Saturday, May 17, 2014, Boot Key Harbor, FL I awoke with a forceful start as the full moon’s flashing light saber stabbed through the aft cabin’s hatch piercing my eyelids. It was only 0300 hrs. Gandalf expressed his displeasure with my startled movement in a muted hiss and fluffed tail. The rain had stopped, but the wind had strengthened considerably causing the boat to rock as the waves splashed against the hull. Turning on my phone I checked” Wind Finder” and the app showed me that gusts were reaching better than twenty-five knots and the wave heights, outside the harbor, were up to three feet. I got up to make a head call and have a drink of water, but going back to sleep, at least for a while, was out of the question. I squandered some more of my phone’s data allotment checking Facebook and my email before opening my Kindle to read. In an hour and a half I was once again ready to go back to sleep. Around 0730 hrs. I opened my eyes to see sunshine and some partial cloudiness proclaiming another day in paradise. The NOAA weather radio was broadcasting small craft warnings and advisories for the Keys and surrounding waters both on the Gulf and Atlantic sides. The prediction of ten foot waves in the Gulfstream made me feel happy that I was not sailing north in these rough conditions. This weather will be continuing through Monday. Pouring milk over a bowl of cereal and raisins I settled back to listen to MPR while eating. Nothing much has changed, the Vietnamese are still pissed at China for doing the same thing it has been doing for the past three or four millennium; bullying its neighbors, the down trodden in the middle east are still getting stepped on while the rest of the world forms committees to discuss ways to do nothing but still appear to be engaged in the process, Hilary Clinton is suspected of having brain damage by an obviously brain damaged individual, and Jon Stewart is still the only news commentator worth listening to and his show is on Comedy Central. It is probably good that we can laugh at this stuff because if we didn’t some folks might take their “Right to bare arms” right into Congress and get all Biblical on their asses. Not to put too fine a point on the issue of gun control (Don’t ask how I got to this, as my mind makes these illogical jumps all the time.) because I see valid points on both sides of the discussion, but would you want me to have access to a gun considering my felony background? I think not. On the other hand, this has a certain appeal to it: Mayton’s Gene Pool Cleaning, LLC; eliminating self-serving scum from public service. Thinking that I was thinking too much, I busied myself with less grandiose activities. I have this hand and body lotion that was left over from the previous owners of the boat. Nice stuff, actually, but it is all gone now and I wanted to use the pump bottle as a dish soap dispenser. Rinsing it out using some industrial degreaser that I normally use to clean the bilges, I filled it with dish soap and set it near the galley sink. Then I removed a cushion from the forward end of the settee, lifted up the plywood lid to the stowage locker below, and removed a plastic zip lock bag containing two rolls of bathroom tissue. Removing one of the rolls I swapped out the empty one in the head and stowed the other one below the sink. Keeping paper towels and bathroom tissue in zip lock bags reduces the chances that I’ll lose the whole lot if water were to get to them. No butts about it, a roll of wet toilet paper can ruin your day. Continuing efforts to imbue shipboard life with a modicum of order, I put a few dishes away and seeing that the clouds were just about gone, I went topside to lay down on the bow and enjoy the sun for an hour. Even though the temperature was already in the eighties it didn’t seem hot as the winds were blowing briskly from the north east keeping things cool. As I lay there I thought about some of the boat projects I wanted to get done when my Brother-in-law, Kevin arrives. I’d like to re-mark the anchor chain. I’d painted it twice since I bought the two hundred feet of BBB chain, but the markings have already worn off again. I’m thinking of using colored plastic wire ties this time. I mark every twenty feet of chain after allowing for the four feet of free board from the bow to the water. I may even get him to help me clean the bottom of the dinghy and the boarding ladder, but maybe not as I could do that on Sunday. The wind picked up significantly as the day progressed. White caps and spray rush through the harbor and Kittiwake is dancing about to the heavy metal music of the wind as it howls through the rigging. I would have liked to have gone to the movies tonight, but the one movie I wanted to watch was only playing at 2130 hrs. and I didn’t think that a dinghy ride back to the boat with this wind in the dark would be the wisest choice on my part. Lately I’ve had to wear shoes inside because the cabin decks had gotten so dirty. The recent sawing of fiberglass, poor table manners of both the cat and I, as well as litter box granules tracked around by my feline friend have made the cabin sole anathema to bare feet. Taking the broom in hand I swept the decks twice before filling a bucket with water and a cleaning concoction consisting of one part degreaser, one part soap, and one part mold inhibitor. Getting down on my hands and knees I vigorously scrubbed the teak and holly floor. Setting the bucket aside I opened the hatch a bit more and in just a few moments the deck was dry. I’m back to bare footin’. For supper I heated up the left over beef stew from the night before. For an after supper treat I opened a bag of Cheese Crackers. I may have to sweep up again but I sure am enjoying the flavor. This is Captain John aboard the sailing vessel Kittiwake thanking you for joining me on this voyage.
Posted on: Sun, 18 May 2014 11:00:10 +0000
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