2023 Life Logs, Day 151: Boat Launch Day
Date: Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 68, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

She’s in the water! I had to get the cottage ready for a showing this morning and then Shadow and I took off for Mashpee where I had to get blood tests done for an annual physical. Then we went to the boat. I just couldn’t stay away. The two big trucks from Brownell Boat Transport were in the process of loading the sailboat and dinghy on one truck and the mast on the other. Brownell has an excellent reputation, but still it was disconcerting for Heather to see her sailboat rocking a bit while they were placing the braces. I arrived just in time to watch the final loading and then Heather asked if I could drive into Falmouth to their house to pick up something important that they had forgotten. Shadow and I drove like crazy to get the items and get back to the boat before the Brownell trucks left. We made it with about 5 minutes to spare. Then the two big trucks and Heather and Jed in their car were off to Marion across Buzzards Bay. That is where the boat would be put in the water. I headed home to cut the grass, but I was very relieved to hear later in the afternoon that all had gone well. Once the boat was in the water, there was a lot of jockeying around in close quarters to get the boat on a dock and then out to a temporary mooring. When I asked Jed how that went, he said Heather is an excellent captain and she did her job well. I am so proud to have a daughter who captains her own sailboat. In sailing around the world, Mark and I probably met a few hundred boats, but I can’t think of even ten that were captained by women. Maybe seven or eight. I know Mark would be so proud. He trained her well and I like to think he was there today watching and guiding her.

After cutting the grass and having lunch, I headed into town to pick up Jonah from jazz band practice. He leaves his big bass at school all week but brings it home after practice on Thursdays. It is big and heavy and he appreciates getting a ride. I did some shopping for an Encore event tomorrow and went to Staples to buy a cable and an adaptor that I hope will speed up the upload of files from my new computer to the cloud. Heather and Jed think that might be the cause of the issues I am having, so I’ll try to fast upload by connecting the computer directly to my router. I sure hope that helps. Then I took Ollie to his saxophone lesson. When we got back home, Heather and Jed were home and Heather was on to the next project. This winter she moved the plant containers on the deck which required rerouting some of the irrigation hoses. But to do this, she needed more of a particular irrigation line. I went to where I will soon be living to take some of the line from my irrigation system that I moved from the cottage, but it wasn’t enough. Heather did a work around and made it work. So, she now has irrigation for the planters on the deck. This Friday I hope to get the drip irrigation system installed in the raised beds at the new house. Only two of the four raised beds have garden soil in them, so I need to do something about that as well.

Tomorrow is an Encore day. I will meet with Christina Brodie, who will be co-president with me, to do some planning. Then we will head to a 4 pm welcoming event for Newcomers moving to Encore that we are hosting. No rest for the wicked.

2023 Life Logs, Day 150: Potpourri
Date: Tuesday, May 30, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 62, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Today was a potpourri of activities … boat, Encore meeting, Encore shopping, starting the moving process, doing laundry, dealing with the new computer that is having issues, and going to Ollie’s end-of-year band concert.

I started the day by going to the boat to put a second coat of anti-fouling paint on the dinghy. When I left, I took one more photo of the boat and the dinghy next to it which triggered a flood of then and now moments. Over the past two months, so much work has been done by me, Heather, Jed, and the Goldpebbles. On April 4, I started the removal of old varnish. On April 6, the bottom of the boat was soda blasted to remove the build-up of bottom paint. The boat now has all of her teak cleared of old varnish, cleaned, and teak sealed. Her bottom has two new barrier coats and two coats of anti-fouling bottom paint. She has a shiny new green waterline stripe. Her top sides have been polished. Water and electrical systems have been improved. The booms, the mast, the bimini covering, and anything else that got in the sights of Ollie has been rid of dirt, mold, and mildew. The dinghy bottom has been painted with anti-fouling. I am sure I am leaving things out and I am sure there are more things that could have been done. But she looks great and is launched tomorrow. The name Eider has been removed from the back of the boat. After the renaming ceremony, she will be called Ardenna, a genus of seabirds that include shearwaters. Shearwaters, just like this sailboat, use a “shearing” flight technique of flying close to the water, seemingly cutting or “shearing” the tips of the waves. Go, Ardenna!

