Finally … and it’s only July 1st

Sunrise over Lake Springfield… and the Miss Mollie mast is stepped, and already The Mrs & I have been out twice. We went out for about 2 hours yesterday afternoon, and it was lovely!  So after 2 years of vision impairment issues, I am back to being able to participate in my hobbies/interests.

The Mrs at the helm whilst I mess around doing seemingly important , ah, STUFF!

And since I am discussing boat things, I ordered a new sail for the Hilu from Neil Pryde Sails and when it arrived this past week, I installed it… hmmmm…

TOO BIG! it is about 12″ too long for both booms. I contacted Neil Pryde Sails as well as another sailing company I have dealt with, and it turns out the sail rig on the Hilu is for a Minifish, not a Sunfish. So NPS was happy to swap my Sunfish sail for the correct Minifish sail for the cost of shipping.  More than fair I would say… That’s it for boat stuff for now…

Next on my lists of Back To Fun Activities, is my participation in the 114th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry. The flag lowering ceremonies at the Abraham Lincoln Tomb resumed, and I once again able to march in formation and fire my musket for the Tomb ceremonies. This is one of the really cool activities of Co. A of the 114th. Co. G of the 114th is a competitive group of us who shoot our Civil War era firearms (and/or replicas.) Last weekend we competed at the Sandy Ford shoot just outside of Streator, IL. I came home with 2 First Place ribbons and two Second Place ribbons. Pretty danged good for having to learn how to shoot all over again after 2 years of blindness issues (sorry for the bragging!)

And here is a picture of some of the guys from the 114th on the line…. except for me as I was taking the picture.

So, all in all, a good start to the summer. And today I plan to clean the gutters!!! Just for fun of course….