by Judy Handley | Apr 15, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 159, Year 7: Spring Boat Work Frenzy
Date: Sunday, April 15, 2012
Weather: Repeat–Beautiful Warm AM, Turning Cloudy and Cool PM
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
Today Mark worked at West Marine and I worked here on Windbird. Before Mark went to work, he helped me turn the dinghy over. A few days ago, someone from the marina moved it out onto a dock. It was sadly deflated, so we inflated it and found that it just wouldn’t hold air. Obviously it had developed some new leaks, so this morning we turned it over so it was sitting on its bottom. That way we could slide it closer to a water source so I could clean it and search for leaks. The instant we turned it over, we spotted the source of the new leaks. We had stored the dinghy on land for the winter by pulling it up into the tall grass that grows beside the walkways here at Fiddler’s Cove. Well. The grass had actually grown right into the dinghy and when we pulled it out, it left nice little holes. Neither of us would have suspected this, but we have about seven little pin holes to prove that it. Mark helped me inflate the dinghy and after he left I wet it down and covered it with dish detergent. Very soon I spotted the areas where bubbles were developing and marked the leaks so we can put on patches. I scrubbed the topside of the dinghy and then some fellow boaters on our dock helped me turn it over so I could scrub the bottom. Sometime during the next week, Mark will try to find time to put on the patches so we can re-inflate the dinghy and do the other work on it that needs to be done before we return to Woods Hole.
Heather, Jed, Sam, Jonah, and Oliver came over for dinner tonight. It’s been a while since they have all been here at one time and it was great fun to have them. Tomorrow morning Mark goes in for his fifth chemo treatment and Heather, Jed, and boys are coming back to Windbird to help me tape the deck to get ready for another caulking session. I hate to pull them away from the all the work they have to do at their house, but there’s no way I
can get the taping done tomorrow morning by myself. It is a holiday here tomorrow, so the boys don’t have school. Jed will watch Sam and Jonah while Heather and I tape, and we are hoping that Oliver will cooperate by sleeping like he did yesterday when we were digging up the new garden. Mark is determined to caulk tomorrow afternoon and then start removing the old caulk from the port deck, so the taping has to be done by noon. We are certainly
not the only ones doing boat work right now. The travel lift is putting boats in the water as fast as it can and the marina is starting to fill up. And where we have been the only ones parking near the dock for months, there is now a long line of cars every day. The spring boat work frenzy has begun.
My parents were married on April 15, 1923. My mom was barely 15 and my dad was 19. I always think of them on this day and smile when I think of the stories my mom told us about their honeymoon. They had a double wedding with my mother’s brother who married my dad’s double first cousin. They had no money, so both couples spent their honeymoon night in the same bed in an empty house that was thought to be haunted. Only in West Virginia!
by Judy Handley | Apr 14, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 158, Year 7: Demolition Day at the Goldstones
Date: Saturday, April 14, 2012
Weather: Beautiful Warm Day, Turning Cloudy and Cool Late Afternoon
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
Today while Jed tore down a wall in the kitchen, Heather and I starting digging up a big section of the front yard. It looked a bit like a demolition derby. The entire kitchen was moved around so Jed could remove the wallboard and Sam and Jonah found enough loose dirt in the front yard project to bury themselves. While all of this was happening, Oliver managed to sleep in a stroller that we kept nearby the sod removal area. He seems to love being outdoors. At the end of the day Jed had removed the wall board and studs in the wall behind the current refrigerator. This will allow them to inset a deeper refrigerator so it won’t stick out too far in to the room. Where the studs came out, Jed will put in a new header so the wall will still be structurally sound, but the extra three inches of depth will allow them to buy a bigger and actually cheaper refrigerator, without having the new refrigerator stick out too far beyond the counters. The front yard sod removal project is turning lawn into garden where the beehive will sit. In order to give the bees the required “runway” area in front of the hive, putting in a garden seemed to be the best way to keep the boys from getting too close to the hive. Heather is thinking that she will plant the area with short sunflowers for this year while she plans the perennial garden that will be there permanently. Sam and Jonah loved the dirt digging project and joined in by stacking the pieces of sod so they could play King of the Mountain. Then they literally laid down in the dirt and covered themselves with the loose pieces of sod. It was a deliciously warm day and they managed to go barefoot for bit. The look of glee on their faces was priceless.
Tomorrow I’ll stay on Windbird and try to work on the dinghy and do a little taping off on the deck while Mark goes to work at West Marine. We are hoping that Monday after Mark’s chemo treatment that he will be able to come home and caulk the other half of the starboard deck, but some of the taping will have to be done tomorrow in order for that to happen. And tomorrow evening Heather, Jed, and boys are coming here for dinner. It is supposed to be warm tomorrow with the high temperature reaching into the seventies—not exactly ice skating weather. But the current ice arena is having a 5-7 pm free skating time to mark the end of an era. It will be the last skate time in the old arena before it is torn down. Heather and Jed haven’t really been on the ice since the season before Sam was born, so they are looking forward to skating with Sam and Jonah while I babysit Oliver. But the extremely warm weather tomorrow might discourage ice skating. We’ll just have to see how the day plays out.
by Judy Handley | Apr 13, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 157, Year 7: Shop ’til You Drop
Date: Friday, April 13, 2012
Weather: Same, Same–Partly Sunny Day, Temps in the 50’s
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
When there is no store close to home where you can buy clothes for little
ones, clothes shopping becomes a bit of a chore. Heather has always just
bought clothes for Sam and Jonah online, but they are both at a point where
she really wasn’t sure what size to buy. Sam has moved right through 2T,
3T, 4T, and 5T, but there is no 6T and 5T is too small. What’s the next
size? That was Heather’s dilemma. She needed to try things on him to
figure this out. And with Jonah, some 2T things are too small, but 3T’s are
too big. So again, trying things on was helpful. In addition, she needed
to take them to Stride Rite to have them fitted for shoes. She will buy
online now that she knows what size they are currently. Jed also needed
some new pants and he really needed to try those on. In order to do all
this “trying on” we had to drive to Hyannis. That in itself is a feat with
three children, but all three boys were really very good. Oliver did the
E-P-S thing (eat-poop-sleep) all day, and mostly slept and didn’t make a
peep. I was able to keep Jonah occupied while Sam tried on clothes. And
when we went to the Mall to try on shoes, I was able to occupy Sam and Jonah
long enough for Heather and Jed to look at refrigerators. They are having a
very difficult time finding anything that meets all of their requirements,
so now they are having to rethink and decide which requirements must stay and
which can go. They still havent resolved that dilemma, but I think we can
call the shopping day a success.
After Mark got off work at West Marine at 6 pm, I picked him up and took him
back to Heather and Jed’s for dinner and to use our new Dremel saw to cut
off the bottom half of the kitchen cabinet above Heather and Jed’s current
refrigerator. No matter what new one they get, it will be much taller than
the old one. So the cabinet had to go to prepare for whatever choice is
made. By the time we got back to Windbird it was time to go to bed so we
can start again in the morning. Mark works tomorrow and Sunday, has a chemo
treatment on Monday, and then works Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday. This is more than usual as a woman he works with is out of work
for the next couple of weeks. Both her father and brother died last week.
If Mark is not feeling good after his chemo treatment, he can always opt
out, but he wants to pitch in and help if at all possible. And besides, he
really enjoys working at West Marine. Here’s one example of why he likes it
so much. Next Wednesday a team of people from Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution (WHOI) will be flying to Greenland and then will be helicoptered
into a glacier where they will spend a week or two doing research. They
will be using an underwater vehicle that they certainly don’t want to lose.
So they need 600 feet of rope to attach to it and a way to pull it back up
out of the water. They also need solar or wind power and light weight
equipment since they go in by helicopter. They do much of their shopping at
West Marine and Mark gets to help them figure out just what equipment they
will need to do the research. He loves the problem solving for this type of
expedition as well as problem solving with a boater who just needs to figure
out which paint he or she needs to use. Our problem solving issue is
figuring out how to get the deck work done on Windbird before we have to
leave here and return to Woods Hole for the summer. As I mentioned in a log
a couple of nights ago, I think I am going to have to learn to do the work
on Windbird so Mark can continue working at West Marine.
by Judy Handley | Apr 12, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 156, Year 7: Another One of Those Busy Days
Date: Thursday, April 12, 2012
Weather: Partly Sunny Day, Temps in the 50’s
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
Mark went to work at West Marine this morning. He is starting to feel
better once again, just in time for another chemo treatment on Monday. But
today turned out to be a good day for Mark as his energy level stayed high
all day. He even had energy left at the end of the day to do a few more
boat chores while I fixed dinner. It looks like Mark will be working three
or four days a week now, so we will have to do some of the boat work in the
evenings. And if we are ever going to get all the caulking done, I’m going
to have to learn to do it myself. Heather can come to the boat some
mornings and help me if we can just convince Oliver to sit and watch us
work.
My day started with grocery shopping after I dropped Mark off at work. I
then went to Heather’s to finish laundry I started yesterday, and then it
was time to pick up Sam and Jonah at school. After getting the boys home
and down for naps Heather and I spent some time planning how to modify the
kitchen cabinets in preparation for a new, larger refrigerator. This is
going to require the removal of one cabinet above the current refrigerator,
so we emptied it, took off the door, and hope to find a way to cut out the
bottom shelf, leaving the top one. When the boys got up from nap, we all
went for a walk around the block and dropped some books off at the library
while we were out as one of the branches of the Falmouth Library is just
down the street from Heather and Jed’s. Of course, in between all of this,
I did manage to get in some baby cuddling time with Oliver. After we got
back from the library trip, Heather went outside with the Sam and Jonah and
I got to sit in the rocker with a sleeping Oliver.
When I got home tonight, all of a sudden I felt like I was getting the flu.
I’m a little better, but I’m still not feeling “normal”-whatever that is. I
sure hope I am just tired. I haven’t gotten to bed before midnight for
nights now. So I am turning in early tonight. As chief cook and bottle
washer around here, I can’t afford to get sick. And besides, I am going
with Heather, Jed, and all three boys tomorrow on a shopping expedition to
Hyannis. I can’t miss that!
by Judy Handley | Apr 11, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 155, Year 7: Oliver is Three Weeks Old
Date: Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Weather: Partly Sunny Day, Temps in the 50’s
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
Oliver was born three weeks ago today. If Heather’s scales are correct, he
now weighs over eight pounds. He’s gaining lots of weight because he nurses
every two hours around the clock. That doesn’t give Heather a lot of rest,
but Oliver is doing great. Only one more week and we will be celebrating
his one-month birthday.
Mark had his pre-treatment appointment with his oncologist today, and she
says he is also doing great. There’s no clear explanation for the fact that
he hasn’t felt very good since the last treatment. His blood work looks
good so we just have to wait and see how he reacts to the upcoming treatment
on Monday.
When we returned to Windbird after the doctor’s appointment, Mark worked on
the deck for a bit and then we both went to pump up the dinghy and scrape
barnacles from the bottom. We are going to paint the bottom of the dinghy
with anti-fouling paint this year so we don’t have to raise it at night when
we are Eel Pond. Since it has to stay in the water all day to be used as
our transportation to and from shore, it is in the water more than it is out
and there is growth even if we hoist it out every night. We are also
looking at products that might give it a “face lift.” Mark and I both
went to pick up Sam and Jonah and we spent the afternoon at Heather and
Jed’s. Today’s project was mounting and hanging colorful prints on the
walls in the boys’ room. And we’re still working on getting the beehive
ready for the delivery of bees in a couple of weeks. So between boat
projects, spring projects at Heather and Jed’s, and childcare, we have
plenty to keep us busy.
by Judy Handley | Apr 10, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 154, Year 7: Making Progress
Date: Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Weather: Another Beautiful Day, Temps in the 50’s, Still Windy
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
Slowly, but surely, we are making progress on getting Windbird’s deck
re-caulked. The first big job is getting all of the old caulk out and we
are halfway done with that job. This morning we completed putting new caulk
in half of the starboard deck. We order two more cases of caulk that will
arrive tomorrow, but since Mark works at West Marine on Thursday, Friday,
and Saturday, it will be Sunday before we can caulk the other half of the
starboard deck. In the meantime, Mark is starting to remove the old caulk
from the port deck. So, slow as it might be, progress is being made.
Mark and I worked together to get the caulking completed this morning and
then we both went to pick up Sam and Jonah and spent the afternoon at
Heather and Jed’s. Mark worked on getting the beehive ready to put outside,
and by late afternoon, Sam and Jonah helped him carry the pieces to the
front yard where the beehive will reside. We still haven’t ordered bees,
but Mark started making calls this afternoon to local distributors. They
have no bees available, but they gave him contacts in Plymouth and in Rhode
Island. They told him that late April or early May is the prime time to
stock a hive, so we are still on schedule. After naptime, Heather got
asparagus roots planted in the garden while Mark and I took turns holding
Oliver. Today was his original due date, so we celebrated the fact that he
got a head start on life and is doing great despite his early arrival.