By 11:30 am, I was in an Encore planning meeting. I went home to walk Shadow and then took him with me to the laundromat, to shop for some items for an Encore event on Thursday, and to deliver four boxes of books to the library for their July book sale. This is part of the moving process that must accelerate over the next four weeks if I am to be moved by July 1. I dropped Shadow at home and went to meet with Art Gilbert who has been working with me on my issues with the new computer. He has exhausted what he can do. But tonight I talked with Heather and Jed and they think all of the problems stem from the fact that I am trying to upload everything on the computer to the cloud. They had some suggestions that I will try before taking the computer back to Best Buy.

Then came the best part of the day, Ollie’s end-of-the-year band concert. He loves playing the saxophone and I enjoy watching him. This was a combined 5th and 6th grade concert. I am constantly amazed at the quality of music instruction in this school district. It is very impressive.

2023 Life Logs, Day 149: Memorial Day Observance and Boat Work
Date: Monday, May 29, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 67, Low 46 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I really was going to skip the Falmouth Memorial Day Observance this morning and head straight to the boat. BUT I am addicted to those grandkids and anytime they are a part of something, I just have to go see them. This morning Jonah was a flag bearer for the Boy Scouts, and Ollie and Jed were marching with the Scouts. They all marched up Main Street to the library lawn and the instant they were there, Ollie took off running to go behind the crowds to join the Falmouth Combined School Band to America the Beautiful with them.

I did slip away early, went to West Marine to buy anti-fouling paint for the dinghy, drove home to check on Shadow, and then back to town to pick up Ollie and head to the boat. Together, we painted the dinghy bottom, I sprayed the bimini cover with Fabric Guard to help it be more water resistant, and then Ollie and I worked together on to get the stainless structure that supports the bimini off the deck and back in place. We started cleaning the stainless on the boat, but we ran out of time. I will put a second coat of bottom paint on the dinghy in the morning and clean some stainless, but I have an 11:30 meeting. When I leave for that, it will be the end of my boat work for spring 2023!!! Well, not really. I still have the drop boards and drink holder from the cockpit here at the cottage and I have to remove the varnish and get those coated with teak sealer. Then I think I will be done.

2023 Life Logs, Day 148: Still All About Boat Work
Date: S70day, May 28, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 70, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

My morning started at the boat around 10 am and it ended at the boat around 7 pm. I did get two coats of teak sealer applied, and after Ollie and Jed arrived in the early afternoon, Ollie and Jed got the other half of the winter cover folded and ready to put away until next winter. Ollie got the booms cleaned, and Ollie and I got the bimini cover cleaned. While we did this, Jed worked on waxing the hull. By 2:30 pm, I was ready for a lunch break and Ollie went home with me. I took Shadow for a walk, we ate, and we returned to the boat. Jed wasn’t there, so I called to find out where he had disappeared to. He had also gone home. He checked in with Jonah and Sam and was at the hardware store when I called. For the remainder of the day, once Jed returned, he continued on with the waxing while Ollie and cleaned the dinghy bottom. I brought vinegar from home, covered the bottom with towels, then soaked the towels with white vinegar to help dissolve the barnacle remains that were stuck to the bottom like they had been cemented there. They had been . . . with natural glue. The vinegar did help, but it took a lot of scraping to get the bottom cleaned. Ollie and I decided we need to apply anti-fouling paint on the bottom tomorrow, so that has been added to the list. Jed got the inside of the boat vacuumed and ready to receive the sail bags tomorrow. He also has to finish waxing the hull. Jed also got a new zinc put on the prop and Ollie did a fantastic job of wire brushing the prop. If I sound like I am rambling, I am. I am too tired to organize my thoughts. But the bottom line is that the boat is ready for launch. There are more things we want to get done tomorrow, but if they do not get done, the show will go on. The work can be done once the boat is in the water.

Jed, Jonah, and Ollie will be in the Memorial Day Parade tomorrow morning. Sam will be in his second day of driver’s ed class. I think I am going to skip the parade in order to clean the stainless on the boat. But I might change my mind and go the Memorial Day observance. I have to go into town to West Marine, so maybe I’ll see the parade and slip away before the program begins and then get myself to the boat.

