Shorebound....

...But not for much longer.
Just a brief note to let you all know that we haven't dropped off the end of the earth, have been back in Scotland for the last couple of weeks and will be returning to P. Delgada and Fettler next week.
The evening before we departed, we invited several of our fellow sailors over for drinks. Around a dozen came on board (including one very cute ship's cat, who showed up spontaneously later on) and we found, as Fran and Dave had before us, that it was necessary to close the cockpit scuppers with that many people on board as the extra weight was causing it to fill with water!
The first, and most important, order of business when we arrived back home was to attend the wedding of some old and dear friends. It was small, but perfectly formed and one of the rare instances when the entire core of our old gang from university days manage to all gather together.
The event took place in beautiful Fort Augustus, on the banks of Loch Ness and, of course, on the route of the Caledonian Canal - definitely looking forward to the passage through there next year.
After the wedding, I stayed on a few days to help the groom get caught up on some hedge trimming, while Sonja travelled on to Berlin to visit her folks.
Back in Edinburgh, we've been busy unpacking and sorting out the stuff we brought back from the States with us, as well as the things that we packed away before going to the US three and a half years ago.
After four months living on the boat, it seems like a lot of stuff! In fact, shore-living has come as a bit of a shock after the simplicity of life at sea, leaving us both eager to get back out there. When we do get back, we hope to squeeze in a few more weeks of Azorean cruising, before bedding down the boat for winter.