Odds and Ends

Sometimes you sleep on a problem and wake up with a solution. I was able to paint most of the bottom of the sailboat while it was on the trailer. The parts I couldn’t reach were where the boat sat on the carpeted skids.

In the past I’ve dealt with that in two different ways. One way was to just beach the boat and heel it over on its side. The time I did that at the lake a number of people called to ask what was wrong with my sailboat. Another way that works is to float the boat off the trailer and load it off center by about four or five inches. This time around I happened to have a huge piece of an oak log, a jack and some scrap wood. By lifting the stern of the boat it had enough clearance to do the last of the painting.

A lot of people don’t even bother with bottom paint on a trailer sailor. If I’d only sail in New England I probably wouldn’t worry too much about it either. Down to Florida, marine growth is very aggressive. Just a few weeks in the water is enough to cause a barnacle problem.

Yesterday while working on the boat, three police officers showed up at the neighbor’s across the street. Looks like their constant fighting led to a restraining order. While I got along well enough with them, they didn’t get along very well with each other. The neighbors haven’t been married much longer than a year. I am curious to see who, if anyone, will be living there when we get back in the spring.

This afternoon I’ve an eye exam scheduled, just in case I need glasses. Rather find out now than at the DMV. That’ll be one more thing off the list. There’s some other business that needs to be dealt with yet. I can suspend my Internet service for when I’m gone and save a few dollars there. My hotspot for Internet connection isn’t working right yet. The list of little annoyances goes on and on. There’s no way to do them all so one has to set priorities.

-Sixbears