A weekend at the coast is always time well spent; however, I must say that I DO NOT like the cold. I do not like it in a boat, I do not like it with a coat. I do not like it in the morning, I do not like it without warning. I do not like it with the sun, I do not like it! ... Cold's no fun.

Now that I have worked that Dr. Seuss feeling out of my writing hand, on with the business of this week's report from Whortonsville. Sheryl and I took on the project of replacing the support board for our jerry cans. The old one was a single board, which was showing signs of wear. In addition, the single board arrangement made lashing the cans in a secure manner somewhat challenging. We decided to build a better, stronger, faster solution (well, at least better and stronger). The result of our efforts is shown in the photo above. In fact, we built boards on each side of the boat because spare fuel cans will go on the starboard side, and spare water cans will go on the port side.

What cannot be shown on a photo was alluded to in my opening paragraph. It was cold outside while we worked on this project. Low temperatures were exacerbated by strong winds. The only saving grace was the sunshine. Unfortunately, the sunshine was intermittently hidden by clouds. By the time the sun hid itself behind some low clouds on the horizon, we cried 'uncle' and retired below decks.

The belly of Prudence was a warm and inviting place in the wake of the cold, windy day. John from s/v Freedom joined us for dinner, and we stayed up late talking about everything from travel to tragedy. Time flies with such grand conversation, and we stayed up a bit past our normal bedtime. Oh, and did I mention that John had some surplus segments of firehose which we can use as anti-chafe gear? Cutting them to size will be a project for another day, but his generosity allows us to cross off yet another item on our need-to-have list.

Sunday brought the finishing touches to the jerry-can-boards project, as morning quickly became early afternoon. We departed earlier than usual because we had to pick up a new anchor on our way home. I had the highest bid on a Fortress FX-37 anchor sold on eBay by a person in Bath, NC. We had a nice, albeit cold, afternoon in which to ride the ferry across the Pamlico River (which makes one want to be out on one's own boat).

It turned out to be a pretty good deal on a really big anchor. At least I think that it is a really big anchor. Actually, I don't know how big it is yet, because it is still in the box. If it turns out to hold as strong as is often reported for Fortress anchors, we should have a very good, reasonably light-weight storm anchor which can be disassembled and stored down below.

Anchor assembly will have to wait, though. For now I have to go pack for a business trip to California. Tomorrow morning, I will step onto a plane for the first time in over nine weeks. This will mark the end of the longest period in six years for me to be absent from any business travel. I suppose all good things must eventually come to an end. Fortunately, I will return home in plenty of time to hop back in the car and go visit Prudence next weekend. Rest assured, next week's posting will provide a photo of our new anchor.

Until then, dear Reader, enjoy some pictures of this week's project at various stages of completion... CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS