August 9, 2012

My birthday was yesterday, so I took a work holiday.  Carol stole away from the office Tuesday afternoon, and we walked to the Ventura County Fair shuttlebus from the boat and spent the afternoon at the Fair.  When we'd had enough of the Fair, we walked a block to John's girlfriend's condo and had a fun salmon dinner complete with martinis.  Wednesday morning it was champagne breakfast, presents, and the Maritime Museum with Carol.  In the afternoon I took a little drive around Lake Casitas.  Dinner was sushi with John and Marti.  I collected a few more presents as well.
I could get used to that kind of lifestyle, but alas there was work to do.  Despite the distractions, I managed to finish lining the port side of the trunk cabin with oak battens and added contrasting mahogany trim.  I tried adding a second tongue-and-groove piece of beadboard for the berth overhead, but that turned out to be too much trouble for a poor result.  Soooo......it's back to plan A:  make a pattern and cut the overhead from a single sheet of v-board.
I also sealed two of the walnut boxes/trays from H & L Marine Woodworking using Smith's penetrating epoxy and WEST System epoxy, drilled holes for toothbrushes, and mounted them in the forward head.  They worked very nicely during Carol's visit.
Another little present I got this week was news from Seaworthy (Boat U.S.'s quarterly magazine) that they want to publish one of my sea stories and a photo in the October issue.  I had thought it was a good and well-written story, but it's hard to get editors to even look at a piece if you're not in their existing stable of contributors.
I've recovered enough from my surgery that I feel pretty normal, so it's a bit of a challenge to remember that I can't do any heavy lifting or straining.  At least I still have a good excuse to get someone else to do the really hard work.