On November 6th my third great grandchild was born Lily Noel Leon (Noel spelled backwards, or is it the other way around?) The little Leon cub in the below picture is admired by her 1 1/2 year old sister Madison.

And the other pictures speak for them selves. “Fleetwood” is solidly planted on Romanian soil. The same Harbor Master boat that rescued me Saturday a week ago took me under the shore crane. There was a strong southerly blowing but the men did an excellent job. Camelia came along to help overcome the language barriers. The men and one woman crew from Zim Tub did a great job getting a cradle built in no time. They welded up supports and for a non marine yard I take my hat off for their ingenuity.
The plan is then to take me into one of their large sheds, later this week.

And surprise. surprise! As you can see from the pictures.I never did lose my shaft and propeller, after all… The shaft came out about 8″ but then was stopped by the rudder.
I was not aware of this at all. Knowing this I could have pushed it back in from the stern but I am glad that I am ashore and put away for the winter. The shaft has worn some in the cutlass bearing and will probably need to be replaced, the cutlass bearing needs replacement as well. The folding prop is 30 years old and is loose. The mechanic here thinks he can fix that  
There are a number of hours of epoxying fixing the bottom of the iron keel. I bounced on the rocks in one harbor on the Main-Donau canal where the depth was a lot shallower than the German cruising guide indicated and then the dragging over the gravel 10 days ago.
Tomorrow we will have a meeting to see just what the arrangements are for me.

I should arrive in Amsterdam by the weekend. I’ll know better tomorrow. My twin brother Jan, is visiting Amsterdam and Holland for a few days from Friday. so I will get a chance to spend time with him as well. There is a strong warm Foehn like wind blowing from the south and it is in the seventies.