I Got A Sunburn! ! ! ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

It was actually sunny yesterday and working on deck produce an honest-to-goodness sunburn! It must be summer!I actually had to take the time to untangle the anchor line which had more kinks and twists and turns in it than a spastic colon. Most of those who don't boat don't realize how careful you have to be with lines to keep them straight and running free. A unintended loop or twist and foul a line an make a situation dangerous and it pays to take the time, when you are re-coiling lines and storing them to make sure they are ready to run free. Embarrassingly, I didn't do this Sunday after the race with the anchor line. It just got stuff back into the anchor locker and was now a twisted, kinked-up mess. It literally took an hour to unwind, untwist, unkink the line and re-coil it. It was then put very carefully back into the anchor locker, ready for instant use the next time the hook is to be dropped.

Strange day weather-wise. It alternated between very foggy and bright, clear skies. The only down side was that when it was bright and clear there was no wind and when the wind began to blow, it blew in a blanket of fog. Sailing in the Thames River area in the fog, what with the ferries, tankers, barges, and the odd submarine, can be a bit nerve racking on a clear day, it the fog it is absolutely frightening. I never did get off the mooring. I had to contend myself with maintenance work . . . like the anchor line.

The inverter, a device which magically coverts 12 volt DC power to 110 volts AC power ( so that you can run home appliance . . . like the micro wave and the blender on the boat) has decided to take a vacation. It worked fine last week but now it is non-functioning. I was hoping that it was merely an internal breaker that was trip but resetting the breakers on the inverter produced no joy. Neither did resetting the GFI's - Ground Fault Interupters - those little red & black button you see on your outlets at home - that keep you from becoming a human charcoal briquette. So I called Don the Magic Boat Electrician from Mystic Shipyard. Don seemed fascinated with the electrical set up on ABISHAG - it really had him shaking his head - and volunteered that any time I had an electrical question that I should call him. So I did. He walked me through the list of all the stuff I had already tried and a few additional steps, and it came down to two last options: 1.) that somewhere on the wires from the battery banks to the inverter, there was another fuse or breaker that had blow and needed to be replace or reset, or 2.) the inverter was dead and need to be replaced. I didn't have time to check it out yesterday for sure but anyone want to hazard a guess as to which option it is going to be? Hummmmmm?

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

Another great day on the water. It doesn't look particularly good for the rest of the week, but what the heck, it is summer. Unfortunately, I developed a crick in my neck sleeping a a draft last night so I am sort of tilted to the right. God seems to like to toss these little things in every now and then just to keep me on my toes. Nice to know that he is thinking of me, though I can think of a number of other ways he could do the same thing. Still in all, it is nice to be thought of.

ABISHAG is taking on a more homey atmosphere as more and more "stuff" gets transferred back aboard. I must now begin the process of mentally moving abaord as well. It is a very different mind-set and it takes a bit of time but I look forward to it. Nice, sunny, days of 12-15 knots of wind would make it a lot easier.