10 days in Las Vegas

Gave my mom a hug and promptly received her upper respiratory virus. Slept on the nearly rock hard matttress upstairs with the dusty smelling pillows, which I covered with a freshly laundered towel the 2nd night.

Saw Jennifer on the 2nd night and boys. All well.

Ate at the buffet at the Bellagio on Thanksgiving Day.
While staying with my mom, I heard someone knocking on the door--not the front door, but the bathroom door where mom was taking a shower. The lock button had gotten stuck and she was locked in. I slipped a screwdriver under the door--she removed the doorknob and I was able to draw the mechanism back to allow her exit. The next day we replaced the bathroom door knobs.

Then a malfunctioning casement window crank called for removal.  The phone at Eagle windows in Vegas gave "busy" signal. The store itself was unoccupied with just a table inside. Found the crank online & ordered it. Tom will install.

Repaired broken plastic lock handles for the screen doors. Tom had a stick of poplar, from which I'd cut small blocks and screwed to the locks.

Leaking shower in mom's bathroom. Pulled half the cartridge out, the rest came out with the help of long nose pliers I bought.  Plumber's supply wasn't too helpful--said the cartridges cost 30-40$. Finally, got smart and bought the cartridge at Lowe's for $9. Huge difference between plumber supply store & Lowes prices.

Getting meat fever. Every meal has meat in one dish or more. Great but still, not the way I eat.

Fit to be Tied

I had bought the black coat for the Grays Harbor Symphony concert--$14 from Goodwill in Olympia & Nordstroms branded to boot.  Now I just needed the tie, in solid black.  I skipped Goodwill store in Oly in my rush to get back to town to get my snow tires put on. I made a quick trip to the thrift store on B street and found a black tie with some pattern in gold thread--$2. @ 2 p.m. today, I began to color the gold threads with a black Sharpie pen--the coverage was marginal. would I have to do this several times?  Then I noticed that the tie was more navy blue than black. I didn't have enough sharpie pens in the house to color the whole tie!  I quickly thought of using black spray paint which I knew I had in the basement. I sprayed a light coat on the tie & it looked great! It was dry by the time I had to leave for the bishop center, tho it still smelled of paint. Now if I was lucky the smell sensitive flute players wouldn't get a whiff and fall over in bronchospasm.

The flute players survived and Mary Frye even said I looked good.

I quoted Rodney Dangerfield to Jeff Freed, et al, during intermission--we laughed.

Redux: REI Flash 65 pack

The waist belt and shoulder cinch straps start to loosen up after a few minutes--that lets the load down on my buttocks and lets the load fall rearward.  I was thinking this was endemic to the pack & began to look at other packs in the REI Oly store. REI chick came by and we looked at another Flash 65 pack whose straps didn't slip. Bring your pack back for an exchange, said she.

Recent trip to Top foods.  Stopping at the bakery, where the tech was slicing a loaf of French bread for a couple, I asked aobut how they bake their bread.  Breads go 5 loaves to a tray and up to 22 trays will fit on the cart that holds the bread for fermenting and proofing.  To ferment the cart with dough is rolled into a retarding room about the size of a very large refrigerator, which is kept at a temperature lower than room temp--I'd love to know that temp!  Then for proofing, it is rolled into a similar sized room at about 90 degrees F.  following proofing it goes into a steam injected oven (again the same size)

I forgot to ask if each loaf is kneaded or just stretched and folded.

Also is the dough fermented in one huge volume?

EMS alcohol stoves

eastern Mountain sports
Janice 888-463-6367 on vacation
RE: return of Yakima clips
letter rec'd: need credit card account # to apply credit
Credit to REI VISA

Great Cross Sound Race, Backpack

Just for kicks, I woke up at 5:25, 5:30 and 5:35 to assess whether I would go paddle the Cross Sound Race. I didn't fall back asleep, so ate bit of breakfast and drove off about 6:20. Vern had called yesterday and said lets meet at 5:30 at Top Foods--I'd said I couldn't do anything that early. Arrived at Race venue on time. Water was choppy during the race, lifting the ama many times. A much better day for kayaks than for outriggers. I was caught by another OC1 and a kayaker, but had overtaken the latter and was nearly up to the former when a fistful of seaweed tangled in my rudder, almost stopping me. After clearing the rudder, I was back up to speed but both other paddlers had finished the race. Good fun anyway.

On a 1 hour walk yesterday with the Kelty Cloud 4500 with 36lb of camping gear loaded, I found it drove the waistbelt into my gut, made my back and shoulders sweaty and pushed the chest strap, even in its lowest position, almost to my neck. Went to REI in Oly today to check out sale--didn't want to mail order a backpack w/out trying them on. The saleswoman helped fit me--determining that my back was more like a small. Tried the REI Flash 65, but it fit not quite right, with the waist strap running out & the pack pressing on my butt muscles. I then tried on a Deuter ACT Lite 65 + 10 for 30 minutes--much better staying off the buttocks. The Gregory Baltoro 75 was also better at not pressing on my butt muscles, but in 30 minutes, I felt pressure points on the small of my back. Wore the Deuter for another 20 minutes--bought it. I'll test it on a hike soon up/down hills near my house and/or camping.

Update:  the Deuter was a nice pack but it began to wear on my hamstring muscles.  Had to take it back.  I put the Flash 65 on with 20#.  Bought it after wearing it 30 min in the store.  So far, so good for loads up to 30#--haven't walked with much more. 

33.25 lb hurts?

Yes, 33.25 lb hurts when the weight is a thermarest pad and 3.5 gallons of water in my Dana Astralplane pack. Weird how sometimes the pack feels like a painless part of me and other times my worst enemy. It felt as if it were riding on my buttocks, even with the belt cinched tighter and tighter--my legs began to hurt down the back. Is my back too short for this pack?

After 50 minutes up and down hills, I took off the pack and hiked with just a waist pack. It felt great!

Hm. The REI Flash 65 is on sale. I might go for it.

Enchanted valley camp

Three Day camping trip with Lexi to O'Neil Camp and Enchanted Valley.

Day one: 3 hour hike to O'Neil camp, arrival at 7 p.m. Meal of instant brown rice w/Parmesan, basil and olive oil. We set up the tent & found the waterproof coating sticky, gummy, ew.

Day two: 6 hour RT day hike to Ench Valley from O'Neil. Ran out of snacks on the second break>>eating curried lentil soup dry as snack. saw sleeping hammocks. one pair hiking out with less than 40 lb betw them. How did they do that, besides carrying a 2 lb tarp tent. we were SO-O-O tired.

Day three: 3 hour walk back to trailhead. so tired. We NEVER walked this much!

Backpackers' meal plan

Snacks: store bought dried plums, Home dried Granny Smith apples, homemade tofu jerky

Meals: Alpine Aire Pasta Roma (yech), instant brown rice, falafel, quinoa flakes, amaranth, maskal teff, dried onions, dried celery, instant oatmeal. Fresh bread w/spread (first night).

spices: salt sugar, basil,

olive oil, canola oil.

ugly nonstick sauce pan kept slipping off the Giga stove. No more trips for saucepan. fork began to melt when used as a spatula to turn the falafel. awww.

Thought we had too much food. Not true, only had 3.5 lb left after trip of 48 hours. We forgot to weigh the food before hitting the trail. Now we don't know how much food we eat per day.

Garcia Bear can:

614 cu in/10 liters works OK for us scratch cookers. Our plastic bags of rice (instant brown or white), falafel, flour, quinoa seed & flakes, oatmeal, spices and such conform nicely. Add a small bottle of cooking oil & we've got meals for days. Theoretically, if that 10 liters were all carbs, like amaranth it'd weigh ~14.7 lb. If I ate 2 lb per day, I'd survive for 7+ days. But we bring dried apples and raisins which don't compact as well as small grains. Because bread takes up too much space, we usually eat it the first day out. The packaging of freeze dried fud hasn't the flexibility of plastic bags--prob wouldn't get as many days worth of food.

