The new shore power inlet is installed. Deciding the placement was difficult. It needed to be close enough to the service panel to avoid the requirement for additional circuit breakers. Placing it on the cockpit exterior would have interfered with rigging. Through the cabin top would have been ugly with no way to conceal the back of the inlet or the large electrical cable. Read the rest…
While the boat is fundamentally sound, deferred maintenance had accumulated to the point where several vital systems had become unreliable. Electrical, fresh water, and engine issues all require attention. I decided to tackle electrical first because it is central to all the others. Read the rest…
I got the boat! David, the surveyor, and I drove to Port Townsend Friday morning. The survey turned up no surprises and everyone agreed the boat was sound and priced fairly. I completed the deal and the plan was for David and I to sail back to Seattle that night. We bought drinks and food, loaded the boat, and left the dock around 4:30 pm. That was several hours later than we had hoped which meant working against the tidal currents and a longer trip. I had guessed about 10 hours but that turned out to be a severe underestimate. Read the rest…
If all goes well I will be a boat owner in about 16 hours. I found the boat on Craigslist and checked it out last weekend. The seller agreed to a handshake deal contingent upon survey. Since my boat-expert friend looked over the boat with me and found it to be sound, it seems unlikely the survey will turn up any surprises. Still, better safe than sorry. Read the rest…
I learned to sail shortly after moving to Seattle. The Center for Wooden Boats at south Lake Union offered an excellent program that helped me feel confident operating 18 foot sailboats under sail. About a year after completing the course and after much looking, I purchased an old but well cared-for Catalina 27. I sailed the boat on Seattle’s lakes and in Puget Sound and even spent a week cruising around the San Juan Islands. Read the rest…
In the early 80s I bought my first real bike, a Miyata 210. For its time, the 210 was considered a well built touring bike featuring a triple butted chrome-moly frame, 18 speeds, and down tube shifters. At 28 pounds stock plus additional mass from a heavy “U” lock and other accessories it was no lightweight.
Throughout my teens, I rode that Miyata all over town using it both for transportation and just something to do in nice weather. For my first couple years in college the bike was my only means of private transportation. Read the rest…
Computers, like all other electronic devices, have finite life spans. What begins as a powerful, bleeding edge, technological wonder eventually outlives its usefulness. In just a few years, new applications come along that require more memory, more storage, faster processors, better quality media cards…. The computer becomes antiquated.
But the machine still works and you just can’t bear to throw away something that works. Read the rest…
In the world of musical instruments and accessories, someone always is laying claim to a breakthrough that will revolutionize clarinet playing as we know it. Every aspect of the instrument is fair game: mouthpieces, ligatures, barrels, bells, thumbrests, key work, pads, reeds… The list is endless. Years ago as a serious music student, I experimented as time and budget allowed. Occasionally there were noticable benefits. But they usually came with a price and ultimately I decided my time was best spent practicing and playing rather than trying equipment.
Thus it was with a great deal of skepticism that I decided to try out the conspicuous brown bells that were popping up everywhere. A friend (and a fine clarinet player) had invited me to drive with him to Backun Musical Services in Vancouver, BC. Read the rest…