The final blitz is on. We really are going to probably leave the dock tomorrow, ready or not. A friend will sail with us -- whose name is actually Friend. Next land stop will be Wakefield, RI, where we will pick up Bob's brother, Rich, we think. I think Art goes on hold until our second stop, Boston, where we hope Bob's son, Mark, will join us for the next leg. Friend and Rich will leave us there. By then, we will have our sea legs and will be settling into the routine of the boat.

The boat is a Valiant 40 -- a good sea-worthy vessel, equipped for blue water sailing. But this year, we are coastal cruising -- largely because I like to sleep at night -- in a secure, at least relatively quiet harbor. I am not fond of the all hands on deck routines, that although not that common, are what one remembers of offshore sailing. The long lazy downwind days of idyllic passages are lovely, but for me they are spoiled by those midnight firedrills. None of that this year, please.

Counting down, scrambling, probably not going to make our planned departure date, but I painted -- plein air on Tuesday morning -- studio on Wednesday morning. I might be able to use the plein air start and finish in the studio. It's not bad. The studio painting is coming along but not close enough to finish before we leave. It will have to wait for fall. I'm taking two big totes, in addition to my camera bag.

Not sure where all this stuff will stow on board, but stuff always seems to get put away somewhere. (Maybe this is a bit more than usual... I plan to draw and paint the summer away -- in addition to reading the half dozen or more books I've tucked in.

Reminder to myself -- colors for "On the Road" painting -- n.gamboge, thio violet, prussian, cobalt, ultra. blue (center jacket) with aliz., left jacket aliz. top & brown madder below. Fields have n. gamboge, br. madder, cobalt, prussian. Biker shirt n.gam., br. madder, w cobalt glaze.

I hate to leave a work in progress before it is close to finished. Let's see if I can upload the current status.

Working on a new painting in between preparations to head off Down East for a 6-week cruise of Maine waters. I really want to finish this painting before we leave, as I've been planning it now for too long already. But yesterday was dedicated to prep-ing and varnishing brightwork on the boat; today is for clearing my desk and tomorrow is dedicated to a volunteer task for a three-week urban summer camp. With just a week to go before we sail away, and one morning dedicated to plein air painting, I'm afraid there will not be enough time for the new studio painting.

I paint mostly in the studio from my own photographs. With thousands of images stored on my computer, finding a suitable subject to paint is as simple as browsing. But my photographs also enable me to relive our travels daily, through screensavers.

Waiting is on exhibit at the Davis Gallery in Orange, CT, through mid July, 2010.