We like Wrangell; we've liked it each time we've visited here, passing through on the Inside Passage. It has a Cotati-sized downtown, and a Geyserville before the gentrification / Guerneville in the 70s feel to it.

Don Sorrick (Superior Marine Services), the guy who will sand-blast and re-do the coatings on our boat hull below the waterline, lived a couple of his early years in Rincon Valley (east Santa Rosa, Sonoma County) -- small world.

While waiting our turn for Don's boatshed -- created out of shipping containers stacked 3 high with trusses and a vinyl roof -- we're working on our list of boat things that need to get done:

some more work on the diesel heater -- it does a great job when everything's clean; but fouls easily...

climbed the mast to check our "air draft" to determine if we can make it into Don's boatshed without dropping the mast (a nuisance when necessary). it appears we may be able to squeak in if I remove the VHF antenna and lightning spike

power-washed the aft deck bimini; had a bad case of green mold and collected industrial crap from sitting in Seattle last year. the small power-washer I bought in Hong Kong did a pretty good job on the topside, but the underside of the Sunbrella Plus fabric is coated, and that coating seems "sticky" to mold, dirt and other stains -- neither the power-washer nor the special Sunbrella cleaning product put a dent into it. the whole thing is hanging from the p-vane poles now draining a bit (I have no expectation of it drying in near freezing temp)

Our crew for this trip, Ben, flew out yesterday, back to Seattle. He's a knowledgeable, dependable and very talented guy, looking for a real job in the marine industry. We hope it finds him soon; he deserves it.

Snow was forecast for today, instead we had sun and some blue sky -- which encouraged us to go ahead with cleaning the bimini, as described above. Rusty followed the sun around the deck, staying out of the way of the crazy people with the power-washer. Beautiful sunset... at 4pm!