Two weeks into this not-really-retirement retirement and it is kind of hard to see that I have earnestly been plugging away on the lets-get-out-of-here list. For the most part, I have been trying to finish up the not-quite-complete projects and the should-only-take-five-minutes projects before digging into the doozeys on the list.
Several days have been spent pretty much on the ropes/lines/rhodes. I washed them, dried them, sorted them and then stowed them all back. (Hence my invisible efforts). I have all of our anchor set ups sorted out with new shackles safety wired on and new eye splices made for the ones with rhode. I hadn’t tried a splice before, that been Keith’s arena, and I found that Animated Knots by Grog site/app was by far the easiest for me to follow. My splices aren’t perfect, but I am pretty pleased with my first go! So much so that I decided to tackle the double braid splice after I replaced the mizzen topping lift. A bit more complicated, but successful. Yay! (And, no, that’s not the shackle that I used when I was done) All the lines that didn’t need splices got their ends whipped up nice and tidy.
Another it’s-bitsy project was to finish switching out the one last light fixture to LED an bulb. For some reason only one fixture on the boat used the bayonet instead of the G4 bases so I had missed one ordering when I originally switched all the bulbs. I was about to buy the one wayward bulb when I ran across the best solution ever. Marinebeam makes (or at least sells) bases that convert bayonet bases to accept G4 LED bulbs. They cost less than five bucks and even swivel so that the bulb will fit no matter the light bracket orientation. This tiny doo-dad totally made my day and now I still only have to carry one type of bulb! Done.
More visible, but arguably of lower priority, I finished planting my little herb garden. I think it’s kinda cute. Kai thinks it’s kinda tasty. I’ve got basil, hot and spicy oregano, garlic chives, lemon balm, mint, thyme, and parsley. They should go a long way in sprucing up the menu when the fresh veggies start running sparse. Of course that is if I can keep it alive and Kai leaves some for us!
Tiny projects, tiny triumphs. The list is shrinking ever so slowly!
Where were we ONE year ago: Sewing, Stowing, and Solar
Wright Away Sails Away 
This looks like a damn good week to me! Hats of to you! Your splices look great…and your herbs phenomenal! I’ve never grown so many types of herbs in a single pot. Have you done it before – are there any problems with competition between the plants? I may follow your lead on this one… ~Jessie, s/v The Red Thread
Thanks. For the herbs in the pot, the local nursery had a pot around the same size loaded up with 8 types, I asked if it was too many and the lady said no-as long as I kept them under strict control. But I expect one or two of these plants may not survive the Florida heat and thin them selves out. We will see. I have already used several and really hope I can keep my little garden going! I know you are doing some boat gardening too. Do you have an herb pot going onboard?
Just catching up on your blog.
Congrats on the retirement (extended vacation). We hope to catch you soon in a Caribbean cove living on the hook.
All the best,
Mark and Cindy
s/v Cream Puff
http://www.creampuff.us
I hope so too!!