SHIP'S LOG:
Well, it has pretty much spent itself, the snow that is. I experienced somewhere between 8" - 10" of fluffy white stuff. It won't be as difficult to shovel as the "wet stuff," but unlike the wet stuff, it won't stay where you put it when you are through shoveling.
And it is cold! ! ! ! ! It is a rip-roaring 9 degrees. Probably an unimpressive number to the residents of the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana and the like, then again this IS Connecticut! As over-insulated as this dwelling is, the furnace keeps kicking on every five minutes or so to keep it at a comfortable 60+/-. One of the great changes that old age is bringing is a greater tolerance to the cold. I don't like it anymore than I did when I was young but it seems like I can stand it better now. May I just don't care anymore about temperatures, but I still prefer SUMMER!
It is "sad" to note that most of Florida is experiencing temperatures of 50 or less. I can feel for those people for whom that is as bad as what we are experiencing up here. Supposedly there is no medical foundation for the idea that your blood "thins" the longer you live in warm temperatures, that the whole think is a mental approach. Who knows for sure, but it is also true that few in Florida own snow shovels, snow blowers and ice shoppers. It sound ideal until you encounter your first swarm of "Palmetto Bugs" which despite the protests of Southerners are simply large flying cockroaches on steroids. Every place has its good point and its bad points. You pays your money and you takes your chance!
Friday, January 3, 2014
Thursday, January 2, 2014
New Year! New Blizzard?
SHIP'S LOG:
Somehow, "Connecticut" and "Blizzard" just don't seem to go together. True it is that we have had some crackerjack snow storms, perhaps even a blizzard or two but still in all "Connecticut" and "Blizzard" are just terms that do not seem to relate.
Not that any of that matters as the state prepares to get seriously socked today. If this were Rhode Island, you wouldn't be able to find a battery, a loaf of bread or a quart of milk anywhere. The people of this state seem to take things in a more relaxed and carefree manner, at least until the 11th hours when panic will show forth full-bore.
Currently, those in the know - unfortunately that includes NOAA - are calling for 8 - 12 inches of snow which doesn't sound that bad. However, the temperatures are going to drop precipitously and the winds are going to rise exponentially and that combo is what is going to make the next day or so really awful. It could only be worse in Fargo, North Dakota!
I will duck out today to pick up a few items and gas up the car and then hunker down. The weather is "suppose" to begin to get crappy this afternoon but by then I shall be safe and warm and inside. I hope you will all be the same.
Somehow, "Connecticut" and "Blizzard" just don't seem to go together. True it is that we have had some crackerjack snow storms, perhaps even a blizzard or two but still in all "Connecticut" and "Blizzard" are just terms that do not seem to relate.
Not that any of that matters as the state prepares to get seriously socked today. If this were Rhode Island, you wouldn't be able to find a battery, a loaf of bread or a quart of milk anywhere. The people of this state seem to take things in a more relaxed and carefree manner, at least until the 11th hours when panic will show forth full-bore.
Currently, those in the know - unfortunately that includes NOAA - are calling for 8 - 12 inches of snow which doesn't sound that bad. However, the temperatures are going to drop precipitously and the winds are going to rise exponentially and that combo is what is going to make the next day or so really awful. It could only be worse in Fargo, North Dakota!
I will duck out today to pick up a few items and gas up the car and then hunker down. The weather is "suppose" to begin to get crappy this afternoon but by then I shall be safe and warm and inside. I hope you will all be the same.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Winding Down
SHIP'S LOG:
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. It probably would have been more memorable had I won the Mega Millions $626 million jackpot but I did not. I was in the running . . .I got two, count'em "2" numbers, but not enough to winner a major prize. Well, that was a whole dollar wasted!
