Meet Albert, the
sneaky alligator.
He laid here most of the morning. I think he was
contemplating his next adventure. As you know, we don't have alligators in
Montana, so I don't know what their habits are. I'm learning.
There are often fishing boats in the
little inlet at our boat yard. They have been catching bass this year. When we
hear splashing, it is a perfect reason to take a break and watch them haul in a
fish. Much to my surprise, one of the fishermen hooked Albert. It took a good
while for the fisherman to get him up to
the boat, take a picture and cut him loose. My eyes were wide open, the guys in
the boat were quite casual.
About a week later, I was working in
the cockpit and kept hearing loud scratching and banging noises around the
boats tied up behind us. I looked and looked, but didn't see anything. Then it
happened again. Still nothing seen. The third time I looked up, Albert was on
the stern of one of the boats and just sliding into the water. That
evening at sundowners, I asked if that was unusual. By the wild eyes and
dropped jaws, I guess it is. Those people who are living on their boats are now
more cautious when they go out to their cockpit in the mornings.
We were shown an orchard close to
the boatyard where we are able to go pick grapefruit, oranges and tangerines at
will.
Such a treat for us. They take it for granite here. I guess we do the
same with our apples.
Oh yes. We have also worked on
Submit every day. We spent over a week sanding her, first with 40 grit then 120
grit then 220 grit. At one point, Reggie
grazed his leg with the 40 grit, which he said hurt a little, but not as much
as smoothing with the 120 and 220!
The goal was to have three coats of
paint on the hull by today. However, it has been too dry, too windy or too
cold. One morning it was colder and drier here than at home in Montana. We have
only managed to get one coat on her. After all the sanding, we considered
renaming her Old Paint, as she looked like an appaloosa horse. After the first
coat, she looks like she has the measles. We are keeping our fingers crossed
that the spots fade without too many extra coats. Time is running out.
We weren't idle when painting wasn't
an option. Reggie reinstalled the heat exchanger and transmission. I got a
few more items cleaned up and reinstalled, one of which was the table. It
had split apart and was water damaged. With Reggie's constant assistance, it is
now glued back together, sanded down and re-stained. We just have to
add a screw to the bottom of the leg and it is done. We also put down new
flooring in the galley and dinette.
Barbara was excellent at holding down the floor pattern. That was finished today. Tomorrow and Tuesday look good for painting. Keep
your fingers crossed.
