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Friday, April 27, 2012

First Night on the Hook

  This should be a quickie post, not much to tell after our first week since moving onto the boat.
We did go back to our condo last Tuesday to pick up the last of our clothing and clean out cabinets of our personal effects and we spent the last night there.
  When we left the condo last Wednesday, our Explorer looked like Sanford and Sons but most of the stuff got dropped off with a visit to the Salvation Army and to Rosie's brother's house where we dropped off a "Hope Chest" full of I don't know what, that Rosie has had since she was a teenager. I hope her hopes have been fulfilled by now.
  Since her brother lives near an old motorcycle riding buddy of mine, we dropped by to say goodbye. Kenny Olsen and his wife Donna had been friends even before we worked together
  Rosie had a doctor visit and we paid our lawyer one last visit, we hope, to tighten up our personal affairs, before we finally made it back to the boat and loaded it up with the last of our stuff.
  We have one inch left of boot stripe and Swing Set is about to founder, as we're full of fuel, water, and canned goods. I'm eating six meals a day, justified by weight reduction on the boat, not myself. Just kidding, but why is it that when you prepare a meal, what's leftover seems to be more than what you made in the first place?
  Rosie has found a place for all of our stuff but I don't know how she did it. I heard the salon door open several times last night and I suspect that the Mississippi has laid claim to some of our more obscure belongings. Just kidding again, I can't help myself. We don't litter.
  We made it out on the hook last night for the first time this season and the wind is kicking up, keeping our wind generators at work. When the wind started up last night the generators kept braking and not making electricity and I couldn't figure it out until I discovered that the circuit breakers were off. I don't know if it was because I did it last fall when I winterized, or perhaps some high wind from a storm over the winter caused it. Anyhow, the mystery was solved and we're all happy again.
  Our WiFi signal is decent and is allowing this blog, and we checked our mail, now being sent to our Florida address. It's nice to have the contents scanned and we can shred or save as we see fit. This is better than going out in the snow to a mailbox...way better.
  I had some trouble hooking up our printer/scanner, but solved that by re-installing the driver for the scanner. The printer (same Canon unit) went into action once I installed a cable for it. I should have done that years ago because sometimes we would get bumped offline using the wifi on the Canon.
  I also was a little leery of my desktop stability even though I used plenty of Velcro and sticky tape to stick it to the desk. I added some insurance by virtue of running a cable tie from the back of the computer through the grommet on the desktop for the various wires that feed the Mac and cinching it down. I don't think it'll go anywhere, and if it does, it's probably Edmund Fitzgerald time and the computer will be the least of our troubles.
  Some storms are forecasted for this evening but we're staying out. I'll double check the hook before it gets dark but we've stayed put since yesterday afternoon. I set our anchor watch last night and we only swung with the wind, but gusts have only been in the 15 M.P.H. range so far.
  We have to go into the harbor on Monday as our vehicle will be picked up by the buyer then. I'll be without a car for the first time in 41 years, feels a little funny but every trip on the highway just leaves me in awe of all the inconsiderate drivers out on the road and we'll both be happy to minimize our travels on the land.
  We toasted the chilly morning over coffee with Rosie exclaiming "This is the life!" I sure hope so after all this planning, but so far, it sure feels like it.

2 comments:

  1. How will you restock your food supply once your car is gone while you are still in the area? If you need a ride to the store I can volunteer Jim to come and get you.

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  2. We're all stocked up on food, but we need to reduce weight on the boat and have an abundance of alcohol on hand, so we're going to drink until we leave. But thanks, buttercup.

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