It’s been an eventful holiday season here in Sea Muffin world. A lot has happened, some of it very joyful, some of it very sad. I haven’t written anything about it because some of it was difficult to say, and some of it was secret at the time – but now everything is out there in the open, so here goes -

A very sad thing over the last month was the decline and eventual loss of our dear friend, Felis. P. Normous, aka Norman, aka the Sea Normie, aka Explormie. He is sorely missed – we had hoped to take him around the world with us, but in the last couple of years, it’s been clear he wasn’t destined to make it. His illnesses caught up with him, and although he was a trooper until the end, still trying to keep up his daily routine, eventually he was too weak to continue. We’re glad we were able to give him four good years he wouldn’t have had otherwise – sailing adventures, a big house to run around in, and his garden, where he could roll in the thyme. Good cat. We miss him terribly.

“Norman”

On a much happier note, we are expecting a new crew member for the Muffin – currently going by the name of Prototype, or Muffin, or Critter, or Bean, he/she is inside of Frankie!! We actually have pictures to prove it! We’re expecting her/him to show up around the first week of July – which is incredibly exciting, and scary and… wow. I don’t think the full import of this has sunken in yet – but that’s probably a good thing. Frankie’s putting up with being tired all the time, and I’m just wandering around in a daze.

And the third big thing, as far as Sea Muffin goes, is that we’ve bought a new boat. With the additional crew member on the way, we came across a 41′ Sauvage for sale in Florida. Crazy people that we are, we made an offer, and bang! We own two boats, neither of which is complete. Ugh!

But this new Muffin, she’s our DREAM BOAT. 41 feet long, steel-hulled, with MONEL DECKS! lots of opening hatches, a big flush foredeck, sugar scoop transom, and all the fancy-pants circumnavigating gear (she’s been around the world already)! We get our own cabin with a double-berth, the kiddo will get hers or his; she’s got a removable inner headstay and a separate track for a trysail, and, maybe best of all, internal ballast and a swing keel with welded-in grounding plates – so you can get into REALLY shallow water, or beach her for repairs.

“New

SO, the Winter agenda seems to be, finish up the Muffin that we have so we can get her in the water, sail her and sell her. Yes, she’s on the market, if you’re interested. Get the new Muffin up here so we can finish her. Keep growin’ that baby. And save our pennies.

A lot of changes – but that’s life! We move forward, excited to enter this next phase of the adventure.

“The

Good cat.