Pierless Adventures - March 18 - New Shopping Option...

We decided to head toward the main part of town to check out an alternative to the Walmart store.  The Walmart is close to us (bus or walkable), but somewhat limited in scope.  We have seen a few other stores, so decided to try the local Soriana.  It was pretty nice and had a greater variety of items available.  It was a bus ride there and back, but that is nice as it helps get us better acquainted with the area.

The Soriana is similar to our Fred Meyer stores.  Groceries, housewares, linens, clothing, sporting goods, electronics...  You get the idea.  We found many items that we could not find at Walmart, then took the bus back to the marina and restocked the kitchen.

The rest of the day was spent on projects:  

• We fixed a section of the handrail on deck.  
• Sorted and tossed some more items.  
• Verified the sump pump in the head needs replacement.  
• Tidied up some cabling on the solar panels.  
• Routed the new radar cables into the navigation station. 
• Sorted and consolidated all the first aid supplies and items in the head (bathroom)
  
• Filled the port water tank (the repair worked just fine).
• Lubed the seacocks (valves on the thru-hull fittings).   
• Repaired the mounting arm on the cabin heater.  Still need to test whether it works...
  
• Checked the navigation lights - found a couple of problems.
• Measured the length of the staysail halyard (rope that pulls up the sail).
• Built a shelf in one of the cupboards to use as a pantry.
• Gave the boatyard dogs snacks (Chester and Simba).
  

Now, it may seem we have been especially productive today.  In fact, a few of these items were done yesterday and we just forgot to include them... 

The last few mornings have been humid and foggy.  The fog burns off fairly early and things warm up.  Temps have been in the 70s and low 80s, so not too hot.  The cooler mornings are nice, with temps in the 50s.

Dinner tonight was PBJ on Bimbo bread with potato chips and fruit.  Classic boatyard cuisine!

 

   Pierless in the boatyard

Brian sorting (in the Sorting Hat)...

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From Scott:

I either whacked my elbow very hard or was bitten by an insect the size of a Kaiser roll but the end result was a swollen, red arm and it would have kept me awake had not Brian done so first.  I awoke to someone banging violently on the side of the hull with loud heavy thumps.  It turned out it was Brian.  He had a dream someone was strangling him and he was kicking to get free. 

As I was walking through the boatyard today, saying Buenos Dinas and Garcia as the situation dictated, I felt a nose tap my ankle and to my surprise wee Chester was there. We sat on a curb in the shade and I taught him English words like "warsh" and "inpossible."

One thing Brian and I saw that we both thought was cool at Soriana was the escalator; not only was it flat like a ramp, but it was magnetized so the shopping carts wouldn't roll going up or down the slope.

I would have mentioned this to Chester, but he was napping in the warm breeze.