The pain and joy

Mike and Rebecca of Zero to Cruising
(picture swiped from their blog, because it is so perfect)

Living here nearly on the 48th parallel, in January, there is a certain amount of mixed feelings associated with reading about fellow mariners in warm climates. You definitely share in the pleasure of the warm, white sand beaches, with palm trees gently swaying in the trade winds, the waves gently lapping...  ACK!

And here in Seattle right now, our heat pump is not quite adequate to the task of keeping Eolian at 70° inside - a little help from the diesel Dickenson is needed.

Waters so gorgeously blue that they are a cliché, and so clear that you can see your anchor in 30 feet...  as warm as bath water...  ACK!

The water here is 47° - I just went out into the cockpit and checked.  And let cold air into the cabin as a result.  No, you wouldn't want to swim here.  (You wouldn't want to swim here even in the summer - without a wetsuit, that is).  There were snow flurries here this morning.

But you guys - don't stop!  Keep up those postings - you are feeding us the warmth and sunshine that will keep us alive until spring.  We envy you, we rejoice with you, and we don't begrudge you your idyllic surroundings one bit.

 What?  No, no I didn't say anything.

The pain and joy