Bad News-Good News: My 80-200 zoom lens that came with the 2nd hand Nikon D-50, I bought in Saigon in the first days of 2010, finally broke. I had not been able to use it for auto-focus for some time. Today I received a new Sigma 70-300 zoom lens, bought on Amazon for $ 120. I think that you will see an improvement in the picture quality.

My Monitor windvane arrived last Monday and is now installed. I plan try it out today. And will have some pictures of it with the new lens. Bernd Graf, an Alameda Calif. sailor turned power boater,  took the below picture. So far this is one of the sunniest summers the N.W. has seen in many years. We had one good soaking rain day last Wednesday. As you can see in the windvane picture I am as tanned as I was in the tropics. Check my sandal tan lines….. I hope to have the sound system (am-fm radio with MP3 player) hooked up today. The food picture is a nine inch Dungeness crab that John Alskog, my dock neighbor, gave me; he caught right here in the bay. On Monday he brought me 5 rock crabs that he caught near Lakebay. So, I have been feasting on the local water harvest. I steamed the corn right on top of the crabs on my one burner stove.

I had planned to cruise North for a couple weeks but the installation of the vane took longer than I had expected, drilling holes through stainless steel. The installation is much better done than I did in 2005 in Monterey, California on the previous “Fleetwood”. Better lined up and firmer connections. I hope to put still many more miles on this fine piece of equipment. I now plan to cruise the last two weeks of August and return here right after labor day weekend. I plan to spend time in Vancouver to visit my Canadian friends.

My longer term plans are to remain here on the boat in Gig Harbor this winter and leave for the Panama Canal around this time, next year. There still is not enough in my saving left for the equipment I still need. The list is getting shorter and I will update it soon. Many friends have come up with equipment, galley stuff, clothing and tools. Bu there are some major items like life raft, EPIRB, sails, Solar Panel, etc that I will be able to save up for by next year. I also plan to study for my HAM operator license to enable me to use the SSB radio for e-mail, without the Pactor Modem and the $ 250 annual SailMail subscription. And last but not least an opportunity to hunker down and finish the two language versions of “Soloman”. I will try fly to Virginia this winter to visit my family and friends there.