Are we in San Francisco?

You would think we were on land in that beautiful city by the bay if you could see and feel how our boat is trembling right now.  We have a stiff wind blowing from the southeast this afternoon and evening.  Asilo is straining at her docklines, thus causing the trembling act.  We've always kept our boat on a mooring ball (like a permanent anchor) which means the boat swings so it's always pointed into the wind.  This is the first time we've had a boat kept in a dockslip which means she's not always oriented in a comfortable position for her.  So we hear creaks from lines stretching on their cleats, groans from the fenders being squeezed against the dock.  And if you're outside you hear the "chimes".  There are 950 slips in this marina.  Of those we estimate at least half are sailboats.  That's around 500 masts.  On each of those masts are lines.  When the wind blows those lines slap against the masts.  Okay, some of us try to be considerate of our neighbors and secure those lines so they don't make noise.  However when the wind really blows the boats move back and forth and if you have lines inside your mast, you just might not be able to do anything about that.  So walking the docks you have a musical score played by these huge pipe chimes.  It reminds me alot of the old bamboo wind chimes my mom used to love out on the back porch.  Usually more "clack" than "bong".  But there is the occasional shackle that is ringing the bell.  For me it's a lovely sound track for a walk.

Today was filled with errands.  I put in a few hours logged in as a CPA.  Then we headed out.  We have a constant "dosey-doe" going on with tools between the fifth wheel and the boat.  The project we worked on yesterday made us painfully aware we needed some of those contortion tools like offset ratcheting screwdrivers, shorty screwdrivers, screwdrivers with long extensions.  We could have used all three of those items to remove one part.  And we had all three in Booner.  So today we traded out some tools.  And shopped.  Simon was way overdue for a new bed.  So off to Burlington where we found him this honey of a bed

He's quite pleased.  He can use it this way...

...and this way.

And it has that super soft fuzzy stuff inside.  

We also scored this pitcher thing.  Which is airtight.

That means it can be stored on it's side.

And that's a good thing because this is what our refrigerator looks like

Yes, that is just a deep hole that's smaller on the bottom than the top.

Very observant!

For the non-sailors, fridges on boats are top-loading so when you open them less cold falls out.  Since we are always resource-wary on a sailboat (our fridge can run off of our batteries when we're at anchor), everything is built to conserve energy in all of it's forms.  So the fridge is small and top-loading.  

And the other cool thing about this pitcher is that it also has a handle on the top!  So it's easier to grab from the top!  I'm gonna use it to make some sun-tea.  Maybe this weekend. 

We're thinking we may see some action around here over the weekend with the holiday.  And not just any holiday, but a season defining holiday.  We'll keep you posted!