2005 year in review

January – got electric re-wiring, new batteries, stereo, solar panel done in boat; bought another Sunfish, joined Sons of Legion, joined Friends of Heron & El Vado Lake State Parks, wound up Rio Grande Sailing Club treasurer duties, started as New Mexico Sailing Club vice commodore; Gerald sailed on Viento Bueno in the Frostbite regatta.

February – Gerald began work on youth orchestra auditions, for the Chute-Out Gerald crewed on The Hunter; Pat took pictures of fleet from our boat with CA & a passenger (Diana H.) on board; for the PHRF championships Gerald was on the committee boat; Pat & Carol Anne motored briefly out to the north of the Butte in high winds.

March – Gerald on Warm-n-Fuzzy was in a violent microburst & squall that disabled their engine; rangers eventually towed them in at night; Pat took pictures of race boats during the weekend; derigged on Sunday in rain & took our boat to Morgan Marine for fixes; March 9 Gerald attended the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra concert with famed cellist Yo Yo Ma; March 17 Gerald participated in the orchestra large group festival; March 26 Pickle Race; Pat took photos mostly from land and helped with set-up for the youth ranch kids.

April – 1st, Gerald on overnight camping trip to Cedro Peak; 4/25 Gerald with HHS orchestra at workshop at Glorieta near Santa Fe, 4/30 Gerald’s bass audition for youth orchestra
May – 1st traveled to Prague, 3rd picked up cello & dinner at Dum U Šemika, 4th dinner at Ztraty & Nalezyu, 5th Lee Seeger & Marianna Křenova’s wedding at Novomĕstska radnice, dinner at Pivovarsky Dun, (visited Smetana and Dvořak museums and did brief boat tour while in Prague) 6th dinner at Kafarna na kus reci, 7th moved to Vlasska byt, exterior tour of Praske Hrad, 8th returned to US via Paris and delay in New Orleans; 5/11 Gerald’s cello audition for youth orchestra, cats to vet, 5/21 Sunrise Regatta (served as mark and safety boat & spent 7 hours on water, then derigged and towed to Albuquerque arriving at 12:45 a.m.; 5/22 brought boat to Laguna Vista in northern N.M., brought utility trailer south after repairing lights en route, 5/28 NMSC board meeting and work party after quickie trip south for early a.m. summer school registration for Gerald.

June – fixed utility trailer, 6/6 Gerald began summer school (summer physical education), Gerald started music theory class, Pat & Gerald did marina work at Heron, Pat bought miter saw & used it to build a floating mini-gangway for the marina.

July – bought kayaks, bought pirate flags, bought & borrowed & movie props for Lee & Jerry Seeger’s “Pirates of the White Sands” movie for the Duke City Shootout, worked on marina, helped Bev M. with move to Abq, 7/12 Gerald went to Philmont for 63-mile backpack trip, 7/15 bought chainsaw, upgraded cell phone; 7/20 Pat flew to LA and ferried to Catalina after big delay in Phoenix; 7/21 sailed on Hägar from Avalon to Newport Beach & visited Bahia Corinthian y.c.; 7/22 sailed to San Pedro & visited Cabrillo Beach y.c.; 7/23 Pat back from SoCal & Gerald from Philmont; 7/26 sectioned cottonwood trunk; 7/31 took Gerald to youth orchestra Hummingbird music camp.

August – helped with last details of NMSC insurance; 8/3 Gerald back from Hummingbird; 8/6 Shroyer Center ice cream social; 8/7 launched our and Alan Burns’ MacGregor sailboats and put in marina; 8/12 Gerald to Scout campout in Manzanos (heavy rains); 8/15 Gerald at first youth orchestra rehearsal; 8/19 participated in Heron Lake town hall meeting as an NMSC representative.

