Kaimusailing

I was preparing for my trip to Hawaii and organizing stuff both on board Kaimu and in the boatyard. I do not usually lock things away, I trust my fellow yardbirds to not take things. It is strange how this works most of the time, but other times I am noticing newbies eying any items not tied down, evaluating their potential use. The golden rule is to not grab stuff that you haven't personally purchased. There are a couple of designated spots in the yard where items can be set out for others to take. Typically it will be a departing yacht that is discarding unnecessary tools or sailors who are leaving their boat on the hard while they travel elsewhere and discard their perishable food.
.
I had 3 dinghies in various condition, the plywood hard dinghy, the Seaworthy inflatable which held air but wouldn't plane with the 6 HP Chinese outboard pushing it, and the West Marine 8.6RIB that performed beautifully, planing on 1/2 throttle, but wouldn't hold air for more than a couple of hours. The boatyard said all the dinghies had to be moved off of the floating dock. The dinghy dock was full, 10 dinghies there. Nowhere to move the dinghies to, maybe elsewhere in the boatyard.
.
I donated the Seaworthy to the yard's rigger who said he needed a dinghy. Then I took the plywood dinghy and the 8.6RIB to Kaimu where I swapped the engine onto the 8.6RIB and hauled the plywood dinghy onboard. Taking the RIB back to the dock showed me how well it performed, flying along. When it planed out it left no wake at high speed. Very efficient.
.
The blue chlorinated swimming pool paint, the latest attempt to seal the RIB, was very bad paint. It seemed to not dry even after nearly a week. It stuck to everything except the RIB. Perhaps there is a primer that would fix that. The RIB had to be pumped up each time I used it and the foot pump was too slow so I used a small shop vac which would pump up each chamber in a minute or so. I took the vac along in the dinghy and left a boatyard extension cord on the dock to power the vac. On Kaimu I used an extension cord from the inverter.
.
I understood my flight out was Thursday the 25th and I planned to go down to the airport on Wednesday, stay overnight, and have a comfortable morning with no need to rush to get to the airport. I was shocked when I got an email about my itinerary and oops, I was leaving on the 23rd. This gave me one day to prepare, pack, and finish my reorganization.
.
The RIB with its blue paint was dubbed The Smurf Dinghy. I stowed it at the end of the dock upside down and out of the way. The Chinese outboard was stowed underneath it. Up in the breezeway where I had been working I stowed other things and formally rented the space from the boatyard, with 2 months retroactive. I had been accused of taking advantage of the boatyard, but we had merely agreed that I could use the woodshop without cost and I had moved my projects to the breezeway to not tie up the woodshop for others to use.
.
We ran down to the airport where I had a room for the night and I rewarded my ride with dinner at BJ's Brewhouse. This is a chain of steak houses and I had had a great lunch at the location on the East side of Jacksonville. This one was OK, but there was no steak salad on the menu and that was the item that was so great at the other location. Next time I will try the Longhorn Steakhouse.
.
I was worried about making my flight but I had allowed so much time, leaving about 3 hours early from the motel, I was left sitting at the gate with 2 hours or so to wait. No problem. I wore out the cell phone's battery playing games and then boarded the flight. The plane wasn't large. I was in row 12 and that was the back of the plane. It was a Canadian (again) CRJ20, but unlike boats, it was not 20 feet long, just felt like it. My fellow passenger in the starboard row 12 seats was a large fellow and we spent most of the flight agonizing in various yoga positions trying to be comfortable, not possible, and not annoy our fellow passenger, also not possible. But it was a short flight. I remarked, I didn't expect to fly on a toy plain.
.
I had a couple of margaritas on the rocks and a steak salad. I started eating when my flight was starting boarding for LAX. I was in a large Tex-Mex joint right near the gate. I imbibed and wolfed down my breakfast at about 2PM local time and then went on to board the big plane for LA.
.
I would guess most people would agree with me that today's airline planes were designed by the Gestapo and probably flight attendants have a little of that chutzpah (not my spelling, please don't shoot me).
.
My phone ran out of juice and all I was doing was playing some games to pass the time. Maybe the new (previously owned) phone needs a more robust battery. I can see how this trip is turning out. First a short hop to Houston on a tiny toy plane, then a longer hop to LA on a larger plane, and I but wondered what kind of plane I will see next.
.
It was a short layover at LAX, but our exit gate was right where the men's restroom was and across the way was a steak restaurant, plus the departure gate was right there also. I ran to the rest room and then enjoyed a NY strip steak, my favorite. I called my sister who lives about 40 minutes South and found out I had missed her birthday. She was planning to retire and we talked about life plans when I heard my name on the PA, my flight was leaving.
.
Fortunately in the rush to get on board the plane no one noticed I had a substantial carry on bag which wasn't allowed on my Basic Economy ticket. This is the last leg of the flight so I will arrive with all my stuff, if I arrive.
.
We are chasing the sun and it's time for me to take my evening blood pressure meds, normally taken around sundown, but now we are up over the Pacific covered in clouds that look like the surface of the cerebral cortex. Up in the air I get the urge to design and write, creative, imaginative. What if the whole world was a thinking organism and the clouds were an indication of the mind that lies below, I've thought of this before, mostly when aloft. Maybe that's why mountain climbers get grandiose thoughts and then get killed by an avalanche that they could have seen if they weren't buried in their thoughts, instead buried in the snow.
.
But the cloudscape changes. Now it is rows of puffy cumulus clouds, brightly lit by the afternoon sun leaving shadows on the sea covered with what looks like ripples up here, but are probably significant trade wind waves. Good sailing for those down below.
.
It's like we are flying over the Arctic and those clouds are ice floes down below. This is the longest leg of the trip and there is still a lot to go but the sun is getting lower and the puffy clouds are starting to take on a bright color on top while going dark down below. It's like looking at hills and valleys that are lit by a setting sun.

My phone was dead and although there was a decal that said my seat had power, I could not find it. I wanted to take a few photos of the clouds. Also there was no entertainment on this flight, nothing. I purchased grass fed beef jerky, $10, and it turned out to be ONE OUNCE. And a small wine, like a wine glass full, $9. Just letting you know. United Airlines.
.
We arrive about an hour early and my nephew picks me up and we go to my brother's house in Paradise Park. I am determined to stay up as long as possible even though jet lag has me wanting to go to bed right away. It is about 3:30 AM in the boatyard. My brother has been raising pineapples, a strain called Sugar Loaf. He is a sort of hobby farmer. These pineapples command about 3 times the price of ordinary pineapples. He gives them away.
.
The photo, taken with the new phone with bad battery, is of a young pineapple in Paradise Park.