Kaimusailing

After two days of stomach flu and feeling poorly I finally felt better and attended Red Shell Shanty’s Friday event with pulled pork and slaw as the daily special. I had a few Orange Crushes, after all, vitamin C helps with these viruses. The next day I felt ill again and spent most of the day onboard and not doing much of anything.
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Emergency pressure relief plug for the pressure cooker arrived and I find out that I need a 12 mm drill bit to drill a hole for it. Also a pair of crocheted crabs came in from my daughter who makes things like this, as well as a crocheted Yellow Submarine, how about that. It is, she says, an early Father’s Day gift.
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The next day I felt ill again. My temperature was normal. This was a continuation of the stomach flu I had during the week. The next day, Sunday, I went out on the bicycle to get drinking water, which I was out of, and a few ingredients to make bean soup. I felt achy from the ride and dehydrated. I rehydrated at the Red Shell Shanty bistro, Orange Crushes and crab dip with nachos. They had a big screen TV with the PGA Memorial tournament on and it was a nice match to see, tied up right to the end, and then a playoff hole with a missed putt deciding the match.
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The most interesting thing about the golf was that Jon Rahm who had a commanding lead, a record, was disqualified from the tournament due to a positive covid test. He was asymptomatic and playing brilliantly at a high level. He was only tested because he came in contact with someone who had covid, contact tracing protocol. How many of us are asymptomatic but not tested?
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I have an idea that if you are fully vaccinated and get exposed to the virus, you probably will have a reaction while your body fights it off with its new antibodies. This stomach flu might be in fact a covid variant that I’m fighting off.
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While sitting out these few days ill I followed some sailing news. The Volvo Ocean Race is now the Ocean Race and they are running from France to Portugal and then through the Straits back to Alicante, FR, in the Med. There is a Polish boat skippered by a Dutchman and they have been doing well. Meanwhile, Jack van Ommen has canceled his transatlantic voyage due to difficulties getting yacht insurance and the hurricane season brewing up early this season. He says he will still go sailing but just to the Northeast.
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It looks like the sail season here in Crisfield is slowly developing. On a bike ride this morning, feeling a bit better, I stopped at the City Dock with a fresh breeze from the West. I could see a sail out on the Bay. The Smith and Tangier Island tourist boats were leaving and I decided to stay to see if the sailboat was coming into Crisfield. It did and it took a while. As it got closer I could see a bowsprit and “a bone in her teeth”, the boat was creating a bow wave, moving well. It came in past the City Dock and sailed right into the marina. It is a classic ketch from L dock, maybe it’s a skipjack. The old fellow at the helm just stood there ramrod straight guiding his boat into the narrow entrance. I cycled around to watch him anchor and dowse sails. I met a couple on a Gemini catamaran on my dock and they said they hoped he would sail right into his slip. He probably could have done it if the wind was more to the South.
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I had made some bean soup using the pressure cooker and ended up with a big mess. The beans seemed to make a mush that jammed the pressure valve and the safety valve, both which excreted bean stuff onto the upper surface of the pressure cooker lid The heat made it all harden. I noticed the pressure valve, that some call the jiggler, stopped jiggling. Then the safety valve started to spew bean stuff and then nothing. It sat there on the heat getting hotter and hotter. I was playing sudoku on the computer and smelled a funny smell. Could beans make a funny smell? I got closer to the pressure cooker. There was a sound of steam trying to escape. I hit the jiggler to see what could happen. It started jiggling like an alarm guy swinging his lantern to warn the villagers. Even that stopped after a while. The pressure must have built again. After 40 minutes I turned off the burner and let the pressure cooker get back to normal. It took a long time. After it subsided I removed the lid. The inside showed bean stuff cemented on the lid and sides of the cooker. The directions said to add the diced onions, tomatoes, and smoked sausage, and simmer for 30 minutes. I did so. The result was a good soup. The mess was extensive.
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I woke up the next day feeling better but needing water, dehydrated. The soup had already been packed away in tupperware into the small fridge. The sink was full of stuff with bean stuff stuck on it. The work cleaning up all the bean stuff continued with some breaks in between sessions of soaking bean stuff with soapy water, then trying to clean. It took a while.
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Every time I tried to do anything I felt fatigued and backed off, yet I got some things done. I was called about going out the the American Legion, of whom I am now a member. It’s one of the best dining places in town. They captured the best chef in town when the pandemic hit and the other restaurants closed. It was Eve asking if I wanted to go there. I needed to shower. She picked me up and we went to the Legion. Orange Crush. Tuesday tacos. A couple joined us. A thunderstorm was brewing up on the horizon. More Orange Crushes. It was growing dark by the time I got back to the boat. I was feeling great.
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The next morning I did not feel great. I was almost out of water again. Eve called and said she had donated food and not enough room for it all, so I biked to her house and saw the immense pile of food. A huge box of frozen bagels, loaves of baguettes, a case of 24 cans of mixed vegetables, and lots of other stuff. I couldn’t take any of it with me on the bike, but I went to the supermarket and left with a small case of water. On the way back to the marina I felt like I had overdone it. Well I did the night before.
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Eve called and said burgers at her house at 6. I could see thunderstorms brewing on the horizon. I poured a liter of wine into a water bottle and left on the bicycle. At Eve’s house Cornelia Marie’s mom had already arrived. Eve was preparing burgers and salad in the kitchen. Someone called and was invited to burgers. It was Dee who arrived with a big dog, male, who started to play with Eve’s dog, young female. Most of the food was prepared from donated goods from a local church. The thunderstorms hit with heavy rain. The burgers were on the grill, covered, with smoke and steam swirling around. We braved the rain to get the burgers inside along with a nice salad. I ended up riding the bike in the rain back to the marina. CM’s mom was chauffeured to her townhouse.
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The image is a heavily manipulated photo of a local place that the dogs like to run around in.