green at home not on the road

One of my absolute favorite things about staying at a hotel is fresh sheets and towels every day. I would love to have fresh sheets every day at home but my job and other activities seem to interfere and I don't have the time or energy. But when I stay at hotels I look forward to climbing in bed with fresh sheets every night.

Now when I stay at hotels I see this little sign that says in order to conserve water please request that your bedding and towels be washed every other day. While the millions of gallons of water definitely sound appealing I would much rather have fresh sheets if someone else is going to wash them. I am paying for someone to do this for me and now you want to guilt me into giving it up? Not happening.

So I have decided in order to keep the planet green while still getting one of my favorite things occasionally I will take fresh sheets and towels at the hotel every night but won't do that at home. If someone else is doing my laundry and making my bed I am going to take advantage of it. I spend much more time at home or on the boat than I do at hotels so really I am being much greener by not sleeping in fresh sheets at home every night (as much as I would like to).

Now I do have to admit if suddenly I win the lottery and have help my rule is out the window and I just might take the 2nd night on my sheets at hotels and have fresh sheets at home every night instead. Now I think I will throw my sheets in the laundry right now so when I climb in bed tonight I will be in fresh sheets - seems I didn't quite get my fill of that this week in Vegas.

time to recharge

When it comes to boating I am the voice of caution, probably to a much higher extent than is needed. If Sam tells me to watch out for something or that something could happen I listen intently and then tend to freak out if it actually starts to happen or even the possibility becomes apparent.

One of the items Sam said we should continually watch out for on the boat was the house batteries. He told me to ensure they stay above 11.5 and to turn on the engine if they started to get below 12. Of course this made me into a battery monitor and I have constantly checked since.

Sitting on the boat one day without Sam I was working away and suddenly thought maybe I should check out the batteries since we didn't have shore power. Unfortunately they were below 12 and dropping rapidly. I hurriedly turned on the engine and it seemed like they started to go up. A little bit later I noticed the batteries charge dropping rapidly with the engine on.

Time to go into panic mode. I called Sam but of course he didn't pick up. A few minutes later after hearing my panicked voicemail he called back. I explained the situation sure that the batteries were going to have to be replaced.

Sam told me that the boat actually needed to have more power since neutral wasn't cutting it. Visions of suddenly having to try and take the boat out by myself to get it charged had me almost hyperventilating. No he assured me I could do this at the dock. Well we weren't quite at the dock we were rafted to two other boats. Taking out our boat would be one thing but 2 others at the same time plus the boats close by seemed a more difficult thing to explain to the insurance adjuster. Exactly how much could my insurance go up by?

After talking me through it several times about how to get the engine revved up while remaining in place I took the gamble though I do admit I was frantically checking to ensure I wasn't moving. I am pretty sure Sam was laughing internally but for his own self preservation I didn't hear any laughter over the phone.

Having listened much more carefully than I usually do paid off and it worked. We remained in place and very slowly the batteries began to charge. Overall it was much more stress than I wanted. Of course really Sam had just meant to watch the batteries but since they were house batteries the engine would still start even if they were dead. Though it wasn't really the time to explain it all to me then.

So now I know how to keep the batteries charged even when I am all alone on the boat. It just means this is one less thing to worry about but I have plenty of others. After all I have read lately about keels falling off so now I need to convince Sam to use his dive gear and double-check ours. Hey while you are down there Sam I think the bottom could use cleaning (which is really what I want to have him do - that keel is just a handy excuse). I think we could use that extra 1/4 knot of speed.

why I love being on the water

1. Sitting on the deck at sunset on a pin.
2. Unexpectedly seeing orcas on the way to the San Juan Islands.
3. Taking family and friends out on our boat.
4. Having Sam make lattes on the boat in the mornings, or on a chilly evening.
5. Sitting on the low side with my book during a sail in about 10 knots of wind.
6. Driving the boat into a marina while Sam acts as the deck hand.
7. Dancing on deck to Sirius radio while motoring.
8. Watching the weather through the window above my head in the mornings while in bed.
9. Listening to the water against the boat while at anchorage.
10. Smell of the bbq and the salt water mixed together.

opening day coug style

The first weekend in May marks the opening day of boating season in Seattle. Now we definitely open up the season before May but then in our world boating season doesn't close though maybe we don't go out every weekend in the winter months. So really I guess May might be our opening day announcing that from now until October there will be very few weekends that don't involve a boat.

