by Judy Handley | Apr 21, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 165, Year 7: Thinking of Friends
Date: Saturday, April 21, 2012
Weather: Another Beautiful Day
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
We have had contact with a number of friends in the past couple of weeks.
Many of these friends have been people we met while sailing around the
world. I have written about all of them and usually identified them by boat
name.
Gerry and Donna of Scot Free II are in Sri Lanka. We met Gerry and Donna in
New Zealand and then sailed with them much of Years 2, 3, and 4 of the
Voyage of Windbird. They were in Patong Beach in Thailand to say farewell
as we headed off for India. They spent another year in Southeast Asia and
then sailed to India. They had planned to head on to the Mediterranean but
the pirate situation in the Gulf of Aden stopped that idea. Then a couple
of months ago Gerry had a stroke. He was very lucky and is recovering
nicely, but they decided to go back to Thailand and decide what to do from
there. They are currently in Sri Lanka and will be sailing to Thailand the
first of May.
Constance, with Ed and Lynne, was the boat we traveled with from Thailand to
India and then across the Indian Ocean. Constance is stored on land in
southern Georgia right now. Ed and Lynne just returned from trip to New
Zealand and Australia and are back in New York. Ed’s children live there
and Lynne’s family lives in Michigan. So they will bounce back and forth
between the two places and sometime late next fall are thinking of heading
to the Bahamas on Constance for the winter.
Zbyszek and Tina of Shirena have been at home in Australia for the past few
months and have just returned to their boat in Cypress. They will spend the
cruising season in Greece. Zbyszek had a heart attack in Egypt in 2009 but
has made a full recovery and is looking forward to a good cruising season
with visits from lots of family and friends.
Howard and Judy of Laelia just officially finished their circumnavigation.
They have crossed their outbound path on the western coast of Mexico. They
still have to slog their way up the coast to California in order to say they
are ‘home’, but congratulations are certainly in order for the completion of
their 30,000 mile circumnavigation.
Jon and Heather of Evergreen, friends from our days at Shipyard Quarters in
Boston, just left the Galapagos today. They are headed the 3,000 miles to
the Marquesas in French Polynesnia. We are hoping they have a wonderful and
safe passage.
Rich Corbett, a friend we made through our blog, now owns his own sailboat.
He just emailed to let us know that his daughter will be getting married
next year. Rich’s wife Brenda thinks this might be the end of their sailing
dreams as weddings are so catastrophically expensive. But we survived the
wedding of our daughter in 2003 and left for our voyage around the world in
2005, so hang in there Rich and Brenda. You can have it all.
Now back to what is happening here. Mark is feeling better. Yeah! He was
able to work all day today and plans to work again tomorrow. Toby, Jed’s
brother from Portland, Oregon, is here visiting for the weekend and he and
are Jed are working furiously to get the new dish washer that was delivered
today installed and to get the space ready for the new refrigerator that
will arrive in a couple of weeks. And last, but certainly not least, today
was Oliver’s one month birthday. He had his one month check-up yesterday
and the statistics bear out what we already knew to be true. He is gaining
weight like gang busters, now weighing in three and half pounds heavier than
when he entered this world. He is one happy little baby. So happy
one-month birthday to Oliver!
by Judy Handley | Apr 20, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 164, Year 7: Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Date: Friday, April 20, 2012
Weather: Beautiful Day
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
In 2007, we arrived in the Kingdom of Tonga almost a month after the king had died. His younger brother took the crown, and at the end of the required one month mourning period, he was making his rounds meeting the people. We were invited to attend the church service on a Sunday when the new king would speak. We were told that the people were not pleased with the new king as he is a bit of a playboy, but they gathered to give him a warm welcome despite their feelings. At one point, the entire congregation became a choir and sang the Hallelujah Chorus for the king. It was so beautiful, and since that day when I am very, very happy about something, I close my eyes and relive that moment in a Methodist Church in Tonga. This morning was one of those times. Mark and I worked together and finished caulking the starboard deck. When that last piece of tape came up, we wanted to shout and sing, but instead we just let the people of Tonga sing the chorus for us. We realize that we are only half-way done, so we’ll get to rejoice once again when we are totally finished.
