Sunday, March 20, 2016

Opua: good for the duration

     
       The sun is shining, but GANNET is bouncing up and down and to and fro and back and forth and several other ways in chop caused by twenty knot wind.  
I did manage to fit new lifelines yesterday, but have a few details to complete the job.  The boat is moving far too much to work on deck.
The rub rail remains un-touched up.  Maybe Friday or Saturday.
I rowed ashore this morning before breakfast to shower, fill a jerry can with water, and buy needed supplies, i.e. two bottles of wine, so I am good for the duration.  I did also buy a lime, Brie cheese, Kleenex, a bottle of tonic and a package of mint cookies.
The stern just leapt up and came down with a loud hollow thump.  I may need to start wearing my safety harness inside The Great Cabin.
To my surprise I realized that in a couple of months I will have owned GANNET for five years.  As I have often noted, time is an uneven medium, and it does not seem that long.  However, one consequence is that the ship’s batteries, two Lifeline AGM Group 24Ts, are also five years old.  They appear still to be charging and holding charge normally and might be good for a few more years; but their failure at sea or at some remote anchorage along the way is unacceptable and I am going to replace them here.
In looking for a photo I knew I had run in the journal, I chanced upon the above example of modern art which I had forgotten.  It is watery reflections of the kayak storage rack at Driscoll’s Mission Bay Marina,
Two unrelated observations:  the carbon fiber tiller is so smooth in my hand.  The Dover White bottom paint is becoming whiter in the water.  I’ll take a photo, but not soon.
The sun has disappeared.
        The wind just gusted 25