It's January of 2018, in a year that's already so incredibly much better than 2017 I have to pinch myself to see if it's real.

First of all, Calypso. We hauled her in late November, tucked her under covers, and then came back the first weekend of January to make sure the snow was staying off of the decks. 

We've been offered the use of a house on the Piankatank River for a few months, while the occupants gallivant around the Pacific and Indian and Atlantic Oceans on a 55 foot Oyster. We'll read missives from them with envy and enjoy the views from the house. Having a crash pad that's 15 minutes (on a slow day) from the boat will make serious boat work much easier. Thanks, C and D!

Part of the plan for taking off is having fun projects to keep us mentally stimulated (outside of boat work and projects and the accompanying learning that comes with living and cruising) and perhaps even bring in some cruising cash. Jeremy has Fastseas, his awesome weather routing/passage planning website, and I'd love to get some steady speaking/teaching/coaching work. I'm beyond thrilled to be teaching at Cruisers University in April (come take a class with me!), and the best news of all just hit on Monday.

Carolyn Shearlock, from The Boat Galley, who I met IRL (in real life) in Annapolis last fall when we were 2 of the "proprietors" of the "Smiles and Hugs booth" (Lin Pardey's booth for real - it quickly got a different moniker), and I have launched a podcast together. From conception on Friday to LIVE on the airwaves on Monday, the project showed me just what can happen when people work together superbly well and both care about the way it comes out - PLUS the theory of "done is better than perfect" absolutely came into play. Far easier to tweak once it's begun! Check out the podcast on your favorite app; link to the iTunes version is right here. 

Projects, plans, and dreams. There are a lot of them detailed right in here. What's on your mind?