and drop anchor we will be a little more prepared and a bit less intimidated.
Oh and by the way, the store here carries all the skipper Bob books does anyone need anything? I know Scott and Lane have become fans, if you need any of them let me know we will pick it up for you.

Day 15 Deltaville VA

Finally in Va. We are at Doziers Regatta Point very nice marina and price is good 1.25 / ft make sure you let them know your an AGLCA member for the discount. They serve coffee, OJ, and donuts in the morning in the Captains Lounge along with a newspaper. They have a courtesy car , free bikes to use and a list of restaurants with shuttle service. They are owned by Doziers waterway guides and have a store with guides for sale and all the skipper bob booklets too. Very friendly !!!
Tomorrow we will move on to Norfolk VA not sure where we will land for the night we will be researching, we may stay an extra night in Norfolk or here not sure yet. We were thinking it would be nice to do the Dismal Swamp with Liberty and Esperanza. Does everyone think they can get here by Sunday night? Or Norfolk by Monday night? Let us know. Theres a Visitors Center in the Dismal Swamp where we can raft up together for the night and its free.

Day 14 safely tucked in Solomons

Well travel plans changed for the day, we were trying to decide whether to ride out the waves 3ft not really that bad but........when boats set out this morning and then came back in a short while later we decided one more day here was fine. So, I made a nice big breakfast of banana pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage and coffee. Someone told us there was a very nice gourmet market down the street so off we go to investigate that side of town. The excercise will do us good after breakfast.

Day 13 Enjoying Solomon Islands

After we did the necessary things, laundry, showers boat washing etc. We rented bikes and headed into town. Well, I gotta tell ya, its true what they say, you never forget but the body well, I will be feeling it tomorrow. But, It was great fun!
We will be leaving here tomorrow morning and heading to Deltaville Va. this now puts us in the southern Chesapeake Bay. Deltaville was once known as the boat building capitol of the world but now most of the two dozen boat builders are gone and the town makes it living from the boating and the marine industry. Landing here puts us just one short day to the ICW which begins in Norfolk Va.

Day 12 Solomon Islands MD

We are here! A wet and colddddddddddddd journey today, canvas enclosure just got put on the TOP of the we need list. There are 3 other loop boats here that we know of and hope to hook up with them for docktails. More later when I can feel my fingers again! No pictures today but when the sun comes out it looks to be very pretty here.

Day 10 Annapolis MD

We left Chesapeake City around 9:00 am and arrived in Annapolis around 2pm what a wonderful day on the Bay, super calm and beautiful scenery. We will be here for a couple of days so we can spend some time seeing the sights. I captured some really nice photos and will post them later tonight. Time to wash down the boat its covered with salt. More to come later.

Day 9 Chesapeake City

Today we traveled to Chesapeake City rough going out of the Cape May canal into the Delaware Bay the waves were nasty and the current wasn't any better it was very uncomfortable. Things got better about 45 mins later and an hour after that it was beautiful. Esperanza was at the city dock when we got to our slip, unfortunately we didn't share more that a big wave as we went by, I just couldn't wait to hit the showers and Jim had a maintenance issue to tend to. But they looked right at home on the dock! Hope you get a move on sooner than later! See you down the waterway, I hope next time we can share a bottle or two.

Day 8 Leaving Cape May in the AM (hopefully)

Cape May is a very nice place to be stuck for a few days but it is time to move on! Last night 12 of us went out for dinner it was a nice evening 7 Canadians 1 Aussie 2 NH 2 Ma it was great fun! I am sure we will see them along the way as we are all heading south. We hope to get to Chesapeake City (only 4 hours up the Delaware Bay) there we will meet up with Esperanza. And the best part is we will be in MD and the Patriots play MD at 1pm it will be interesting watching the game on MD turf. Good night for now, hopefully the weather will cooperate tomorrow.

Day 6 Cape May waiting on good weather

Cruising-Is boat maintenance and repair in exotic destinations. Just finished installing new upper helm controls (was wild going into reverse all by themselves) and tested them. Sitting here with the heat on watching the rain thinking a beer or coffee? Well I guess it's a beer so I'm off to the cooler.

Day 5 Atlantic city to Cape May

Short run to Cape May with a following sea, my sewing job held up fine and it was a nice ride. here at South Jersey Marina waiting for new upper helm controls to arrive for me to install (port engine going into reverse on it's own while docking is hell ). Once I'm done and the weather improves we are off for the C and D canal.

Day 4 STILL in Atlantic City

We spent a 2nd night here as Jim needed to make some phone calls about a problem with the boat. So, laundry got done, Tuscan soup got made and little did I know that I married a seamstress, Jim actually repaired the canvas so now we have some protection from the wind. All in all a very productive day, and I can think of worst places to be. Liberty pulled into the harbour for the night as well, so we will be traveling with them when we push on to Cape May. We will spend at least 2 nights as a bad weather front is pushing in and the part Jim ordered will be delivered to the marina in a couple of days.