Oh boy. I lost 4-5 lb on the trip. Weren't we drinking enough water?

Rain again 3rd day

Rain. It started Thursday off and on. unpredictable. The clouds, gray and grayer, appear anywhere that blue sky might try to intrude. I should say the cloud, singular. Sometimes the cloud leaks through very small holes, but mostly it just watches. Is this desirable or tolerable?

In the Sierra Nevada, when you see rain clouds, it rains. No guessing. And when they're done they move on leaving blue skies (at night, black starry skies). No screwing around with an irritating presence, such as with the buzzing of mosquitoes.

Where's that domain name?

Where's that domain name?

Bought a domain name from Angelfire on July 2, didn't have domain name for assignment until today July 15, after multiple attempts with "help tickets."

I could not get a response nor find a phone number to call though my hosting package included phone help. Finally checked to see if the transaction showed up on my VISA--it did, TWICE. But a phone number also showed with each transaction. I called and had the matter straightened out. after about 3 hours, our domain name was alive.

For our trouble and time, we were awarded a month of free hosting.

Centered foot braces for kayaks: Retrofit

Tough one!

Do we just add 3" shims to the current fittings? Not so fast, the angle of the hull where the current foot braces mount can change that.

Centered foot braces for kayaks: new fitting

New fitting. Consisting of a rail and a slider unit.

A rail mounts to the kayak floor with epoxy. Raw material is a hardwood stick 3/4W x 1H x 32L". 3 lag screws are driven down into the rail 4.5" apart

The slider, a 10" long t-track, is the unit that moves over the rail for adjustment. A base 4" x 9" x 1/2-3/4" for the foot board mounts on top of the slider.

The foot board, 12" wide by 4.5" high by 1/4-1/2" thick, attaches to the base (glue or hinge). The foot board mounts at an angle of ~12 degrees. two wedges of wood attach to the base behind the foot board to keep the base-footboard joint stable.

How the slider moves over the rail: the t-track will slide over the lag screw heads on the rail. The screws endure some stress, but not as much as the rail.

How the slider locks:

• A cleat mounts on the stern end of the rail. The cleat holds the adjustment cord from the slider. It must endure stress at the bow end of the rail. Pluses: easy installation, infinite adjustment & rail can be shorter. Minuses: could slip if the cord is bumped & force is applied higher than the axis of the rail. OR
• The rail has notches drilled and cut per page 149 of "The Strip Built Kayak." The adjustment cord/cable is a loop that attaches to the slider. One adjusts by placing the loop from the slider into one of the notches. Pluses: may weigh a few grams less and may be less prone to slippage. Adjustment is less fussy. Minuses: requires more work to build. might be more prone to breakage if holes drilled too close. 1" adjustments only.

Note: rudder controls can be added consisting of hinged flaps atop the foot boards & cable wheels if you can find a source. front cable end attaches to front of brace, rear cable end attaches to rudder.

Cost:

1. rail: $3.51
2. t-track:

Weight of this rudder system:

Below, a picture of foot braces viewed from above.

Top: Keepers foot braces weigh 12 ounces w/mounting screws.

middle: Sea dog foot braces weigh 24.25 ounces w/mounting screws. The square shows how the footpad tapers such that one's foot tends to slide off.

bottom: Sea dog foot braces with rudder control weigh 29 ounces w/mounting screws.

My note to SEA LECT designs:

• I have Sea dog foot braces in my 23" wide kayak. love the adjustment and the sturdy build. But, on every paddle, when I put the pedal to the metal, I found my foot slipping off frequently during forward stroke technique. I removed the unit and saw the tapering of the unit toward the center of the boat probably didn't help. With the Keepers units, while not built to last, my feet slipped off but rarely. I don't want anything from you--this is just FYI. Part of the problem is my boat's 23" beam and my using the boat as a fast cruising vehicle. I am working on a widget to attach to the foot brace to improve the angle and the foothold. Again, the Sea dog is a huge step up from the Keepers and for most kayakers, the cat's pajamas.
• Thanks

Tax returns

Dropped in the mail: Jelly Baby and Babar

Deb N. does she need a kayak for the Manchester race?

Car washed. Mindless activity is therapeutic.

Epic has epoxy on all bare fiber, got washed. rigging being removed in preparation for refinishing.

Making bread for Vadim's Manchester race.

next time you finish a kayak:

find out how it would cost to have clear coated with two or three part urethane by auto body shop

But isn't' it just a kayak?

This old kayak

fiberglass inside of seam defect on L side of cockpit. epoxy coated bare carbon cloth on R outside of hull. taped bottom of hull outlining bare areas of carbon cloth.

planted one zucchini seed.

inspected Coho hatch cover hold down tabs for possible improvements, attached rear hatch cover to bungee bolt.

Dinner was pasta chicken choysum, sesame oil, soy sauce, pepper.

need buy fruit.

4th & 5th varnish coats on hull of the Tern 14

Yes, I applied a 4th coat of varnish in the a.m. and 7 hours later a 5th coat of varnish. It looks great.

I used http://www.walkjogrun.net/ to map out my kayaking route this p.m. 10.5 miles!??? Went to ride some waves on the Chehalis, but they kept rolling right under me after very brief rides. Perhaps I'd have more fun on the ocean? I'd paddled the Coho, as I have the Epic on disabled list for epoxy, fiberglass and varnish.Coho would be much nicer with centered foot braces, thigh support & maybe a rudder. I've never paddled a K1 but I keep hitting the deck of the Coho as if I was a K1 paddler. Have to be more careful.

This old kayak. The Epic got fiberglass on the crack and a layer of varnish on the worst part of the deck where I slap it with the paddle. Varnish makes it look great. Need to sand & varnish entire kayak. Also some epoxy to cover the bare carbon cloth.

3rd varnish coat on hull of the Tern 14

The Tern 14 is getting closer to finished. One more coat of Varnish on the hull, maybe another one or two on the deck, some deck fittings (bungees) back band, and foot braces. Also a sea sock.

I finally see the Epic Endurance 18 for what it has become, a worn out kayak in need of a rebirth, epoxy over the exposed fiber, then clear coat, paint or varnish over the epoxy.

It should stay off the water 'til I've rehabilitated it. I inspected the defect and saw that it was an 8-10" crack in the fiber just above the deck-hull seam. I sanded 1" to each side of the defect and splinted the hull until it was level with the deck portion of the seam.

Drove out to Brady's to paddle the OC6 with Joost Z., Vern, Janet and Mara. 42 minutes to get to Westport Marina with a small ebb tide. Big ebb to fight back to Brady's. Right arm is still too high. Keith said that towards the end of the leg back, he'd begin to lose his grip after 10 strokes. I see an idea there for a claw, that combined with a strap that can help the lower hand function as Nordic ski pole straps do.

Using http://www.walkjogrun.net/ I mapped the path we took to the Westport Marina. using the most direct path, we paddled about 4.12 miles-- /42 minutes= 4.9 mph. I should have brought the GPS, as I'm SURE we're faster than that. Our speed at Rat Island was 6.68 mph. I am certain that Keith and Joost are stronger paddlers than Bill and Bela, all else being the same.

Dinner of hamburger, potato salad & beans at Keith's place. Garden of blueberries, apples, some tomatoes, cherry. Saw his upside down tomato grower--top reservoir was planted in herbs. No water reservoir, does not self water. Discussed a solution to keep tomato plants watered: wicking as in self watering containers.

