This week has been a lot of fun! First of all we got our income tax rebate and I have been able to start spending it on improvements to Nelleke. First of all we bought some lifejackets for smaller children, something that was glaring in their absence; and then we have a bow roller for the Bruce anchor that I can install and make it not only available, but more importantly get it out of the port lazarette. The other two major purchases that we are targeting are the new fridge (anybody out there want to buy our old one? A steal and all you have to do is pay the freight), the new AIS system, and the new solar panel which must wait until I have designed and had built the strengthening supports for the davits. Lots to do!

I am having a ball at the Binnacle. The only thing better that spending your own money on boat stuff is helping other people spend theirs. I am starting to feel that I am making a contribution to the store and to its clients. Much of the time I spend speaking to people who don't actually intend to buy anything that day, but hopefully with some good advice and patient explanations, when the time comes they will decide to come back to spend their money in the Binnacle.

We are awaiting an opportunity to get Nelleke hauled so our friend Don Webster can get to work on the cutlass bearing and engine mounts and give us a chance to repaint the anti fouling and boot stripe, and fix the heads. For the latter I have found that I can replace the entire pump mechanism on each with a newer design that can lock the pump handle down and prevent the siphoning of fluid back into the bowl after you have finished using it. Pretty neat and will make the whole process a lot more reliable.

I have also been told that when we are cruising I have two skills that could be marketable while we are underway: splicing both twist and braided rope and working on heads. The latter in particular, I am told, will pretty much guarantee me work, but I am finding that although a lot of people know how to slice standard three ply twist rope, very few out there have learned to splice double braid and even fewer have all the tools. I just have to figure out how to let folks know that I do that work without actually hanging out a shingle since in most places other than Canada that would present significant legal problems with their immigration folks.