2023 Life Logs, Day 147: Boat
Date: Saturday, May 27, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 69, Low 52 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The weather is cooperating, my old body is hanging in there, and everything is going along smoothly with the boat. BUT, boat work just takes an enormous amount of time and it almost always goes even slower than expected. AND you always find just one more than that needs to be done. That being the case, we are still making progress. Putting on the second coat of teak sealer is still not done, but late this afternoon I was able to get Ollie and Sam to come to the boat with me and we got a ton done in just one hour. Ollie volunteered to wash down the mast. It was not only dirty, there were parts that were green with mold. On our way to the boat, we stopped at Eastman Hardware downtown and bought Jomax. It works magic on mold and mildew and it did just that on the mast. You just spray it on with a garden sprayer and rinse it off. Ollie had so much fun doing it, he volunteered to come tomorrow to clean the booms. Sam brought his drill and put the hardware back on in the cockpit. Unfortunately, he was not feeling great today. The pollen count is through the roof and he seems to be having the allergy attack I had last week. I spent my time going up the ladder to check on Sam’s progress and down the ladder to check in with Ollie. Ollie also helped me lay out the front half of the canvas winter cover and get it folded and in the back of my car.

Tomorrow will be more of the same, depending on who is taking Jonah to his noon soccer game in Harwich. Jed took him today and was gone from 12:30 pm to 7 pm. Jed was going to try to find a ride for him tomorrow, but I haven’t heard if that is the case. Sam went to his soccer game today, riding with a friend, as he discovered his driver’s ed class is tomorrow and Monday, not today and tomorrow. The Boy Scouts were having a car wash today and Ollie worked there from 10:30 am to 12:45 pm when I picked him up. He was then with me for the remainder of the day. We picked up pulled pork from Wicked and Wood and corn on the cob for dinner for the Goldstones. I didn’t stay for dinner as I needed to get home to Shadow. I had the biggest artichoke I think I have ever eaten and an ear of corn. And now I need to take Shadow out for his last pit stop of the day and get this tired body to bed!

2023 Life Logs, Day 146: Encore, Boat, Grandkid
Date: Friday, May 26, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 66, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

My day started with a Zoom meeting to discuss an Encore issue. By the time that ended and I took Shadow for a walk, it was 11 am before I got to the boat. That gave me only two hours to apply teak sealer. Not enough time to do I all I needed to do, but at least every bit of wood on the boat has at least one coat of sealer. I will continue that job tomorrow morning.

From the boat, I headed home to pick up Shadow. I have been leaving him so much that I decided to take him with me this afternoon. We picked Sam up at the end of the school day at 2 pm and headed for the Registry of Motor Vehicles in Yarmouth so Sam could present the paperwork to get his Learner’s Permit. I still can’t believe he is old enough to drive, but the RMV says he is. That process was fairly painless, but he still has to pass an online test to get his official Learner’s Permit. Then in order to get his Driver’s License, he has to take a Driver’s Ed course and pass the written test, the driver test, and drive with an adult with him in the car for six months. But at least the process has begun. After the visit at the RMV, I drove Sam to Harwich and dropped him off for rowing practice. While he was rowing, I drove back to Hyannis to get an item we need for the boat that was not available at the Falmouth West Marine. While in Hyannis, I made a quick stop at Whole Foods for two items I desperately needed and can’t get in Falmouth. Then it was back to Harwich to pick up Sam and then home.

That was it for today. Tomorrow, Jed is going to do the traveling to take Jonah to two afternoon soccer games. After I work on the boat in the morning, Ollie and I are going to hang out for part of the afternoon and then pick Sam up from his first day of Driver’s Ed class and head to the boat to do a couple of specific jobs that the boys can help with. Then we’ll fix dinner and have it ready when Jed and Jonah get home around 7 pm. I think Sunday is more of the same. Stay tuned.

2023 Life Logs, Day 145: Teak Sealing Day
Date: Thursday, May 25, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 64, Low 46 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

It was another jam-packed day … of to the boat in the morning to continue applying teak sealer, mid-day break for a Zoom call concerning Encore planning, home for a quick lunch, back to the boat to apply more teak sealer. Then at 5 pm, I went to pick Sam up to take him to a local soccer practice. I returned to the boat to do more teak sealing while he was at practice, but it became apparent to me that there was no way get all of the teak done today. I have two coats a few things and one coat on all but the starboard toe rail. But since there is no forecast of rain, Jed and I removed the winter cover just before I left to go pick up Sam. Jed had to leave to pick up Ollie who was also at soccer practice. Since there were just the two of us today, without Heather, Jonah skipped his bass lesson this afternoon and he was at home. I took Sam by the boat on the way home and I wish I had been able to capture his expression when we drove down the driveway to the boat. Sam is NOT easily impressed, but he was truly amazed at the amount of work that has been done and how much better the boat looks than it did last fall. So progress is being made.

