100 Days And Counting

100 days and counting. That's how many days are left until our new cruising life begins. On June 15th, we leave for Sweden to take delivery of Windleblo. Sitting at my desk at 5,720 feet (I bought a new Casio altimeter, barometer, compass watch last week -- it was on the list of things we need for our new adventure), it's hard to believe we will be adopting the cruising life so soon. We have read about the transition so many others have made to adopting this new life -- the dreaming, planning and preparation -- but that was just imaginary...happening to someone else, somewhere else. Now that the number of days before we leave will become fewer than the number of days of our initial season as cruisers, it is becoming more real, yet we still pinch ourselves.

Today, Jocelyn and I went up to the mountains. I put in my final duty day for 2008-09 at Sol Vista where I serve on the volunteer ski patrol. While I made the slopes safe, she went on a long snowshoe tour into the backcountry. Before she left on the tour, we had tea in the base lodge while she knitted a hat for our friend Mark Williams. She designed the hat with waves and a sailboat for Mark to wear aboard Empirical, his HR43 that he now keeps in the Bahamas. Her hat design got me thinking about a logo for Windleblo. I told her I wanted a logo designed like the tattoo she won't let me get -- a compass rose with the mountains somehow superimposed. For me, this design represents our transition from the mountains to the sea, and attempts to capture the exhilirating feeling one gets when summiting a 14er or crossing an ocean. The origins of our new boat's name should also influence the logo design. We named the boat after the road that leads to the cove on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire where our family has gathered for summer holidays for generations. We call this cove our "happy place." So many fond memories are associated with this place. With my parents' decline, we don't expect this tradition to continue, at least not for awhile, and we bought the HR40 to start new traditions. And so, the logo should also attempt to capture the spirit of family traditions past and future. Once we talk about it some more and let the designs evolve, we'll settle on a logo that will adorn future hats, stationery, and everything else associated with our new "happy place."