Email to keith:

The commercial self watering container (swc) product is the Earthbox @ $50 each. I have 7 eighteen-gallon DIY swc's (see http://www.seattleoil.com/Flyers/Earthbox.pdf) with strawberries, 5 with tomatoes, one with a sickly eggplant that I just evicted, one with yellow crookneck squash, one with Swiss chard and two with snow peas. My cost was about $6 each. so 17 boxes cost about $112 instead of $850 for the commercial swc. I also have some mini boxes that hold a gallon each with things like choy sum (Chinese veggie), baby carrots, broccoli (just planted), basil (just planted), more strawberries. I have grown lettuce in these and they have absolutely thrived, but would quickly drink the water in the reservoirs. Wicking works.

Eggplant Haiku:

It refused to Fruit,

It got the composting boot,

who's next?, zucchini?

2nd varnish coat on hull

Left, das boot. I applied the 2nd varnish coat on hull of the Tern 14. Looking quite nice.

Planted some basil from a 2004 seed packet. Hope something happens. Also planted a bunch of extra dwarf Choy Sum. I hope.

The eggplant looks pretty pathetic. It will lose its place in line to zucchini if it doesn't fruit.

This Old Boat. Got in the Wishkah w/ Epic 18 to work on my form--setup, catch, power, release. Paddle length seems right at 210 cm--maybe could lose 1-2 cm. I turned back after 25 min when I looked & didn't find 2nd water bottle--figured it fell into water near put-in. I thought, "If I was a bottle in the Wishkah River, where would I go?" After letting the boat drift near where I thought the bottle may have dropped, it didn't seem that it would have gone much further than the swirling eddies where the Wishkah dumped into the Chehalis. After not finding the bottle, I paddled down the Chehalis to ride waves. Then the rudder's left foot pedal fell apart and the wind blew off my visor. Rudder was impossible to control. I picked up the visor & rode a few waves, but the boat wanted to broach--I wondered how the Pygmy Coho or Tern 14 would have behaved. I nursed the 18 back to the put in and found my 2nd water bottle next to the car. Then while removing the boat from the car, I felt a breach in the seam between deck and hull on the left side of the cockpit. Boat repair time!

Foot pedal easily reassembled, but who knows how many thousand turns before it falls apart again?

Tomorrow for fiberglass repair of seam. Boat will also need paint or varnish--no big deal to repaint this boat, right?

Kayak varnish

1st coat on hull after varnishing the right side of the hull yesterday.

Bolted speaker shelves on stereo cart.

Bike ride w/John F. R&R the stem on the mtn bike just before going out--feels like it's about 5-6" higher. Feeling pretty good on the bike.

Kayak paddle shaft length

After chatting with Sheri Cassuto, we agreed that paddlers need a better guide to paddle length.

Factors to consider:

1. paddler height. Really?
2. paddler's shoulder height above the water. This really does matter.
3. boat width, yes
4. shaft length, definitely
5. blade length, not really
6. paddling style: vertical vs. low angle.
7. the seated height to the nose tip and the boat beam. Pretty good. Still, I use a 210 and better paddlers have observed to have one hand too high. Probably true, as I like to give that shoulder a rest by not paddling every day.

For Vertical Paddling style:

Paddler	Paddle	Paddler height bench to shoulder/nose	Seat height above water	boat beam overall	Paddle length	Paddle shaft length
Me	Epic purple	22.5"/29"	1"	22"	210	43.5" = 110.5 cm currently under evaluation
me	Braca I	same	1	boat beam overall	220	45"
so	Paddle	Paddler height	1	boat beam overall	Paddle length	Paddler shaft length
ever	Paddle	Paddler height	1	boat beam overall	Paddle length	Paddler shaft length
wishes	Paddle	Paddler height	1	boat beam overall	Paddle length	Paddler shaft length

4th coat

of varnish on the kayak deck. ,Before varnishing, the kayak was moved to a room with no traffic to attain finish with less dust.

june 28

finished watching super size me

Bread

Kayak 2nd coat on today.

to Olympia to pay for and pick up '95 Volvo. Rear brakes done

Traded bread for coho salmon fillets w John F.

3rd coat on deck of kayak at 8:30 p.m.

daytime running lights

O Canada. Needs cars to have DRL. Phoebe's 2010 Kia Forte did not have them.

$44 module arrived from California http://www.automotiveelectronicaccessories.com/aeapn480hd.htm

How to do it:

Tools needed:

socket wrench set for removing headlights to examine..

wire cutting tool

Wire stripping tool. pliers to crimp wire splicers.

electric meter to detect DC voltage and detect connections.

1. Figure out what kind of switching system the Kia had. Removed headlight assembly to access the wiring. Following the instructions, I found the Kia was not a double negative switching system (where light switch and dimmer switch are connected to the positive wires leading to the bulb and volt meter shows 12 volts betw wires to the bulb and ground while lights are off).

Six wires attach to a plug that inserts into a socket on each headlight assembly. On our car, two wires each go to the low beam, high beam and parking lights.

How: turn on low beam headlights--the low beams and the parking lights will turn on. Remove the six wire plug from a headlight assembly. Use the volt meter to determine which two wires are the positive wires to the low beam and the parking lights (place red lead of voltmeter in the plug and black lead on the negative battery terminal--a 12 volt reading says it's on). On our car, the wires on right side were the yellow and pink wires. Then turn the headlight control switch to the parking light position, leaving only one wire that reads 12 volts--meaning the yellow wire on our car's right headlight assembly goes to the low beam. The corresponding wire (red) on the left was in continuity with the right. We'd only need to wire one side. I spliced the green wire of the DRL unit to the red wire on the left headlight wiring harness.

Next, I hooked up the brown wire directly to the negative battery terminal and the red wire directly to the battery positive terminal

Finally, I sought a way to route the blue wire into the passenger compartment to access the fuse box there, when I got this idea that I could wire to the car's fuse box in the engine compartment. I found a fuse that I thought would not be "live" with the key in accessory. The included adapters to attach the blue wire connector to a fuse wouldn't fit, so I removed the socket on the end of the blue wire and stripped 1/2" of insulation. I pushed the wire into the fuse socket and then the fuse. The low beams came on. I pulled out the fuse & the wire and found a fuse that was really off. Tested the installation--it worked.

On the red wire, I then installed the device that reduced the intensity to 75%. Done deal.

I'm still a bit confused about how I did all that, but once done, it was easy.

On now to a little body work. I instructed and helped Phoebe tape, sand, fiberglass and paint the bumper. Also, did the work on the rusted parts of the body where the car scraped other things.

Varnish

first coat of varnish on the Tern 14 deck today. forgot I had Japan Drier--instructions indicate 3.5-7.5 ml per 8 oz. next coat: roll front deck, tip off every 18-20 inches, brush around the cockpit, roll and tip off rear deck.

One fish, two fish.

one bread, two bread.

epoxy, fiberglass

sandpaper. gloves. stir stick, squeegee, acetone, vinegar.

New Paddler

Got an invite to dinner with Jeff F.

Returned the favor and invited him to a paddle on the Huki OC2. I rigged the canoe for stability. Gave a quick lesson and we were off for 30 minutes. Impressions: Good power even as a beginner. Could even be a contender. He liked it much more than the kayak due to the more open structure of the boat.

Then dinner and a little music making.

Return from winter...

...actually, the last days of spring. cold, wet air & colder water.

Wednesday. Debbie N. called & emailed about Camp David. Thursday, I committed--loaded GPS waypoints for Anacortes Ferry terminal & Thatcher Pass.

Friday p.m. Drove with Deb to Washington State Park . Tents w/rainflies--preparation for rain paid off.

