10/28/2009, Newport, RI
Yet another rainy day. You know, I am really getting tired of the miserable weather and it's no use telling myself things like, at least it's not snow, and stuff like that. It just doesn't cut it anymore. The poor animals got taken to their vet's appointment in the pouring rain. You have to picture it. Peri on his leash followed by Barb and I pushing a 25 pound cat in his cat crate in a dock cart that we borrowed from the marina. In his crate at least Al was spared the worst of the rain, but he isn't impressed with being in one at the best of times and kept up a steady "Merawr...merawr....merawr...." all the way up the street. You can imagine the looks we got from other people! Folks were coming out of stores to see who was torturing the poor cat. I'm surprised that no one called the SPCA. Once they clapped eyes on him, though, more than one of them weren't sure what species he was and I know that some of them doubted that he was actually feline, so they stepped back quickly and went back about their business.
The slide show last night was well worth attending. Mr Tom Freeman, a mild mannered electrical engineer by day and a diver, photographer, world traveler in his alter ego, gave the one hour presentation to a full house. The bright colours, warm water temperatures, and fascinating animals and fishes drew us away from the chilly night air and rain. Apparently the Institute has regular speakers come to make presentations and yet another program of music. If we were staying longer we'd have to take advantage of that, too.
We are starting to watch Clearpoint very closely. The tentative departure date is still a wile off yet, but we are starting to get long range forecasts for Sunday the 1st, which is the planned date to leave. On the surface it looks relatively benign, but by 20h00 on that day we would be facing 25 kt headwinds. Of course all this could, and likely will, change before departure. We probably shouldn't be torturing ourselves with weather forecasts just yet anyway.
We did our walkabout besides getting the animals looked after and got the electronic charts for Bermuda and continued the search for the elusive 28" zipper. I would say that it is an indication of the nature of the population of this part of the state that most people would not repair their own stuff anyway. That's what the servants are for, isn't it? We also visited a rather interesting antique store where Barb was able to find some cornbread molds so that she can further enhance her already shining reputation as cornbread baker extraordinaire.
Oh, and my temporary debit card did arrive at last to replace the one that I left in the machine. Praise be!
Tomorrow Ron arrives.
From Barb
Poor Al has had more abuse heaped upon him today - pushed into his hated crate and dumped into a dock cart and bumped over 5 blocks to the vet clinic only to be pronounced obese - duh! no wonder he howled the whole way. And to correct the captain - he weighs 21 pounds, not 25! When we were walking to the clinic Peri was right on Mike's heels - trotting along he zigged from one heel and zagged to the other heel - back and forth the whole way - maybe he thought we were going to do something terrible to HIS cat buddy. We are another $450.00 lighter after paying the vet bill however we would not dream of going on our travels without them.
Mike mentioned that I found two corn bread molds that make corn cob shaped sticks of bread - I guess that they may date from the thirties and are in great shape. All I have to do is scrub them up a bit, wipe them down with cooking oil and then cure them in the oven. I must experiment with them before we leave Newport.
I have some computer work to do now that the blasted restore is finished. I have to reorganize the photos and video clips from the last 12 months, dump them off to CD and delete them off the laptop. I have to transfer over the food inventory to a spreadsheet (betcha think I am anal and miss having a job, eh?) and print it out for use when the computer is stowed away.
It is so cold and miserable out this afternoon that I think I'll make a pot of lentil soup for supper with perhaps enough left to offer Ron for lunch when he arrives tomorrow. I expect he will be tired when he gets here as his start is early enough to have him arriving at 1000.
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Comments [3]
10/27/2009, Newport, RI
The BBQ last night in the Canadian Ghetto here at the docks was a lot of fun. Barb was the hostess for eight people including the two of us. I played my small part at the BBQ but really, all the hard work was done below decks in the galleys and that was the Admirals. Besides the food, Anne-Louise brought over her laptop and showed us their weather websites which I am going to bookmark on our computer too. The interesting thing was that her site showed that the day before yesterday began a seven day ideal window to travel to Bermuda that we were going to miss waiting for the NARC Rally. Here's crossing our fingers that there'll be another soon after 1 Nov.
We have our appointment at the vet's for the animals on the 28th at 10h30 in the morning. It could turn out to be a trial run to see how long the process takes for if there is too much of a weather delay, we may have to do another.
It's interesting to watch the boats coming through the Yachting Centre. As they arrive you can't help but wonder where they are from and if they are going to be in the rally too. So far there are only four boats here at the docks that we know are going but this morning at 06h00 as we were peering out the CVS at the nav station another large ketch nosed her way into the dock in the dark and the wondering began again.
