Back at work, Tuesday morning

I am utterly exhausted.

I woke up this morning so slothlike that I turned on the burner to heat the water for my cup of toxic tea, but left the kettle on the counter.

My nose is sunburned and doesn't match the rest of my body.

The dirt/oil on my hands is so embedded that a 25 minute scalding hot shower left the dirt untouched.

I haven't quite found my land legs -- I'm sitting here at my desk and I feel like I'm bobbing up and down, oh-so-very-gently.

But I had a wonderful time. Sure, there were a few unpleasant moments - okay, hours - but it was a wonderful escape from the world as I know it. The bay was flat yesterday afternoon, the sun was warm, all was right in the world.

Too tired to type more -- I should begin to dig through the e-mail that has accumulated since Thursday afternoon. 85 e-mail. A few look quite bad. Welcome back!

Calm waters, Sunday evening

After the storm, Sunday morning

Under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, Saturday afternoon

Shopping for provisions on the Upper East Side, Saturday morning

Tied up to A dock, W. 79th Street Boat Basin

*&@$*(& dinghy outboard motor!!!!

Onward to NYC!

Strip of sky above

bureaucratic brick buildings.

White clouds linger long.

Wendy B in her native land, o Canada, in April 2005. We'll post photos of her in NYC and DC soon...

Thursday morning, blue skies. Yee-hah!

I now have witnesses to this blogging experiment! Very exciting. Howdy to Laurie up in Montreal! C'est va?

The sun is finally shining again on DC. (Literally. Figuratively, it'll take another 3.5 years or massive social unrest! Organize, my friends!) When Laurence, Gene and I returned from the first leg of Wendy B's journey to DC, we were greeted with Bangladeshi monsoon weather: torrential rain, high winds, thunderous skies. The rain was quickly over - and it was quite beautiful - but this grey dreck has been lingering for almost two weeks. Enough already! The forecast looks great for the weekend, so we'll go up to NYC as planned early tomorrow morning to ready the tug.

Yesterday I was sucked deeply into the blog vortex, which I must deny today! This will be my last written post until next Tuesday. Check in for some audio blogs over the weekend - expect to hear thrills on the high seas! (Or, more likely, Julee running at the mouth about nothing in particular.)

Preparing for audio blogs!

Wendy B to Baltimore

On Friday morning Laurence and I will head up to NYC to prepare for the second leg of Wendy B's lengthy journey to Washington, DC. The first leg - Toronto to NYC - was filled with surprises: an exploding and horribly stinking head; non-functioning water pumps (and sad brown water when the water pump actually worked); a few bumps, bangs, and bruises (both the crew and the boat); and plenty of interpersonal drama. I could write a novel based on the 20 hours on Lake Ontario alone!

Our crew will consist of six people: Laurence, captain and galley slave's squeeze; me, galley slave; Gene, crew; Gene's currently nameless son, crew; Rick, galley slave's dad and crew; and Scott, crew. More anon... I really must get to work.

The Wendy B, Laurence's new boat and future home, tugging through the frigid waters of Lake Ontario. She's now in Manhattan on her tour of the major cities on the East Coast; we'll be bringing her down to Baltimore this Memorial Day weekend. More soon!

Julee's first post

I am not a techie-type person.

I have never done this before.

I don't know what has compelled me to try blogging, other than my need to procrastinate on budget analysis.

But I shall go forth and be fabulous.