Sat a.m. Broke camp. To Mt Vernon to drop off fertilizer for Deb's job. quick meal at Big Apple, then to Guemes ferry terminal where we loaded Steve B.'s 100 lb kayak. Erik and Mark (photo) arrived w/their canoe. Eric, 87 y.o., has paddled the San Juan Islands since age of 11. We paddled to Blakely Is for lunch and then to Spencer Spit to camp. Rode a couple of ferry boat wakes enroute. Dinner courtesy of David Halpern & members of San Juan Canoe and Kayak Club. The sun splashed for an hour or two, not quite warm enough, but bright.

Sunday, Breakfast by San Juan Canoe and Kayak Club, then a little discussion w/David Halpern re: San Juan Canoe and Kayak Club. Waivers, insurance, dues, etc...

...then a 45 minute nap before loading the kayak for the long slog from Spencer Spit St. Park to Anacortes Guemes ferry terminal. hoping for a push from a flood tide--it was not to be. Instead, some confused waters, wind. would have liked to have current charts to know where we'd catch push. Steve's kayak: heavy but very stable.

Out of water, to Lummi res to drop off Steve's kayak. Hm. Must find a lighter boat (Pygmy Double?) to borrow for next trip if ever again.

Great to see David again.

Fixed OC2

All day yesterday, driving to Vanc BC, waiting at customs, from 8 a.m. til 11:30 p.m.

Called Keith L. to help move Huki into LR for epoxying. K looked at damage, a crack in the hull-deck seam near the bow, and used dremel to cut a wider groove. suggested pushing a bead of epoxy into the groove.

K left.

Attached vacuum cleaner hose to the vent plug hole. listening, easily found the leak at the rear iako receiver hole. easily heard the leak at the bow. vacuum off--repaired with thickened epoxy. 5 hours later, turned on the vacuum again. 3rd leak at the end of the seat track of front seating position. Will call Jude on Monday to discuss repair.

Mowed lawn--is it time to cover lawn & turn it to flower/veggie garden?

TOO MUCH TIME

UM, NEXT TIME I UPGRADE MY PC?

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mannequin-PC-Case/

To Bellingham and Vancouver in a.m. more tape to fix Phoebe's car?

Some more work on website.

Called Jude re repair on hull. Tape off 1" each side of seam, sand with rough grit sandpaper, retape, glass, paint as needed later.

Ordered checks. From Checks unlimited: $21; from Walmart: total price w/shipping/tax $11.

drilled and installed tubes in the rubber plugs for the vent holes in the OC2. Cut a shim to keep the wingnut up on the back bolt of the ama. ama into the garage.

Paddling with Vern, Janet, Maura, Bernie, John F.

Called Keith L. to get him back on paddle schedule.

Ama repaired

After two failed attempts to properly mix the epoxy (I've done it right hundreds of times), I squirted a bit into the cups anchoring the bolts in the ama. I then thickened the mix with silica and wood flour until it would build up the structure required to solidify the bolts. So satisfying. Almost 8 hours later the epoxy is hardening quite well. Unbelievably easy.

Next, repair the hull.

it works

The vacuum cleaner sucking out the ama from the hole for the vent plug.

A nice ride

Drove the Huki OC2 to Olympia on a very sunny Monday. Lexi and I went to Swantown, where I set up the canoe, and positioned the iako a bit higher on the ama than usual. We paddled Budd Inlet for about 70-80 minutes. We got maybe 2/3 the distance to Boston Harbor before we turned. On the way back we flipped. Pretty funny. A water bottle & my flip flops came out of the bungee cords--I'm thinking "yard sale." No waves, nothing. My fault for rigging the boat "light."

I've started repairing the ama of our V2A. Jude at Huki gave instructions on the repair after drying it out as follows: leave it standing on end in the sun to vaporize the water & it would condense in the bottom at night--pour out the water in the a.m. Vern reminded me that the sun doesn't shine quite as bright or often here as at the Huki factory in Sacramento. We'd have to do something different.

Yesterday, I poured fresh water into the ama and drained it. Today, I drilled holes near the bolts, put a tube into the plug hole, passed a vacuum hose over it and bunched a plastic bag at the base as a crude seal to get more air to pass through the holes. I thought about hooking up a handheld hair dryer and blowing air into the ama, but could even the low setting damage something or even set the house afire? Here: a picture showing the bolt on the ama with gross builder's caulk at the base--it might have plugged the leak before, but it not since we got the canoe.

Chehalis River Downwind run

The downwind run on the Chehalis River from the 28th St ramp in Hoquiam to Walmart in Aberdeen is less than 2 miles, but you can depend on it if you have two conditions: Ebb tide and westerly winds 10 knots and up. Enjoyed my run in my Huki OC1 after paddling upwind for 28 minutes. Would like to experience the run on the Arctic Tern 14.

Making a sea sock for the Arctic Tern 14

First, place the parts no longer needed for the bulkheads and hatches in the box for return to Pygmy when I go to the Rat Island race.

It'll be like making a bag by folding fabric in half n leaving a big hole corresponding to the cockpit. Will attach a bungee sleeve to bag.

Ordered 2 yards of coated nylon 200 Denier Coated Oxford Nylon Fabric from www.rockywoods.com $17 + 3.75 shipping. (Seattle fabrics had outrageous shipping expenses.)

measurements

Me sitting on floor, from back to heels: 44"

Total Length of Sea Sock 54"

Length of Sea Sock in front of cockpit 21"

Cockpit length 33"

Height of sea sock at toe 11"

Height of rear cockpit 9"

Measuring circumference of cross sections around the outside of the kayak at various points in front of the cockpit:

Toes plus 0": 45"

Toes plus 8": 49"

Toes plus 14": 50"

Toes plus 19": 53"

Front of cockpit: 55"

Measurement for the bungee sleeve and bungee cord: circumference around the cockpit rim. 90" which is 24" more than the Cockpit length 33" X two. Cockpit hole in the sea sock should be at at least 90"

can make the sock 13" longer. 54 + 13 = 67"

might be able to sew bungee sleeve as part of sock rather than separately. Sleeve would add about 3" to circumference.

Tentatively, fabric to cut for the sea sock would be 67" long by 59".

Passport

Daughter #1 graduated! Got a nice gift from Ted G: A Kobo ereader from Borders books, loaded with 100 books!!!!

A phone call just after midnight. It's POW. Canada customs would not let her car into Canada--demanded that it be imported to Canada and registered in BC. PW drove back to Bellingham, checked into a hotel. She'll need a ride into Canada, my role.

woops, my passport is in aberdeen. Drove there to get PP. then up to B'ham. Tried to call Zeke and Flip to get permission to stow car at their house. Kari, new to me, was housesitting. Gave permission by proxy.

All under natural light

All under natural light

The eggplant joined a few upstart pea plants in the hot tub room. It was attacked by aphids which succumbed to permethrin. It only takes one or two aphids to regenerate.

Also in the hot tub room, Cindy's red pear tomato, Oregon Spring II tomato, Sub Arctic Plenty tom.

In the living room in front of big windows: Amber colored tom, unknown tom that formerly lived under lights.

Strawberries on the deck in 7 self watering boxes.

Inside in self watering boxes:

• Choysum.
• baby carrots
• cilantro

Closer to finishing Tern 14 kayak

With only installation of the seat and the back band left. and bulkheads and hatches, which are a pain in the neck. Then gobs of sanding and varnishing. Wish I hadn't bought so much varnish earlier. Possibility of it turning into a wax or solid chunk of organic jelly after so many years in the cans.