Day 3 New York City to Atlantic City

Today we traveled up Hells Gate It wasn't as bad as we thought it would be but then we have more power available to us to fight the current. It was a Beautiful Day for travel, cruising past Manhattan by all the buildings and to Lady Liberty was incredible to say the very least. There will be lots of pictures to follow. Since the weather was so good we decided to push on past Sandy Hook and tavel directly on to Atlantic City. Tonight we enjoyed our Dinner on the sundeck looking onto the casinos all lit up for the evening, beautiful. The only unfortunate thing was we had no Internet at the marinia we stayed at.

Day 2 Port Washington NY

Well today started out nice even though we had to take down what little canvas we had on the upper helm and travel with only a bimini over our heads. The first hour or so was ok, thankfully I had packed some cold weather gear (Hats gloves etc). About an hour and half into it the seas got crazy and traveling was uncomfortable, cold, wet with really nasty waves. It was just after Hunington Beach Long Island it got better and after that was not bad at all. We finally made it to Port Washington NY. it was exciting to see the BIG Apple skyline as we pulled into port. We thought Bob and Denise on Liberty made it here as well but after we got docked the phone rang and it was Bob the seas sent them in for a shorter than planned day and they are in Hunnington Beach. Northern Symphony cut there day short as well and they are in Saugatuck Ct.

Tomorrow the plan is to get to Sandy Hook NJ. as we plan to take our time in the New York Harbour to visit with Lady Liberty and take lots of up close and personal pictures of her. We heard from Esperanza today as well and they said Hells Gate in NY is every bit what the name implies (very bad currents) . We will see first hand tomorrow! Pictures to follow maybe tomorrow.

Day one Westport Ma. to Westbrook Ct.

Well we've arrived at Brewers Cove Duck Island CT, the trip was WINDY but the seas only ran 3 to 4 feet. The boat did great ( steering wheel didn't come off ). We just met up with the couple on Liberty from RI who ended up as our neighbors on the dock, and after a nice cold beer we're thinking about dinner. While we were walking the docks I realised that Duck Island area was Golden Lilys homeport and low and behold we found it. Jim from Golden Lily found us later in the evening. We had a very nice chat and he recommended some marinas to stay in NY and NJ. as well as other loop info.

Tomorrow is a GO!

After sitting and waiting for the weather to turn for 5 days tomorrow is a go! While the waiting has given us the opportunity to do all the things we wanted to do. The boat is more than stocked of personal belongings, spare parts, food, and fueled. We are good to go! If we sit for one more day there may not be room for us with the things we keep bringing aboard. We will be traveling with 3 other boats on a similar schedules which makes it more fun and less stressful. We will be traveling with Liberty out of East Greenwich RI. Esperanza out of NS Canada, but they have been in Westport for a month ( they are now in CT) and last but not least Northern Symphony also out of Canada (ON) they are now in Newport RI. It is nice to know there are others out there you can shout out to and maybe spend some dock time with. There are 2 other boats already in the Chesapeake Bay area heading south which we have had contact with as well, and I am sure we will find some others. Being a member of the AGLCA has allowed us, though their discussion board to hookup with others. As well as the many Harbour hosts along the way we can contact for info and guidance. So, we are off tomorrow! Thank you to those of you who have signed up to follow our journey, we look forward to hearing from you.

Getting ready to cruise! ...3 days to go...?

Lots to do! Someone asked me, What do you do to prepare to cruise and live on a boat for such a long time? Well, I will try to answer as best I can. Living on the boat for the summer has given us an idea of what to expect in some ways. First, storage space is good for the summer, but then, we have a car to hop into whenever we need to run to the store or to run home for something. That is about to change! So stocking and storing things for living is the name of my game. The galley (kitchen) is stocked with most of the things we would have at home just in a smaller scale ie. pots and pans (just cooking for 2 now) gone are all the BIG over sized cooking items. I have a feeling that the crock pot is about to be my best friend! Yes, there is a stove top (3 small burners) and an oven (sort off)convection still figuring that out. I must say I am loving my toaster oven. And anyone one who knows me knows, the real workhorse on the boat is the coffee maker. The fridge well .....we have one, smallish re fridge, boat fridges are not known to keep things REALLY cold but the freezer does, so we deal with it. Anyway the galley is usable and once you get use to it, its very doable. Though 3 months ago I felt differently. It works! We have 2 berths (bedrooms) the master has a walk around Queen size bed, a real luxury! The 2nd berth, well we have one, small, but great storage. Another luxury on a boat is 2 heads, (bathrooms) both en suite. A very large salon (livingroom) with lots of storage and a dinette table and seating for 4. This boat is considered very livable.

The sundeck has proven to be most enjoyable, there we have room for a table and chairs it has a grill where I will do most cooking, and a very large cooler in which holds all our beverages.

