Did I Say Boring?

SHIP'S LOG:

As my former laptop had survived the ICW journey and made it back home, it has become time to give it a rest. It is seven years(7) old now and beginning to show its age. There is more junk on it that I can seemingly remove, they don't make batteries for it anymore and so it must work plugged into the wall, the video and wifi cards are out of date, in short it is ancient in terms of our current computer/electronic world. It became necessary to send it onto the great cyber world of the beyond. So I purchased a new one and that's where the boredom ended.

It was not that I got enthralled with all the new features and dodads with which it was loaded, rather it was that getting what I needed and want from the old computer out and into the news was a time consuming process. Some of the programs on my Old PC simply wouldn't transfer to the New. Wihout QUICKEN for instance, withoput which my finances would be even more screwed up than they are with it, wouldn't make the transfer even though the two PCs wrere cable connected. So it was, I had to find the CD containing the version of Quicken that I was currently use and install the program on the new PC. Then I had to get all the back-upped records off the old PC and onto the new so that they would backup and restore the records on the new PC.

I also had to reinstall my Verizon Wireless Manager so that I can access the Internet when I can vampire off a free Wifi Hotspot. That CD is long gone and I had to do a tour of a whole host of Verizon websites to finally get the one that would allow me to download the software and have the system up and running on the new PC.

This Dell computer, as most PCs I don't doubt, comes with Microsoft Internet Explorer loaded and selected as the default Internet browser. But I don't use Internet Explorer as it has more bugs in it then they would like you believe. I use Mozilla Firefox. Of course, Microsoft doesn't like it and it wouldn't transfer anything between computers if it has the taint of Firefox. So it is that I had to transfer all of the Bookmarks on Firefox one at a time onto the new PC. Such fun!

And figuring out all the new widgets, thingamabobs and doohickeys, deciding which to keep active and which to shut down, well it was a full day. By the time my brain had turned to mush, I actually had not even finished half of what I wanted to do. So it will be another full day today. What slows the process is that the set up of the keyboard is slightly different arrangement that the old PC's setup. I have been hitting a lot of wrong keys which really can mess up and prolong the process.

Well off the cyber salt mines.

Boring, Boring BORING!

SHIP'S LOG:

It would be better on the boat. Not that I adverse to having time to do anything I want, it is more like I have nothing that I can thin k of right now that I really want to do. Can't really do any Christmas shopping as, well, it takes money, something in which I am sorely lack. ABISHAG is locked up and put away for the winter so there is really nothing to do there. True, I do have a list of projects but all really await the advent of the warmth of spring . . . and some money.

A small aside, Abe the Yard Manager at Yankee Boatyard called the other day. They were just putting the finishing touches on the winterization and want to top off the diesel tank . . . except they couldn't find the fill-pipe for the tank. I told him not to worried, that it took three of us to find it when we were bring ABISHAG up from Annapolis after I bought her. The cap for the fill-pipe is located inside the the propane tank locker. Good thing he called, as he had been thinking that the fill-pipe marked "WATER" was actually the diesel fill-pipe, just with the wrong cap on it.

I'll probably check with Kevin and John and see if there is time-killing work available at the sail loft. The grunt work can be mind numbing but it passes the time. It also pays for my sail repairs so I will probably "have to" go and do it. . . sometime soon.

I am at least thinking about the guitar again. I haven't really play in several years, not since I shattered my wrist falling off my SCHWINN! The wrist seems OK. The therapy went well and I have most of not all of the mobility back but every time I get the urge to play, I discover the muscle memory for fingering the chords is basically gone. Gone too are the calluses and to quote John Lennon, "I got blisters on my fingers!" Still, three is all that time right now, so what the heck. I worked at it a bit last night and was rewarded with aching finger tips, clumsy chord construction and what could only be described as "long dead scar tissue' ripping itself apart on the back of my left hand. True, I could re-tune the guitar and just play slide but, despite how easy it might look, it does take more than a bit of skill. O well, I've got time.

Of course, I do have something "really excitin'" to look forward to at the end of the month - my bi-annual colonoscopy! What a way to "end" the year! Any time I really begin to bitch about it, I pause and think about my poor doctor. What happened in his childhood that he chose this particular area of medicine in which to specialize?

