August 16, 2006 -- The Final Chapter. Skylark is Home!

After a month of heat and humidity in Solomons, Chesapeake Bay, the time at last came to ready Skylark for her trip via CanAm Trucking Co. to Vancouver. Preparations involved removing and stowing everything from outside the boat -- radar, solar panels, outboard motors, barbecue, dodger, dinghy, and, with the help of a crane, the mast. We scrounged carpet remnants to wrap the mast, and after a day-long struggle to remove the spreaders we were fianlly able to finish the job. We had to catch our flight before the boat was loaded because the truck was delayed a couple of days, but the marina was very helpful and they managed just fine without us.

We spent our last night in the East with Rob and Molly in Silver Spring, Maryland, and on August 8 caught a crack-of-dawn flight out of Baltimore, arriving in Seattle about noon. From there we rented a car and drove the three hours home. There was a definite sense of doors closing behind us as we flew home from the boat for the last time and permanently put away items previously hauled back and forth.

Three days after our homecoming, we had a visit from Venezuela cruiser friends Karl and Mary Lou (Starlight Dancer) and Sandra and Skip (Wind Dancer), who were returning south by motorhome from a road trip to Alaska. We're hoping we will have many more such visits from the great friends we made during our travels.

Skylark arrived on the truck on August 16, a week after our return, and we spent the next ten days on the hard putting the boat back together and cleaning her up after the long trip. The cooler weather made it so much easier to work all day, and we enjoyed the luxury of being able to go to the comforts of home after a hard day's work. Our granddaughters, Katie, Sarah, and Jill, (10, 7, and 5 years old) were excited to welcome the boat back and proved to be hard and willing workers with a polishing rag. Replacing the mast at this end was a challenge, and we concluded that it must be a much less common task here, where boats are not hauled and stored every winter. Eventually the boat was ready for splashing and was reintroduced to the cold Pacific after seven years in warm Atlantic and Caribbean waters.

In September we drove to Calgary for the arrival of our sixth grandchild, James Samuel Peters, 7 lbs. 9 oz. He came into a very busy household, with sister Jenna (5) entering kindergarten, brother Luke (3) starting pre-school, dad Grant beginning his cardiology practice, and mom Julie trying to hold it all together!



Skylark has found a permanent home at Deep Cove Marina in North Vancouver (49-20N 122-56W). Although a 45-minute drive from where we live in Port Moody, it is close to our son's house, and is in a beautiful scenic area on the edge of the wilderness. As soon as we leave the dock, we are in Indian Arm, a mountainous fjord with a few water-access-only homes, salmon fishing, crabbing, waterfalls, and fabulous scenery. The weather has been unusually sunny and warm, and we have had many lovely day trips up "the Arm". Occasionally we have dinner or stay overnight on the boat, enjoying the beautiful autumn weather on our floating holiday home.




Slowly we are adjusting to normal life, finding our days full with home improvement projects, boat jobs, and time with family and friends. As we close this unique chapter of our lives, we are very thankful for the past seven wonderful years of adventure, new friends, good health, and safety, and for rich memories to last a lifetime.