I have a Zoom meeting first thing tomorrow and then I will go to the boat and try to finish the teak sealing. I only have until 1 pm, so I might not be able to get it done. But I will be close and will find time on Saturday. At 1 pm, I will go home to walk the dog and eat lunch before picking Sam up at 2:00 to take him to Yarmouth to get his Learner’s Permit and then on to rowing practice.

Heather left home at 3 am and checked into her hotel in Telluride at 4 pm our time. At 9:05 pm, 18 hours after leaving home, she sent a photo of her at work outside and “still standing.” Hopefully she can get enough sleep tonight to make up for such a long day today.

2023 Life Logs, Day 144: Boat Painting Done
Date: Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 59, Low 49 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Heather was determined to get the boat painting done today before she leaves for Colorado at 3 am in the morning. And she did it. She finished the second coat of bottom paint this afternoon, took the tape off, and then taped off the top of the waterline stripe. She couldn’t tape off the bottom of the waterline stripe over the newly painted bottom paint, so she just used a paint guide and did it free hand. It was almost dark when she was finished, but we could see enough to know that it looks good. Maybe not Heather’s normal perfect, but certainly good.

After my morning Encore meetings, I assisted Heather with the bottom paint and then turned my attention to applying teak sealer to the teak on deck. We are not varnishing anything because Jed would not be able to be on the boat for two or three weeks due to his allergies. The teak sealer is not a problem for him. The teak won’t be shiny varnish, but it all looks the same now, not a mottled mess of old varnish and gray spots where the varnish wore off years ago. I got one coat on half the teak by the end of the evening and will finish the first coat on all teak tomorrow and maybe even get the second coat on. The can says to put on only two coats as more can make the teak look too dark. But as it wears, we can add more during the summer.

So, WOW. After weeks of work, as dark took over this 24th day of May, we began to see the light. Once the teak is sealed, we can take off the winter cover, polish the top sides, and then do all the normal maintenance things that need to be done prior to launch each year. Hopefully when Heather comes to check on the boat when she returns next Tuesday, Jed and I will have it ready to launch the next morning!!!

2023 Life Logs, Day 143: Church of the Transfiguration Field Trip
Date: Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 60, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I consider myself to be a spiritual person, not a religious one. But I certainly admire true dedication to doing good in this world, and I enjoy beautiful art and architecture. That made today’s Newcomers/Encore field trip to the Church of the Transfiguration in Orleans on the Outer Cape a very positive experience for me. The Sister that served as our guide conveyed a feeling of love and admiration for the art and architecture that was absolutely contagious. You walk on art and are surrounded by art. The floor of the sanctuary is mosaic after mosaic. I especially enjoyed the one showing Jonah’s legs sticking out of the whale’s mouth. The Sister explained that the name, Church of the Transfiguration, reflects the hopeful message “that in Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, it is possible for our lives to be transformed more and more into the likeness of Christ.” She explained that it is a Christian church, a nunnery and a monastery of both Protestants and Catholics, as well as a modern day art and architectural delight. There are mosaics and frescos, sculpted bronze, stone, wood, and glass. “Drawing on scripture, church tradition, and the local setting of Cape Cod” the Church of the Transfiguration attempts to “visually proclaim that all earthly life has heavenly meaning …” I could go on and on, but better than that would be to encourage you to visit this very special place here on the shores of Cape Cod.

I left the field trip early to head back to Falmouth so that I could drive Sam to his rowing practice in Harwich. Because of my early departure, I missed hearing the organ being played. At some point, I will return to attend an organ concert and just enjoy sitting in such a beautiful space.

2023 Life Logs, Day 142: Teak Cleaning Day
Date: Monday, May 22, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 59, Low 46 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The next chapter in the never-ending story . . . cleaning the teak again. I spent a huge amount of time getting rid of the old varnish on the teak. This boat has teak handrails on the cabin top, teak eyebrow molding on the sides of the cabin top, a teak bowsprit, a teak toe rail, teak mountings, teak cockpit coaming, and teak trim around the companionway. It also has teak companionway drop boards and a teak cockpit table and drink holder. The drop boards and cockpit table and drink holder are in my living room waiting to be sanded and varnished. All of the other teak got cleaned a week ago, but it needed another go. So today was that day. I won’t know how it looks until it is completely dry, but however it looks, it is as good as it is going to get as we are out of time. I will wait until Wednesday to make sure all the teak is completely dry before starting to apply teak sealer. Heather decided not to use varnish because Jed wouldn’t be able to be on the boat for at least a couple of weeks. And since it goes in the water next week, there is no time for any varnish to be applied this season. I will hopefully get the drop boards done this week so they can be on the boat a week so after it is in the water. In the meantime, we are using a clear plexiglass ‘drop board.’ And I am going to check with Heather about the table and drink holder. They might just be put back on the boat as is for this year if they want to use them right away. Utility before beauty.