September – 9/3 NMSC potluck dinner, 9/4 Laguna Vista Annual meeting (helped preside for Shroyer Center board as v.p.), 9/17 borrowed Jim Moore’s power boat to serve as mark/safety boat on north end of Elephant Butte lake for Sunrise Regatta II, made photo CDs; 9/27 1st HHS orchestra concert.

October – 1st – hauled our boat and Alan Burns’ boat out from Heron marina; 10/4 1st youth orchestra concert for Gerald; 10/5 Gerald started as den chief; 10/7 moved boat south to Elephant Butte, 10/8 covered Desert Classic regatta; 10/15 picked up Gerald after Scout-o-rama in south valley was ended early because of rain and went back to E. Butte; 10/22 assembled patio railings & posts at cabin; 10/24 Gerald’s annual gifted evaluation; 10/29 Heron Lake marina decommissioning; 10/30 lunch in Chimayo with family/relatives & fire extinguishers to Bruce Bowen. Also helped on RGSC nominating committee during Sept./Oct.

November – 11/5 fall regatta; Pat motored & sailed solo & photographed; 11/6 very light, rafted up to Mac Goddess while Carol Anne typed novel on laptop, then visited Cultural Infidel; 11/9 paid for tree trimming; 11/10 covered remains of cottonwood stump; 11/12 painted posts and rails at cabin; 11/14 returned jury questionnaire; 11/17 HHS orchestra recital and dinner; 11/18 Pat at jury orientation; 11/19 Gerald to solo and ensemble music festival, took Whisper rudder & gear to E. Butte, 11/20 sailed briefly on boat & lost glasses; 11/24 Thanksgiving at cabin; 11/30 replacement of u-joints and front driveshaft on Expedition.

December – 3rd went out in high winds as replacement committee boat with uneasy passenger; cancelled race, attended RGSC holiday party & white elephant exchange at Damsite; 4th served as committee boat with nice steady winds on chilly day; hauled boat, 12/6 Gerald had winter concert at high school; 12/10 attended NM Sailing Club Christmas party & white elephant exchange in Santa Fe (board approved dock replacement after discussion) after working on cabin landscape & entertaining the deer; 12/11 attended U.S.A. wedding reception for Lee & Marianna in Los Alamos’ Fuller Lodge.


Accomplishments –

Gerald began with the Albuquerque Youth Orchestra as a string bassist, while playing cello as a sophomore in his high school orchestra; he improved his grades in the fall and started serving as a scout den chief and asst. senior patrol leader. Gerald and his dad folded around 2,500 luminaria bags for Gerald’s scout troop. He also loves the “IPOD” music device he got from his grandparents. In the new year, Gerald looks forward to more payoffs for good grades, driver’s ed class (!), summer camp, and more time to spend this summer at our cabin, where he can hike, sail, ride trains, and enjoy nature.


Carol Anne completed a 53,000 word novel (Murder at the Community College) for National Novel Writing Month while teaching three classes at TVI, and has since written more than 50,000 words of another novel (Wizards of Winds and Waves). Now for her to get a good agent! She’s also been challenged to participate in an Adams Cup team for women’s sailing. Summer is her favorite time for enjoying the Good Life at our cabin, kicking back and lounging with the cats. She also enjoys posting grammar advice and bits of poetry and writing and life with cats on her internet web log, http://itsfiveoclocksomewhere.blogspot.com .


Pat completed a term as NMSC vice commodore, helping with marina repair, events, finding insurance for the new marina, and generally nagging people/herding cats. Pat continued to publish the Foghorn newsletter for the Rio Grande Sailing Club and got in on the tail end of the sailing club cruise to Catalina Island in California. He was also called for jury duty for the first time in 28 years as a registered voter; the lawyers questioned him but he wasn’t one of their first choices as a juror. Pat also built a raised patio at our cabin in northern New Mexico and has been getting exercise by moving mass quantities of retaining wall blocks, rocks, gravel, and dirt. Pat’s challenges for the new year will include helping the NMSC renovate its marina and try to get back to a full schedule of sailing and social activities.