I can just see the huge grin on Sam's face as he reads that and realizes that I have accepted this. Really our calendar could just say boat from here on out and be pretty accurate.

Once again we participated in the opening day parade with the Cougar Yacht Club. This year Levi and Justin came with Tanya and they were pretty excited about the parade. Plus we needed additional people to help yell out "Go Cougs" through the Montlake cut and by the log boom.

Once again it was a great day and the Cougs represented well. Levi and Justin are hooked and are looking forward to next year - as evidenced by the pictures they need a few more years to grow into their sweatshirts as well.

The only thing I don't really get is the white pants. I mean white pants aren't ever practical but on a boat it is a disaster - well mine really need to be bleached now. Makes one realize how dirty our clothes actually get and we don't normally realize. But from a distance they look pretty good so I guess that is what matters. But really I would like to work on boating opening day fashion just a bit. Wonder how I get on the fashion committee?

price paid for fun

I bruise somewhat easily being so fair but during the summer I seem to have bruises everywhere. I call them boating bruises. It seems the more time we spend on the boat the more bruises and scrapes I have. I don't think I am super clumsy but at the end of a boating weekend I can guarantee I will have picked up some lovely new shades of yellow, blue, and purple in a few spots.

Sam will take a look at an especially large bruise and ask what happened. Most of the time I have no idea how it happened and won't even know I did anything until I see the evidence in the form of another bruise. It would be nice to point out that this one happened while having to jump 10 feet to the dock or another happened when I went through the locks solo. A good story would be so much more interesting than a shrug.

One would think I would possibly get them in the same places but nope they can appear anywhere. Personally I blame it on being the deckhand. After all Skipper Sam doesn't accumulate them the same way I do. So it must be all the scrambling around on the deck pulling in bumpers and then putting them back out again. Not to mention all the lines or even trying to reach it all in the hatch after they are stored. I am doing all that manual labor while he directs from behind the wheel after attaching a single rope to the back cleat.

It is almost like someone can figure out how much time I have been spending on the boat just by looking at the bruises on my arms and legs. So now that warmer weather has arrived and most all our weekends will be spent on the boat be ready - my body will show the physical evidence of all the good times spent under way.

I guess I could try and prevent a few by having Sam have his had at being the deckhand but that would mean I would have to dock probably. Instead I will just go with the bruised look and know each one represents another good boating memory even if I don't know exactly which one. Guess I am a hard core sailor after all sacrificing my body and all just to be out on the boat.

boating mechanic?

Friday evening Sam and I headed down south to the Dock Street Marina in Tacoma. It was actually the furthest south we had been on our boat. For the most part we head north but since it was a yacht club outing it got us to try somewhere new.

I was a bit surprised Sam was up for a Tacoma trip since our last few visits there haven't been something we care to repeat. Last time we visited Tacoma our truck was broken into and our computers stolen and the time before we were in the mall during a shooting. With those 2 incidents one can understand why Tacoma isn't high on Sam's list of places to visit.

Guess since we would be there by boat it changed the whole perspective and he was willing to give it a shot. Though he did lock up the boat every time we left it for some odd reason.

Saturday Sam decided to lower the dinghy and take us for a cruise around the harbor. Unfortunately our throttle only one 1 speed - fast! Luckily he had taken it out for a quick spin by himself since we hadn't used the dinghy for a few months and I wasn't aboard when he found out by having the dinghy point skyward when he hit the throttle. He quickly made it back to the boat and started to try and figure out what was wrong.

