We woke up with the alarm this morning at 6.30am, ready to go tiki-touring in the dinghy. Get up, go out back to check on the state of the nation and find the sky black, to the east. Bummer!
We had left all the 'windows' or 'smiles' open on the flydeck last night (this is the vinyl glass, or Eisenglas) so we hurredly went up and secured those, all 7 of them. The whole upstairs is now almost (and I say this loosely) waterproof and weatherproof. Barring some old seams on the Bimini (top) that leak at the stitching, and the holes where the glas goes around poles, we are pretty good to go, as it were.
A Digression, while I think of it...
On the recycling front: Because we are so incensed by the lack of any kind of recycling in this area (or apparent lack of) we did a google search for recycling centers. There are only a handful for this city with a population the size of the whole of NZ! There is one reasonably close, which we will go and take a look at, but only curbside pick up otherwise, if you pay for it, of course. We dont have that facility in the Marina, and think it would be SO easy to set that up.
The amount of trash in the water inside the Marina is a source of constant annoyance to us considering the place is teeming with fish that every fisherman and his wife, kids and dogs go after. There is no fishing INSIDE the marina, but that doesnt stop some people pushing the limits, of course:)
Ok..back to regular programming...
The master shower 'booth' is now out of commission...well, it has been for a few days now. The lovely varnished wood floor (veneer) has partially delaminated and we are waiting for it to dry out before recaulking around the outside to stop it totally coming apart. Now this is cause for some interest....so how do 'I ' shower, given that Waz always goes up to the marina bathroom about 100 meters up the dock? Well, this is the fun part:)..even though I could use the smaller shower up front in the guest area.
In dark of night, around 11pm, usually, I take my shower on the duck board where there is a hot and cold shower faucet that pulls out:) Not too many people around at that hour, and there is no light near us to shine on white skin. However, I did go up to the marina bathroom a couple of times when I thought that an airconditioned bathroom might be nice, instead.Washing ones hair is simple in broad daylight, but not so the whole body...unless we want to be arrested. This is the SOUTH, you know:)
So...what have we done since tuesday?
We have had a few quiet days because the weather has been just too darned hot to do anything...especially outside. One of those days the loo in the master made nasty metal grinding noises (it is a macerator kind) which needed further investigation. This is a brand new toilet so there shouldnt be any problems, right? Waz called the supplier to make sure they would replace it, should need arise. Yep, no problemo. The thought of having to go down in the small space...again...and take the whole thing out was somewhat of an incentive to see what was wrong. He took something apart, investigated, re-ran it, did something else which I dont know about, and presto!! she works again...and again etc. YAYAYAY! Thank goodness for husbands who can do these things. I guess we wouldnt be doing this otherwise. An emergency 'evacuation' was averted:)
During the week we rediscovered the new Kroger supermarket at League City. Now our favorite place:) Sushi!!!!! Yes, believe it or not, we made a special trip, 10 mins into the market, to buy sushi for lunch. Not just any sushi, I might add. The woman (Chinese) made us some 'specially because they didnt have any Unagi (eel) in the cooler out front, and I wanted a california roll with shrimp and avo on top...$10 each roll, so not particularly cheap. Waz also got to try Gyoza for the first time...Dumplings, pan fried with sauce. Pork! Verdict? Excellent all around.
After purchasing the sushi, and putting it in the car, we decided, when we turned into the highway to come home, that we should go and look at the homes in a new subdivision just across the intersection. Those who know us well will know that this behaviour is not at all unusual. We like looking at houses..inside and out.
I was very cheeky (of couse) and asked if I could take photos inside the house...for you, dear reader! the Realtor was so totally charmed by our Kiwi accents, that NOTHING was a problem:)
This home of 2,750 s.ft was selling for $278k
This is the formal dining room, with the butlers pantry just visible on the left. We really liked the furnishings, for the most part...very American:)
Nice Kitchen with walk in pantry and breakfast room on the left into the Family Room. Fireplace in this room! Yes, it does get kinda cold in winter...hard to believe!