Barb and I began the morning after taking Peri for his morning poop-u-lation with a more in depth exploration of the waterfront starting with the Seaman's Church. This is located in what looks like a converted three story warehouse that has a cafe and lounge on the ground floor with free wifi, showers and a laundry in the basement, a chapel (see photo gallery) and a library on the second floor and rooms to rent on the third. The cafe provides very reasonable and plentiful breakfasts and lunches and the chapel and library on the second floor has to be visited and seen in person to be truly appreciated. We also discovered that this evening there will be a speaker and slide show of his dive trip to the Great Barrier Reef off Australia. I think that we'll be attending that, so we can fuel our fantasies of sailing in those waters in Nelleke someday.
We also discovered a fish monger's where we'll probably buy something for dinner, if not tonight then some night this week. We bought the charts for the Bahamas, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico as well as the Virgin Islands, both paper and electronic. They didn't have Bermuda in stock but have assured us that they'll have it in the store before Friday so we'll pick that up by then. And as well we are on the prowl for a 28" zipper that we can use to fix my RHSP 2004 vest.
The crew from Peer's Fancy were kind enough to take our propane tank with them when they went to fill theirs so we can multi-task. They found a place that fills by the gallon so the cost for us was only $26 vice the $36 that we normally get dinged back home. We threw in $7 for our share of the cab and it was still a great deal, especially as we were able to get some additional work done aboard. We have the fishing rod holder attached on the cabin top and the barrel bolts installed to prevent the freezer from sliding out of its cave.
We have also answered a question for ourselves. We had been wondering where everyone put their boats in the winter as there doesn't seem to be too much extra space on the hard to do so. Then we noticed that many of the parking lots here have a place for travel lifts to haul boats and the penny dropped. During the winter with the decrease in tourism there is much less call for parking spots so some of them may be converted to paved boat yards. Pretty ingenious I think.
In all a pretty productive day, in spite of the cold and drizzle.
From Barb:
As Mike said we did knock off a few jobs today. I hauled out the sewing machine from its home on the forward side of what we have taken to calling the pantry - the area behind the u-shaped settee in the main cabin. One of the Moonlight Maidens (not naming any names) had a slip on the way into their cockpit and split the dodger. They stitched it enough to keep it from getting any worse and asked me to make the repair a bit more permanent. A few lengths of sail tape and some machine stitching made a not-pretty-but-ok-for-now repair. Since this is the second time in 4 days that I have had cause to use the machine we decided that it was time to put it in a more convenient spot. To get it out I was having to empty out 1/2 of the pantry - now the machine is more accessible and I put the items we would not be "shopping" for frequently where the machine was. Duh - why didn't we think of that in the first place???
I really enjoyed the get together last night. Each boat brought their own protein for the BBQ, I prepared the vegs, Heather made a wonderful spinach salad with nuts and hard boiled eggs in it, and the Peers Fancy folks brought a lovely red wine and a tasty dessert from Panera - a huge round pastry wirh dollops of cherries, apples, and cheese. If any of you visit here you must make sure to stop by Panera on the main drag of the waterfront. Great pastry, cookies, breads and more and more and more. Later on two Ghiardelli cohocolate bars appeared from the Peers Fancy backpack - yummmmmmmm.
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It was a much more peaceful night at the dock and everyone had a much more peaceful sleep, and another beautiful day dawned with light winds and bright sunshine. Hurrah! By the end of the day we were ready for shorts and T-shirts again.
We took the first opportunity to walk down to the tourist info centre which is about a block and a half down the harbour road and got some info for Ron about shuttles from the airport. He has a couple of choices ranging from a $75 cab ride to $1.40 on the public bus system. If I can ever get an internet connection I'll be sending him the details.
I also walked down to the local West Marine dealer (a short 2 mile stroll) who has a bit of a techno-guru on staff to ask about the auto helm. It turns out that our system will only function on 12V so I guess that answers that question. Rats! On the plus side it is one fewer job to have to do.
Also, the pension drama continues as I have been asked yet again for another document that I have already sent to them. Oh well, at least there is someone up there actually doing something so I suppose that I can't complain too much.
One very interesting thing about Newport is that they really do up Halloween, far more than I have ever seen it done at home. There are at least six haunted houses set up for the occasion including Fort Adams at the entrance to the mooring field; almost every bar has some kind of Halloween Dance or bash; and the number of private or semi-private costume functions that are being advertised is simply incredible. Even the churches get into the act. Check out the photo on the blog, it's of the local Anglican/Episcopal church yard covered with pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns and scarecrows and monsters. No the usual fare for churchyards, eh? Barb and I are regretting not bringing down something to use as a costume, or at least one of the fancy masks that she made years ago.
Moonlight Maid and the Maidens arrived and were alongside by 15h00 so we are a flotilla of three Canadians. We celebrated with a pot luck BBQ - lamb and pork - loads of fun.
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