The days are now getting longer, though I can't say that I notice that yet, and next week will be New Years Eve/Day, and aside from a lot of partying, but not by me, and a lot of football watching, yes, to a certain extent, what New Years engenders in me is the anxiety of where is the money going to come from for all those extra bills that must be paid. Not so much the regular monthly bills as those get covered "easy" enough, but the extra ones. The TYC dues will be due in January and that means coming up with about 1 4/5 Marine Units. The yard bills that I will be facing will be somewhere in the 3 0r 4 Marine Unit range. I am not complete sure as while I send them money I can't stand to open the bill each month and check out what I owe. Then there is the condo - anyone want to buy it? - and at this time of the year they always have some sort of "special" assessment that runs for 6 months. That'll be another 2/5 of a marine unit per month from February through July. I could go on by I am sure that you get the idea as most of you are in similar type financial fixes. Ah, it will be so much easier once Publishers Clearing House finally finds me. I know that they are looking hard for me as I get an email from them at least three times a week saying so though I don't understand why they are having such a difficult time. I've had the same address for 0ver 10 years and if they were really interested , they could set up a time, date and day by email. Perhaps they are just leading me on.
Hopefully, our January will come this year and last a bit longer than the crazy 60 - 70 degrees weather that we had in December. That will give me an opportunity to take down the rest of the overhead in ABISHAG, zap whatever black-mold issues I have, and plan out, measure and cut (and perhaps install) the stringers for the re-worked ceiling panels. If it lasts long enough I might even get the panels themselves repaired and painted. If those get done, there are sanding jobs and the first-step-of-refastening jobs that can be done. Usually, the thaw, when it comes, doesn't last but a week, so if it comes, and I hope it does, there will plenty to do.
Years ago, I actually looked at real estate in the American Virgin Islands. Did a lot of look but no buying. What they say about whatever you put on the Internet never goes away is true. For the last week I have received tons of real estate offers and there does seem to be an end insight. Like I said last week, if I wasn't already tied up with a condo up here, I might take a plunge down there. Then again, if Publishers Clearing House finds me, I can have the best of both worlds.
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. It probably would have been more memorable had I won the Mega Millions $626 million jackpot but I did not. I was in the running . . .I got two, count'em "2" numbers, but not enough to winner a major prize. Well, that was a whole dollar wasted!
The days are now getting longer, though I can't say that I notice that yet, and next week will be New Years Eve/Day, and aside from a lot of partying, but not by me, and a lot of football watching, yes, to a certain extent, what New Years engenders in me is the anxiety of where is the money going to come from for all those extra bills that must be paid. Not so much the regular monthly bills as those get covered "easy" enough, but the extra ones. The TYC dues will be due in January and that means coming up with about 1 4/5 Marine Units. The yard bills that I will be facing will be somewhere in the 3 0r 4 Marine Unit range. I am not complete sure as while I send them money I can't stand to open the bill each month and check out what I owe. Then there is the condo - anyone want to buy it? - and at this time of the year they always have some sort of "special" assessment that runs for 6 months. That'll be another 2/5 of a marine unit per month from February through July. I could go on by I am sure that you get the idea as most of you are in similar type financial fixes. Ah, it will be so much easier once Publishers Clearing House finally finds me. I know that they are looking hard for me as I get an email from them at least three times a week saying so though I don't understand why they are having such a difficult time. I've had the same address for 0ver 10 years and if they were really interested , they could set up a time, date and day by email. Perhaps they are just leading me on.
Hopefully, our January will come this year and last a bit longer than the crazy 60 - 70 degrees weather that we had in December. That will give me an opportunity to take down the rest of the overhead in ABISHAG, zap whatever black-mold issues I have, and plan out, measure and cut (and perhaps install) the stringers for the re-worked ceiling panels. If it lasts long enough I might even get the panels themselves repaired and painted. If those get done, there are sanding jobs and the first-step-of-refastening jobs that can be done. Usually, the thaw, when it comes, doesn't last but a week, so if it comes, and I hope it does, there will plenty to do.
Years ago, I actually looked at real estate in the American Virgin Islands. Did a lot of look but no buying. What they say about whatever you put on the Internet never goes away is true. For the last week I have received tons of real estate offers and there does seem to be an end insight. Like I said last week, if I wasn't already tied up with a condo up here, I might take a plunge down there. Then again, if Publishers Clearing House finds me, I can have the best of both worlds.
Monday, December 16, 2013
We'll Always Have Florida!
