Kaimusailing

The weather is perfect, low humidity, relatively cool, blue skies, perfect to get some work done on the boat. I’m up early, feeling good, no blahs, let’s get to work. I begin moving stuff around to get at the fuel tank. Today we are going to get the rest of the old fuel out of the tank and flush it out. Not sure where I can dispose of the bad fuel.
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A cardboard box of various paint cans, fuel additives, and some tools that made their way in is emptied into a plastic box on deck. My stockpile of empty 1 gallon water bottles is piled up out of the way. I attach the same manual siphon pump to the tank’s spigot, open the valve, and find the pump no longer pumps. I am discouraged. By this time it is late afternoon. I have to put most of the stuff back to have a place to sleep. I make some chicken noodle soup.
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I’ve been having trouble with the cheap chinese headphones that I was unable to connect to via bluetooth, except the cell phone will connect. I like to listen to YouTube videos and the laptops speakers are not working, but the audio jack works. The 3.5mm audio cables seem to go bad quickly. I google “ubuntu unable to connect to headphones with bluetooth” and find someone who turned off his phone’s bluetooth and then he was able to connect. I tried that and the headphones, TM-022, appeared in the bluetooth device list and I was able to pair with them. I listened to a bunch of Norm MacDonald jokes. It’s sad he passed away so young.
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The next day Cuddily texted me she was going to Pocomoke to look at furniture and she knew I probably needed to get a new fuel transfer pump, what about Harbor Freight? OK. We went to a farm market first, one that I hadn’t been to before and she bought some squash and other vegetables while I looked around. No acorn squash.
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Then it was the furniture store to look at replacements for a sofa that was uncomfortable. We left after a while. I would probably deal with it in a designer kind of way with a floor plan, measurements, line up candidates for the furniture change. She was dealing with it in a female shopping kind of way, let’s spend some time looking and get some ideas. I felt like sitting. She sat in the strange looking rocking chair I was headed for. Oh, do you want to sit here, no, that’s OK, but she got up and offered me the seat. It was more comfortable than it looked. We left and she said she would head to another store up near Ocean City, I think.
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At Harbor Freight I found a great fuel transfer pump, way better than the pump I had bought from them last year, but no longer works, and I bought batteries for the new pump, which is electric. Can’t wait to use it. I had a nagging item in the back of my mind that I had thought of the night before but couldn’t remember now. Maybe if I browsed through the store it would jog my memory. I thought me in this store was like her in the furniture store. I ran into an item, magnifying head lamp lens. The item that had slipped my mind.
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We left to go back to Crisfield. In the past I had been in Pocomoke with Eve and CM and we ended up at Don’s, an upscale watering hole, and now Cuddily said do you want lunch, well yeah, maybe, what about Don’s, yeah OK. Orange crushes, me with ahi tuna seared and plated with wasabi and teriyaki drizzle. Cuddily with the special wrap which she only ate half of. Looked good. Doggie bag for the rest.
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Back to the beautiful home by the water after dropping my tools at the marina. I biked to Eve’s house for the pressure washing of her back porch steps. We went to the marina where the pressure washer was languishing in Sunsplash’s cockpit. I had put my tools in a dock cart at the head of the dock and wheeled them up to the boat, then loaded it with the pressure washer, a jar of homemade sauerkraut from Nancy, a friend on a marina trawler, and four art prints, mounted, and framed, I expected Eve and Cuddily to choose one each of them.
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I set up the pressure washer for Eve, but she already knew how to do it, and water on, power up, pressure wash. She was laboring, blasting stuff off her back steps, while I was taking pictures of her and texting them away. I knew beforehand that she would love using that tool. I asked to help, but no, get out of my way. We had to recover from this and I recoiled the pressure washer hose and gun, and power cord, so that it was ready to stow away. Eve coiled the garden hose up and soon all was kind of back to normal.
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We had the jar of homemade sauerkraut from Nancy and Malcolm from the marina, Eve had bought some brats, including Italian sausage, and some sourdough rolls. She opened a nice bottle of malbec. The brats went on the grill and I was advised to turn them from time to time. Cuddily arrived with another bottle of malbec. Belinda arrived with a chardonnay. A tray of condiments including cucumber salad, raw onion minced, mustard, homemade relish, the homemade sauerkraut, salt, and pepper appeared at the back door above the newly cleaned steps. Cuddily was handling it and I went up and brought it down to the table, more came out, plates, napkins, utensils, a box of pinot grigio, but no incense sticks to ward off the insects.
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We were having a really good time when I realized I had 4 art prints to dispose of, and I expected Eve and Cuddily to each choose one, but now I brought them out and Cuddily took 2 and Eve took a nice photo of a sunset over the marina. I had one left over and I handed it to Belinda. She was confused at what I wanted her to do. Put it in Cuddily’s car or Eve’s, she asked. No, I’m giving it to you, put it in your car. I don’t think she knew at that time where it was coming from. She has a shop with all sorts of wonderful things. I hope she likes the print.
