Shoot! We Got The Anchor Dirty

We're frequently bashed by one of our marina buddies, Ann, for not leaving the slip very often.  This weekend two Customs and Border Patrol guys were walking the docks and stopped to talk with me.  I started asking them questions pertaining to foreign travel, and one of the guys asked if we sailed in and out of the country very often.  I responded, "Not very often", to which Ann commented, "Hah!  They never leave the slip!".  Well, I want everyone to know that we left the slip yesterday, AND Carla was at the helm.  She did an excellent job despite her nervousness and my 30-minute pre-trip technical lesson on pulling forward out of a slip.  This is all part of the preparation for the unlikely event that I become incapacitated or otherwise unavailable.

Anyway, back to the dirty anchor story. 

Of Course You Can Oil All The Interior Wood

I couldn't resist sharing a photo of Carla hand rubbing oil on all the interior woodwork.  The Hunter 410 has a lot of wood cabinetry, and I doubt that it was ever oiled prior to our purchasing it.  I think this makes the 3rd time that Carla has gone over the entire interior, and it looks more magnificent each time she touches it.  Let's see, 2 small pieces of exterior wood that I sanded and finished with 3 coats of varnish, and the whole interior that Carla hand rubbed with oil.  I'd say we're about even.

Always a Surprise

I never know when I leave the boat, what I will find when I come back.  My captain/mechanical engineer is always fixing something and making things better.  I was only gone for a few minutes and I come back and find him hanging upside down in the locker outside.  Don't get me wrong, I'm very proud of all the fixes he makes on the boat...but sometimes finding  him hanging upside down is a little...strange.

And then I get up this morning and walk outside and I find the pedestal our steering wheel is attached to in pieces.  It was fine when I went to bed last night...

  

I'm happy though, he was able to get it all back together and didn't have any parts left over :-).

Varnishing Teak - Yuk!

Unless you're someone who enjoys working tirelessly around your house so that you can win the "Yard of the Month" award, you probably wouldn't enjoy the yearly task of varnishing all the exterior teak on your boat.  Some captains have a lot to dread, but in our case the Hunter 410 only has a few small pieces of exterior teak.  This past weekend, the companionway hatch handles received a good sanding and four coats of varnish.  We constantly have people commenting that C-Time doesn't look like a 15 year-old boat, and I think that small efforts like this one are worth the effort to get those compliments.  Of course when we finally leave for the Caribbean, we'll have to trash her and make her look undesirable so we don't have a problem with theft.

I read in a cruiser's blog last week about a couple who painted their dinghy's outboard motor bright yellow to deter thieves.  Our first sailboat, a 14' enclosed bow boat, was yellow, and we never had a problem with someone trying to steal her.  Maybe that's the answer.  Paint everything yellow so no one else wants it.  Nah.  We prefer the compliments.

No Terry Cloth Bath Skirt This Father's Day

I would dare say that most fathers enjoy a card or a call from their children on Father's Day more than the gifts that they typically receive.  You all know I'm right.  They may have bragged on that ugly tie or hand-crafted coffee mug, or even that terry cloth bath skirt, but deep down they really cherished the thought, time, and effort more than the actual gift.  Well this year my Honey excelled on all counts.  I had been trying to decide whether we should get an inexpensive waterproof case for our iPhones for taking underwater photos, or make a big investment in the new GoPro camera.  Carla took the initiative and not only bought me a GoPro Hero3 Black Edition camera (http://gopro.com), but she also bought several additional accessories for it.  Eat your heart out Fathers.

And thanks Drew, Matt, and BA for the special Happy Father's Day wishes.  I hope that all of you eventually know the pride and joy of being a Father.