Tucked in

SV KellyNicole is all tucked in for the winter, and we can now hibernate until about April. I may still have some stuff on the boat that will explode in the deep freeze come January, so I'll have to make a few more trips out there. I hate to remove everything from the boat, then have to put it all back in there in the spring, so we now leave more items on-board. We are also in an apartment, and have little storage for things like cushions, beds, etc. It's 29 degrees  :(

The only good thing about the deep freeze, is all the friggin spiders will die.

The Cover-up

I never got to build a tree fort when I was a kid. Kind of making up for that now. Though, looking at my woodworking, I would say I'm lucky I never got that chance, especially in a tall tree.

I'm hoping I can get some work done in this fort I'm constructing. Maybe with a heater going, I can attack some of those projects I have lined up. It would be nice to get the refrigeration units installed this winter, and the v-berth ripped up to get the holding tank removed. That one will be a bear. I might be overly optimistic here, because when the snow starts blowing, and it’s about 20 degrees, I may find it hard to leave the couch in front of the fireplace. Did I tell you I hate NY winters?

There will not be anything happening inside, if I don't get the crappy tarp over this frame. Seems the wind started blowing as soon as I got ready to put it up. It takes two people, so I have to wait for wifey to find time away from work before I can cover up the master carpentry. Inside storage ($$) is looking real good right now. Hmmm..

Refrigeration

Well, we're going with Sea Frost to keep the beer cold. Was not impressed with their public relations at the show, but I get good reports about the units, so let the cash flow. Holding plates seem to work for us, so we'll stick with them. I do have to make the freezer smaller, and add some insulation to the fridge. Maybe a vacuum panel liner for the inside. I suppose a freezer would come in handy, but we don't eat meat, and ice cream is evil, delicious, but evil, so not sure what we will put in there. Guess we could always shut it off until we need it.
I am also considering buying the solar panels real soon, as China has restricted the sales of rare earth minerals to the the US and Japan, which should impact the price of panels in the coming months. Doesn't it figure, that when electric cars are about to hit the market, that the rare earth magnets that the high efficient motors need, are all mined in China.
Not much else going on, except the construction of the framework for the boat cover this weekend. At least  I will not be raking leaves this year :D

Scenes from the Laundromat

On Tuesdays, we go to the laundromat. The one in our building, is just that, one. There is one washer and dryer, and it always has some guys underwear in it. Last Tuesday we were sitting in our brightly lit room full of spinning clothes, at the local laundromat, and I was pretty bored. I'm currently reading a book that is really good about every 100 pages or so. So I keep reading it. I looked up from the book and saw some cute Marisa Tomei looking woman sorting her laundry. OK, I noticed. So about another ten pages into this crappy book, and in walks this Frankie Valli looking guy in a tweed sport coat, and clicky shoes. It sounded like he was about to do a dance on the tile floors, as he tapped his way to a washer. Frankie noticed Marisa,  and  immediately lost all his composure. This guy actually stopped, and stared at her, then took a minute or two, of short steps towards the washing machines with his tiny bag of clothes. He deposited the quarters one at a time, fumbling them while undressing this woman. Finally his machine was running and he paced back and forth for a bit, probably wondering how to get this woman's attention. She wasn't too interested, and he walked out the front door, with a look back, maybe heading for a martini at the bar next door, so he could work up some nerve.

About 20 minutes later, here comes Frankie through the front door, looking like he was ready to run a marathon. Really short shorts, exposing two sticks full of hair, some nylon stretchy shirt, and a stupid looking, not quite a baseball hat on his tan head. Frankie got his laundry, did some stretches, and bent over to put his clothes in the lowest dryer, all in front of this cute uninterested woman. Marisa looked up from doing her nails, smirked, then continued filing. Frankie leaned on the table and asked Marisa how long a quarter would get him. There was a pause, then she laughed the most hideous nasal noise you ever heard. Like her nose was in a vise grip, she said "Ha ha ha about six minutes, ha ha ha ha". Frankie's head jerked back a bit, smiled, said thank you, and after awkwardly starting the dryer, left through the front door with that voice stuck in his head. Marisa quickly gathered her laundry and left before Frankie decided to put his tap shoes back on. Wow, you don't get this kind of entertainment in the suburbs. Love the city, and this trip was way better than the last one, where we just had the crazy guy watching our laundry spin around.


Boat show:
We were strolling the docks at the boat show, when we heard over a PA something like "owners of a French flagged vessel please report to your boat". Hmm, someone is in trouble, I thought. We exited the show, totally bored with the HUGE sailboats, that nobody can afford, and walked the Naval Academy grounds. When we got to the shoreline we saw some towboat US guys around a cat in the harbor. Looking closer, we saw the big cat was up against a mono-hull, and they were gouging themselves nicely.  One of my fears when anchoring is having some boat drag down on us when we're ashore. That, and Whales knocking my keel off.  Imagine the shock these folks have in store for them, when they return to the damage. Wonder how they find out what happened? Will TowboatUS notify them somehow? Were these the folks being paged?

That sucks

Boat Show

We made it down to Annapolis for the sailboat show, and we've already seen some familiar faces. Funny, you read the cruising blogs, trying to live their dream from your computer, and then you bump into them. You wonder if they get creeped out when you say, "I read your blog, how's the cat been feeling." I myself think back on older blog posts, and wonder if someday someone will come up to me and ask me if I ever got those davits installed, or "you looked so funny with that towel around your head, pretending to be Indian". Worse, "you think you're funny with that bath towel on your head, I curse your family, you..." 

So today we'll hit the tents looking for a deal on refrigeration. I'm not a guy that can swing deals. If I don't hear the right price, I just walk away, so this should be interesting. I know what I want, and there are several manufacturers out there, so we'll see how well we do. Neither one replied to my e-mails requesting a quote, and I will bring that up.
Hopefully we will run into more bloggers, so I can creep them out.