Today's Adventures

Nothing terribly adventurous to report. Mom and I went up to the Good Tern Natural Foods store to get a little bit of pasta or something to go with tonight's chicken. We are trying to work up to longer walks by going just a little bit farther each time. There is a local cab company that provides rides anywhere in town for $5 - so we have a back-up plan if we get too tired. This also works for things like major grocery shopping. We can walk one way, and get a cab home. I don't know about anyone else, but there is a limit to how far I can walk with 60 pounds of ice plus the other groceries.

The small amount we had today we carried back to the boat. The rest of the afternoon we spent getting laundry done, cooking dinner and cleaning up dishes while we stayed out of David's way. He spent much of the day scraping and sanding the exterior wood, getting it ready to refinish. With only one ladder, it is difficult to be very helpful. I am not up to hanging upside down over the side to sand.

The wood exposed to sun and water gets worn, and every couple of years all of the little bits of wood need to be redone. For the folks who want to have showroom quality finishes, I suppose they have to do this more often. Looking at the condition of our toe rail, we probably should have done this last year, and might have if things had gone differently.

Plans for the holiday include staying dry. The weather forecast for here is rain Wednesday and Thursday. We thought we would have the wood ready to paint about Wednesday. Is there some rule that says paint calls the rain?

We have a few other things to finish. I had a couple of leaks on the punch list for this year. I do not know if that has been addressed. We are also replacing a hose on the engine. I would prefer not to repeat last year's bit of excitement.

We have a new sail coming, and some new rigging. With the new varnish, the boat will be pretty sharp. We hope to have everything done so we can launch around the 9th or so and be ready to sail off to points east.