Fall River, Tiverton and more

We have been dividing our time between Fall River, Massachusetts, Tiverton, Rhode Island and Jade. When we are not visiting with Al's family we have been working on the boat. We hate to dispel the romantic notion of life on a boat but there is some work involved. Don't worry we aren't expecting any sympathy!

After 6 months on board we found it was time for some routine cleaning and maintenance. Frances spent a day polishing the stainless steel. The interior needed a thorough cleaning plus a check in all the lockers for leaks and mildew. It's a good thing we checked because some shoes were moldy. They will be stored in plastic bags from now on. Al cut out two stern rail bases that were leaking and replaced them. Jade is 30 years old so almost every original part is being replaced bit by bit.

Al's family has really been fun and it's great to have this much time to spend with them. Al's father is constantly on the go and sometimes we can barely keep up with him.

An interesting thing we did in Fall River was attend a Feast at a Portuguese Catholic church. There have always been a large number of Portuguese people in Fall River and Al is 1/2 Portuguese. The church had a Mass and then processed with a statue of Jesus through the streets. Then it was time for a festival with food and entertainment. Everyone was speaking Portuguese so we felt like we were overseas! We loved the marinated pork sandwiches and Fava beans in a sauce. For dessert they made Malassadas - a fried dough with sugar. Wonderful! Especially when hot and fresh.

When we are not in Fall River we are in Tiverton, Rhode Island. It's a small coastal town with rolling hills, stone walls, farm land and shingled houses. In Tiverton we have been visiting our regular haunts, like Frances' favorite coffee shop, and hanging out with the family.

It is now time to move on though. On Wednesday we are going back to Newport to watch the beginning of a Transatlantic race. We are excited to see the Maltese Falcon start the race, the largest privately owned sailing yacht in the world. Then on Friday we will go to Bristol, Rhode Island for the Fourth of July festivities which will last through the weekend. Happy 4th of July!