Mark was supposed to work at West Marine today, but he just did not feel up to being on his feet all day. He is having a harder time rebounding from this past chemo treatment. He just has no energy and generally feels unsettled. But early in the morning, he felt good enough to help with the caulking. But after we finished that job, he was basically finished for the day. He went with me to pick up Sam and Jonah and spent the afternoon at Heather and Jed’s. He did a great job laying on the couch and sleeping with Oliver which was good for both of them.
An alternate name for this log might have been, “Christmas in April.” Heather spent much of her day working on putting together and painting the brood chamber of her bee hive that arrived yesterday. As a Christmas present, Mark and I thought we got for her what she needed to start a hive, but instead of the base section, the brood chamber, we bought two honey supers. I think we were a bit distracted with Mark’s health issues and just not thinking too clearly at the time. But the problem has not been corrected, and soon Heather will be ready to order the bees. I spent part of my evening using a Christmas present given to me by the kids. My All American canner might possibly be the best boat gift I have ever been given. It is small enough to store on the boat, but is large enough to pressure can seven pints or four quarts at one time. Tonight I was canning the super nutritious chicken broth I made yesterday. There’s just not enough room to freeze the soup stocks, but I am very pleased with the canner. Thank you, Heather and Jed, Justin and Jo, and company.
04 Heather Putting Bee Hive Frames Together with G-diapers Hanging on the Line
by Judy Handley | Apr 19, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 163, Year 7: Slow but Sure
Date: Thursday, April 19, 2012
Weather: Sunny but Cool
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
After spending almost two hours completing the taping of the starboard deck
this morning, I made a little progress with the caulking before heading to
Woods Hole to pick up Sam and Jonah. Progress is painfully slow with one
person doing the work, especially when that one person is me. And add to
that the fact that I’m just not very good at it, but it is getting done . .
. slowly but surely. Mark slept through much of today. He just doesn’t
have any energy. If this chemo treatment cycle is like the last one, he
will start feeling better on Saturday. I doubt that he will be able to go
to work tomorrow, but he will wait until in the morning to make that
decision.
Progress at Heather and Jed’s is also going slowly but surely. The new dish
washer will arrive on Saturday and the new refrigerator the first week of
May. Jed’s brother Toby is coming to visit for the weekend, so I figure Jed
will try to talk him into helping with the plumbing for the dishwasher and
with doing the wiring necessary to get ready for the new refrigerator.
Heather and I continued to work on rearranging kitchen cabinets in between
trips to the basement to clear out some things that need to go to the Swap
Shop at the dump. The rest of the bee hive equipment arrived today, so
there is more to do to get ready for the bees. And when I left late this
afternoon, Heather and all three boys were outside working on new garden in
the front yard that will be the home of the bees when they arrives. So
progress is being made, but there is soooo much to do in a limited amount of
time. I just keep chanting, “Slow but Sure.”
by Judy Handley | Apr 18, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 162, Year 7: Spring Fever
Date: Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Weather: Beautiful Day with More Seasonable Temperature
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
I’m sure our daughter has a full-blown case of spring fever. And this fever
manifests itself in cleaning frenzies. Heather spent her day cleaning out
and reorganizing kitchen cabinets and then scrubbing the outside of the
cabinets. She cleaned out toy bins, took the area rug in the living room
outside so she could scrub the living room floor, and on and on. All of
this was precipitated by the fact that a new dish washer and refrigerator
will arrive in a few days, and these items are requiring a total shift in
the kitchen. The new dishwasher will be installed in a cabinet that
currently houses all of the baking pans as well as the silverware ware and
dish towel drawers. Moving all of these things to other parts of the
kitchen is indeed a challenge. Oliver was cooperative and I did as much as
I could to help. We made great progress, but we still have miles to go.
I caulked a section of the deck this morning all by myself, so now I know it
can be done. I then took Mark to work at West Marine and went to Heather’s.
