agility @ sea

Jer:

A blog entry is way past due.  I have a difficult time writing sailblog posts when we’re not sailing, but I will work on a comprehensive, long, and probably excruciatingly boring NZ post over the next couple of weeks.  We love it here and have a fair amount to
share.

The first big news is that our younger daughter Sydney became engaged while she and her boyfriend Jesse were visiting us here over the holidays!!  We are so excited and feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to share both of our daughters engagements.

We love Jesse and look forward to adding him, along with Alex, to our family!  Our numbers are increasing drastically if we can include Waka too.  A prolific year for the Tim and Jerri Miller clan.

To start the new year, Agility departed Town Basin Marina mid-day on the first.  It seemed an appropriate time.  We consider ourselves fortunate to have been invited to a wonderful party the night before at our friend David and Henriette’s farm.  It was one of the best dinner parties we have ever attended due to meaningful conversations, deep connections, and a supportive, encouraging, hopeful environment.

We had a nice day sailing out to Marsden point where we were able to get self-service fuel and anchor out for the night.  The next morning, we took Waka into the beach and hoped to hit some of the trails that we could see outlined on the hills, but discovered it was a kiwi preserve.  We spent some time working on “come” with Waka on the beach then she and Tim headed back to the boat and I went on a short hike over the hill to another beach called Smugglers’ Cove.  It was lovely.

We took off  to head north into big head winds and had a long day of sailing with progress of only 18 miles.  After we anchored we started talking – leading to big news #2.  To make a long story short, within 14 hours we managed to completely rearrange our lives.  Agility is going to be loaded on a Dockwise transport ship and sent to Genoa, Italy on 1/8.  Tim and I will tour the South Island of NZ, fly home as scheduled on 1/27 with the addition of a small Fox Terrier, then fly back to Italy the end of F.  We’re both very very happy with the decision. Everything is a bit nuts right now, but falling into place.

Happy New Year!