Brrrrr.

Like Barb said in her post yesterday, fall has definitely arrived. Either that or I have lost my Canadian tolerance for a little chill. We are running the electric furnace more and more when we are alongside and the propane heaters when we are not; we are wearing long sleeved shirts, sweatshirts and I just know that we are only a short step away from sweaters; the days are drawing in and I am starting to feel a definite pull southward. It went down to 5 degrees last night and if it wasn't for the fact that it goes back up again to 20 during the day I would suspect that I'd be shovelling snow soon. Oh well. With any luck and some work we'll be well away before it comes to that.

I have tidied up our cockpit and sorted out most of the lazarette space. This involved chucking out a whole bunch of stuff that I really can't remember why I was hanging on to it for in the first place. We have been putting some other stuff into the storage units and using still others for some of our project list that is getting closer and closer to completion, or at least a respectable portion of it.

This morning I connected the AC distribution panel and hooked it up. It all works and my concerns about incorrectly wired polarity were for naught. I still have one little piece of it to complete namely the wiring of the power switch for the hot water heater back to this panel rather than have it underneath a whole bunch of stuff and behind a seat as it is now. That's one thing about whoever designed the wiring for Nelleke, he mustn't have thought that anyone was ever going to need access to them considering how inaccessible he made them all. Over the years I have been gradually whittling them down and making the boat a more crew friendly place.

Tomorrow I was hoping to do some more work on the chain locker and get that done, once and for all, but for now that will have to wait until we have picked up the new solar panel. Plus I have finally lost patience with the bow fairlead fastening screws. They simply won't budge no matter how much I pound on them with the impact screwdriver. The decision has been made to drill them out; I can reinstall them with bolts if need be!

I have discovered once again that you get what you pay for. We have been using rubber snubbers on our dock lines to absorb the shock of the boat moving against them with passing swells. They have made lying at our pier much more comfortable but we had tried to go cheap with some that we got from one of the major marine supply outlets. You've probably seen them - most of the good ones are black in colour but these are blue. Well, the blue ones have all come apart while the black but slightly more expensive ones have come through exactly the same stress without any mishap. Needless to say I am not replacing the blue ones with anything but the black ones.

From Barb:

Progress was made on my part as well today. Another visit to my GP for a follow up from the diagnostic imaging that was done last week - now I need to see a gastroenterologist but it is unlikely that a visit will be able to be scheduled before our departure. I also arranged for referrals for upon our return next spring to an orthopaedic surgeon for my left knee, to a dermatologist, and to some wizard to help figure out what the heck is causing the pain and lack of grip strength in my dominant wrist. It is like taking care of the boat or an old car - you just get one thing fixed and ticking along nicely and something else starts to go - heck, I am ONLY on the cusp of 54 years young. In the full scheme of things I really have nothing to complain about compared to many others BUT the things that are falling apart affect the activities I like - hiking and clambering around on the rocky beaches; cooking and experiencing interesting food and drink; and getting a good night's sleep.

After that I took yet another car load of "things not wanted on the voyage" to our storage unit. I sorted out the middle cabin (for that read I put all of the stuff that should not be in the middle cabin out in the salon and in the forward head - the Captain was, shall we say, less than impressed) and stowed the items under the bottom bunk that should be there and put the new mattresses in place that Dave Hickey made. They are snug fitting and lovely.

We paid a visit to Victory Sails in Dartmouth to pick up the two old girls that were in for some surgery. It seems that this will be the last trip for one of the jibs as she is in pretty rough shape - this is the one that ripped in the high wind when we were coming in to Shelburne Harbour last May.

Now, rum and orange in hand, we are waiting for a visit from the welder who is making the support for our large solar panels - Mike has a design improvement to discuss with him.