A boat of a different sort, and a note on plans

The Mistral leadership took some time off recently to venture down the Aichilik River in Alaska's celebrated Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. That's it above, set against the Brooks Range.
Now, an update for those looking to sail, sand and other stuff:
-- A squad of Capable Volunteers varnished the Mistral house recently. It's looking killer.
-- Capable Crew Brooke plans to be on hand Sunday to scrub the big boat cover. For those of you who like to see progress in tedium (scrapping barnicles, cutting a lawn, popping bubble wrap) this is the job for you. Whole tracts of algae disappear, leaving like-new Sunbrella. Good times. The skipper will be sweating out a friend's wedding in the balmy Methow Valley.
-- A sail during the July 25 Dodging of the Duck is pretty certain. We'll leave The Center dock at 6 p.m.
-- The skipper is on hand the following weekend. Because he (and trust me, I'll soon stop writing in the third-person but on my own terms) will be travelling with his family for the following two weeks, a good dose of Mistral activity will be in store. If crew pipes up, I'd like to run a rapid succession of public sails on Sunday, yo-yoing out of the dock until we have vertigo. Crew is required. But wind willing, it sure would be nice to air this baby out on the Sound or Lake Washington.
-- In mid-August, watch for a haulout. This will call for many hands to scrape and apply paints bottom and topsides. We don't want this to become the interminable haulout from hell. It dries out the boat and keeps us from sailing.
-- Haulout willing, we sail for Victoria. If not, we sail for Port Townsend.