Blessing of the Fleet

We took out our new boat, Indigo Star, for a Blessing of the Fleet Ceremony at our club, the Isles Yacht Club.  It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, just perfect.  The previous owners, Jake & Pat Dye, came aboard to help us learn to operate her and gave us some good tips.  Afterwards, we docked her and had a nice dinner.  We still have lots of practice to do, but are coming along!

At the IYC Blessing of the Fleet

Approaching Reviewing Officers on Dock

With Pat & Jake Dye, Original Owners, Aboard

Docked at IYC

Salon

Salon

Salon

Lower Helm Station

Galley

Galley

V Berth

Bleu's Quarters

Fly Bridge

Stern View from Fly Bridge

Blessing of the Pets

Every year on the feast of St Francis of Assisi, our church blesses the pets.  Bleu Kitty needed an extra blessing this year because he is going on his first airplane flight to visit his Aunt Mary and Uncle Al, and Holly, Andrew and little Francesca and her baby sister, Luciana.

His picture was published in our church bulletin and here he is in the arms of Richard.  He had a great time and enjoyed meeting Father Jerry.

Postscript to Africa Trip

Joanne & Richard ride an elephant in Africa

Richard and I traveled home on the long plane flights with quite a few delays.  We had a 2-1/2 hr delay on the runway leaving Johannesburg when a passenger who checked in luggage did not show up for the flight.  The baggage handlers had great difficulty locating the bags.  This caused us to miss our connection at Dulles Airport, Washington D.C.  We waited 6 hours for the next flight out only to be delayed by thunderstorms in the area.  When we finally landed in Tampa, Florida, we were not allowed to get up from our seats because the tail of the plane was not stable due to shifting baggage. Finally, we disembarked to drive home in the dark.  Boy, did our bed feel great since we were exhausted from the entire ordeal.

Richard came down with Type B influenza a day later, which he probably caught on the plane.  He was quite sick with high fever and cough.  As for me, Joanne, I was prescribed Tamiflu (quite expensive), but it did cut down the symptoms.  After two weeks home, we both recovered.

The trip was awesome and we totally enjoyed every minute.  We highly recommend visiting Africa - the animals roaming in their natural habitat were amazing.  The countries were so interesting and the people welcoming.  We loved the rainbows surrounding Victoria Falls!  We were educated about the political histories of the countries visited and about Apartheid.  August is the perfect month to visit because it is the dry season with fewer mosquitos and a better view of the animals (it is the end of their winter season).