2023 Life Logs, Day 141:  Boat Bottom Painting
Date:  Sunday, May 21, 2023
Weather:  Mostly Sunny; High 68, Low 53 degrees F
Location:  At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The never-ending story continues.  It was another boat workday.  It rained so hard overnight that I got up and went to the boat as soon as I could to assess the situation.  What I found was a wet boat, top to bottom, that needed to be dry ASAP so that the bottom could be painted today.  This was the crucial day when the last coat of base paint needed to be applied, left to sit for 4-5 hours to dry ‘just right’ before adding the first coat of bottom paint.  The first coat of bottom paint needs to bond to the last coat of base paint, so both coats have to be done on the same day.  I wiped down the deck.  It is still under the winter cover, but there are tears in the cover and the wind blew so hard that the rain came right in.  Then I started wiping down the bottom, then the topsides, then back on the deck to wipe down the outside of the toe rail as more drips were coming down.  Heather arrived after picking Ollie up from a overnight birthday party, removed the tape on the waterline as water was trapped under it, wiped that down, and started retaping.  Finally, the second base coat was going on.  The first coat was gray and the second one was white.  You alternate colors so that as the paint wears off, you know which layer you are down to.  After I did my part of painting the bottom of the keel, I took Ollie home and then returned.  Heather was moving the stands so she could paint under them.  It was 1:00 or 1:30 pm when we finished the base coat and broke for lunch, promising to return by 4:30 pm to roll on the first bottom coat.  The bottom paint is black, and it went on smoothly.  Heather is using a water-based bottom paint, Interlux Micron WA.  Good thing because both us got more of it on us than we had with the base coat paint.  Heather looked like she had a black moustache, and my hands were splotched with black.  The black washed off my hands easily, so I hope the black on Heather’s face did as well.  But the important thing is that the boat looked great, with the black bottom paint in all the right places.

When we were done, Heather removed the waterline tape line as I am returning tomorrow to do a second round of cleaning of the teak on deck.  That requires washing down with copious amounts of water.  When that is done, I can start applying the teak sealer and Heather can reapply the waterline tape before she rolls on the final coat of bottom paint on Wednesday.  There are MANY other things to be done before she launches on Wednesday, March 31, but somehow, I am confident that we will get it done … taping off and painting the waterline stripe, polishing the top sides, and washing down the mast, and on and on.  Anything that needs to be done will have to be done by me, Jed, and the boys, as Heather leaves town on Thursday.  But we have our marching orders from Captain Heather and I am confident we can get the job done.

2023 Life Logs, Day 140: Ollie’s Soccer Game, Then Boat Work Rained Out
Date: Saturday, May 20, 2023
Weather: Rainy Day; High 63, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The rain held off long enough for Ollie’s soccer team to play their game this morning. This was a home game against Dartmouth and ended up in a 1-1 tie.

By the end of the game, I was holding my folding chair over my head as an umbrella as it started raining in the fourth quarter. This was not to keep from getting wet, but to keep my glasses from getting wet so I could see the game. I tried watching without my glasses on, but that didn’t work. The chair made a great umbrella. Heather was at the game and Jed was off to Rhode Island with Jonah for an 11 am game and then another one at 4:30. I don’t know if either of Jonah’s games were rained out, but I do know that they were still not home around 4 pm. So, I assume his games were a go.

Before the game, I went to the Master Gardener’s Plant Sale at the fair grounds. What a zoo! So many people come and you really need to know what you are looking for and grab it quickly. I got some tomatoes for Heather and some other vegetables for both of us. And after the game, I came home for lunch and then headed to the boat to do the first application of teak sealer on the handrails and around the companionway just see how it is going to look. But I was rained out. The winter cover has too many holes and everything had splashes of water. Hopefully I’ll get to do this tomorrow. The rain is supposed to end by early morning and Heather is planning on doing the second coat of barrier paint and the first coat of bottom paint. In between the two coats, we have to wait while the first one dries. I will work on the teak during this time.

