Going Blind One Pair of Spectacles At A Time!

Today was rig for Hurricane Earl day.

Took down the Genoa (large furling sail on the front of the boat) and stowed it away down below. Removed all the enclosures from the Bimini Top....stowed them below. Moved all the Jerry Cans, Dock box...and other clutter to the bed of the pickup....filled the boat water tank....replaced the water in the four Jerry Cans on the deck and stashed them in the cockpit....got the bad news on the Freezer Compressor....er ist kaput!

Doubled up all the dock lines, rigged a line that will pull forward on the bow....normal lines pull aft due to being pulled so far forward on the end of the dock.

Then the fun began.

I was down to rigging my cross creek lines. Which meant pulling the two spare anchor lines from beneath the aft stateroom bunk. The smaller line but larger bundle fought leaving its cozy hiding place. Since you have to hold the mattress up with one hand...and wrestle the line with the other....makes for some good exercise and sailorly language. I think I scared the bigger line into crawling out of the locker on its own.

Retired to the dock....stretched out the lines...and untangled them where the Gremlins tied them into knots over the past year...when they weren't fiddling with the electrical or propane systems. Got them sorted out....the lines.,..not the Gremlins!

Raided the Sailcraft surplus chain for the use of creek lines stash.....got a couple of short lengths of chain and toted them back to the boat. Now came the fun part....laying out the chains and anchor lines (spending an hour untangling the anchor lines where the Gremlins had made a silent strike in my absence) and began to "Tie Wrap" the lines and chains together. The goal is to have the creek lines politely lurk on the bottom after being tied to a piling using a very simple nautical knot called a Bowline.

It is called a simple knot because any idiot can tie the thing in any manner of ways...one handed, two fingered, two handed, under tension, no tension, all one has to do is find an idiot to tie the thing for you and you are good to go. No idiots were found until Ol' Don showed up and showed me a half dozen ways to tie that simplest of nautical knots. I hope Don is around when it comes time to do this for real.

Now....the cross creek lines are rigged, stashed in the Dink in readiness for tomorrow. I am sure the Gremlins will hold a drunken party in the Dink tonight and really sort out the creek lines for me so deploying them will be a soul destroying experience. The Gremlins just want me to have something to talk about I am sure.

As to going blind....when you find a wee tiny miniature screw lying on your bed....get a piece of duct tape...and wrap it securely with the tape and put the tape in a safe place. As every decent Redneck and Shade Tree Home Repair expert knows....you can always find Duct Tape. You cannot always find that damn screw after you put it into the box with all of the other screws you have stashed away. I found such a screw....and immediately put it into the only designated screw box on the boat where it hides today after I discovered it belonged to my nice pair of sunglasses with the cute little six power bi-focals. That shall turn out to be an Eighty Nine Dollar Screw if I have to replace the sunglasses!

If one takes a Safety Nap....do not sleep on your only pair of reading glasses. The Gremlins will come have a barn dance on them while you slumber! I must add a stop at the Bayboro CVS tomorrow before the storm.....or it will be a very boring evening listening to a movie.

Alright Earl.....despite the best efforts of the Luna C Gremlins Local 416....I'm ready for ya!