Building Gypsy Rose

 So far, December has felt more like October. Yesterday, while driving down Bay Road and looking out toward my mooring on Shelburne Bay, I felt like I should be out sailing. Typically at this time of year the Laplatte River that flows into the bay is frozen, along with the shallows just to the south of the mooring field. As I headed to the Shelburne Shipyard to put Raven's winter cover on, the temperature was 51 degrees.

My delay in getting Raven covered was due the tarp size I needed being out of stock. In a typical year, I may have been met with a pile of snow on the decks if I'd waited this long to put on the tarps, but Raven was basking in an unusually warm December sun when I arrived. After putting the forward tarp in place, I looked over the tops of the buildings to the west. The sky was filled with dark, wet clouds moving my way. I quickly got the second tarp rolled out on the frame before the rains hit. I finished tying it all down in the pouring rain. (Imagine standing under the eave of a house during a downpour with water sheeting off the eaves while working to tie knots.)

Raven looks rather like a zepplin, don't you think?

Here my floating home will sit throughout the winter months. In three and a half months, she'll be lowered back into the waters of Lake Champlain.