Since I couldn’t work at the boat, I came home and got the towels and rags we used yesterday for wiping down the boat after the application of Interlux 202 Fiberglas Solvent Wash. It is really smelly and Jed is terribly allergic to this stuff, so I brought the towels and rags home, soaked them in buckets outside overnight, and then took them to the laundromat this afternoon. Then I ended my day by transplanting the tomatoes plants I have been growing under the grow lights into larger pots. I got half of them done and they are now outside to harden off in the shade before planting. I’ll try to get the other half done tomorrow.

2023 Life Logs, Day 139: Back to Boat Work
Date: Friday, May 19, 2023
Weather: Sunny, Still on the Cool Side; High 62, Low 53 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

The boat work continued today. Heather took the day off work so she could apply the first epoxy barrier coat over the bottom of the boat. In March, the bottom was soda blasted to remove all bottom paint down to the barrier coat, and the gel coat in some places. This was done because there were years and years of bottom paint on the boat and it was lumpy and peeling. Removing that paint by sanding was just not a good idea for the environment or the people doing it. Thus, the soda blasting. To build back correctly, two or three coats barrier paint have to be applied and then two or three coats of bottom paint. So today was step one, the application of the first barrier coat and I went to assist Heather.

There are eight stands that are supporting the boat, keeping it upright, and we needed to place eight more side by side to the ones that are there so we could clean and apply barrier paint under the stand supports. First, Heather had to wipe down the entire bottom with Interlux 202 Fiberglass Boat Wash, wipe that down, spray with water, wipe that down, and wait for it to dry before applying InterProtect 2000E, the barrier coat paint. The stands are very heavy, but I was able to drag the needed stands to the boat while Heather did the boat wash. She then placed the new stands next to the ones in place, unscrewed the ones holding up the boat, one by one, while replacing each one with a new one so she could wash down the areas under the base plates. Then we painted. Heather did most of the painting, but I helped by painting the bottom of the keel and the bow of the boat, and by being Heather’s go-fer. Once done with the first coat, we had to wait for the barrier coat to dry, move the stands again, and paint the areas where the stand plates had been. This took most of the day, but the next coats will go faster because we don’t need to do the boat wash, just paint. And we now have a technique for changing the stand supports. Tomorrow Heather can’t paint because we are supposed to get rain, so we hope to start applying teak sealer to the teak on deck. The boat is still under cover, so we can do that when it is raining. The next painting day will be Sunday, and then Wednesday late afternoon. After that, Heather is out of town until the day of the boat launch, so I will have to do any painting left with whatever help I can find. Jed absolutely cannot even be near the boat when this painting is being done as he is very allergic to paints, varnishes, and any cleaners. But I am sure I can some help if needed.

I saw a photo of Escargot, the sailboat owned by friends Bruce and Jane Woodin, on Facebook today. She is ready to be launched and looks fantastic. Congratulations, Woodins, on a job well done. I couldn’t help but be a bit envious, but we’ll get there. In a week and a half, Eider will be renamed Ardenna and will be ready for her launch.

2023 Life Logs, Day 138: Gardening Progress
Date: Thursday, May 18, 2023
Weather: Cold Overnight, Sunny, but Cool; High 55, Low 44 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I took a break from Newcomers meetings and boat work today and turned my attention to gardening. I spent three hours with Lynda Onthank working on what will be our shared garden this summer. Lynda owns the home I will be renting starting in July. She has tried gardening on the property, but the garden was too shady. So, during the past few weeks, she moved the garden to a new spot beside the driveway where it will get more sun and proposed that we garden together. I immediately became very excited by the proposition. I attempted to move my raised beds there, but that proved to be too difficult. I bought new metal raised beds that Lynda and I assembled today. Two of them are almost full of soil I had moved there earlier, but the other two are empty. Slowly, one bucket at a time, I am going to try and move more garden soil from here. I know I am going to have to buy some, but I will move as much as I can. It felt great to work with Lynda to get the beds ready. Hopefully over the Memorial Day weekend, the traditional planting time here on the Cape, we will get some things planted.

Other than an afternoon of gardening, I had a morning chiropractor appointment and took Jonah to his bass lesson late this afternoon. Tomorrow I am planning to head out early to assist Heather with the painting of the bottom of the boat. She hopes to get two base coats and one coat of bottom paint on in one day. That is ambitious, but she is starting early and hopes to make her goal. I will do as much as I can to assist.