I headed below deck since usually the best assistance I can provide is to stay out of his way. About an hour in I suddenly hear my name being yelled and cautiously come up and see what is so urgent, wishing I had chosen to take my book someplace else. Turns out my mechanical skills are desperately needed - actually it is my smaller hands that would be the most assistance.

I am not very mechanically inclined or at least acknowledge no mechanical ability whatsoever. A boat engine is not something I care to place my hands into but I do really want a dinghy that works so I was willing to try. Sam had the cover off and my job was to try and attach a piece back on and then put a cotter pin back in place. Easier said than done.

I got the piece reattached in pretty short order but the cotter pin was an entirely different story. I dropped 2 into the depths of the motor and couldn't see them to try and retrieve them. Sam went to grab a flashlight to help out but that suddenly disappeared into the depths overboard as I tried to use it. Hey he was just lucky he was holding on to me and I stayed on board.

Hard to keep good help if they get wet unintentionally. I finally got the cotter pin back on after many efforts and the loss of a flashlight. Sam was pretty impressed though I was hoping my mechanic career was over. Especially since laying on the seat of a dinghy hunched over an engine with my butt in the air with Sam holding on to me isn't really the most graceful or dignified position. I was pretty happy we were a bit by ourselves on the dock for this show.

Unfortunately the throttle was still suck. But Sam realized I had put in enough time and effort and he stopped by Lowe's on the way home Sunday night to pick up a smaller set of tools. Pretty sure he figured out he had gotten all the mechanical assistance he would from me and he was on his own. If you see anyone driving around in a dinghy that goes just one speed - fast and is pointing skyward guess it still isn't fixed.

walking not running

On Saturday I walked a 10K. Yep you read that correctly - walked a 10K. Turns out that people actually can sign up to walk a 10K, 1/2 marathon, or even a full marathon though that begs the question of why someone would choose to walk 26 miles. I think it also covers those who think running sounds good initially and then they forget to actually start the training prgram.

My sister Tanya was going to run her first 10K and wanted me to participate with her. Knowing that the likelihood of me running a 10K was pretty much nil she told me I could sign up to walk. I really thought it sounded pretty boring by myself but luckily she had 2 friends who were willing to do it with me. Walking by myself for 6 miles - boring, talking for 6 miles - sign me up.

Showing up Saturday morning we saw people running before the race even started. Now those people must really be in shape if they would run before the start - we both thought they were crazy. But Tanya thought I was a bit crazy too when I insisted on taking a few more swigs of my diet coke before exiting the car. Turns out maybe runners don't consider a DC in the morning the best way to start off a race.

After watching all these in shape people run by us on the path it actually made me want to start running again. I started to believe maybe I could run a 10K as well. After all if I started slow and ran a few times a week in a few months I could probably be out there with everyone else.

It really seemed like an excellent idea. In fact I even started thinking about how far I should run on Monday morning. Monday morning came and I had a bit of a cold so decided to work out inside. Tuesday morning the weather was beautiful but maybe doing my workout inside was a better idea since I could finish in 30 minutes and not have to put on my tennis shoes. Wednesday morning I had an early appt so really working out wasn't an option unless I wanted to get up 1/2 hour earlier - nope sleep was a better choice.

I bet at this rate by Friday I will have forgotten all my plans to run again. Which really isn't such a bad thing. Walking a 10K is much more enjoyable. You get to chat with friends, take in the scenery, have the energy to cheer loudly when you see others running (no way could I cheer and run at the same time), no need to wear a sports bra that takes 10 minutes to get positioned for optimum support, and best of all not have my face turn bright read from exhaustion. Really it is a good thing I procrastinated - it seems I am much more suited for walking than running.

So if anyone needs someone to walk a 5K or 10K with them sign me up, as long as we go out for food afterwards.