End of the Adventure, for now

   After brainstorming the electrical issues on the boat Wed/Thurs. it was determined that all 3 batteries had completely drained, so new ones (and yes they are expensive) were purchased on Friday. We traveled north to the dealer Tri-State to pick them up and Jay installed them on Saturday along with fixing the bilge float ( a possible culprit in the battery drain but not solely responsible). With the delayed departure date we explored our options again and made the decision Monday to ship the boat back to Traverse City by truck. So the rest of our time was spent taking sails off and removing as much of the rigging attachments as we could before the mast is stepped next week.
  Many factors such as the logistics of sailing home in the spring and early summer, as we have as yet to secure innkeepers for enough dates, and the flow of waters against our travel at that time of year; but mostly because of the disappearance of our cockpit canvas which makes travel in marginal weather so much more comfortable (and we are getting too old to suffer), and the accumulation of aggravation from last winter's problem led to this decision.  A sad day for sure but we believe the best decision right now.
 In between all the decision making and working on the boat we did get to spend Sunday at the Downrigging Tallship Festival in Chestertown put on by the Sultana Education Foundation.

                 
The highlight of the show was the Dutch Barque  "Kalmar Nyckel" from Willimington DE.















Historic Chestertown was charming of course as well.