Nearing Retirement!

Each day I try to pack another box or clean off a shelf or empty a file cabinet drawer and now that I have done that a bit at a time over the past couple of months it is actually starting to look noticeable. So I have had to slow down and not clean areas that are more or less out in the open as students are beginning to notice and get concerned.

They know I am leaving, they just don't want it to happen and it kind of creates a negative aura around the room. So I have decided to only clean the spaces that are not obvious or out in the open.

What to do with 33 years of belongings? Books, activities, the worm bin I built out of a Rubbermaid storage tub 20 years ago, the the terrarium that has been home to so many critters over the years, tub after tub of science related materials, thermometers, funnels, motors, wiring, switches, light bulbs, microscopes, slides, butterfly and rock and fossil collections? The detritus of a teaching career about to come to an end.

A friend from early in my career, who retired last year, suggested I could make a pretty tidy sum by selling off the books and materials on e-bay or Amazon. "Don't throw it away," she said. "I made enough initially to take my entire family to Disneyland including food and souvenirs!"

So, I continue to pack. Quietly. Drawing as little attention to the task as possible so as not to suggest to my 5th graders that I may abandon them tomorrow. But a box at a time are being filled and sealed and slid under the tables along the walls of the classroom, marked with a description of their general contents on the side. I'm waiting for the best time to walk them out to my car for their trip home to the garage to be stacked out of the way until I decide what to do with their contents.

I took my students to the annual sing-a-long event the school district sponsors each year for the 4th and 5th graders. Students from across the district fill up the 1,000 or so seats of the theater at the local junior college to sing songs the children have been learning all year. Near the end of the event, one of the music teachers up on stage who was helping leading the singing announced that "we have a special teacher in our audience today. He is going to retire this year." And I began to sink into my seat and my students all turned to look at me. "Mr. G has always been so supportive of music in our district. Let's give him a great big hand." While I was honored by their outpouring, I wasn't moved to any sort of emotional response, except the redness of my face due to being singled out at all.

I keep waiting for the emotions of this milestone to come crashing down on me, but so far it just hasn't sunk in. I just look forward to it and whatever it brings. As of this writing, 15 more days!

Cruise to Anacortes and the Waterfront Festival

We left Squalicum Harbor about 16:30 hours this past Friday and headed southwest across Bellingham Bay towards Eliza Island, then south across Samish Bay and into Padilla Bay finally cutting across the Guemes Channel and tucking into the Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes. Total trip time about 4 hours 30 minutes.

The sea was flat calm and the skies clear and cloudless on the outward bound leg of the trip. Right up until we made port. Then the wind came up and was blowing 10-15 knots as I tried to go into our assigned slip. Unfortunately, our slip was already occupied and we needed to make a sudden turn in mid waterway.

I made a perfect turn and headed back up the waterway to more open water where I could phone into the port and find out what was going on. As the wind was tossing us around pretty badly I decided to tuck into an empty slip. It was a 60 foot slip so what could go wrong? Plenty!

I made my decision too late and angled into the slip incorrectly considering the wind speed and direction and so I nearly went in sideways which would have worked fine considering it was a 60 foot slip. However, some good samaritans happened by and we tossed the line to them. The stern was tied off PDQ and the bow line was tossed over and another helpful soul pulled our bow into the dock. Whew!

Next order of business was to call port security and ask what we should do since our assigned slip was occupied? We asked if we could just stay where we were and were granted permission so we began settling in.

First order of business was dinner. We had brought along some hamburger with the idea of trying out our still unused BBQ. But setting it up and prepping it was more than we had the energy to do after our landing so we opted to cook our burgers on the stove top in the galley. Hot water was put on for some tea and I got the burgers ready in no time. Dinner included a couple of salads we had made at home, some fresh pineapple and Leslie also had a glass of wine from our modest shipboard wine cellar.

About 21:00 hours we had friends Jason and Carole Leander over for some appies and wine. We gave them the tour of the Key of Sea and had a great visit. They left about 23:00 and after cleaning up we headed off to bed. Slept well considering that the mattress in the master stateroom is really pretty shot. We need to do something about that!

