Light at the end of the Tunnel?

Over the weekend, we got some snow down at the boat. Not sure how much exactly, but the weatherman was talking a few inches. The worst part however was the winds that accompanied that snow. They were out of the west gusting to 40 mph. Normally, a wind like that isn't too bad, but because it was from the west, it blew all of the water out of the creek and many boats in the marina were high and dry. Fortunately, I am at the end of the finger pier and never lose all the water, but from what I was told, all of the boats were at least kissing the mud. I feel for a few of the live aboards out there. That just has to be the worst, bumping the bottom all night long as the winds move you around in the mud. Hang in there guys.

I look back at the blog and see the weather going bad in basically the second week of November and staying bad till now. That's a long couple of months of below freezing temps, rain, heavy winds, snow and ice. Makes me wonder how the northerners that expect this kind of winter do it year after year. A couple of blogs I follow discuss living in northern marinas during the winter. Seeing 2 feet of snow on deck is a scary thought. Makes me want to get Skylark south as soon as possible and stay there. :)

But, looking at the weather this week, it seems like we might have a slight break in the action. Up to 53 degrees today and near 50 and sunny for the rest of the week. Now that sounds a bit promising. To be honest, I completely understand that it's winter and we tend to get cold weather during this time of year. :) This year however has been the worst since the 70s so it is a bit extreme and to me quite depressing. I can only hope it starts to get better from here on out so things can get back to normal.

Soon, I will have Skylark pulled to do a bottom job before folks start getting antsy about the spring and there is a wait. Once that's done, I can concentrate on the last bits of prep before heading down to Florida. If we get the weather, I am thinking the second or third week in March. But who knows, the weather could last till April, but I am trying to be hopeful. In the mean time though, there are still things to do and I will keep you updated as I get things done.

I threw in a couple of pics from last summer to ease these winter blues. That's my son on the bow of Skylark on his first visit to the boat. And the picture of Amy and I was taken at Lake Lure in North Carolina. Not much sailing there, but a great time was had exploring on a 17 foot run-about.