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I had to leave as the night went on, on my bike, down Cove Street to the marina, and hope the drunken ladies don’t put me in the ditch. Back on board I texted them I was safe and sound. Took my blood pressure medicine with merlot and then had another glass, why not.
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The next morning I was slow to get back to business. I needed to do laundry. I was doing the Sudoku Adventure Challenge, not doing much of anything. Cuddily called. Remember that TV I wanted to install, it’s been sitting around and tomorrow it will be out of its 30 day warranty. Yeah, OK, I’ll come over later to help you. I was a mess. When I awoke I didn’t do my usual breakfast routine, I headed to the marina’s Men’s Room. Duty calls. We had had some excellent baked beans at Eve’s and now they wanted out, with a vengeance.
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Gale warning, strong winds, clouds coming from the West. Guess the storm will hit us tomorrow. Bike to the Small Boat Harbor against the rising breeze, or gale. Ride around back to the rear screened porch, park the bike and make my way in. I immediately realize I am sweating up a storm. Cuddily gives me a towel and I don’t hesitate to use it to mop my brow. A fellow that we know comes running up the dock, like an NFL referee, he only needed a whistle and a yellow flag to throw to the ground, and announce the infraction. You can park the bike here, but you can’t ride the bike on the dock, he informed Cuddily. I stepped forward, she wasn’t riding a bike on the dock. Why was he confronting her. It was obvious, the petite woman was a viable target, the old grizzled sailor on an old grizzled bike might not be to his liking, which was to impart rules on someone. It gave us fodder for conversation later.
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I went up to her bedroom suite which was open, airy, and with the cooler weather provided a nice environment. I was sweaty, jittery, do you have DT’s, she said. I didn’t think so, but continued to help her unbox the TV and screw on feet to its bottom. Let’s take a break, I went out onto her 2nd floor balcony and sat at a glass table and continued to sweat and have tremors. She got a spritzer, mango?, with a large glass of ice and I drank it. I calmed down. I had just been biking against a gale headwind, so maybe I should have done this in the first place.
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We talked. There is responsibility on both sides of the conversation. Don’t try to manufacture a conversation, a topic, interest. If someone can peel back the layers there is always new material. I was feeling less stressed, cooler, no sweat, and the ice cold drink was empty. Do I want another, no, let’s get back to work.
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The rest of the job consisted of plugging the power cord in, powering up the set with the remote, batteries inserted, and programming the connection to wifi, netflix, and a couple other services. This took a while. Cuddily was getting texts about what was she doing. I’m in my bedroom with Andrew, oh no, don’t say that. I can’t believe it’s 4 o’clock already, I usually take my nap. Oh geez. It’s a small town.
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We bag up the debris in the plastic bag that the flat screen came in. We go down stairs where it’s cooler. I have a mask for the corona virus, even thought most don’t use it here. Do I want to bike over to the Legion or ride in the car. I opt to ride in the car, but then I say, I will bike.
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I get there way before she gets there. I ride around the parking lot, enjoying the bike, no need to do anything until she gets here. And then we can’t get anyone to let us in at the front entrance, and the rear entrance from the windy deck is locked. Someone lets us in. Do you have fresh squeezed oranges?, no, what about red wine, cab and merlot, we’ll have the merlot, start a tab? Yes, Cuddily will pay. For all my work. I should pay her for her comfortable conversation.
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We don’t want to stay inside, there is an adherence to the health departments advice, wear a mask inside, even if you are vaccinated. Despite the increasing wind, there is a portion of the rear deck that is in the lee, just an occasional gust now and then. We settle down. We won’t order food until Eve gets here. The wind is creating patterns on the water. We are sitting on a deck that overlooks Daugherty's Creek, Jayne’s Island, and the trees are swaying. It is a marvelous place to be while imbibing merlot.
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Eve arrives as well as Teri, the artist. Two real artists. They want to have a drink before they order food, I am starving, but can’t believe how great this conversation is going. Let me starve ladies, let me starve. We have to refill drinks and we bargain who will go inside to get the drinks and order food. There is no wait staff here.
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Cuddily and I go inside with our masks on and order two merlots, a pinot grigio, and a chardonnay, 3 burgers, it is burger night, and I leave for the men’s room. Cuddily goes outside to get the burger orders right, what toppings, how cooked, I meet her as she comes back in, did you take the drinks out, no, I was just getting Eve’s toppings right. We go out with 3 wines and a glass of ice.
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There was political talk, which is verboten these days, health, speculation, comment about two contrail blurbs up in the sky that look like two pi signs. But I digress, as we did then. Mitchell came out, the chef of chefs, without a cigar, and he sat and talked with us. Joined the conversation but was also promoting some upcoming dinner specials at the Legion. Steak Night, Quesadilla Night, etc. A fellow from the kitchen brings out the burgers. Oddly they are all the same toppings and delicious.
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Cuddily goes inside to pay the bill. Thank you for a nice evening. Eve stays with me for another wine then we depart. I bicycle back to the marina against the gale winds. Thankfully no rain, but it is on its way.
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The image is of several art prints all of which are given away to members of the Bad Crowd.