LB
11/20/2009, home

Ok, so for some ungodly reason I decided to move up my departure date from Dec 3 to Nov 25th.....because I was so far ahead on my final spray rounds...so I thought! In middle of a huge day my lawn pump decided to shear off a very important bolt that held together a very important high pressure side of a very useful part...game over for the lawnboy! After dumping an undetermined amount of iron (read: STAINING on concrete) on a very expensive driveway, I exited stage left and headed straight to Seattle Pump at 0530 this morning. Thank God John (aka:The Wrench) fit me right in before things got ugly. 5 hours and change later, my pump was pumping and I was driving just a "little" over the speed limit up to Big Lake to spray out 300 gallons of fert on a 2.5 acre lawn...all before dark. Mission accomplished. Now I sit here in my warm and dry office calculating how I can live with a few hours sleep again for the next few days and get er all done!

Always there are last minute emergencies and drama, my life is full at the moment. That first cold mexican beer somewhere south of the border will be well earned....trust me! stay tunned more to come-

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Lawnboy
10/29/2009, rainy/wet/windy/cold Seattle

Ok, I just can't stand it. I've been reading Scott Free's blog and I'm wetting myself! Catching fish, drinking good Mexican booze...ducking in from storms, meeting new people...cruising...makes me long for Wades Aweigh. I remember feeling like this before, albeit "she" was a girl, not a boat...and this time no big lump in my throat or tears...just miles and miles of turf to spray before I get my discharge papers to head south.

I'm not even in San Diego and the dollars keep flying out of my wallet!! This pre-planned flush of activity is all good as the boat is not fitted with ARPA in the radar (tracking stuff), an external alarm which I had run down to the bulkhead where I sleep (to avoid "contact" with other ships), sexy new varnish of many many coats, and currently a fuel injection pump on a bench undergoing open heart surgery.

My scales are dry (lack of salt...not rain), my webbed feet now look like human toes; I hang on by a thread as land life has consummed me full time. Some of my friends still don't believe that I work 7 days a week, seriously..makes it real hard for dinner parties and dating, although the aformentioned is happening at the moment...She's good looking AND likes IPA...how could this be?!?? (that's a microbrew for those of you who don't drink) hell, what am I thinking?..all my friends like to party!!

So folks, here's the intended schedule at present day:
Work like a banshee (check), prepare a multitude of items to ship down to marina (working on it...check), complete over 1 million square feet of lawn sprays (god, love to say check on that one!), book a plane trip south, prepare rentals for 2 month abscense (i can't spell or use spell check...check!) get shots (OUCH) for mexico, liability ins, health ins, boat ins, fishing lic, on & on. After 2 days of pesticide classes for needed credits, I hope to fly south on the 3rd of Dec, do sea trials, go to Costco and get the hell out of dodge by the 5th....got some eager parents to see me alive and well in PV the week of Dec 20th...Yeah, I know...pushing again...always in a hurry to get there, can't help it, limited time!

Yes, crazy as it sounds, I'm doing a leg alone....1300 miles by myself, and I'm excited about it!

So, back to work for me the moss and bugs cannot wait!!
P.S...pic taken by capt. Dad while driving for me at the Casino (lucky me!)

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09/24/2009, On airplane 30,000 feet up!

Here we are, 25,000 feet above sea level, looking down at the ocean that carried us 1200 miles south to San Diego...oops, hang on..thank you miss flight attendant yes I would LOVE another Tanqueray & Tonic..top shelf stuff....and no charge here in first class. Second time in my life and it really rocks! Big comfy seats and tons of leg room. It was my treat to Dad for all the endless nights on the rolling heap.

The marina is absolutely first class all the way! Putting greens, pool, hot tub, gym, cruisers lounge with big screen, sweet docks (private slip) and 80 degree water that I just had to swim in. This morning I got us some mammoth breakfast sandwiches from the deli at top of dock and took it back to the boat. After breakfast I hurriedly cleaned the counters and did some last minute tidying up before the bright work guy showed up.

Jeff, with multiple gold neck attire and bracelets was recommended as the finest varnisher dude on the planet. He's going to continue where I left off in Everett on war against UV and my teak. Even though Dad & I sanded every inch of the stuff to bare wood, I taped off and put 2 coats of color and 1 of gloss...this guy's still nailing me $1600 to finish up 5 layers of gloss to pretty it up. Good news? I'm networking man! Not only is he a bright work expert, but also a captain on a charter fishing boat. He's going to fix up Dad's rod, re-spool the reel from the kelp attack AND hook me up with how to catch some Dorado and Tuna in December! Life is good!!

I was really fortunate to be able to lay in some really crucial contacts and contracts in ONE DAY! I proved the ol salt wrong....yes another happy dance with him ready to slam a nuggie on me if I got too close...against all odds, I hired a marine mechanic same day we arrived to fix the injector pump. PCE is a company I know from the Everett waterfront - very good at what they do, and expensive! To pull the pump and rebuild it, re-install it and test it....get this....$2000.00! Shit man, I could buy a car engine for that! Gotta be done, and where I'm going in Mexico it's got to be right, worth the money I guess. In one day I was able to: hire everyone needed to fix my boat, clean all stuff up, do all chores to put boat in mothballs for 2 months, meet some new friends, dive in the water 3 times, shave off the growth again, cook fillet, drink multiple coldies and 2 glasses of red wine...ugh, headache this am. I feel good about leaving her bound at the dock for a couple of months.

I am now boatless in Seattle and open to anyone who needs crew, wants to take me sailing or yachting as I will be growing scales from lack of water activities. The salt runs thick now in my bloodstream, I should probably dilute it with some fine wine from my buddy Davey Tree at Napeequa Vitners...his counterpart and partner in crime Miguel and I have some catching up to do as well...live the dream Mike!