Well, it is one day closer to spring and so one day closer to launching. Summer is getting closer by the minute!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

If you are of that Catholic persuasion, today is New Year's Day because it is the First Sunday of Advent, the first day of the NEW Liturgical Year. So Happy New Year . . . and don't forget to make, and keep, those New Year's Resolutions!

Checking up on the Blog from this day last year, I was leaving the New River, one of several so named, this one in Georgia just outside of Savannah, dashing into Georgia and the cold was starting to hit. Truth be told, it was about the same temp as we have here today, lows in the high 30's/low 40,s, high in the low 60's/high 50's. Ah what a difference a year and 1,ooo miles makes. Not much of one.

And I am not in Vermont. I am still in God's country. I was going to have to pay up at least some of the utilities up in Vermont and I had thought that I had the coins to do so, but checking carefully I found that my financial assets would actually be strained beyond breaking if I went and so had to bow out. It was certainly generous of my friends, Skip and Nancy, to offer me their home-away-from-home, but I just was able to swing it. But God arranged another spot even as the first one fell apart. I friend, who is selling his house to move to Florida of all places, offered me the use of the "In-Law" apartment attached to his home - gratis! It keeps me near family and friends and the boat, and, hopefully, out of the way of a lot of snow and cold. Then again, if there is a repeat of last year's winter weather bonanza, where I happen to be may make no real difference.

One thing it does do is to put me close to my friend, Ray. Ray is the guy who has taken care of motorized vehicles and done so without cost. Trying to get Rat to accept anything in payment is an exercise in futility. Unfortunately Ray has had some tough times. He has been in a car wreck and it has done some damage. Right now, he is trying to get his medical insurance to pay up and get the other driver's insurance to pay up. He can't work, he's a mechanic, and things are tough. So I will be able to help in any way I can, if only to buck him up a little. I will have to see where all of this leads. It should be good though and it will make me feel satisfied if I can help him and his family even a little.

Happy Thanksgiving!

SHIP'S LOG:

Thanksgiving! There is really something wonderful about a holiday that is dedicated to over-eating. A year ago, I spent it in Beaufort, SC, with the "outrageous "Guy McSweeney and family. Coming and going, Beaufort was perhaps the best place on the trip. From the people to the temperature, it was wonderful. Perhaps the only drawback was the gnats, but even they could not take that much away from the place and the people. Not to mention the food.

Here it is cold and rainy and we shall not see the 70's again before late spring at the earliest. I am not looking forward to the snow either. Then again, it is all a part of the wonder that is New England.

I emptied ABISHAG on Monday having found that they had hauled her the Tuesday before. Never did get that call and that disappoints me. I have not been completely thrilled with the place though I can't say that anything "bad" has happened, but there is just a feeling of "slovenliness" or something about the place. Perhaps it is just a feeling stemming from the fact that it is the fall and haul-out time and perhaps this will all change by spring. Perhaps I am just experiencing the effects of my cold or the lack of sunshine or something else similar. Who knows for sure? It is just a feeling. In any event, the insides are now outside and stored in a warm, dry cellar to sleep until spring. Now if I can just get there myself.

Cold & Colds

SHIP'S LOG:

The "cold" has hung on now for at least a week. It seems to go during the day but at night the sniffing and coughing comes back. I hate colds almost as much as I hate the cold. Monday or Tuesday I will complete the emptying of ABISHAG. I have no idea now if they have hauled her or not. I was supposed to be called when they did so that I could check out her bottom when she was in the slings but I have heard no word. It is possible that they "forgot" but it real makes no difference with the emptying process. If ABISHAG is still in the watter, it simply means a long walk from the boat to the car.

With that done, it is simply a chance to enjoy Thanksgiving and they head up to Vermont on Saturday morning. Then the hibernation beginngs. Hopefully, it will be of short duration and I'll soon be back to the shore, or at least closer than Vermont.

Yesterday, was TYC "DECOMMISSIONING DAY." Snow fences (used to keep the sand from blowing all over) were put in place. Bathrooms were cleaned, closets emptied, floats brought ashore and secured, and a myriad of other projects accomplished. The place looks lonesome and alone. It is the really depressing part of the "sailing season" when it is finally, officially and totally over. One of the owners of the last boats in, took off for an overnight to Greenport. The weather is actually nice for such a trip but it would only make the hauling a little more painful when at last it comes. Still, it would have been nice to go but I had other things to do and for which to get ready. I hate winter, even when it isn't here yet.

