Thursday, August 21, 2008

Day 114 Part Two Off to Sequim

We're sitting at the park n ride at Sequim (pronounced "Squim") as I type this.  The Sun has finally come out and it has become a lovely day.  Nice a cool with a slight breeze.  

The trip over was great.  I had a newspaper to read.  My first in several weeks.  Same old same old.  The news never changes--at least not that much.  Now that the primaries are over here, they can get down to the real name calling.  For those of you that don't know it, Washington state has started a new primary style.  It doesn't matter what party you are in.  The two people that have the largest percentage of votes in the primary are who is going to be on the ballot in November.   It could be two Democrats, or two Republicans.  Not necessarily one from each party.  The party that isn't represented in the fall is upset and there were a few races where the two party system has fallen to the wayside.  The top two survive.  The same two candidates that ran for governor four years ago are going at it again.

We found the Science Diet for the kids at Petco so they will be happy tonight.  They will have food for quite a while.  I got my hairs cut.  Boy I sure got bushy over the past few weeks.  I'm back to a nice "republican" haircut.  Short in back and off the ears.  My hippy days are over again.  AH--the 60's.  At least then I didn't have to worry about a bald spot on the back of my head--thanks Mom--you could have passed on something different.  I didn't need your hips either.

We had a late lunch at Costco--free bratwurst, rootbeer, ham sandwiches, pepperoni sticks, dry roasted soy nuts, and ice cream with chocolate sauce.  Boy the free samples can really add up.  we stocked up on AA and C cell batteries for Zephyr.  Since we still don't have lights other than a 110 volts light, we rely on flashlights and they love batteries.  

Jack is still working on the wiring and getting us put back together again.  The hard part is over, now it is pretty much reconnect the wires and wind out what goes where.  He has a project for us this weekend.  He is going to label a bunch of wires for us to rip out.  Not sure what or where they go to but out they will come. 

Gordon, the rigger, is going to work on the mast some more today.  New pad eyes for the running back stays.  Where we had metal wires before, now we will have what is called "running back stays".  These are lines that will take the place of the wires and will control the mast as well as the sail shape by how much tension is placed on the line.  It will connect to the decks with a series of block and tackles so each side can be tightened individually.  It's all new to us so there will be a learning curve to get up to speed on it.  They did the rigging for our spinnaker pole yesterday.  We now have a "car" that will travel up and down the mast so we can better control the spinnaker.  Now we don't even own a spinnaker pole, but we will be set once we do.  Since we have never flown the spinnaker, we thought we should do that first before buying the pole.  A carbon fiber one--the lightest made is only $4000.  First learn the sail, then learn the pole.  We can get it before we leave the US.

We're off for Port Townsend.  By the time we get back, the workmen will be gone for the day and we will have peace and quiet again.   

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