What? , Oh yes Cheryl, I would love some more ice for my drink, and dad needs two more Tanqueray's...ahhhh, first class - I could get used to this, hope it's a good fall for bugs :)

Back to the grind, thanks to all who have been watching this blog of mine and for all the good JU JU in safe travels, the voyage was a huge success-

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09/24/2009, Lake Stevens

I found the 3 lost entries guys!! They had a date of 1969 for some weird reason so they weren't showing up as current. So I changed them to 9/10/09 and listed in title as lost blogs...hope you enjoy-

We arrived home after a glorious ride in first class on Alaska Airlines yesterday mid day. I wen through the pile of mail, showered and returned to Club Wade for a home cooked meal - YUM!

Today I hit the ground running with full tanks and sprayed out 150,000 square feet of turf in Anacortes. Course I had to check in with Terry, Bruce, Brian and Craig-Fab...it was only fitting. Man am I wooped! Working for a living is for the birds!

Have an entry I typed up on the plane which I'll try to download somehow and get off to the site.

I'm already missing the sound of the sea, and the motion. In fact, last night I woke up at 3am all disoriented thinking I was still on the boat...and I was all queezy and rocking back and forth....land sickness, who wudda thunk it?

Thanks everyone for all the comments and well wishes. My blog will probably be a little quiet for now as you probably don't want to hear about bugs, moss, weeds and long hours. Check back occasionally as I may have something cool to say now and again!

Landlubber Lawnboy-

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Captn Lawnboy
09/21/2009, Pier 32 San Diego

We are here. I have a private slip...it's been paid for; for the last 3 months....moorage here is at a premium, this is my space, I own it, here we are.....it's hot, at least 85 and nice and dry. It was a 2 hour 39 minute run from the entrance of SD Harbor to here...we almost got run over by a Coast Guard Clipper....I've slept 1.5 hrs since yesterday....so goes the life of the dog watch seaman.

We got the lay of the land as "Jimmey" had me fill out more paperwork than my last mortgage for this transient slip assignment. By the way, he's very pretty and has a nice earring in the wrong ear

The triumph of making landfall is pale against my desire to keep moving on....keep moving south, go to mexico and south... I do not want to stop...although, a nice nites sleep in calm waters seems orgasmic at the moment.

I am clean, squeaky clean. The showers look like an upscale gym in LA. Tile floors and walls, lockers, hair dryers in the wall...yeah, WTF....and every door accessed by the do-hickey around your neck...some electronic card gizmo. I am in the most upscale, newest in 15 yrs marina in so.cal. Welcome to my world.

On the way back to the boat, I made eyes at the gal who runs the "cruisers pub"...said I had some fillet mignon to cook up on the yacht and needed a bottle of red. She smiled, giggled, said gimme your neck, swiped my card and handed me a bottle of Merlot to die for....all for a mere 34.95. let's party!

dinner is done, pops is sawing logs and I'm really ready to crash since it's been now 20 hrs with no real sleep. I have scrubbed this tub from top to bottom, cleaned below, pickled the watermaker, made flight arrangements first class ( my secret gift to dad) arranged a taxi to the airport, on and on....I've been pounding all day....it's my job!

I will probably do another entry while on the plane home....till then -

WE MADE IT!!!!! Dad clinked glasses with me tonight during dinner and said, " F-ing A, my son....F-ing A, " meaning, we made it, and.....thanks, thanks for making my dream come true....my throat swelled, my eyes welled, as I looked away I said, No, thank you...............

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Captn Lawnboy
09/21/2009, channel islands

We just passed Catalina Island. I am in shorts, no shirt and sandals. It's like someone flipped the preverbial switch and turned on the furnace at last. The water is 75.5 degrees and has taken a different shade of blue, the cosmetics are changing rapidly.

I finally feel like we are in California! Another triumph is that Terry helped me figure out via email how to use a secondary system on my boat to navigate by...I am truly embarrassed to say even though I helped design the layout....I had forgotten all about the countermeasures. All systems on my boat are redundant, backed up.

With excitement and angst I loaded a new target into the backup system and switched some stuff around in the autopilot menu, hit the button....and EUREKA! we are now headed to the outermost entrance to San Diego Bay!!! 77 nm to go (that's nautical miles).

Course Dad's comment to my happy dance...no really, you shoulda seen me skittin around on the pitching deck as he was trying to read himself into a short term coma before watch...."WHATDOYAWANT!" (as I'm some kind of irritant or something...hmph go figure).... I'm singing and dancing..."Do da do da doo dooo....I got it to work....I got it to work...Im not such a jerk Herdi Herk a herk" Course my songs make no sense to anyone but me...and the dance, well let's just say I wont be getting a yellow slip to the next level on who's got talent! Dad's response after the deer in the headlights look at my convultions on deck was, "Well JUDAS PRIEST (other explatives used) nice you figured it out 1300 miles into us steering with that damned knob all the way!" Un-fazed at his lack of interest in my triumphant attributes, i about faced, danced my way into the galley and rewarded myself with 1 of the 2 left cookies Mom sent with us....ahhh screw it, I'm eatin em both!!

As I sit here typing yet another entry to the blog that may get lost in space, the autopilot has my back, stays perfectly on course and makes me feel like it was money well spent. I have travelled over 5000 miles in this boat since year 2000. Every damn one of them hand steered without an autopilot....sharpen the ax before going into the forest they say-

Oh, yeah..and Dad the expert fisherman? Uh huh...caught a damn sea bird today....what's with this guy?!??

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