We washed the salt off the forestaysail and got it nice and dried and packed so we can be ready for deployment when needed. The decks were all washed and all the blocks and roller furling got a good rinse down to get out all the salt that has built up there. We've had blocks jam due to salt build up so we make sure they get a good rinse as often as we can.
Even though neither of us got much sleep on Tuesday night, it was hard to get to sleep on Wednesday night since Zephyr was tied up to a dock and we are so used to the movement at night that a stationary boat seemed quite strange. Add in that it was quiet and it took quite a while to relax and get to sleep. I guess that is what happens when you spend most of the time at anchor instead of in a marina.
We looked in at the local West Marine for some hardware all to no avail. They have a store right here at the marina that is so under equipped with goods that it is a joke. You'd think that having having a store right next to a marina with no other chandlery close by would be stocked to the hilt. Nope, you have to go to another store several miles away to get all the important stuff. Doesn't make much business sense to us.
Yesterday, we went into town to have lunch at a local restaurant(Lettuce B. Frank) and over to Ralph's for some last minute things that we forgot last trip. We went out the wharf to see the businesses and took the bus back to the marina. The city of Santa Barbara runs an electric shuttle bus over much of the town that only costs .25 cents. It allows people like us to get out and about to spend more money. Smart folks these Californians. I spent the rest of the day cooking at the barbecue getting brats and chicken cooked so we will have nice easy meals when out on the water or at anchor. It make meal preparation much easier if the main part of the meal is already cooked.
I went in search of a shackle to attach the chain to the CQR anchor but of course there were none at the West Marine I wrote about above. Is we were checking out at another store by the marina, I asked the clerk if there were any other chandlers around. Nope, but the person behind us in line asked what we were looking for. When I told her about the shackle, she said she probably had one on her boat and to come on out when it comes back in and she'd give it to us. She runs one of the supply ships(Alan T) that takes supplies out to the oil wells off shore. She works for seven day shifts, then seven night shifts and then is off for seven days. As it turns out, she had no shackle that would fit so she called two of the platforms and is having them look and is meeting me at the dock just after 0800 with them. Now that's what boating is all about. Friends are made fast out here.
Well, we leave in a few hours so I must be off. More errands to do. Tracy is off for the laundry and I'm off to get the shackle and get the oil changed and then a shower so I'll be nice and clean for when we set off. Still no pass from the Nature Conservancy so we still can't go ashore to walk around. Not sure when it will show up but this means we will have to up the anchor and come back closer to shore to get internet all over again.
More to come.
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