SHIP'S LOG:
A couple of years ago at this time of the year, when I was cruising down the ICW down through Florida, it was as cold there as it is here right now! I can remember spending a week in Jacksonville installing a new raw water pimp and the temperature never got about 30 degrees! I had to try to sleep aboard cover with just about every piece of clothing that I had with me and that included two, count'em, two sleeping bags, two blankets and a comforter. I was warm enough but I couldn't remain under that pile all day. Just getting up to use the head was like tracking to the North Pole and sitting on the toilet itself, well, I was always grateful that I didn't get stuck to the seat.
Technically, winter is still 5 days away, astronomical winter that is, but winter, as in cold weather and ice and snow is here now. I was a bit lucky over the weekend as the temperature did rise above freezing but it dropped at night turning the melted snow in to rock hard ice. It should be cold, very cold, extremely cold, single digit cold tonight and there is more snow coming tomorrow.
Of course there was that two month span (February & March) in 2010 when it never got below 75 at night. It was so hot and humid that I spent more time over-board than on-board!OH, those were the days. While I suppose that I could have made the journey South again, when the time came to make the decision, I just couldn't summon up the "gumption" to make the trip. So now I am paying for it with the cold winter weather and a jury-duty summons. Yup,after 5 years, I have been called to "judge my fellow man" again. The last time, I showed up and killed a whole day waiting, only to be told that the "perp" made a deal and that there would be no trial. I am hoping that such will be the case again, though I suspect that If I am chosen and am "acceptable" to both the prosecution and the defense, that I will spend the few days before Christmas in a court room jury box. Perhaps it will even extend to the other side of the Christmas recess and so begin the new year in court. Perhaps I should wear that T-shirt got at the Folger Shakespeare Museum in DC, the one bearing the quote, "The first thing we do is to kill all the lawyers." Probably not as it would actually be in bad taste and would probably get me in trouble. It probably not get me off of jury duty anyway.
Speaking of hot-summer-weather-in-winter, I am getting whole bunches of email ads touting the joy of chartering sailboats in the Caribbean, as well as the real estate market situation in the American Virgin Island. If I wasn't already stuck with a condo up here that I am trying to unload, that little bungalow in St. Thomas for a mere $12,000 would be interesting. But not right now. Now it is just time to throw another log on the fire and pull the blanket a little tighter and hope for the January thaw to start now and last until March!
A couple of years ago at this time of the year, when I was cruising down the ICW down through Florida, it was as cold there as it is here right now! I can remember spending a week in Jacksonville installing a new raw water pimp and the temperature never got about 30 degrees! I had to try to sleep aboard cover with just about every piece of clothing that I had with me and that included two, count'em, two sleeping bags, two blankets and a comforter. I was warm enough but I couldn't remain under that pile all day. Just getting up to use the head was like tracking to the North Pole and sitting on the toilet itself, well, I was always grateful that I didn't get stuck to the seat.
Technically, winter is still 5 days away, astronomical winter that is, but winter, as in cold weather and ice and snow is here now. I was a bit lucky over the weekend as the temperature did rise above freezing but it dropped at night turning the melted snow in to rock hard ice. It should be cold, very cold, extremely cold, single digit cold tonight and there is more snow coming tomorrow.
Of course there was that two month span (February & March) in 2010 when it never got below 75 at night. It was so hot and humid that I spent more time over-board than on-board!OH, those were the days. While I suppose that I could have made the journey South again, when the time came to make the decision, I just couldn't summon up the "gumption" to make the trip. So now I am paying for it with the cold winter weather and a jury-duty summons. Yup,after 5 years, I have been called to "judge my fellow man" again. The last time, I showed up and killed a whole day waiting, only to be told that the "perp" made a deal and that there would be no trial. I am hoping that such will be the case again, though I suspect that If I am chosen and am "acceptable" to both the prosecution and the defense, that I will spend the few days before Christmas in a court room jury box. Perhaps it will even extend to the other side of the Christmas recess and so begin the new year in court. Perhaps I should wear that T-shirt got at the Folger Shakespeare Museum in DC, the one bearing the quote, "The first thing we do is to kill all the lawyers." Probably not as it would actually be in bad taste and would probably get me in trouble. It probably not get me off of jury duty anyway.