When underway the bridge is where we are, there we have a great view comfortable seating alot of electronics (which Jim has upgraded and been installing things for the last 2 weeks.) He has upgraded the stereo system along with new speakers. He changed out the Sirius for XM that is compatible with the new electronics which also receives XM marine weather via an updated chart plotter with built-in electronic maps for all the US and the Bahamas. This will make cruising safer.

At home (one of the few things we haven't sold) Ashley and I have been downsizing alot of our STUFF selling what we can and donating the rest. We have Sold Jims beloved truck the camper and the basstracker so the driveways has less in it now as does the house. And Ashley can feel safer with the new security system. Thankfully, we have someone to take care of the house and dog which could of been a real problem. And luckily we have some great neighbors and friends to keep and eye on things as well. So yes we have been real busy!

Summer in New England is over!

Its been a great summer in beautiful Westport Harbour! We have met alot of great people and learned ALOT. We've gotten alot of hands on experience on trips to Block Island, made a couple of trips up the Sakonnet River and down into Newport RI. and had quite the learning experience on our trip to P-town. We have had great travel companions and boat buddies on our extended trips. I would like to thank all our dockmates for sharing their many years of boating experience, their help with lines when coming into dock, their thoughts on mechanical issues and some just plain dumb questions that slipped past our brains. The trips out on "JustChillin" and "LuckyStrike" for ice cream in the Vineyard, lunch at the BoatHouse or a cruise through Battleship Cove. And especially the friendships made though out our summer in Westport. A special thank you to Maria and Fred for taking us under their wings at the start and making us feel apart of the E Dock family. Fred?.........gotta love ya! Never found out what your nicknames for us were but we are probably better off. Thanks to Cindy and AL for always being there to share a bottle of wine and stories of our travel adventures thoughout the summer. Thanks to Happy Bob and Deb for the sharing of yourselves, your home and your MUSIC! It really was a great summer and we enjoyed everyones company.

Been training with capt Bevis at our home port, BUT to day we bought her to the fuel dock (200gals) and spent 2 hours running off Westport in 5 to 6 footers. Lots of fun hitting it from every direction, she likes 16 knots cutting the waves with a smooth ride. Tomorrow it's off to Marthas Vineyard for our first over night.

Sweet Pea at her new home LOTS of cleaning!!

Survey

Just received the survey, all went well. Nothing unforseen came up. We should own her next week.

Just got the call!!

Just got the call our offer was accepted on a 44' Tollycraft MY cockpit. She will have new yanmar 370's, new fuel tanks and lots more. Setting up the survey (which will be at my home marina) how nice is that!

Finding our "perfect loop boat"

Well it happened the right boat now does not elude us any longer. We have been searching for our loop boat for 6 months now and after many compromises on size, layout and cost we have decided that there is no such thing as the perfect boat. We like the layout of the new 43 mainship with the kitchen down but not the cost. We had been kinda set on a Mainship but have broadened our search to other boats and this opens up a whole new world of styles and choices.

So what is it that we are looking for in the "perfect loop boat" below is the wifes list....
2 berths mainly because extra storage
lots of lockers again storage issue
galley down we like that set up (separation from salon)
full size fridge with freezer
large salon open with lots of windows
lower helm
bridge with more than 1 pedestal seat but seating for at least 6
outdoor cooking station
cockpit for easier access both getting on and off as well as ease of docking
railed walk around deck
queen size bed (we are both 6' tall)
at least 1 head that we don't have to squeeze into 2 heads would be nice but not a deal breaker
room for at least 1 comfortable chair as well as a couch
no carpeting
fully enclosed upper helm a must, enclosed cockpit would be nice (canvas)
side doors at least 1 -2 would be great again access issue
minimal stairs and NO ladders to bridge and no ladders to swim plattform ie cockpit
low fuel use ideal 2 gallon/hour at 8 kts (lower fuel costs)
air conditoning and heat
a blue hull would be nice (they are so pretty)
And most important.....one door I can slam!



The captains wish list.....
lots of electronics up to date
single screw with thrusters or twin screw
Large engine room (storage and I need to be able to work in there!)
generator 9KW or larger
auto pilot
low hours on engine
fuel polishing system
solar panel would be very nice
4'draft or less
windlass
under 16' air draft
bridge enclosure (canvas)
plenty of storage for tool and parts
trawler style no go fast boats

In the end we got most of the things on our wish lists and a few not on our list. Keep an open mind! We were completely set on a new mainship 43 but could not find one within our price range. The 39' which was doable we just couldn't live with all the cabinets blocking the windows. The 40' we liked alot but really didn't want to sit on the couch and look at the galley. In the end we looked at a Tollycraft 44 cpmy and fell in loved with it.

What we got
9KW gen set
newish chartplotter (just bought a new Garmin 4212)
twin Yanmar 370 dsl with 700hrs
full canvas (pending)
LOTS of engine room
auto pilot
kitchen down
2 heads
cockpit w/swimplatform
queen size walk around berth
deep walkways with rail
mathers controls
lower helm
sundeck w/hard top (love it)
and the start of a great adventure