Wednesday 15 July 2020

Bit the bullet and had mail forwarding service in Jacksonville send out windlass gypsy, new credit card and a few other bits to local Hampton marina. Who says we don't gamble? Assuming all goes as planned should get delivery tomorrow. Marina crew kindly agreed to accept shipment without bringing boat in.

Florida, with Covid cases concentrated along southeast coast, is currently leading the nation in new infections. Oddly, because state's average age is fifth oldest and is more densely populated than first four, it's only number twenty five in deaths relative to population. This virus is just not playing by the rules. Let's pass a law.

Not as extensive as in Washington, Hampton Air and Space Museum is nevertheless pretty darn good. Cool building includes Apollo XII command module, an IMAX theater with remarkably good 3D and a DC-9. Have a soft spot for that ancient jet, built like a brick pagoda and first flown in 1965 by Delta, which still has the world's largest fleet, ninety one B-717s.

Thursday

UPS swears that above shipment is out for delivery. We'll just see about that. After calling rigger at noon hoping to confirm he has time tomorrow, expect to take whisker pole one point seven nautical miles up Hampton River in dinghy for repair and pick up package at friendly Sunset Creek Marina. Confidence that logistical developments will proceed like a well oiled machine hovers just above zero.

- Later
Package arrived as scheduled. Amazement abounds. Rigger's truck broken so won't know status until morning. More time to goof off today.

Friday

Following a late start, three and a half hours of unmitigated fun working with limited tools in a sweltering, dark warehouse resulted in pole being almost as good at twenty three years old as it was at twenty two. Needs a proper screw or two and a jury-rigged topping arrangement, but confidence that it will soon be fully operational is lithospheric.

Despite resolve to disassemble aft head assembly to remove calculus buildup in hoses and free three-way valves that divert bodily waste into and out of holding tank, maintenance crew has heretofore managed to find other amusement. Regrettably pole work (get your head out of the gutter, Cal) again today left insufficient time until happy hour. Afternoon happiness enhancement time is not to be desecrated. Feelings of guilt have remained muted for some months now. Perhaps tomorrow will be the magic moment to mitigate any negligible remorse.

Saturday

Finished whisker pole in typical half-donkey'd fashion, but fancy it will work fine - amazing how often skunkworks jury-rigs are sometimes not awful. Windlass operational, but without chain stripper, which may be less necessary with new gypsy. Finally sussed out that stripper, a very robust chunk of metal, had been warped out of shape by constant jamming, but didn't previously snag due old chain wheel's extreme wear. Trip to machine shop Monday may create joy for all concerned. Also performed examination of Jan's bedside fan, which she seldom uses, to discover that rheostat was shorted causing fan to spin full speed, heedless of our wishes as expressed through now useless dial. Replacement concepts under analysis.

No time left for toilet rehabilitation (ref. that happy hour thing), but (again with the big but), since other projects have, to widespread surprise, been kinda sorta finished, it may (heavy stress on "may") get accomplished tomorrow. As we say when trying to determine if we've accounted for everything that should be accounted for, "anything's possible".

Jack & Jan