Sitting listening to some music for a change.
It is raining. It went from HOT HOT HOT 102F at 4pm to 96% humidity in the rain at 87F...almost 10pm!
Remember the orange fish from the last post? We have identified it, thanks again to our font of all knowledge, the night security man. Why ask anyone else:)?
It is called a Triple Tail....and it does the "I am looking sick' routine for a reason. Apparently it lives out in the Gulf of Mexico, is tropical, but because of the strange tide actions at the moment, it just happened on the marina. I will lie on it's side and very still...a mackerel will come up to see what is on the surface, and when close enough, the triple tail will bite! The triple tail is literal.
There has been a dead fish in the marina for a couple of days...just floating...and smelling bad in the heat. A seagull pulled it out of the water onto the dock where it paraded up and down for a while before pecking and pulling at the fish. It came and went throughout the day and ate a bit more each time. It must have been watching from somewhere close, because everytime another bird got close, the gull would swoop. Quite funny to watch...I just had to take a photo!
I have been having a sewing frenzy. The sewing machine is worth it's weight in gold.
the makers of the Eisenglas enclosure on the flydeck told us how to care for the glas and indicated that one of the things that will help 'save' the product will be to cover the loops that hold the rolled up windows. I did some devising and came up with these sleeves which slip onto the loop and velcro keeps them from dropping into the briny...
Here they are installed. A bit hard to see, but the next photo will give you a better idea of what they are for.
Currently there is a terry toweling cloth inside the roll to protect the rest of the window from the zipper, which will eventually damage the Glas. Why bother, you might ask?? Well, it does all keep us 95% dry when it is hosing down and gives us another 'room' on the boat.
Having finished that job, I set about making the sun-screens for the windshield.
As always, the first one was a bit trial and error, but nothing that couldnt be overcome. By the time I got to the last screen #3, it was almost perfect:)
The cut off corners are for where the catches on the navy cover fit over the catches on the boat. This allows the screen to fit more closely. The tabs are so that we can pull the domes off without ripping the screen. The silver material is metal, and therefore tough. It isnt like aluminum foil. Looks like rip-stop nylon with it's cross-hatch design, and behaves like it too.
Waz spent the day putting the domes on the screens which I finished today around 6pm. We then have to put the appropriate male dome side on the navy blue cover..then presto! no more superheated windshield!
It is pigly stuff to sew, and if you crease it, the crease wont come out, so presented some unique challenges. I need to clean the grey film off the machine, now.
You can see the texture of the 'fabric' in this photo.
Here is Waz on the cockpit deck sweltering in the near calm conditions, trying to make a hole large enough for a dome to go through the screen. We ended up having to make a second trip into the Bay Area Blvd for domes and a hole punch (finally), which of course took more than an hour. The traffic was building by the time we decided we HAD to get more domes to finish the job, at 3pm. Friday traffic is the worst, around here.
Just to back-track a little. We slept in this morning, rising around 8.30pm. We had sweated it hard yesterday making the screens....well, making the templates on the front windshield in blazing sun, unrolling the 'fabric' which you cant crease, measuring it, cutting it with the kitchen scissors, without ruining the dressmaking scissors, and then cutting the white rip-stop nylon for the surrounding flange.
One of the hardest parts of the whole exercise was that we dont have a large flat surface on which to work. The coffee table just about breaks my back, and my knees are stuffed, so kneeling becomes an up/down exercise. :)Well, we got it done, but in heat not conducive to doing these things, and under conditions that are sent to try us. We did it none-the-less:)
So...where was I?
Ah....Breakfast. Neither of us could rally much enthusiasm for making brekky, so after a quiet cuppa in the cool (aircon), we decided to go and try the restaurant we had sussed out that has Eggs Benedict..and more. We had to go all the way to the Bay Area Blvd (first visit of the day) which takes about 20-30 mins from here.
I had to take a photo of the menu for Bene's and the prices. How in heaven, does NZ manage to charge $19 for the same thing we bought in Houston for $9.99??well, sorry, they dont do Crab Cakes Bene in NZ! that I know of.
Waz had the Hiker's Bene for $9.29. He said it was fine. ..below...
I had the crab cakes Bene, of course...
and asked for the muffin on he side. there was a slice of tomato between the crab cake and the eggs. Was light and yummy!
On the way back from the second visit to the Bay Area Blvd, we had to stop off at the resale yard for Waz to buy 50ft of 30 amp power cord that he had seen there a few days earlier. This is one of THE most fascinating shops ever:) It is also hotter than Hades inside...no aircon, just fans...so I stayed in the car and amused myself by taking the appropriate photos. I think they thought I was casing the joint, coz I got some funny enquiring looks:)
. And...because we were on THAT side of the road, we ventured further up the road to find the South Shore Harbour Fuel Dock. Not a soul around...and we were not happy about it, as their hours are posted on the door. Just as we left in the car, a couple of 'kids' hopped out of a pickup and tore off down the dock to the fuel pier to serve a couple of boats that approached. It was too hot to pursue them, so we left. I have their number now!
The reason for the visit was to make sure the price is what is quoted on their website. They change, you see!
Fuel here is $4.10 p. gallon for diesel, vs $4.79 at the Seabrook Marina fuel dock. It means we have to motor up Clear Lake, but I think it might be worth the effort.
While our marina has over 600 boats, the South Shore marina has over 800. this is looking back towards the condos from th fuel dock.
This is the entry to the Sth Shore Marina. Love the lighthouse:)
...and some of the marina-side homes.
We had gone into JoAnn's again because we knew we could get stainless steel domes there, and even though we could have gone to Walmart and taken a look, we might or might not have found what we wanted there...and in the same time, could be in and out of JoAnn's.
We shouted ourselves a Starbucks Frappucino (heat relief and all that), and right beside the car were these 'mushrooms'...just to prove that we get enough humidity to make them grow, even in that extreme heat.
Aren't they lovely?:)
I think it is time for bed again. Tomorrow is Sturday and we are hoping to have the sun shades up and working. We are expecting torrential rain tomorrow as the tropical depression lies in the Gulf of Mexico. Some homes in Houston are without power tonight, but we are fortunate to be powered.
Another fantastic lightning show and thunder that deafens the ears. I did get out and wash the boat in the ten or so minutes the rain stopped. I have a new 'thing' that has a washing head...well, it is like a floor mop that swivels...fun, fun!:) best of all it works, and I managed to 'mop' the dirty deck in minutes. No getting down on my hands and knees!
Night night.
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