Day 185 The weather has turned.

The weather has started to turn here in Port Townsend.  For the foreseeable future, it is rain and high winds.  We'd planned and worked hard at getting the important jobs done so we could spend a while at a different harbor anchored all alone in peace and quiet all the while letting the world pass us by(and not seeing any political commercials).  Now that we are almost there and could leave, it is to rain and have winds up to 35 knots.  What's the fun in being in a deserted harbor if it's being blown all over the place and the rain keeps you pretty much a captive in your boat?  So for the next few days, I'll concentrate on projects inside Zephyr.  Heaven only knows there are lots of things that still need to be done.  I have lots of drawers that need organization and the bilge still needs attention.

Yesterday was a great day for getting more projects done.  We checked off two biggies.  We emptied the forward sail locker(also known as the "garage") and installed the new anchor backing plate.  For those of you that have been reading this blog, you'll remember me talking about there being a steel pipe that held the end of the anchor in the locker.  I've now replaced it with a 1/2" thick aluminum plate with a big "U" bolt bolted through it.  That anchor isn't going any where.  It is still set up with nylon line at the end of the chain so that if we need to jettison the anchor, all we have to do is cut the line.  If we ever anchor and need to get out really quick due to really bad weather or another boats anchor has slipped and is bearing down on us, all we will need to do is let out all the anchor and cut the line, start the motor and get out of the way.

I got the new electrical outlet installed in the galley yesterday afternoon.  I'd gone to Henery's Hardware and bought a better saw for cutting thin teak.  The last piece I'd tried had snapped in two.  With a saw better made to cut thin boards, I was off to the races.  It cut the opening I needed just fine.  As you can see from the picture, I needed a teak board to cover an existing hole in the wall.  We'd removed a propane "sniffer" that had stopped working and that left a big hole.  You can see our new "sniffer" below the outlet.  With the teak board, I could cover the hole and install the outlet.  Now we have another outlet in the galley.  No more having to move the microwave to get to an outlet or string an extension cord.  I'll be ordering an outlet cover today from Fisheries Supply.  It should be here by next Tuesday.  We'll use some of our lacquer to make the teak blend in with the cabinet it's attached to.

I have a bit of wire left after the install and with luck will install an outlet in the engine compartment.  You never know when you'll need 110 in there.

I found it interesting as I installed the outlet, the orientation of the plug came into play.  I'd asked Tracy which was she wanted it.  She wanted it the way the picture showed it.  To me, that is backwards.  There is the difference of "right" brain versus "left" brain.  Tracy is the "left" brain of the family.  Logical, rational, analytical, and objective.  I on the other hand, being "right" brained am more random and subjective.  That is why we work so well together.  What one of us doesn't have, the other does so we do better at seeing the whole.  (Yeah, I know, the outlet is in backwards but that is the way she wanted it.)

We restocked the pantry yesterday with lots of new goodies.  Tracy keeps a list of what is where so it's much easier to find.  Everything is in plastic boxes in every little nook and cranny as space in a boat, even Zephyrs size, gets used.  When you're out cruising, there is no 7/11 or Circle K to stop into.  You are a floating grocery store.  If you don't have it, you do without.

We ordered a pizza from Papa Murphys last night for dinner.  It took some rearranging to get a 12" pizza into a 9 X 13 oven but Tracy did it.  Apparently the price of pizza has gone up like everything else in the world.  At over $16.00 for a "medium"(they don't have "smalls") it wasn't as inexpensive as I recall.  We used to get a "family" size(really a "large) for about $13.00/$14.00 when we lived in Aurora.   Isn't it strange that with no "small", the first size they offer is a "medium"?  Doesn't that make their "medium" a "small" and their "large" a "medium"?  I guess we as a country just can't settle for getting a "small".  We need to have a "medium".  Make us feel better?  Maybe it just "marketing"?  Who cares?  We still buy it no matter what they call it. 

Well, it's raining now and that is what we can expect for the next week.  Add on 20-30 knot winds and you have an exciting week ahead.  They plan on dredging this marina next week so we will have to watch our access if we can go out sailing even for a few hours when nice weather returns.

Have a great weekend everyone!