In preparing to move the seat forward in the epic, I looked at the kayak hull, noticing severe wear on the cloth. The boat goes up on the rack for repair. Needs new cloth on the bottom. I'm glad Tom Cartmill suggested I move the seat forward. Even though I could see the defect from below the hull, I never thought to check the hull from inside. Defects correspond to two pads of closed cell foam under the seat, which I cannot recall if I placed them. Apparently, abrasion by foam damaged the hull.

The Huki OC1 is ready for paint, but I may just yet be able to figure out how much catalyst to add to the gel coat. Might be able to avoid having to buy topside paint from West Marine. Rudder also is as close to ready as ever, but haven't chopped off the upper rear corner yet.

Seems like only the Pygmy Coho will be ready to race anytime soon.

Even the extra dwarf choy sum

is coming up. The seeds were a bit dated. 2008, maybe. Hoping some cilantro will grow, but John F. already has some thriving in his greenhouse--I've been invited to steal veggies anytime--no need to grow my own. Maybe grow some midget carrots and radishes.

Grayland for clam digging. clams in all sizes, but not very many big ones. Was told the clamming was very easy yest.--difficult today, taking 1.5 hour to get the limit. went to Half Moon Bay and then the Groin to watch surfers try to ride breaking waves--they live dangerously. Surf shop to look at warmer neoprene booties.

It's 62 degrees out. even at that temp my hands got cold kayaking today. Resumed the stroke revision which corrected problem throwing water on my back and head. Not really sure what my stroke looks like.
I bought a refurbished Kodak waterproof digicam. About $90. Need to cancel XM radio to pay for that. I am still spending money. Need to watch it.

The music for Bob Richardson's last concert in GH isn't really difficult--just need to spend a few minutes looking at it. Never knew I'd like Shostakovich. Good stuff.

Glued on the lower coaming for Tern 14. Glassed the upper coaming and hip braces.

Looked at cost of repairing drysuit gaskets. about 75 as DIY job.

I bought a refurbished Kodak waterproof digicam. About $90. Need to cancel XM radio to pay for that. I am still spending money. Need to watch it.

Garden

The third sunny day of spring finally arrived yesterday in Western Washington, where we get much more than our share of rain. My shaggy lawn commanded me, "Mow. " We did go paddle our kayaks first, but I still had to mow. I had to cut with the lawn mower at its highest setting--meaning I'd have to return again to give it the cut it usually gets. I use an electric mower, which I like better than any gas mower because it's lighter and quieter and needs no maintenance, aside from sharpening the blade. I still hate to cut the lawn, though. If only the moss would take over. I have almost as much moss as grass on my yard, but it still cannot muscle out the grass.

I put in blueberries on my side yard 2 1/2 years ago, laying down weed cloth and bark mulch on top. The grass tried to poke up where I planted the bushes. I stayed ahead of the grass and it hasn't made more than an occasional feeble effort.

It is time to own my yard again. I want to build a raised bed garden to grow food. a deer fence around it. more blueberry bushes.

Canoe repair Kayak building

A week ago, I took the outrigger canoe up the Wishkah River, About 1/4 mile up, I ran into a log, which forced the rudder up into the hull. I inspected the damage--big hole. I paddled back to the put in and found that about 8-10 lb of water had entered the hull. After letting it drain out, I got the boat home to dry some more. The next day, I sanded with a Dremel a rectangle around the defect and laid in a small patch of fiberglass. A day later, on inspection of my repair, I saw that the defect was too big for the cloth to be rigid. I cut through the glass above the gash, mixed some epoxy thickened with wood flour and filled the defect. It is now hard and rigid. It just needs paint, a bit of sanding and back into the water!

I bought a Pygmy Arctic Tern 14 kayak kit six years ago, started building three years ago and was adding glib quotes on the hull, when I got distracted and stopped building. I resumed building 3 weeks ago. I have logged about 54 hours building now. I have the deck on the hull, glassed and have started work on the coaming (cockpit rim) Reading ahead & knowing the instructions I combined steps to avoid delays incurred by waiting for epoxy to cure. All of the coaming pieces and the hip braces I have coated with epoxy today. Tomorrow, another coat of epoxy to lower coaming, hip braces and upper coaming.

John F. called today. He just got back from NYC touring with Meryl. He & I took the double OC up the Chehalis for about an hour. I didn't do much coaching other than to suggest that he rotate a bit more, bend the blade side leg and push the boat forward while stroking. Good speed.

Breakfast and dinner: I fried brown rice with frozen mixed veggies and egg. Fish sauce is anchovies, water, salt and sugar. good.

Lunch was open faced tuna sandwich with tomato and Swiss chard from the tote in the front patio. good.

Garden note. Baby choysum is coming up--don't remember how many days they took to germinate. Planted Cilantro today. More blooms on the tomato plants. Shook them a bit, hoping to pollinate and get fruit. three snow pea plants doing well.

Also tomorrow, to Walmart for Clamming license and call Gh college for tickets.

John F figures out the clam dig

Same place as yesterday, but a much warmer day. poor digging in the wet sand where the waves wash in--very few clams telling us they were home. I'd brought the shovel today b/c the clam gun seemed to mangle most of the clams. I'd had a much gentler dig before using the shovel.

I walked away from the surf & dug on the ocean side of some "shows" , but found no clams down to 15-18 inches. John F had it figured it out. Dig right on top of the show. Most likely, the clam will be far below the depth of the shovel blade. You might see a squirt of mud if the clam is close, if so, you should grab it (preferably with a gloved hand). Dig deeper, putting the blade in the bottom of the hole & scraping dirt up with the blade. As the blade goes across the hole, it may graze the clam--grab it. After about 10-15 inches, get on hands and knees, dig a few more inches. Feel around the bottom of the hole until your fingers sweep across the clam. Find and firmly grab the clam's neck with thumb and finger. Slowly extract it from the sand. I haven't lost any clams--they don't seem to dig much.

Vern H. confirmed the situation at Grayland--no shows in the wet sand zone

Back up

Computer crash. HD failure Tuesday p.m. Computer warned me after numerous blue screens. Did I heed? Lost work done on tax returns. Quicken data was backed up through April 16.

I removed Hard drive, placing into other computer, which ran a chkdsk that took 19 hours. Multiple file sectors were labelled unreadable. After all that, the entire disk was unreadable.

Yesterday I went to best buy to buy a replacement 320 GB drive--cost $65. Windows XP installed in about 3 hours, including the drivers for the network adapter, the video card & sound card.

Clam digging at Roosevelt Beach: pretty poor in the surf, taking us 1:40 to get 15 clams. Cold wind from the NW and rain too. Yecch.

Sail Sand Point outrigger race

Course change: This year race started at Sail Sand Point going south to the 520 bridge and back--ten miles total.

Picked up the canoe from Bill Anderson and raced it with Vern H. Unsure as to which iako was front/back, we returned to shore to switch them, during which the race started. We caught a few boats, including Bill A and Carl C on the south side of the 520 bridge. Then they capsized. We stopped and tried to backpaddle to get in position to help. The pilot from another double jumped in to help right their craft. They got underway and we escorted them to the turnaround point. Then the race between them and us began. Now running with the wind, we found we could pass far fewer boats. Apparently, some could surf the small waves much better than we could. We caught a few waves allowing us to pull away from Bill and Carl. We finished about five yards ahead of them.

I slept almost all the way back to Aberdeen.

Sail Snad point race

Course change from Sail Sand Point to the 520 bridge and back.

Everything seems to be about paddling

Friday, April 1. It started as a day to paddle. a very gentle breeze from the east, and some medium thick clouds above. Keith L. came to the house, got his canoe atop my car. On the water at Cozzi by 8:50. We cruised upstream for about 30 min and turned back. Keith said he was too old for competition--I didn't let him get away with that and replied, "No way, you're very competitive. If you were in the same boat as I, I wouldn't stand a chance." Shortly after turning, the rain began. It started light progressed to medium but without a dry spot between raindrops. We got off the water very wet.

