Sundowners with the Sundowners

Sausage bread and Arancini- not burned and therefore worthy of documentation

I write this blog really just to document this time in our lives so I A: don't forget how hard we worked to get here and B: remind myself why I have vowed never to refit another boat ever again. A side benefit of writing this is that our little blog has given us the opportunity to meet some really incredible people and to develop some great friendships. Without this blog, I would never have met my now good friends Cindy and Laureen. Friends that I know have my back should I ever decide that this was all a really stupid idea and will listen for hours if I have a mental breakdown and weep uncontrollably over our exploding holding tank. This alone makes keeping the blog worthwhile.

We had the good fortune to get to have a meet and greet with Tate and Danielle from Sundowner Sails Again. They were in Kemah for a Westsail owners Rendezous. We were on the boat working on the never ending refit once again. We invited Tate and Dani over for snacks and cocktails, followed by a tour of our boat and a rare dinner out.

We just loved meeting Tate and Dani. I think perhaps Tate was born about 100 years too late. He just has the heart of a Victorian era explorer with the can do attitude and aptitude for picking up and excelling at whatever he puts his hand to. Like a modern Dr. David Livingstone. He just exudes capability as well as having a really wicked sense of humor. He could wear a pith helmet and a monocle and you would not raise an eyebrow because he could totally make it work.

Mark is smiling because he finally met someone who understands his Captain Perfecto tendencies

Dani is just grace itself. Impossibly lovely, gracious and with a keen intellect and that same inherent capability that Tate has. We all loved hanging with Dani but Maura was absolutely starstruck. If we all think Dani is the bees knees, Maura thinks she is a rockstar- smart, beautiful, fearless AND capable? I think Maura will be heading up her fan club. The only one of us disappointed was Kitty and that is only because we told her all week were going to meet Tate and Dani but she thought we were going to see Dani who would bring her CAKE. When she figured out Tate was a person and not a confectionary she just sighed.

Bonding over a shared dismay of the state of our galleys...

We ate too much, drank enough, laughed a lot and stayed up waayy too late. We had a blast. The next morning, it was up with the sun and back to chasing down a leak on the boat. Such is life during a refit but man oh man was it fun to put down the tools for a bit and have a good time with peeps who are simpatico.