Friday and another day off......
03 July 2009
• RNSYS, Halifax, NS
by Mike
.... but of course it is still raining. Coises!
Today we change docks again to make room for the Marblehead fleet to have convenient spots to clear customs. The club has asked those of us on the dock right in front of the Dockmaster's Office to move to another available space, and in some cases, to go out on a mooring. We are fortunate that there is space for us at another pier so that is where we move to for the duration.
One of the skin blemishes that seem to plague me and which had been burnt off by the dermatologist before we left on the trip last fall seems to have come back so I have made an appointment to see him again. This time I hope that he'll use a knife and scoop out the whole thing. It's not very big, just sore and, as Barb says, it mars perfection. If she wasn't so obviously correct that kind of talk could swell my ego.
We have cut the doors for the companionway cupboard and Barb has been busily staining them to match the wood already in place. I was also able to find some finger pull framings in teak at the Binnacle that I installed today before she put the final coat of finish on them.
The French cat with the Cap Odyssee ladies aboard departed for Cape Breton yesterday and we certainly wish them the best of luck. Paddling across the North Atlantic on a surfboard is not the sort of project that I would care to undertake although I can't wait to see how they do and certainly hope that they take lots of videos of their trip.
Barb and I are buying each other one of those digital book readers for use on the boat. We figure that we'll be able to get books downloaded much more cheaply than buying the actual paper versions plus there will be a big space saver. Anyone who has been aboard the floating library called Nelleke will understand how much that has become an issue with us.
And speaking of boat issues, I have been thinking about those common ailments that afflict boat owners. We all catch them at one time or another and there is no immunity and absolutely no cure except to let the diseases run their course.
First there is the dreaded "twofootitus" that strikes all boat owners at one time or another. At one time it was thought to concentrate more on the male member of the partnership, but I can speak from personal experience that it will sometimes also strike the female too. It was Barb, who after a vacation on our previous boat declared that the holiday was great except, "We need a bigger boat!" I was thinking the same thing but had managed to put myself in a temporary state of denial. Barb's comment merely brought out the symptoms in me as well.
Then there is "flatsurfaceoloma" which has also been called "vacumedenius" in which any flat surface is seen as a potential repository for whatever happens to be in the hands of the afflicted person. Sadly this disease seems to strike only women and it's of no use to get cross with them. The disease has control and they can't help themselves, poor things. And lest you think that we males get off almost scott free, don't forget the "toolaquisition syndrome". I'm afraid that I have a fairly bad case of this one myself and the tool crib is bulging with the symptoms and evidence.
And, of course, there is the less common "saltyseadogosis". This is the one where the afflicted party suffers from the delusion that he, and yes it strikes almost always men, is the reincarnation of the Ancient Mariner and will hold forth at the slightest encouragement, real or imagined, about his past exploits and offering advice to any around him whether requested or not. One of the first signs of this disease is the tendency to blog.
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