Looking back to the front door, and on the right, the passageway through to the Master suite...all on the one floor!
The master bed was big enough for four but the room was lovely and spacious also
The master bath. Didnt like that the shower was a small one, just on the right inside the door. Sep. toilet cubicle on the left, which is nice.
Nice hardwood floors...
Really nice ceiling in this room...love the rough hewn beams!I didnt take photos of the one huge room at the top of the very long stairs, which also has a full bathroom. This could be a master/study/ living room...lots of options from this home builder.We were impressed with the apparent quality of the build, but know full well, when you buy a spec. house that there is always something hidden that can do with a re-do. On the surface, then, she looked lovely.
Being the show home, she has more features, so is one of the pricier models. The office to the immediate left of the front door was nice, especially for a home business.
Three bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths. the powder room was pretty and large, but the family/ 2nd bathroom was small, to say the least.
Ok, so we wont be buying this home, but it sure was interesting to go inside and take a look. We had a time limit because outside in the car, our sushi was cooking!!
Friday, I was determined to get to be able to tie basic knots FAST. I will need this skill when I am tying up , tying off and any number of other things to do with ropes. To aid me in my speed, we have purchased these fender grips. You have to feed the rope up through the grip on the outside of the railing, over the rail and down through the grip (in)side which is depressed to let the rope through. When not depressed it 'grips' the rope, allowing the fender to stay where it is put, and conversely, when gripped, the rope can be pulled up or down as need be. Easy! I just have to remember to tie a knot in the bottom so I dont lose the end of the rope, fender and all.
New rope for all the fenders was necessary. We cannot run the risk of losing one at any time. We believe the fenders still had 14 yr old rope attached, so it was sun and water damaged and very brittle.
Yesterday (Friday) was another extremely hot day. Waz had decided to go and clean out the anchor locker in the pm, and to see exactly how much new chain we needed for the anchors. We went to Kemah Hardware (I love that place:) ) and bought 50ft of the 3/8 " chain for $2.97 per foot. The advertised price at West Marine was something like $7 per ft!
Here it is laid out on the dock. 50 Ft of it. The green/yellow thing is the hose.
and now inside the locker.
The fenders all have new white rope:)
We also now know that the anchor winch works! and he has cleaned out the for'd hose connection so we can wash down the chain and rope as she comes up from the mud or other nasty places. She has foot controls to bring the anchor in or let it out...but also from the pilot station.
Changing out the various bits and pieces on the spare anchors and installing the new chain. The old chain was barely 5ft in length..totally useless, and the anchor looks like it has never been used. We are interested to note that on most boats in the marina, they are what might be considered seriously 'under-anchored', or not having sufficient anchorage to anchor:) this, we believe is because most US boats never have to anchor, they tie up at marinas.
This Fortress is the anchor we have decided to stay with for now. She will serve us well in this muddy bottom, should we need to use her anytime soon.
Waz is adding chain to the Bruce anchor. This is the one we will probably use the most on our Loop journey.
We are still missing the back starboard section of 'glas' in this photo. That has now been installed (wednesday...finally). I took this photo to show you where we sit at night and watch the sun go down. On the top..flydeck, at the back of the covered area (Bimini) behind the USA flag. Plenty of room there for our chairs...or more.
Yesterday (Friday) was a bit of a blah day.... We went to the supermarket for provisions..namely fruit and veg and some more sushi for lunch. We didnt digress on our way home, this time.
It was really too hot to do much. Later in the day Waz went out to do the anchor lockering in the heat...I sat where I could shade him with the umbrella and that took some of the heat off...literally, but it is exhausting. It is so hot you feel you cant breath properly. Sweat has become our friend! It does tucker you out though, and even at 4pm, or I should say, especially at 4pm, when the sun feels SOOO hot, it just wipes you out. Lots of water required, and we did buy some Gatorade for emergencies.
Looks like it is going to rain all day, on and off. I hate it when the sun comes out and the steam rises!
I might get enthused to make some curtains today. woohoo:)
Will let you know!
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