Speaking of hot-summer-weather-in-winter, I am getting whole bunches of email ads touting the joy of chartering sailboats in the Caribbean, as well as the real estate market situation in the American Virgin Island. If I wasn't already stuck with a condo up here that I am trying to unload, that little bungalow in St. Thomas for a mere $12,000 would be interesting. But not right now. Now it is just time to throw another log on the fire and pull the blanket a little tighter and hope for the January thaw to start now and last until March!
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Snow, Snow Go Away!
SHIP'S LOG:
Well, it was a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing, Snowstorm "Dion" that is. After all of the hype, it was put into the proper perspective by a Congresswomen from upstate New York who referred to it as " a heavy frost." We didn't get all that much here in the wilds of Griswold, perhaps 2 inches, maybe, but it did get cold. That will probably be the most lasting effect as the temperature is not suppose to rise above freezing for the rest of the week, until that is we get smacked with the next snowstorm on the weekend. we'll have to wait and see how accurate NOAA is this time.
This little weather incident will surely cause to spring into action all those who have yet to winterize and cover their craft. It is not so much to prevent damage to the exterior but to the interior. Snow melt and refreezes and melts and refreezes and it tend to block scuppers and cockpit drains. As a result, a truly "decent" snowfall followed by a melt can fill most cockpits to overflowing and the place into which they overflow is the boat's interior. Water, especially frozen water, is something that you definitely want to keep out of your boat. Doing the proper covering job before the "bad winter weather sets in" means that you are less likely to end up 10 to 12 feet in the air (one's boat on boat stand), precariously perched on ice/snow covered decks, trying chip-off, shovel away the accumulation, especially from the drains and scuppers. And to do so in rather chilly weather as well! Another one of those "fun aspects" of boat ownership.
In my current financial state, I no longer receive "CRUISING WORLD" or "SAIL" or "BLUE WATER SAILING" and that is a good thing. At this time of the year, they are all replete with stories and article of people sailing/cruising/living in the Caribbean, the Gulf Coast of Florida, Latin America, and the Islands of the Pacific. It is cruel and heartless to have such stories present to us, whose only skin coloring is provided by wind burn from the cold winter winds. And it is still 10 days from "the turn of the tide," the shortest day of the year after which the days begin to get longer, not that it will be noticeable much before February. So the spiral is still downward, but one must always keep positive outlook. After all, last year at this time there were lots of people expecting the 21st to be the end of the world!
Well, it was a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing, Snowstorm "Dion" that is. After all of the hype, it was put into the proper perspective by a Congresswomen from upstate New York who referred to it as " a heavy frost." We didn't get all that much here in the wilds of Griswold, perhaps 2 inches, maybe, but it did get cold. That will probably be the most lasting effect as the temperature is not suppose to rise above freezing for the rest of the week, until that is we get smacked with the next snowstorm on the weekend. we'll have to wait and see how accurate NOAA is this time.
This little weather incident will surely cause to spring into action all those who have yet to winterize and cover their craft. It is not so much to prevent damage to the exterior but to the interior. Snow melt and refreezes and melts and refreezes and it tend to block scuppers and cockpit drains. As a result, a truly "decent" snowfall followed by a melt can fill most cockpits to overflowing and the place into which they overflow is the boat's interior. Water, especially frozen water, is something that you definitely want to keep out of your boat. Doing the proper covering job before the "bad winter weather sets in" means that you are less likely to end up 10 to 12 feet in the air (one's boat on boat stand), precariously perched on ice/snow covered decks, trying chip-off, shovel away the accumulation, especially from the drains and scuppers. And to do so in rather chilly weather as well! Another one of those "fun aspects" of boat ownership.
In my current financial state, I no longer receive "CRUISING WORLD" or "SAIL" or "BLUE WATER SAILING" and that is a good thing. At this time of the year, they are all replete with stories and article of people sailing/cruising/living in the Caribbean, the Gulf Coast of Florida, Latin America, and the Islands of the Pacific. It is cruel and heartless to have such stories present to us, whose only skin coloring is provided by wind burn from the cold winter winds. And it is still 10 days from "the turn of the tide," the shortest day of the year after which the days begin to get longer, not that it will be noticeable much before February. So the spiral is still downward, but one must always keep positive outlook. After all, last year at this time there were lots of people expecting the 21st to be the end of the world!
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Winter Be Here! ! !