Today marks a significant moment in last year's trip. On this date last year I was in Charleston, SC, preparing for my run through "ELLIOTS CUT," the most dangerous piece of water on the entire ICW. I gather from the blog and the Log that I got myself a bit worked up in anticipation of the moment but all went well. Looking back on it now, it probably was a good thing to be so cautious. But it was a more relaxed scene when I came back through in the Spring. Must have been a little bit of growth in self-confidence in the intervening months. And it was in the mid 70's!

IS Vermont Going To Be Like The Carolinas?

SHIP'S LOG:

A dear friend of mine , who has been reading the blog, dropped a veiled warning that Internet Access in Vermont is a sometimes thing. I gather that with all of the mountains, the line of sight signals for cell phones, and hence "WiFi" can be rather iffy depending on where you are. Skip & Nancy, who own the Vermont property, say that to use their cell phones it is necessary to go out on the porch top get service. A wonderful thought in a blizzard!

Still no word from the boatyard and/or the powers that be. Both will come in time and worrying about it doesn't make it happen any faster. It will come when it comes.

Three boats alone remain in the TYC mooring field. It is really barren now. Two are undoubtedly still here simply because their owners haven't gotten around to hauling them. When the Indian Summer breaks, they will be here quickly, probably kicking themselves for waiting as long as they have. The last is own by Mike, who is still planning one last trip to Block Island and Greenport, NY. Mike seems to get out to Block Island as often as he possibly can during the season. He loves the place. If he could afford to buy a place out there he probably would and live there fulltime. being a politician, be would probably run for mayor or king or whatever the head puba of the place is called.

I'll have to find new digs by Saturday as that is when the TYC Clubhouse is shut down. No water, no heat and everything locked up. If all goes according to plan, always remembering that Custer had a plan, ABISHAG will be unloaded on Thursday, in or out of the water, and I will be off to Maine, probably on Sunday or Monday. I am scouting around for some good winter boots to add to my rather limited wardrobe as I suspect that we are going to get hammered again this winter.
Even though I haven't seen snow in about two years, the freak storm of a couple of weeks back notwithstanding, I still hate it. It looks wonderful but going out in it is not something I am looking forward to with any relish whatsoever. Too bad someone hasn't got a condo in Florida I could watch!

Slow Disassembling Of ABISHAG

SHIP'S LOG:

This must be Indian Summer or something close to it. The days are wonderful and even the nights are too, too bad - too cold that is. I took the opportunity to head up to Portland to do a couple of things on ABISHAG. The first was to pack all of my remaining clothes and get them out of the boat before they end up moldy. One of the things I have found on my trip that packing clothing with drier sheets actually prevents the " 3 M's," mold, mildew and moths. Still there was a dampnes to a lot of the stoff and I will have a large laundry project ahead of me. It will be washing drying and re-packing for the trip to Vermont.

Another item that needed taking care of was the "Speedo" transducer. This is a little paddle wheel that extends beyond the surfsce of the hull underwater and spins as the boat moves through the water. A magnet no one of the paddels passes a point and produces a small \electrical cahrge that is read as speed by the "Speedo." Unfortunately, the transducer is locat4rd on a part of the hull where it is possible that it will hit by the straps used to lift the boat out of the water. It has to be removed and replaced with a flat plug less the weight of the hull be transfer to it as the straps are drawn up tight. At best, it will break the paddle wheel and at worst, it will psuh the entire fixture right into the hul creating a hole in the hull. Holes under the water line are not good things. It would require a seriious repair job come spring and, more than likely, a whole new trsansducer unit and maybe a whole new "Speedo" set up. It is easy and less work and much less expesnsive to pull the transducer and replace it with its plug. Trying to get the transducer out proved to be an exercise in futility for reasons unknown. After fiddling with it for a few minutes, I decided to leave it for the yard crew to do. I left them a note with the plug on that hatch which sat over the location of the transducer. I also made it a point to track down one of the yard crew and let them know the situation.

As for being hauled? well, there are no other boast on the docks so I must be the next one to get hauled. It has "only"been a month since ABISHAG moored of the marina so it is about time.