Sat April 2. Did it rain? I tink so. I watched the first 3 episodes of Dexter and rode rollers for about 1:48 of that--then quit--useless show. I can't think much beyond, "I'm hot" while cycling inside. mixed bread dough.

Sun April 3. Bleach is great. All right I read Barrons--boring. sprayed some bleach on the concrete wall, then looked at the house siding where I'd sprayed before. The green algae had turned clear. Bleach is great. Rack on the car. Boat on the rack. on the river for 40 minutes. Home. Whoops, bread dough had proofed for 3(!) hours. Baked bread. turned out ok in the 9" pan--dome shaped 3.375" tall and nice crumb with holes up to .75". Tuesday's bread came out discoid, I assume from dropping it into the pan--that's just not right.

The tomatoes in the basement under the kitchen have been dead for weeks, maybe months. Lights have been on them, but ten of the thirty have burned out. What a waste of $ on those LED lights. Really stupid to be an early adopter, when the regular metal halide and sodium lights are so cheap. Trimming them to the ground. now.

Four days, three paddles

Thursday on the Wishkah River. ebb tide. cool. The catch is good. Watching the ama while paddling. I break down the stroke to:

1. an initial phase, right after the catch, where the paddle blade is still not vertical & application of power raises the ama & boat (we hope). Some forward propulsion occurs here.
   
2. a second phase, where the blade has reached vertical & power propels the craft forward, and
   
3. the final phase, where power is rapidly reduced in preparation for exiting the blade and recovering for the next stroke.

Friday, a day for a walk up and down the hill 4-5 times.

Both Saturday and Sunday, another paddle up the Wishkah river. Flying with the tide some but still the boat seems a bit faster. All three river workouts using the 8.5" marathon canoe paddle.

Polson Museum. Scott Ridley spoke about some of historical high points in voyages of John Kendrick aboard the Columbia Rediviva and the Lady Washington.

Week in Vegas Summary

March 9-16. A trip to see Mom, Bro, sis & nephews.

Guaranteed: a 1 hour walk with mom daily. Food pushed at me like it was opium. Lots of talk.

Unexpected: A request to replace 4 faucets around mom's house, all ancient, ugly and leaking. I accepted--I knew what was good for me. First, plumbing is a crude art that involves a lot of connections that are often rusted shut or will start leaking if you look at them funny. It also involves working upside down with your hands in tight places where little sharp edges will take out a chunk of your skin if you forget to wear gloves. Then when you put things back together, you find out just how many places a faucet and drain can leak.

I worked on that pedestal sink by mom's kitchen until I just got fed up with lying on the floor working upside down. And yes, I did lose a chunk of skin from my left index finger. I turned off the water supply, removed the supply tubes, supply valves & drain and then lifted the sink from the wall hangers and, turned it upside down. Some WD 40 and time loosened the faucet handles. three more trips to Home Depot and it was done. The faucets upstairs were a cinch now that I knew to remove the sinks. Nothing but faulty washerless faucet cartridges slowed me down. Don't buy Glacier Bay if you can help it. ALWAYS buy all the tools you might POSSIBLY need to reduce the number of round trips.

Baking bread. I brought two just-add-water batches of unbleached fl./Eagle Mills fl with yeast and salt. The first loaf baked in a 9" covered casserole--turned out ok. the second loaf was a flat loaf baked in a 9x13" pan covered tightly with foil and baked for 40 min at 400 deg F. then 5 min uncovered at same temp--everyone seemed to like the thinner crust much better.

Mom said the PC wouldn't work for her. Since Andrew got it working a few weeks ago, it has been fine, but Jennifer and Tom still thought she might benefit from a new computer. Andrew had said that the PC had hung up in a power-on state after "shutting down." He had unplugged the works and everything began to work as new. I took mom to Best Buy to see if someone there could help--they couldn't understand that PC's (Apple or Windows) weren't mom's friend. We left and decided that Andrew would be mom's PC fixit man and that we wouldn't replace the pc until it was dead, dead, dead.

Charcoal barbecue. Yummy.

March 4,5,6,7

Beautiful days, if you dress right.

Mar 4: In the mail when I arrived home, a little package of joy from the Wash State Med Quality Assur Comm'n. I've been suspended for five years, though I can be reinstated if I subject myself to evaluation and Rx for Disruptive Behavior and if certified as "safe," I'm on probation for five years instead. While this is not justice, it is an outcome. Called Debbie N. and Kim M., who said, "even if all the allegations were true no one was ever injured," which means either the acts were not disruptive, or the impact of disruptive behavior is not significant. Emailed Michael H.

5: in the kayak, up the Wishkah River against the tide, to the bulkhead and back, under hazy skies, a temp of about 48 deg.

6: in the outrigger canoe. same destination, but with less of a fight against the current, having set out sooner than yesterday. Watching the ama while paddling, trying to keep it "light." Perhaps should have been looking ahead, not because I ran into something, but as a matter of proper technique. Email reply from Michael H.: come in, talk.

7: Drive to Oly. Assessment: not likely to get a favorable judgment within any period of time, given that superior court may give greater weight to the commission and will regard the perjured testimony of hospital witness as did the commission--and it could take another year or more. Plan: Do the sanction prescribed by the persecution and get on with your life. In the big scheme of things, this isn't Nanking (1937,) Manzanar or Auschwitz. Be tough, dude. Move on.

Recovery day

No, not recovery from a big workout, but from travelling. Next trip to Hawaii, I hope I remember not to take United Airlines. made bread from the dough mixed last p.m. Also flash fried salmon, a minute each side--quite good. Watched movie "The Girl that Kicked the Hornet's nest" (very good) & tried to watch "The Road Home." Watched The Bourne Identity--very good. Rode rollers for 1:50. Rode my bike down to the bank, post office and Safeway.

Still no sign of anyone.

Update on last 10 days.

Feb 24, 2011. Flight to Hawaii. Full flight to L.A. 1/3 full to Kona.

Feb 25 Paddle in the a.m. with Keauhou Club. Spinner dolphins. But, no feeling of being in paddling "groove." Spent time trying to find John Forrester and Merle Montani--no one had a phone number aside from an old cell phone # for John--dialing that yielded a message: Put in another dime, please. Mixed dough for bread. Up to the Donkey Mill Art Center, where one paddler, Richard Notkin, had some art on display---teapots and ears. Tea was interesting. First warming the teapot, warming the vessels for pouring and then making the tea. Tasty, but who really has time for that ritual except on that odd occasion?

I wish I had my camera. The phone camera while decent is really a poor excuse for a camera.

Feb 26 A.M. paddle. Out of the groove. Great bread. Mixed more dough for 2nd loaf of bread. Had a discussion w/Vern & Janet re: declining membership in Wakinikona paddling club. Where are the paddlers? Why does it cost so much to paddle?

Feb 27 To Volcanoes N.P. with John Forrester and Merle Montani. very cool. Steam vents. People hiking across the caldera. Pretty cool--I'd rate that park a 9 out of 10. The road to Hilo led us past an Orchid farm/shop which we visited. very nice
Through Hilo where, after about 15 minutes, we found a Starbucks to get Merle a soy chai. Plenty of rain in Hilo, but warm, at 75 deg F. I could deal with rain at that temp. I could paddle in rain at that temp. People were surfing in the bay--most had paddles.



