Anchor Chain End-For-End

Today's task was to remove all the anchor chain, measure it, mark it, end-for-end it, clean the chain locker, and then put it all back.

We've anchored several times, but never really knew what the red marks meant, so we just estimated how much chain we had out.

Now we know we have 250' of 3/8" BBB. (We think it was marked in 10 meter intervals because the old red marks were about 33' apart.) We wire brushed most of the old paint off and re-marked it with one red mark at 50', two red marks at 100', three red marks at 150', etc.

The last little job is to put a swivel at the anchor because when you are anchored out you frequently swing all the way around which puts twists in the chain. In fact, our chain was all twisted up and I sat in the chain locker for quite a while untwisting it while Malcolm pulled it out onto the dock. Hopefully, a swivel will solve that issue.

Removing the Air Conditioner

Today we removed the air conditioner under the forward bunks and gained lots more storage space.

Of course, any project on the boat means first removing everything from the lockers and scattering it all over the boat. Then endless contortions to reach all the screws which are hidden behind drawers and in dark corners. And quite a bit of special "Sailor Talk". But we finally got all the wires, hoses, ducts, and machinery out and on deck.

The air conditioner was heavy too, so we used a halyard to get it out, and again to get it into the dock cart. I hope the waterline rose a bit.

Single Strand Button Knots

This is one of my all-time favorite books: The Ashley Book Of Knots.

At almost 600 pages, it has every knot one could ever need plus practical applications for the mariner. We have used on numerous occasions and once made a pair of beckets for a sea chest.

We needed new lanyards for the lifeline gates, so I found two single line button knots, #601 and #787, and here is the result:

Mine looked just like the one in the book, except for the blood.

Remotes

In our pursuit of a simpler life, we have downsized and gotten rid of lots of extraneous gadgets. However.....

we have just installed an entertainment system and now have five more remote control thingies on the boat. Argh!

I'm sure the manufacturers are proud of their products and want their brand name prominently displayed, but I don't think of the TV as a Vizio or the sound bar as a Yamaha. So we re-labeled all the remotes with the name of the thing they control. The only thing we didn't re-labeled was the Apple TV remote because it is so distinctive. I wonder if anyone else does this?

It's A Cushie Life

I think decorating a boat is a little harder than decorating a house because in a house you can easily repaint the walls or get new furniture. But here on the boat the walls are cherry so I'm stuck with that. The furniture is all cherry and built-in, so I can't change that. The settees are upholstered in light beige suede (done in Italy, I'm told) and it's in fine condition, so I'm keeping that. The hull is dark blue so I'm stuck with that color. And the boat is very traditional looking, so I'm stuck with that theme.

Here's what I ended up with for some new throw pillows. I also made two larger pillows that add a little more color. I think that bit of red in the larger pillows will be nicely complemented by an oriental style rug which we hope to find soon. We'll let you know when we find it.

Google Comes To Town

Stockton is in the news again, but for a good reason this time: the mysterious Google barge has docked at the Port of Stockton. And they drove right by the Sailing Club. Heck, we are practically neighbors now!

Wine Tasting

We took a quick trip to the Napa Valley to do a little wine tasting and fine dining. We visited Castello di Amorosa (which we have visited before), and it just gets better and better. They now have farm animals on the property which really lends an authentic castle air to the whole experience. We saw chickens, geese, ducks, turkeys, guinea hens, emus, sheep, goats, and pigs. 

We also did the tour and tasting, but by the time we got to the castle, we had already done two tastings and lunch, so I'm afraid we didn't really appreciate their wines.

We also stopped at Del Dotto to pick up some previously purchased wines. Their tasting room is GORGEOUS; you feel like you've just stepped into an antique Italian villa. It's filled with beautiful tiled floors, mosaics, frescoes, marble columns, Venetian glass chandeliers, statues and a grotto with a "face" fountain. I couldn't take photos inside, but this statue was right outside.

We might have drank too much wine. We definitely ate too much good food, but all in all, we had a delightful shore excursion.

We Might Actually Be Retired...

After a year of trying (unsuccessfully) to sell our business, we had finally given up and figured we would just close it down and sell all the equipment. But last month another sign company here in town approached us about selling our assets and our name. So we worked out a nice deal and sold him the equipment, supplies, files, phone number, name, and website.

Then he realized that our facility was set up pretty nicely, so he made us an offer on the property too, which we accepted. They moved their digital printing department over here and we've been working together for the last two weeks to make the changeover.

We will stay on a while to help with customer relations and training, but I think we might actually be retired! I almost can't believe it. I've been in the sign industry for 40 years! It's been a good ride, but I don't think I'll miss it that much.

I think I'll go home and have a grapefruit martini.

The Tool Locker

When we bought Thistle, everyone was quick to point out the hanging locker that had been converted into a special tool storage locker. Someone had built a set of drawers and slipped them into the existing locker. I said, "Oooo, cool" but secretly I couldn't wait to recapture all that wasted storage space.

Firstly, the stack of drawers had to be narrow enough to slide into the door opening. Right there you lose 3" on either side. Then the drawer sides and hardware waste another 2" on each side. And finally, the drawer bottoms and rails waste 2" off the top and bottom each drawer. So when we emptied all the drawers we had a pathetic little pile of stuff. Here's one of the drawers with a few spare parts.

First we set Malcolm's tool box on the floor of the locker and opened the lid. Then we added a shelf above that. We wanted to make sure we could open the lid and access the tools in the drawers without removing anything. And when open, the drawers just fit between the door opening.

Next we put the wrench and socket box on that shelf and added another shelf above that.

Then we bought storage boxes that would fit in the leftover space, labeled everything, and started packing it in. It's amazing how many large tools and spare parts we put in there. 

Behind the tool box alone, there is a full Makita box, a Sawzall, a sander, an offset cordless drill, two battery chargers for the Makitas, extra batteries, and a battery powered circular saw.

On the shelves we have boxes for electrical, plumbing, soldering, nuts and bolts, sail repair, misc hardware, engine spares, and more. And it's not even full. Now we just have to secure everything so it can't shift. We plan to use fiddle rails and velcro, but whatever we use it's got to be super strong because tools are heavy and that flimsy door can't be relied on to contain them.

We are quite pleased with our new tool storage locker and don't miss the "custom drawers" at all.

Another kerosene lamp

We found this little kerosene lamp at Blue Pelican in Alameda recently. It was affordable and all the parts were there, but it was tarnished. So we brought it home, stripped off the varnish and polished it up. It even had a wick poked down inside, so we cleaned that up too, re-assembled the whole thing, filled it with kerosene, and mounted it at the nav station.

And here it is looking pretty cute and ready to provide a comforting glow during a night watch.

Business Cards

I am happy delighted ecstatic to report that WE SOLD OUR BUSINESS and it's time for new business cards! That's right folks, we are retiring and our new cards say nothing about work. (You cruisers will know that just owning a boat is a job in itself, but I digress.) 

As I was cleaning out my desk I found lots of old cards and I just threw them away without a second thought. And it felt really good.....but not nearly as good as getting these new cards.

Buche de Noel

I made the Yule Log today. I sort of followed Martha Stewart's recipe. The cake is a chocolate sponge cake, the filling is chocolate mousse, and the icing is chocolate ganache.

After assembling it, you decorate it with the meringue mushrooms and some greenery, and sprinkle powdered sugar on it to look like snow.

We are taking it to the brother-in-law's house tonight.