Woke about 09:00, had oatmeal and coffee along with some fruit for breakfast. Then we headed up the dock toward the port offices to pay our fees. Surprise! Due to the waterfront festival going on we only had to pay $4 for the shore power. No moorage fee! Cool! We walked through the festivities which really amounted mostly to food vendors of the type you'd find at a county fair, artisans selling their jewelry, candles, clothing and what not. Then we walked on towards the farmer's market a couple of blocks down where there was more of the same along with a few other vendors selling homemade baked goods and farmers selling their cheeses and meats.

We decided to walk one more block to the Croatian cultural center where we split a sandwich of Croatian sausages and sampled one of their desserts.

Next up was a walk down Commercial Street, the main shopping street downtown Anacortes. My main destination was Marine Supply and Hardware. Anyone who loves boats needs to visit this store. It is a real live chandlery! The oldest on the Pacific coast. If they don't have it, or can't get it, you don't need it. Every time I walk through that store I just get this overwhelming thought that I need to buy something. I don't necessarily know what, but something! You ca smell the age of the place, the oiled hardwood floors, the items on the shelves that look like thwey have been waiting for a home forever.

We walked south on down Commercial back toward the festival and after a few blocks turned east toward the port and back towards our boat. A final walk through the festival didn't turn up anything new except the Zoomba dancers at the entertainment stage which was entirely too, well, energetic! We walked on around them and I headed back to the boat to begin preparations for our departure. Leslie decided to head over to Q dock to see a friend's boat and take some photos.

By the time she returned we were set to go. It was about 14:00 and the time we had scheduled for our trip back home. That departure time gave us the best currents and additionally the weather had cleared a bit since the rain we had received all night and into the early morning hours.

Our trip back was a bit bumpy in places but nothing big. One foot swells, a few white caps and the usual craziness of Bellingham Bay. We tucked into our slip without incident despite the 10 knot winds. This time I made a picture perfect landing!

New Motor For Our Tender

Finally, the old 4 horsepower 1980's vintage Mariner outboard can be put to rest! Kind of sad actually. I'd spent a lot of hours working on it, repainting it and replacing parts in an attempt to make it last a couple of more years. So, onto Craig's List it goes so someone far more mechanical than I can hopefully make use of it. It does start, but only after far too many pulls!

Today I took possession of a brand new Honda 2 horsepower outboard motor. Air cooled, only 27 pounds (the Mariner was closer to 40), a full 5 year warranty and it starts first time, every time!

After researching what to buy and where to get the best price for the past couple of months, I thought I'd found a supplier out of Florida. Further research uncovered a couple of issues. First, it turns out Honda dealers can't ship outside their area. Buyers out of the dealer's sales area must physically pick up the motor. Too bad because the price was really great. As it turned out I couldn't find any good reviews on the quality of service from that company.

Then, last weekend, West Coast Marine Services held its grand opening here in Bellingham advertising great prices AND they are a Honda dealer. I stopped by and got great help from the staff who walked me through everything I needed to know about starting the motor, basic maintenance, they even started it up in their tank and discovering the oil level was a little high, drained a bit off and retested the the motor. It was the best price I have found outside the one in Florida.

I can't wait to attach it to our year old 11-foot Mercury tender hanging off the stern of the Key of Sea. It should be so much easier to hang the Honda on the transom and start it on the first pull.

See you on the Sound!

My New Garden Tractor

Okay, so maybe "tractor" is pushing it a bit to describe what it really is, but when combined with "garden", tractor sounds more like what it really is--a garden tractor. Its main function is mowing the lawn so it might best be called, and it is often referred to, as a riding mower. Either way, I can finally say, after of years of wanting one, I have a John Deere tractor in my barn.

At 10' by 12', it isn't much of a barn, but it is as close as I am likely to ever get to a big red barn on a 100 acres of land (I have a 1/3 of an acre). It houses my garden tools, power and otherwise, and even has a bench in it for making repairs. It has electric power and there is water on the corner outside the door. So it is a pretty nice out-building. I stained it and painted the trim a nice forest green after we built it back about 12 years ago.

