22 July 2009:Wednesday
I drive into the Marine Exchange again and pick up my new LED lights. Each tiny white square is a light. These are cabin conversion lights meaning you take out your old bulb and insert the plug into the socket. There is tape on the backside which adheres to the fixture. In daylight my cabin is so bright. Again, I can't wait un
til dark for the new light show.
It is dark and this photo was taken with the available light in my cabin.
There is more light than with my 110v florescent bulb.
I turn back in the new little electric motor and get credit towards the lights. She will keep a lookout for a 2 hp gas engine. I also found a smaller set of speakers, so I removed my old bulky speakers and will install them later on. I found some more of my koa wood in the aft cabin and just enough to make little boxes to hold the speakers. I'll do that at home where I have better wood working equipment.
I replaced all my old dock lines with new blue line this evening after I went for a dinghy ride. I was testing out my new expanding oars. I love how they work, telescoping them to about 6 feet gave me a really smooth ride against the afternoon wind. All was not smooth however. As I was letting the boat slide off the aft cabin I noticed I had put the locks on backwards, so one of the oars slide right out of the oarlock and into the water. I lost the locking bracket into the river. I got Pashmina in the water and while lying on my stomach on the dock I was able to get the oar. The newer handles are smaller than my old ones. So there is still some tweaking to do on them. I rowed up river to take a look at a boat garage that is for sale in the next section of our marina system. It is mostly floating homes. I had never been back there and some interesting places exist on the backside. Despite losing a piece of plastic, I was really pleased with my invention of converting my oars using those old telescoping boat hooks. I love doing things like this. I'm told it is a classic Taurus characteristic. Makes sense, since Jean and I are both double Taurus'.
I have never spent so much time here at the dock, but finding how much I enjoy being here and working on the boat in the shade of the roof. I'm also learning how to find my way around Portland marine centers, thanks again to my Verizon GPS in my cell phone.
Warrenton Boat Yard, which is about 85 nm down river from here, called this morning. So I am set for haul out to have the bottom painted, new zincs and probably a new cutlass bearing on Monday at high tide which is about 0500 hrs. I will travel down and arrive on Sunday and they will provide me a slip for the night. I asked if I could sleep onboard and now days there is always an insurance problem, but if I will sign a waiver I can do that. The railway that they haul you out on is a 15 DEGREE angle. I have done this before in other boat yards. I'll probably wake up with swollen ankles, knees and hips or if I sleep the other way I'll get a big head. Hum, No comment. They wanted a photo of the hull, so they could set the blocks up. I had one onboard so took a photo of it with my phone and emailed it to them. I'm beginning to think I will never be able to live without that huge gang of Verizon staff who follow me everywhere and make all kinds of wondrous things happen. The promised land is here and I'm living it.
I will have to kill a couple of days in the area which is west of Astoria, so now I am trying to solve the problem of getting my car there so I can have it. I have sent out an email to several of my boating friends on the river for their assistance. I learned a long time ago when I first bought Shatoosh and took my car to San Rafael. The voice said, " just go and the doors will open for you." I got the boat to Vallejo and within minutes I had a ride back to San Rafael. The next day I arrived in Napa, my new home port and my car in Vallejo. A fellow across from my slip drove me back to Vallejo and I returned with my car. So I am certain that a repeat performance will be delivered. I'm putting it out to the universe.
til dark for the new light show. 
