Blustery Christmas Day
A lovely Christmas Day – we have nowhere we must go and nothing we must do. We had been thinking about meandering over to Blake Island later in the day, but it looks like the forecast was off a bit. Instead of 1-2 foot wind waves, the Sound looks like it has blown up well beyond that, so we’ll just stay tucked away in the harbor for the day at anchor.
We’re cozy and warm. Not much going on down below on the KJ Crab Cam. Just a happy, quiet day for the two of us.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
View From The Dock
This is what I see when all the Argosy boats are out making money (a very good thing!). I love, love, love my view. We are having a blissfully balmy December day in Seattle today. I went out and polished the deck brass. It’s so much easier to bring it back to shiny when you stay on top of it. Luckily, Natalie loves that job too, so much of it was already in decent shape and it didn’t take excessive elbow grease to get the deck plates gleaming. Think I’ll go clean the windows on the outside while it’s still nice – that’s not something that happens too often in the winter!
Washing Machines & Ventilation
One of the downsides to having your washer/dryer all-in-one unit under your bed is that when the vent connection develops a leak, the steam escapes under your bed and can potentially create mold issues. The upside is that you notice it very quickly, because when you open the cabinet under the sink, it’s as though you opened a door into a steamy Amazon jungle.
The other positive side to it is that it creates a marvelous cleaning opportunity. When was the last time you completely dismantled your bed and cleaned EVERYTHING underneath it?
S/V Bill of Rights
This lovely vessel is Bill of Rights. She resides in Oxnard, CA, currently doing non-profit outreach work. My amazing nephew, Nate, is educational director and First Mate aboard her. Brock, NJ, and I were lucky enough to get to stay onboard over the Thanksgiving holiday and actually got to go out sailing as well.
The crew, including Captain Stephen Taylor, were incredibly gracious hosts and made us feel so welcome. BOR is a 136′ schooner, built in 1971. She is currently cared for by ATSI. We were immediately embraced as honorary crew for the week and Nat was put on Bow Watch when were cruising. The love of boats has clearly taken root in my girl, which is exactly what I had in mind when we acquired KJ.
Nat was busy and moving the whole time – climbing out on the dolphin striker, scampering up the ratlines (with safety harness, of course), polishing brass to her heart’s content. Out of the three of us, I think she was the most heartbroken to leave, although I came in a close second. The weather was gorgeous; flip-flops and shorts were all we needed. I kept pointing out to Brock that KJ could live there as easily as in Seattle. Ah, but he does have a wonderful job, so we all headed back north in the end.
But not before sharing some of our knowledge of brass polishing with some of the volunteers. It’s all about the products you use, so we presented them with their own tub of Prism Polish…and then proceeded to use a bunch of it up while teaching them.
We were polishing within 10 minutes of arriving and many pieces were gleaming by the time we left. We all felt it would have been wonderful to stay a few weeks and keep working on her.
She was an easy boat with which to fall completely in love. Natalie is scheming and dreaming about volunteering there during school breaks. Best.Thanksgiving. Ever.
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