Time Flies When Your Busy!

It's hard to believe it's been one week since I last posted. We haven't sat down much as the picture of Larry shows. He is mounting the membrane for our water maker. I'm loosing some of my food storage but there is nothing like RO water. I've missed it and am looking forward to having it again. It's worth loosing some storage. 

Putting holes in our boat always makes me nervous, even when they are above the waterline, like this one. This was being mounted in the back of Larry's hanging locker. It will be for the brine discharge on the water maker. 

We did this job on Sunday before our friends Lavinia and Chris came over for dinner. It's always nice to share a meal with good friends. 

Doziers Marina was host to a Beneteau sailboat rendezvous over the weekend. On one of Larry's trips up to the bathhouse he heard his name called. When he looked up it was one of our CYC members Ron Trent. i. He and Nancy had sailed down the Potomac River to join in the rendezvous. It was pleasant to see some familiar faces from our club. 

Saturday Larry worked some more on boat jobs while I joined Lavinia on a grocery shopping trip to Newport News, Va. They have Trader Joes and a new Whole Foods. It's worth the hour trip for the foods we have been so spoiled with in DC. I'm going to miss my ten minute drive for groceries. In Florida it's an hour drive also to these two stores. I will especially miss Mom's Organic Market in Alexandria Va. That's a local store so I won't find one of those in my travels. I'll have to load up at Mom's when we return for our car. 

Monday my friend and boss, Michelle came to visit us. Michelle owns SeaBeds by Michelle. They build custom mattresses for boats. We have been brainstorming our plan to expand coverage of the East coast for our products. Michelle and I met last fall and I discovered that I have been sleeping on one of her mattresses for ten years. I love my mattress and agreed to work for her. 

Besides being a great friend she's great to work for. I can see the success of us working together already coming together. It's a great fit for Larry and my lifestyle. It's one of the topics us cruisers talk about. The original mattresses that come on boats, no matter what you pay for your boat, are inadequate. Michelle is coming back on Saturday so we can fit a mattress on a boat in Matthews a little town near Deltaville. 

One of our major jobs is to make and install a new canvas enclosure. Our boat already is starting to look naked. Yesterday, Tuesday Larry and I took off the dodger. My friend Chris took the steel frame to a welder to have it extended. 

I used to work with and for Chris doing canvas work. We first met in Deltaville when Larry and I bought our current boat. Chris worked for the canvas shop that made the original enclosure. The second summer that we spent in Deltaville I went to work for that canvas shop. Chris was a good teacher and taught me how to do canvas enclosures, repairs and many specialty items. I planned to go back to work at that shop the next summer but we went to DC instead. 

Meanwhile, Chris opened his own business in Deltaville. While he was building his business we also worked on many jobs in DC, that I would line up for him. Over a short period of time his business grew to the point he didn't have free time to come to DC. Good for him but not good for boaters in DC. 

I wouldn't go to anyone else for help and work than Chris. His work is the most meticulous I've seen thus far. He also is quite quick with his turn around. 

Today is Wednesday and Larry has removed our solar panels from atop the bimini. Our original intent was to have a new frame welded to our arch that would accommodate our canvas and our rigid solar panels but that failed when we were unable to find a local welder with the time and mobile equipment to do the job. Our intention also was to eliminate some weight up high. It's best to keep the weight low in a boat for balance. When we couldn't get a welder we took another path and purchased flexible solar panels that can be attached directly to the canvas bimini with zippers. Even though they were costly it's still less than the welding would have been. We plan to take the old panels to a consignment shop here in town that we have used successfully before. All in all we will have spent considerably less going this route. The end result will be a neater, cleaner and lighter look. I'm looking forward to sharing our results with you. 

Well its 1:00 now and time for lunch. It has taken me most of the morning to write this. I've been in and out helping Larry take down the solar panels and frame they were attached to. It's time for lunch and to head up into town with a courtesy car to do some errands.