2023 Life Logs, Day 137: Congratulations to Heather MH Handley
Date: Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Weather: Windy and Cooler; High 59, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Yesterday I proudly cast my vote for my daughter, Heather MH Handley (the MH stands for Martin Handley) for School Committee. We assumed she would be elected as she was running unopposed for a one-year term. What we didn’t know was that she would get more votes than anyone else on the ballot. She contributes the number of votes to name recognition from her years on local public radio. Jed responded to my question about why they think she got so many votes to the fact that she is just damn good. I go along with both. Congratulations, Heather! Her first School Committee meeting is next Tuesday and then on Thursday she flies to Telluride, Colorado, returning home Monday evening. We all thought the boat was being launched on Tuesday, May 31, at 9 am, just 12 hours after her return. But she realized today that May 31st is on Wednesday. She is thankful for that.

This evening while Sam and Jonah were at soccer practice (car-pooled with a friend), Heather, Jed, and Ollie went to the boat to try and tape off the waterline. Laying a curved line that is not wavy is challenging. They were making progress when I left to come home. I doubt they finished as it was almost dark when I got home. But somehow by Friday morning, the line must be taped off because Heather is taking the day off and hoping to get two coats of barrier paint and one coat of bottom paint on the boat.

I spent most of my day engaged in Encore related activities. I attended the general meeting this morning, preceded and followed by more interviews with Board members. The program at the general meeting was great. It was advertised as a program about good choices for container gardens to be presented by a representative from Cape Abilities. It was really more about Cape Abilities than it was about container gardening, but that was okay because the presenter was so engaging and funny. I have no idea what his name was, but he runs the Cape Abilities Farm in Dennis. The mission of Cape Abilities is to “serve individuals with disabilities on Cape Cod by education, counseling and providing residential, therapeutic, social and employment supports that empower them to achieve meaningful and valued roles in the community.” Much of this is done through the employment of individuals with disabilities at the farm. I am so anxious to visit the farm and learn more about Cape Abilities and buy some of the organic plants they grow and sell.

I had to take Shadow with me this morning as there was a showing here at the cottage. He stayed in the car all morning and into the afternoon. I went out twice to check on him, but he was fine, just sleeping. When I brought him home, I had lunch, answered some emails, and headed back to town to take Ollie to his saxophone lesson. Then to the boat. And finally home. I have had the sniffles today and am hoping it is just a result of the heavy pollen count. But it might be a cold. Bummer. I hope I wake up just fine tomorrow morning.

2023 Life Logs, Day 136: Boat, Garden, Voting, Meetings, Wine Group
Date: Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 66 Low 48 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Heather and Jed went to the boat last night and sent me a report on the results of the teak cleaning. The results were mixed, so I went this morning to see for myself. H & J were right. Some parts were great, others were not. Not sure yet what we can do about that in the little bit of time we have left. But we will figure that out.

After visiting the boat, I went to 225 Lakeside where I will be moving in July. I went to check on the garden and to unpackage the raised beds I had sent there. I then stopped at Heather and Jed’s to pick up laundry, cast my votes in today’s local election on my way home, had lunch at home, walked Shadow, and then went on to Christina Brodie’s for an afternoon of meetings. We finished up at 5 pm and then it was back home to walk Shadow and to pick up my wine and food for my wine group meeting.

Since most members of my wine group go south for the winter months, we have a meeting in January and then not again until May. It was so wonderful to see everyone again tonight after our winter hiatus. Best wine group ever!

2023 Life Logs, Day 135: The Problem is Time … Not Enough
Date: Monday, May 15, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 64 Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Time, time, time. In my life, it seems like there is never enough of it! We are down to the line with boat work as the boat goes in the water on Tuesday, May 30th. Or maybe the 31st. Whichever, it is coming soon and Heather leaves town next week and doesn’t return until the night before the boat goes in. So, all of the cleaning and painting has to be done before she leaves town. I was in meetings all day today with just a break for lunch, so there was not enough time to drive to the boat to check to see how the teak looked after yesterday’s cleaning.

