It's that time of year again

We launched Aleria in the spring, got the sails on, and never got a chance to actually sail this year. About a week later, Alex was stung by many bees and developed anaphylaxis. Luckily I had made him get an Epipen as soon as he started keeping bees. I injected the dose of epinephrine just in the nick of time -- as he became incoherent, had trouble breathing, and was passing out. 

Fortunately, he revived and I observed him for the next several hours with a second dose to hand, but he fared okay. It did, however, take him about 4-6 weeks to get back to normal. Brain fog, inability to concentrate, and physical exhaustion just stayed with him. But I am glad he stayed with me.

By then the weather had turned for the worst and stayed that way. Rain and more rain. Contrary winds. No weather window to bring Aleria home and no place to really sail on the Shannon. Apparently, we weren't alone -- some 86% of boats in Kilrush Marina never went out this year at all. Most had planned sailing holidays in July, and the weather was miserable. 

We kept trying to haul her but the weather just kept deteriorating. There are so many weather anomalies this year that it looks increasingly less likely that cruising will remain viable if these patterns persist or get worse. So today, we took her out of the water finally. It was blowing a good 20 knots out of the SW but we did it slowly and managed to get her safely stowed away. Darin and Simon were great as usual. They took their time, and got it right. 

We got the main and mizzen off but it was blowing too much to get the yankee down, so we'll have to go back soon and take care of that. No worries. At least she's safely on land.