But tomorrow morning, Mark doesn’t work, so we are going to attempt to work
together on the deck caulking until it gets too hot for Mark. If Mark is
not up to it, I will continue on my own. Mark made it through the day at
work today, but he’s really tired tonight. He told the manager today that
he really doesn’t think he can work until Saturday on the weeks when he has
treatment on Monday. He is finding himself totally exhausted on the first
three to four days after a treatment now, so we just have to readjust our
schedules and slow down. Not an easy task for us.
by Judy Handley | Apr 17, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 161, Year 7: Summer Preview
Date: Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Weather: Beautiful Day, Temp in the Low 80’s
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
Today was another great preview of summer. The temperature was in the 80’s
and the sun shone brightly all day. But tonight the thermometer will dip
into the upper 30’s and tomorrow will be much more seasonal, probably temps
in the 60’s. We have enjoyed the two days of summer, but the very hot
weather has made work on the deck almost unbearable. With the sun beating
through the plastic, the temperature on deck is around 100 degrees. Just
sitting and watching someone else work is an exhausting task at that
temperature. This morning we had a change of plans. Mark was not feeling
good enough to go to work at West Marine, so I called Heather and asked her
to come over with Oliver so we could give a go at caulking. Since Mark was
going to be here, he could hold Oliver while we worked. We worked for about
two hours and made great progress, but a quarter of the starboard deck that
is still waiting to be caulked. Heather and I both think that one person
can do the job–albeit slowly, but surely. So I will get up early in the
morning and see what I can do by myself. I often sing a song with Sam and
Jonah called The Garden Song. It was written by someone named Dave Mallett,
but the song was sung by Peter, Paul, and Mary, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie,
John Denver, and many others. It goes like this, “Inch by inch, row by row,
gonna make this garden grow.” I’m going to write a new song that goes like
this, “Inch by inch, row by row, we’re gonna get this caulkin’ done.”
When I went to pick up Sam and Jonah at school in Woods Hole, Mark went with
Heather and Oliver to Heather and Jed’s. We spent the afternoon there
cleaning up after a bit of a demolition disaster. When Jed left Windbird
yesterday at noon, he went home to continue working on the final removal of
part of the kitchen wall. He used Mark’s Fein tool, not knowing that it
produces a “fein” dust that covers everything. I loaned him the tool
without the warning, so feeling a bit responsible for the dust covered
kitchen and dining room, I pitched in with Heather this afternoon and we
cleaned the kitchen and dining room top to bottom. After Sam and Jonah got
up from nap, they also helped by washing down the dining room chairs on the
deck. By the end of the afternoon, they had on no clothes and were
gleefully sloshing about in water. But we did get the kitchen clean and
dining room clean. Tomorrow morning Mark is going to try to go to work at
West Marine and Heather and I will continue the cleaning process.
by Judy Handley | Apr 16, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 160, Year 7: Too Hot
Date: Monday, April 16, 2012
Weather: Beautiful Day, But Too Hot
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
You won’t hear me say it is just too hot very often as I love warm weather.
But today it was a bit like being baked in an oven on the deck of Windbird.
The plastic winter cover is like a greenhouse, and when the sun is shining
brightly and the outside temperature climbs into the upper 70’s or low 80’s,
it is truly too hot on deck to do any work. Heather, Jed, and boys came
over early. Heather and I did taping while Jed took Sam and Jonah for a
walk and Oliver slept. But as the morning progressed, the temperature
started to rise making it really difficult to stay on deck for very long.
Jed cut some “windows” in the covering which allowed for some air
circulation, but it was simply too hot. Sam and Jonah solved the problem by
stripping all their clothes off and playing with water on the port side of
the boat while Heather and I continued to take turns taping the starboard
side. Heather broke out in a heat rash and I just felt exhausted. It soon
became clear that no matter how much taping we got done, Mark was not going
to come home from a chemo treatment and work on the deck in this heat. We
did get most of the taping done and we’ll just have to do the caulking as
weather and well-being allow. Mark’s fifth chemo treatment went just fine,
but each time the side effects hit him a little harder. He is supposed to
work at West Marine tomorrow, but I’m not sure that is going to happen
unless his energy level improves a bit. We’ll have to wait until morning to
gauge that one.
