Friday night I catch up by reading 3 boating magazines. Saturday morning I am off to Coon Island which is only 3nm away. I see a familiar boat tied up to the docks and my friends take my lines. I have run into these folks 3 times now and we certainly enjoy talking boats to each other. He loves and has wanted an Albin for years, but ended up buying another sweet boat, a Bayliner 26 Explorer, named Harmony for the Finnish Sointula. They trailer their boat and will be taking her up to the Broughtons in British Columbia this summer. Wow, how fun would that be? He has done the Snake river so I picked his brain good. He and his wife, Betty were fishing off and all all day and Pepper his Aussie dog, watched the poles and whenever there was a strike up she'd jump. Dave threw back some small fish and out of the blue the eagles would swoop down and grab them with their talons and off to the trees they would fly. Quite a sight.
Lately as spring emerges, many Albin owners on the Yahoo Group are wanting to have hardtops made. I have been in conversation with several people and many discussions emrge about how many inches the side brow line should be. Since I have never measured mine several of us were thinking 3 inches might be the magic number. This information is a critical measurement, as too short the rain runs off into the cockpit and too long it would prevent you from walking on the side decks. So I decided to take my measurements and to my surprise my side and aft brow was 5 inches wide, thus creating a dripline onto the deck at the cockpit coaming. Perfect: see photo below. When I measured from 3 inches and dropped a plumb line it landed in a place that water would drip right into the cockpit.
Saturday afternoon and evening I tackled reading Ann Gash's, A Star To Steer Her By. Ann is known as the Sailing Granny of Australia. She circumnavigated the globe in the 70's and endured so many problems along her circumnavigation that I was exhausted after reading it. How she did it is beyond me? I wouldn't be up to it. In the 80's she cruised through the Hawaiian Islands on her way to California and back to Australia, when I was livng aboard on Sabra, my Swan 36. I did sail with her on Ilimo II from Honolulu to Kauai and back one summer. I learned many things from her. She is deceased now, but I always remember her as a sailing mentor for me. All of my Hawaiian sailing mentors have died now, but their spirits live within me and is going strong.
The dock cleared out Sunday afternoon, so I had the whole place to myself. I made my new bow and stern lines to be used on the bollards in the locks, cleaned the galley and stove and played Sudoku puzzles on my electronic version New York Times. While I kept busy I did miss my blogging in the evening.
The rains came and went all night long and I discovered a few leaky windows that need some sealant. I take my time returning to my marina, as I always hate to go back. The newly returning ospreys brightened my mood. All the cormorants have gone, it seems it is nature's way to "changing of the guards". I see old mother goose, high atop a deserted osprey nest/pilings, sitting on her next brood. Spring is definately in the air.
On the way home I stopped by Scappoose Bay to check out if I would have to pay any moorage fees when I haul out in June. They have an electronic system at the docks and I will have to pay for overnight moorage of $12.00. I took note of where to dock and had a lovely chat with Bonnie the owner of Scappoose Bay Kayaking. She showed me several interesting kayaks that were pedaled by leg power, a fishing version and a catamaran version made by Hobie Cat. All very interesting.
PS...my garage door clicker worked perfectly well upon arriving home. Is Mercury in retrograde? I'm so happy to be blogging again and will never forget my computer.