Feb 28 To Hawi with Vern and Janet H. to do that zip-line thing with Big Island Eco Adventures. I was impressed with the setup required, but was not altogether convinced that the tour was that interesting. The two guides didn't talk much about the history and ecology of the area. Information seemed not to flow--you had to pry it out of them. They didn't offer plant or tree information. No real organization. It was safe and they did the job to keep all persons out of harm's way. They seemed like they'd be right at home on snowboards or skateboards doing tricks. The guides took us on a six wheel drive lorry toward Pololū--you could hardly hear yourself think for all the noise the truck made. The truck carried us on a double track road past old sugar cane fields and past the Kohala ditch--much more information about the ditch came from Bill Rosehill the following day than from the guides. Such as that the ditch descends a foot for each running mile. More information here. We came to a grassy hill which the guides tried to ascend with the truck--the tires couldn't bite into the grass enough to pull the truck up. What is so "Eco tour" about that? We parked and walked up a hundred or so vertical feet to the first zip line. We received instructions about zip lining. We heard a two stroke engine whining a few hundred feet distant. Mosquitoes began to hover, land and suck blood. The "natural" repellent sold at the shop had minimal effectiveness. We seemed to zig zag through the forest. We zipped over unremarkable woodland, small waterfalls and other chasms, but really didn't have a good long lo0k at anything. After the 4th zip, we caught up with the two stroke engine, which powered a blower whose operator was supposed to have finished his work before 8 a.m. Really poor form to have the guy out there making noise after we'd paid over $170 each. After the 8th zip, which was 1000' long, we came to a small clearing where the truck awaited us. At first I thought, "oh, somebody brought the truck down here from where we got off." Not. No one had moved the truck. I recalled that the guides said that elevation gradient was 1 foot of descent per 100 feet of cable. That coincided with my observation of the first few lines in which I perceived little difference in elevation between the start and end of each zip.

My rating for the zip-line tour: 1 out of 10.

I think I'm not a zip-lining type of person. If I was, maybe I wouldn't have rated this business as poorly as I did. When you take an "Eco tour," you should receive information about the habitat, flora, fauna, history etc and you should not be rushed from one zip to the next. Guides should stop the truck to talk about features instead of trying to yell above the din of the engine. There is probably not much reason to zip through a non native forest when a walk on a trail would have sufficed.

Oh some people just get grumpy when the day drags on.

February 29, 2011. Bought a chicken from KTA grocery store and went to Ace hardware to get a bit of hardware cloth big enough to make a cage for the chicken and also to get a length of cable to attach to the cage. Brought some rice in a pot with water. Returned to Volcanoes N.P. with John and Merle, put the chicken in the cage and lowered it into a steam vent. we used oven mitts to set the rice pot in the steam vent. we returned after about 90 minutes. Great picnic until the Park Police arrived. Then we had to bribe the officer with a beer, a wing and a breast. Then it began to rain and we all finished eating in the car.

Back at the condo. Mixed even more dough for another loaf of bread.

February 30, 2011. Great bread. Paddling was great, had a huli practice in warm waters after the paddle.

February 31, 2011. Day of rest. Watched Laurel and Hardy films all day.

March 1, 2011. Paddling: in the groove. Whale tail near shore north of Keauhou Sheraton. Flying fish!

The vacation over, Vern took me to the airport, where I stood in the United Airlines line for >100 minutes to get my boarding pass. Southwest Airlines would have handled the same line in about 20 minutes. I wondered about the source of the problem: Island Time culture, bad software or really bad training. The restaurant at the airport was exceptionally bad--a teriyaki chicken burger was a 2.5" hockey puck of chicken perched on a 5" bun, a weeping leaf of lettuce and 4 pickle slices with a bit of Teriyaki sauce that cost >$9. No one should be that desperate. Bad, badder and baddest.

On the plane back to San Fran and then Seattle--well, the first plane was 4 hours late, getting me into SF at 1 a.m. United Airlines seat spacing was extremely poor--I'm not tall, but I could see tall people in distress--horrible, horrible airline company. I accepted the hotel room and breakfasted at 8 a.m. Got to the airport at 9 a.m. but this plane was also delayed, 3 hours. Finally in SeaTac at 3 p.m. yech feeling until I napped at Berkeley Drive exit in Lakewood. Stopped in Olympia to clean out the last niches in the Volvo before selling it. Then found a McDonalds, where I discovered that a 1/3 lb Angus Burger Deluxe supplies 750 calories, the medium fries 380 calories--I felt sated for at least 4 hours. Got on the rollers and pedaled for about 20 minutes.

Wishkah paddle. Volvo: Sold?

Paddle on the Wishkah river. About 43 deg F. Wore: black LL Bean long sleeve fleece shirt and Patagonia jacket on top, LL Bean sport pants and Marmot rain pants below. REI cwazy wabbit fleece hat with brim, Headsweats underneath. NRS zip boots, wool socks. NRS Mystery gloves. Hands warmed in twenty min. 52" X 9.5" paddle.

emails rec'd re: 1998 Volvo.

Rec'd $320 from Jessica R. as 10% deposit. Two weeks balance due $2880. Sales price of $3200.

Buyer is aware of need for oil, due to leak or burning.

Bread came out a little bit flat. Not sure if I want to take to Harriers.

Walked & talked with Tim T.

Made curried rice, split pea chicken dish for harriers, took bread--all good.

Called Bill Anderson. John F and I have first right of refusal once his Huki V2A goes on the market for sale, pending repair/modification of the Hurricane OC2 borrowed from JD Davies.

Another cold day

Yes, the clouds parted to let some sun in, but by the time I got on the water, haziness in the sky filtered out the brightest of the earthbound rays. No heat came down with the light.

Maybe it got to 48 deg F.--probably not. After 40 minutes paddling up the Chehalis, I still didn't have warm hands. Turning back, I faced the mild but cold wind. Fleece windblock hat and long neoprene top and bottom just didn't keep enough heat in. I changed my clothes at the car. Back up to the house. hot food and drinks. Big down parka even though inside temp was 64 deg F. I am ready to go to Kona and sweat!

I opened a jar of the tuna John Forrester gave me. Mixed with Mayo and a few squirts of Tabasco and spread on my no-knead bread. It doesn't get any better than this.

Looked at the calendar in anticipation of my week in Kona. What the Mao happened to February 29th and 30th? They disappeared and so did two days of my vacation! Discovered that it would cost at least $180 to change flights--ixnay on that. I need to keep a "free" trip free.

9 p.m. Mixed more no-knead bread dough for baking in a.m.

Outrigger club meeting

Yesterday, baked a 600 gm (flour weight) loaf of no knead raisin bread & went to Hui Va'a O Wakinikona meeting in Renton, where we inked forms & checks for USAC/K and for the Hui Va'a. Carl Cook, Bill Anderson's paddling partner, joined the club. Heard some discussion about practice recovering after a Huli and practice putting on a life vest after a capsize. I didn't say it: We live in a very cool climate and sail over cold waters--aside from sweating a little more, what do we lose by just wearing our flotation?

Made a comment on inability of skirts on the Mirage canoe to keep water out during the Gorge races. Ixnay on suspenders.

Found out why members dislike the old Calimar canoe in waves: no rocker, goes under water in waves. I'm now aware of request to membership of mother organization for $$ for new canoe. I wonder how we justify this request when the number of active paddlers has declined?

Abby C. said she'd just acquired a Dutch oven for baking no knead bread. wooo-o-o-o weee-e-e-e.

