Kaimusailing

Out of the blue I was offered an outboard motor and inflatable dinghy for a very low price. I was very familiar with the motor, having restored it a couple years ago with new rings, valves ground, and 10 hour break in session. It is basically a new motor. The dinghy is questionable, but probably usable.
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It is Christmas Day and I set out all the cookies I had been given, in a colorful tray that was probably meant for chips and dip. The pork soup was made available in the communal kitchen. I had a bowl. Very good.
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I was surprised and saddened by an announcement by Hanneke Boon that her partner, James Wharram, had died at the age of 93. James of course designed the catamaran plans that were used to build Kaimu, even though they weren’t followed exactly, well, at all.
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It was Monday and pizza day. The weather has been beautiful, mid-70’s for the past few weeks with only a stray chilly day here and there. I will be kicking myself for not getting more done, making hay while the sun shines, when the weather cools and it becomes more difficult to work with epoxy outside. My hope to relaunch the end of December now becomes more like wintering till April and forgetting about relaxing, basking in the warmth of the Keys.
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I planned to shop for a used smartphone and singled out the Galaxy S20 FE. This is a lower priced phone that has top of the line features with some shortcuts to keep the price low. The top of the line Galaxy S20 Ultra was around $1,400, but the FE comes in at around $700. On Black Friday it was discounted to around $270. I was expecting it to fall to the 200 dollar range after Christmas when people receive a new phone and decide to sell their old phone on eBay. I began watching for lower priced phones, but they seemed to be going up in price. Then I watched a YouTube video comparing the S20 FE with the newly released S21. The price difference between them was only about $100 and some reviewers preferred the S20 FE. A unit came on sale with a small ding in the corner of the screen. I used Auction Sniper to bid up to $151, but the phone went for $167. Another phone with a small scratch on the screen came up and the current bid was $91. I auctionsniped up to $176. It is currently at $132.50 and by the end of Pizza Night I will see if I won it. (It sold for $191).
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Pizza customers were coming in, a lot of newcomers along with the old tried and true, they came, then left to get more chairs, and so on. There were boxes of wine and coolers of beer. Conversation was chaotic. I could join in, but then had to make and bake pies.
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I cooked a pepperoni pie for the renter at his request. That pie disappeared astonishingly quick. I cooked an onion pie, that’s right, a pizza pie with nothing but onion and some cheese. Yes, there is tomato, crushed tomatoes 4 or 5 spoons worth, piled in a tomato blob, then I spin my spoon in the tomato blob, around and around, the tomato flies out, but I work the spirals of crushed tomatoes inward and they smooth out, the pie has a smooth but irregular coating of tomato. The onion gets toasted, burned in the 1000 degree heat, that’s the way I like them, toasted, crunchy, but because the process can’t get to all the onion at once, we have onion pieces that are charred, yet wet and liquid. It was an astounding evening. I know if I liked it, probably all liked it, plus we were all making plans for the New Year.
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A couple of bottles of booze came out. Not like us in NY like to disparage hooch coming in from out of town, this time plum brandy from Slovakia, complete with Milos, the Slovakian. Boy, he likes to have a good time. Our Breezeway renter brought out a bottle of Four Roses Bourbon. He likes to have a good time too. I was sticking to my burgundy till it ran out, then I sampled the other more potent drinks. All my cares went away.
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Clean up the next day was a slow unsteady process. I had taken another sunset photo from the back of the Breezeway while the party was going on. I am looking forward to the next one.