As for the new tractor? It is a John Deere model D130. No, I didn't spend an additional $1000 to get into the X series. One does need to draw the line somewhere. This model, particularly impressed me when I read the specs about it on-line and went to the local dealer to kick the tires. It has a 22 horse V-Twin engine, much more power than my old Craftsman. The hydrostatic transmission removes the need to stop and shift gears. Just depress the accelerator and away you go. It has a heavy metal front bumper and larger back tires to make going through slippery spots and up hills easier. I can easily check how much fuel I have left on the gauge. Other features include cruise control and a higher back on the seat so no more whiplash in the middle of my back when I take off. I've added a mulching kit to it so I will no longer bag my grass and haul it off to the green dump every week, but rather leave it on the ground to feed the lawn.

And I even like the color!

Initially I went to the local dealer up in Lynden to make my purchase, but I was put off by the salesman who didn't seem interested in whether I bought or not. Plus he had this annoying habit of spinning his keys in a large circle on a key chain I swear was a couple of feet long. I had to keep my eye on his keys to avoid them flying off and hitting me up beside the head. I guess he was hoping I was going to buy a BIG tractor or combine or something. Plus he wanted to charge $75 for delivery. I needed time to think and so the salesman wandered off back inside the store. When I went in to ask to borrow a pen to write some thoughts down, there he was spinning his keys talking to one of the other employees rather than being available for me to ask questions to outside--especially since he obviously didn't have a thing to do.

I called my wife while sitting on the tractor I wanted and we decided (great idea) to think it over. So I drove off with the line of tractors in my rear view mirror.

In the meantime, I called our local Lowe's and asked if they happened to stock the same tractor. They did. "Do you deliver?" "Yes, we do!" "How much?" "It's free!" Hmmmmm!

So, this morning we drove over to Lowe's. I know, I know, what happened to "buy local?" Well, Lowe's was willing to deliver it free AND when I opened a Lowe's account I found I would also get 5% off the purchase price of the tractor (same price as the dealer). It took a little doing but we got it done and for a somewhat less expensive price than buying through the local dealer, who will, down the road, be happy to come do any repairs even if I didn't buy it from them. Buy local is great, but you know, I am really tired of being taken advantage of by local businesses that are unwilling to deal at all. The concept of buy local, but expect to pay more, is okay with me if you are actually getting more for your money--a knowledgeable staff and great service after the sale. All too often, you don't. The local John Deere dealer didn't know anything more than they did at Lowe's and, like Lowe's, the salesman at the local dealer wasn't interested in finding out the answers to any of my questions. So, all things being equal, I'm going with who makes the best deal for me. In this case, Lowe's wins!

The mower will be delivered on Thursday, ready to begin work. My old 2005 Craftsman LT200 is on Craig's List for sale and the new John Deere will take its place out in the old barn.

When it arrives I will register it and wait for the ultimate gift for any John Deere lover--a John Deere hat! With the purchase of a John Deere tractor the new owner traditionally gets a hat which signifies that you are the proud owner of a John Deere tractor. I certainly am.

Anchor Update

Purchased a new 15 kg Bruce-style anchor at Pacific Marine for $125. I was told it was a good price since it had been around the shop a long time and they hadn't raised the price on it. Then went home and my wife asked me if I had checked around comparing prices? No, I hadn't so I spent the evening doing just that. I did manage to find it cheaper on-line but the shipping charges made it slightly more expensive than the one I had just purchased. Hmmm.

Then, I decided to try the local marine stores--LFS and Redden Marine. Low and behold, there, on the Redden Marine website, was a North Star Bruce-style anchor, 15 kg and only $95. A quick call to them and I found out they had 15 of them in stock. So, I'll be taking back the used boat store anchor and getting my choice of one at Redden's for $30 cheaper. That's $30 more towards the new outboard dinghy motor I want to get this season. $30 I can use towards the new scope for the anchor that also needs to be replaced this season.

Can't wait for this weekend.

New Anchor System On The Way!

Our 10 kilogram Bruce anchor hanging off the bowsprit of The Key of Sea gave us plenty of reason during last boating season, to suspect it was too little anchor for our boat. Several times, we found ourselves drifting off of our anchorage even though we had carefully gone through each step necessary to secure us to the bottom. After setting the anchor we also set the GPS proximity alarm to warn us should the anchor slip. In every case we had to reset the anchor more than once. Fortunately, we never had to depend on it during an overnight stay or stormy weather.