At 5:30 pm, I drove straight from my last meeting to pick up Jonah and Sam to take them to Harwich for soccer practice. Heather and Jed were headed to the boat when I arrived. So, when I returned with the boys at 9 pm, I got the full report from Heather. The teak results were mixed. It was obvious that where we were able to really scrub with the brushes we had, it looks good. But in the corners and other hard to reach areas, it needs a little touch up. I wish there was time to do another full cleaning, but there just isn’t. I will see what I can do to spot clean and hope that does the trick. We used Oxy Clean dissolved in warm water as our cleaning solution rather than harsher chemicals due to Jed’s allergies. You just put a cup of Oxy in a gallon of warm water in a garden sprayer and spray away. Then scrub. Spray some more and rinse, rinse, rinse. The Oxy seemed to work great, at least where we agitated the surface adequately. In my research, I read that oxygenated bleach is a good teak cleaner. When I asked Heather if she knew what oxygenated bleach was, she immediately replied, “Oxy Clean.” Who knew? Certainly not me. Technically it is a natural plant derivative product called sodium percarbonate.

Tomorrow and Wednesday are days as busy as today, and Thursday is only a little better. I think I might have time to breathe on Friday. In the meanwhile, can someone lend me some time?

2023 Life Logs, Day 134: Happy Mother’s Day
Date: Sunday, May 14, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 61 Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers I know. I hope you had a wonderful day. For Heather and me this was not your typical Mother’s Day. It was our choice to work all day on the boat and to ban Jed and the boys from coming. We knew we needed to work as fast as possible to reach our goal for the day. Jed was on kid transport today, so all Heather and I had to think about was getting the last bits of the teak sanded, getting all of the teak cleaned which is an involved process, and then get the top sides of the boat cleaned. I honestly didn’t think it was possible, but we did it! To me that felt like the best Mother’s Day gift ever.

Heather and I left the boat a little before 6:30 pm, and then the whole family met at Shipwrecked on Falmouth Heights Beach for dinner at 8 pm. I just spent the last hour talking to Justin. So, my Mother’s Day is complete, and now it is time to get to bed as I have meetings tomorrow starting at 9 am.

2023 Life Logs, Day 133: Boat Work, Kanegsberg’s Visit, and Soccer
Date: Saturday, May 13, 2023
Weather: Sunny, Warm; High 763 Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

It was a full day of sanding on the boat, greeting good friends, Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg, who drove down from Dedham to help out with some boat work, and then taking Ollie to his soccer game which was won 12-4. Thank you, thank you, Alan and Helaine, for your help. Alan worked some sort of magic that got the autopilot working. Fantastic.

After the soccer game that was in West Wareham, the boys were jubilant. Ollie and I celebrated by stopping at Somerset Creamery for our first ice cream cone of the season. Shadow was alone for ten hours today and I felt terrible. He did fine, but there is going to be another week of intense boat work mixed with Encore meetings. Christina Brodie and I are the Co-Presidents Elect and we have time set aside on the first three days of the week to meet with other Board members. So Shadow will have some more long days. I thought ahead, however, and have someone from Upper Cape Pet Services to walk with him on those days when I am away all day.

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and Heather and I have decided that what we want for Mother’s Day is the whole day to work on the boat with no interruptions. Jed will stay home with the boys and do any driving to soccer games while I sand and Heather finishes preparing the bottom of the boat for its first base coat. We hit a snag today because the existing waterline just didn’t seem right. Ollie and I stopped at Home Depot on our way home and bought a laser line level to help with that issue tomorrow.

So far, the weather has been cooperating. Heather only has next weekend here before she goes to Colorado on a work-related trip. She will be gone all of the next weekend, Memorial Day Weekend. The boat goes in the water on May 29, so that is the reason for the push to get everything done this week.

2023 Life Logs, Day 132: More Boat Work, Computer Set-up, an Encore Meeting
Date: Friday, May 12, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny, Warm; High 76, Low 57 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA

I’m starting feel like a broken record. My days are filled with boat work, computer set-up, and meetings associated with Encore. I intended to spend 2 hours sanding the teak this morning, but that got reduced to an hour and a half. I had to stop at 10:30 am to get to an Encore organizational meeting. That lasted until 12:30 and I had to then hurry home to meet with Art Gilbert for an hour or two to get my computer into working order. It should have been simple, but it was not. At 5:30 we were still at it. At that point, I made a decision about how I wanted to transfer files. It wasn’t the perfect decision, but it was one I could live with. We set it up and left the computers doing their thing. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Art Gilbert. He refused to let me compensate him. What a wonderful gift he shares with friends helping them with their computer issues. I am deeply grateful.
I left immediately, made a stop at the hardware store just minutes before they closed, and then went to the boat and sanded until 7:30. I treated myself to sushi for dinner and am now shutting down and heading to bed. It is going to be a full weekend of more boat work so I am going to need all the energy I can muster.