Another week passes and we are finally free of the evil tendrils of tropical storm Faye. The Weasel Cottage recorded just over thirty inches of rain in 60 hours thanks to our friend Faye. To say things are a bit wet here would be an understatement.

Just prior to the leading edge of Faye, I raced the 150 miles down the Florida turnpike to make sure our boat was ready for the storm. The yard guys at AYC had already gone boat to boat and readied everything for impending doom. All loose articles were placed in lazerettes and jack stands were chained together in anticipation of high winds.

I offloaded my cushions, grabbed a couple of things I needed for the next round of projects and got back in my car just as the rain started. It chased me all the way home and by the time I returned to Amy and the weasels, we were in full out storm mode.

Faye seemed more interested in rain than wind and as such we never really saw more than about 40 knots of sustained wind. The local news station reported gusts up to 65, but we never saw it. The rain kept us confined to the Weasel Cottage for the better part of three days. Fortunately, neither power nor internet went out during the enforced home arrest, so I got in plenty of quality surfing along with a fair amount of gaming with my 14 year old friends in Europe.

On Saturday, my brother Travis took time out from his busy life of being a husband and father of three boys (all under 4) to drive down to Annapolis and pick up our new dinghy. He said the deal went off without any trouble and now we just need to find a way to get it down to the boat.

Special thanks to both Travis and Toby (Cariba) for helping me get things squared away with finding, appraising and purchasing our new wheels.

In other news, the cushions project has come to a close and we took time during the storm to put together our best estimate of the fabric required to make all new deck canvas for the boat. This included a main sail cover, stay cozies, hatch covers and salon window eye patches. Sailrite says our stuff should be here next week.

Another internet purchase made during the storm was an electric knife sharpener. I know this sounds weird to you my dear reader, but for the last two years I have been borrowing Ollie's (Dejarlo) Master Chef, Diamoid Encrusted, Electric Sharpener - Model 115, at every chance in an effort to keep my fish knives sharp. Given four hours of internet surf time, I was able to find the same model on sale for a whopping $39.95 and quickly made him my own.

As an aside, if you happen to see Dream Catcher in an anchorage near you, we are now offering a comprehensive"knife sharpening for beer exchange" program. See me for details.

With the engines in, the cushions done and the canvas ordered, we are closing in on the end of the spending frenzy. Given another month or so, the boat should be getting pretty close to ready, with the possible exception of a bottom job.

By the way, thanks to all the comments from people who have downloaded some of my software projects. It's nice to know I'm not living, breathing and coding in a vacuum. I have to say, so far I am surprised that Flotsom has out performed CraigsFerret 110 to 95 in the total download category. I don't know why, but I thought CraigsFerret would have a bigger appeal, but Amy says I am just a geek. Dammit.

Ok, and finally, the pictures at right are of Dream Catcher sitting happily in the yard, patiently waiting for us to get our ducks in a row and get back to cruising, and the other is of our new dinghy.

More to follow, end of line.