SHIP'S LOG:
Winter is finally here. Less those of you who hold to winter only arriving on the 21st, let me remind you that there are several "first day of Winter." The one that corresponds to the 21st day of December is the Astronomical winter, when the day is the shortest of the year and the the 22nd begins a return to sunlight, or more of it shall we say.
Then there is the first day of winter from a sailor's perspective. This day varies from sailor to sailor but suffice it to say that for each it takes place when your boat is lifted from the water for the winter. for me, winter actually began shortly after Columbus Day, Thursday or Friday of that week. I wasn't present, but I sort of felt it nonetheless.
I would think that today qualifies as well for the first day of Winter as I am sitting at a kitchen table in Griswold and it is snowing. It is cold, below freezing obviously, and snowing. If we can trust NOAA, the "exact and precise" amount of snow that we should receive is 2 - 5 inches. then again, they did predict that Philly would get "only a dusting" and they got pretty close to a foot on Sunday. So who knows. In any event, there isn't anything I can do about it except enjoy it. Later on today, when there is sufficient accumulation on the ground, Ill take a walk while it is still snowing. There is nothing like it. There is a strange softening and muffling of sound during a snow fall and there is something about it that I find beautiful. I just wish that it would do me the favor of melting as soon as it has finished falling!
Winter is finally here. Less those of you who hold to winter only arriving on the 21st, let me remind you that there are several "first day of Winter." The one that corresponds to the 21st day of December is the Astronomical winter, when the day is the shortest of the year and the the 22nd begins a return to sunlight, or more of it shall we say.
Then there is the first day of winter from a sailor's perspective. This day varies from sailor to sailor but suffice it to say that for each it takes place when your boat is lifted from the water for the winter. for me, winter actually began shortly after Columbus Day, Thursday or Friday of that week. I wasn't present, but I sort of felt it nonetheless.
I would think that today qualifies as well for the first day of Winter as I am sitting at a kitchen table in Griswold and it is snowing. It is cold, below freezing obviously, and snowing. If we can trust NOAA, the "exact and precise" amount of snow that we should receive is 2 - 5 inches. then again, they did predict that Philly would get "only a dusting" and they got pretty close to a foot on Sunday. So who knows. In any event, there isn't anything I can do about it except enjoy it. Later on today, when there is sufficient accumulation on the ground, Ill take a walk while it is still snowing. There is nothing like it. There is a strange softening and muffling of sound during a snow fall and there is something about it that I find beautiful. I just wish that it would do me the favor of melting as soon as it has finished falling!
Monday, December 9, 2013
Winter Be Comin'
SHIP'S LOG:
I haven't been up to ABSHAG in over a week but I know that she is doing just fine. Bill Turner went to check on his boat in the next yard and cruised on by Yankee to check on ABISHAG and the other TYC boats wintering there. We all got the reports from Bill on Saturday night when the club hosted a membership party celebrating Hanukkah, Advent, Christmas, Kwanza, the first snowfall and the fact that we haven't been together in awhile.
I contacted Pat the Broker and told him to drop the price on ABISHAG from $49,900 to $44,900, with further instruction that if he got an interested but hesitant potential buyer, that he could drop it to $40,000. OUCH! well, one must do what one has to do. Still, I do not expect her to sell. It will take someone who is of special interest considering the age and style of ABISHAG, but I am sure that there is someone out there somewhere and that they will in time show up cash in hand.
I haven't been up to ABSHAG in over a week but I know that she is doing just fine. Bill Turner went to check on his boat in the next yard and cruised on by Yankee to check on ABISHAG and the other TYC boats wintering there. We all got the reports from Bill on Saturday night when the club hosted a membership party celebrating Hanukkah, Advent, Christmas, Kwanza, the first snowfall and the fact that we haven't been together in awhile.
I contacted Pat the Broker and told him to drop the price on ABISHAG from $49,900 to $44,900, with further instruction that if he got an interested but hesitant potential buyer, that he could drop it to $40,000. OUCH! well, one must do what one has to do. Still, I do not expect her to sell. It will take someone who is of special interest considering the age and style of ABISHAG, but I am sure that there is someone out there somewhere and that they will in time show up cash in hand.
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