More on the car

Volvo's build quality declined before just before I bought my 1998 V70, though I wouldn't know that until a few years into my ownership. Reliability improved enough lately for Consumer Reports to recommend 4 of their 9 models, but I didn't think a V50 was worth the extra $10G, esp since CR didn't give that one the nod. At the same time Hyundai reliability had arisen from the dust heap to the sky, which put me into one recently. This Elantra is a BEAUTIFUL car, much more so than the Sonata. I feel strange going from a stodgy boxy Volvo to the sculpted wind splitting Elantra. I hope the car doesn't become so popular that thieves like them for chop shops.

The Elantra is much lighter than the Volvo & lets in more road noise, especially on rough roads. The ride is compliant, without jarring from bumps. EPA fuel economy ratings (29/40mpg) are close if I don't drive aggressively. With gas >$3/gallon this car feels right. The car wants to surge from idle so I have to baby the gas pedal a bit, but the auto tranny is so smooth, I love it. Acceleration is good. Nice to have the interior lights on when you press "unlock" on the key fob and after you lock up. Premium cars sported these features a decade ago.

The stock sound system is superb, but the iPod link sadly is very basic, I can't browse playlists, etc. The system read a USB drive with MP3's without trouble.

The safety features are very reassuring. They are a must have for a car this light @2700 lb.

I didn't find the seat anywhere near as comfortable as in my Volvo--the side supports were too close together, requiring that I sit on a pad to keep them from pressing against my legs and butt. Were they made for a 10 year old child? I liked that I could raise and lower the seat and the spaciousness in the back seat was almost on par with the next larger model.

Why they left out the spare tire, I don't know, but I prefer not to have a compact spare. My Volvo's 15" snow wheels/tires fit just right, so one of the Elantra's 16" wheels went into the spare tire cubby. About $200 gets you a spare from a discount tire dealer. I just have to buy a jack & lug wrench now. I think I could change a tire faster than using the sealant and inflator that Hyundai supplied.

On the bread

O k. I haven't blogged about bread baking for a long stretch. In the fall of 2010, I performed a web search on no knead bread, and came up with www.breadtopia.com and Jim Lahey & Mark Bittman, of the New York Times Food section, laying out the recipe & technique for the best Artisan bread, baked in a covered Dutch oven instead of on a flat tray. Nice crust and nice, moist, chewy crumb with some biggish holes, but not too big.

Variants include adding dried cranberries or raisins. I coat most loaves now with sesame seeds. I have probably baked ~3 loaves per week since Sept 2010.

Originally Jim called for letting the yeast work the dough for 18 hr and lets the dough proof in loaf form for 2 hr. I let the yeast work the dough for 13-14 hr. The loaf proofs for 70-100 min. and goes into a 450 deg covered dutch oven and bakes for 35 min and then 10 more min with the cover off.

Have bread, have happy.

No time on water

So-o-o-o cold out there. 37 deg F. Snow falling in cold wet blotches.

Almost a week has elapsed since the Kalama outrigger race. I had a good race with the smaller paddle that I bought soon after getting my canoe. I did something in the race that I almost never do: pass other boats. For the first time I could tell how differences in my technique were affecting my progress relative to other paddlers. Every other race that I've been in, once half the race was over, not much ever changed in my standing relative to the field. Raising my stroke rate and finishing the stroke by mid thigh seemed to make my boat move faster. As soon as I got lazy, lengthening the stroke and/or dropping the stroke rate, my boat began to lose inches to other boats.

Pre-race, I'd cautioned Mark McDermott re: his paddling the club Makia in the mild chop that day. dunno if that was bad etiquette. If I had my neurons up to operating temperature, I would have offered to switch canoes.

Slept in the car at Target for an hour after the race.

I saw some excellent instruction on outrigger paddling on YouTube. One by Mountain Home Canoe Club. Others by Hano Hano CC. I'll probably forget by the time I get back on the water. I cannot get enthusiastic about paddling, knowing that I'll start cold, take a while to warm up, finish warm and chill again after taking out.

Weather experts predicted sun the day after the canoe race, and indeed 'twas. As well as a great day to ski Nordic at Cabin Creek.

Jeff Freed came over yesterday on my note of having fresh bread for him. Was good. Also prepared a simple 10 minute pasta.

Two more loaves of bread out of the oven today. One loaf plain w/sesame seeds another with raisins--1/2 of each to John Forrester. One could put on a few pounds.

Notes from another blog v1.2

Friday, 24 March 2006

Now Playing: Ohhhh, little one?

Oh, Little one!

You poor, poor little Rumpelstiltskin!

Do you get out of bed everyday looking for a reason to get angry? You came to work today and didn't examine your patient! A SaO2 of 93%. hmmmm. chronic bronchitis. morbid obesity. Maybe you should redirect your anger a little closer to the source. I suggest you prepare your patient for surgery. Don't expect me to tune them up for you. I don't like you, because I worry that you'll misinterpret any comment as disrespectful. Your insecurity has made Me feel insecure. Now how did I let that happen?

I do tune up patients for other surgeons, but I don't touch yours because I don't owe you any favors. You tried so hard to get me canned--you failed--now YOU are leaving. If they're not ready for surgery, I'd just rather bow out and let someone else expose your patient to risk. It doesn't adversely affect patient care. You can't drag any patient into surgery without proper preparation. And you don't like anybody to get informed consent from your patients. Tough world.

I'm skipping your farewell party, because you needn't have any of your victims present.

Akbar Ali, I wish you luck in Roswell, NM. I don't predict you will make many anesthesia friends, but please do try a little harder, by letting them do their jobs. Even if they all come from thisa-stan or thata-stan, they'll still want to take good care of your patients--let them. Try not to mumble. Enunciate. Slow down.

You brag much about how much $ you'll make in New Mex. I like not to talk about money in the presence of people who earn far less. On all subjects: Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

Notes from another blog

Jeff paddling

Wednesday, 5 July 2006

Returned today from Hawai'i. Surprisingly, Lydia paddled with me 3x. Does she like it? Will she paddle more if we have a really light kayak (less than 30 lb) for her to use and cartop on a new and lower profile Toyota Matrix? I have a Pygmy Arctic Tern 14 in a box but with 6 oz fiberglass cloth. Should I buy more marine okoume and some 4 oz(or lighter) glass cloth?

Thursday, 23 March 2006

Sammamish Race

Now Playing: Hot day!

mar 2006. I used Michael Lampi's Cadence pedal boat. Finished the Race at last after starting with the long course boaters and turning back after about 3 miles to start with the short course boaters, taking pictures of any racers. I couldn't keep up with the rowers, so few pics of them appear on soundrowers.org . As I unclipped from Mike's pedals, a severe hamstring cramp afflicted my right leg. Paul Rollinger had to help me out. Right after the race, chomped 4 slices of pizza, thanks Mike. Then drove to REI Seattle which was only 16 miles away. Amazingly short cp to Aberdeen-Olympia ride.

Browsed REI and stopped to try out a cot--I closed my eyes. I awoke before the store closed & shopped a bit. Store employees misidentified me as a Sea Kayaker Magazine employee due to my embroidered vest. They liked to talk quite a bit. I felt really good.

Wednesday, 22 March 2006

Now Playing: Sea Lion or bear?

Paddled from S Aberdeen ramp to Cozzy ramp and saw Keith Lile paddling up just south of Junction City.

What did we see betw WalMart and Swanson's? bear? Sea lion? What a big head! didn't have my camera! aieeeee! I think it had ears like a bear, but perhaps my memory fails me.

Sunday, 19 February 2006

La Conner kayak race

Seda impulse. Rudder disabled--Credit Steve Bennett, a teacher, not a mechanic. Blame self for not inspecting kayak after loaning out. 25 deg F at the ramp. wore a drysuit, hat and gloves. got Too hot as the race started in full sun which shone throughout. Fear of cold has cause overdressing. Caught up to a surf ski at end, trailing it by only 1 sec.