We were confident in our anchoring ability. So why the problem? I bought a book on anchors and anchoring and read it front to back. I began to suspect we needed much more anchor than we are currently carrying. Fast forward to a visit to Pacific Marine, a used boating supply store here in town. I had a long conversation with one of the staff regarding my options. In the end they recom-mended that I have at least as much chain as the length of the boat. In our case probably 35-40 feet would be a good length just to be sure. We will also replace the well-frayed anchor line and upgrade to a slightly larger diameter rope. We will continue to use a 3 strand nylon line for its strength and elasticity and that will give us an overall scope of about 300 feet.

As to the anchor. Well, it turns out we have been using about half the anchor we should have. We will keep the current 10 kg Bruce as a back up and go to a 15 kg model for our permanent anchor. We'll need to mark the scope every so many feet in order to keep track of what has gone overboard when we are setting the anchor.

So, we have a job ahead of us and I am looking forward to it. Thought I'd get to it during the upcoming Spring break in another week. I have an eye on a used 15 kg Bruce down at Pacific Marine that looks to be in good shape. I may go down and buy it next week. I think some sort of rubberized mat placed in the bottom of the anchor locker on deck might help curb future scratching and denting of the fiberglass locker.

Another addition to this year's cruising will probably have to be a new small hp outboard motor for the dinghy we bought last season. Still looking for a deal on that. My old motor which I spent a lot of time last winter fixing up just hasn't paid off the way I had hoped. It is just to old, unreliable, difficult to steer and start. It works and it could continue to serve us, but a new motor would be much lighter and easier to get running. Well see. We can always use the oars that came with the dinghy! We'd get some exercise that way as well. ha!

With the new paint job and zincs in place since last Fall, our mechanic, Travis, is all set to do the annual physical in two weeks--new oil, filters, etc., we are about set for the 2011 boating season. And we are planning a lot more boating this summer. Oh, and one more update. When Travis visits to do the annual check up, he has also promised to move the port side engine sea strainer further aft. It currently sits just far enough forward to make it just inaccessible for me. As it needs to be looked at before and after every trip, it is quite bothersome to have to ask someone to squeeze into that space just to check that one concern. Now I'll be able to get to both of them easily.
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30 Minute Saint Patrick's Day Dinner

I'm on my way home when it occurs to me that we hadn't discussed anything for dinner tonight--St. Paddy's Day! Why not surprise my wife and bring home the fixings for a dinner to celebrate the holiday? A quick up and down the aisles and I had the ingredients.


1 pound of good quality sliced corned beef for sandwiches (found in your deli)
1 head of cabbage, cut into wedges
6 small red potatoes, cut into 2 inch chunks
3 slices of bacon
butter
salt and pepper

Fill a pot with water up to the bottom of a steamer and turn on high. When water is boiling place cabbage wedges into the bottom of the steamer. Sprinkle with salt. In another pot place potato chunks and boil until cooked. Slice the bacon thinly and sprinkle onto a baking sheet. Cook in a preheated 375 degree oven until browned and crisp. When the bacon is done, set aside saving drippings.

When the cabbage wedges are nearly cooked through, place the slices of corned beef over the top of the cabbage and allow the contents to steam until the cabbage is done.

Drain the potatoes, butter, salt and pepper to taste. Plate up the cabbage wedges, top with butter, salt and pepper. Arrange boiled potatoes on plate. Salt, pepper and butter to taste. Add a portion of corned beef. Sprinkle bacon over the cabbage and potatoes. Serve immediately.

All that activity took me almost exactly 30 minutes. Whew! Oh, and what did I do with the bacon grease? Well, I decided to do nothing, but you could pour it over the cabbage and potatoes. You could also roast the cabbage wedges in the drippings instead of steaming them. It is a yummy alternative but one that would, of course, add lots of extra calories and fat to the meal. It would also add to the preparation time.

I found the use of good quality pre-cooked corned beef not only saved a lot of time but it was also far less salty than the boiled corned beef briskets I usually purchase and boil for an hour or more. Plus I only bought enough for what I needed instead of a 3-4 pound brisket that is way more beef than I need.
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