Winter is coming......

Sewing is done. Well, almost. I have a couple of small jobs I am going to do for people over the winter, and a bunch of jobs for us. But other than that, its all finished, whole pile of happy customers and a tired out Tailor or seamster, or sewer, or outdoor products specialist, uhhhh....... I tried to find out what to call a man who sews, but there seems to be no consensus on the matter. Tailor doesn't quite fit, masochist comes close, but not really appropriate or particularly relevant. Oh well, have to stick with Rob I guess. Maybe Rob the guy who sews, kind of like Bob the Builder, oops that's me too. Too many names, maybe Rob the omnipotent, ha ha, yeah right. Serena reminds me that its more like Rob the pain in the ass. So Rob it is.....Sewing is just something else I do, like laundry, dishes, and changing the oil in the truck.

If you got this far into the post, there is actually boat stuff....

I finished sewing on Wednesday, so Thursday I went down to work on the boat, clean up the club house from the mess I made, and meet with the last few customers so they could pick up their stuff and pay me. I only charged for the materials that I used to complete their specific jobs, plus a tiny bit to go toward the shipping and handling and my gas to get there, that's it, so it was pretty cheap for these guys. I did get that much more experience, and I had fun, so it was well worth it to me. The last customer to see me yesterday, and in fact the only one, owed me $50 for restitching his mainsail cover and putting in a new zipper; restitching his bimini top and putting in two new zippers; patching and stitching some bad spots in his mainsail, and restitching the UV protection strip on his genoa. He paid me $100 cash and gave me a 40 oz bottle of 12 yr old single malt scotch to boot. I felt guilty taking it, offered him change, but he would not accept it. It was a very nice gesture, especially the scotch. But I felt like I owed him, maybe my fist born, but she's 23, and that's illegal in this country. Oh well, guess I can be bought cheap, cause now I feel like I owe him.

Regardless... This is supposed to be about the boat.

Cleaned everything out of the boat. And emptied all the areas of any water, stuffing box, bilge, anchor locker, etc.... So the boat is ready for winter. I did leave food in the fridge, but didn't realize it until I got home, so I'll have to go back soon. But otherwise, she is ready for -30 deg and snow. Boo hoo hoo....

Had lunch and a little nap, then got to work putting in the supports and face frame for the drawers under the nav table.

 The only thing I don't really like is the catch. Like most marine drawers, they slip over the frame when they are closed, so they can't slide out on their own, but it takes extra effort to lift the drawer before pulling out. Plus, due to the nature of the beast, roller glides are a bad idea, making the whole system kind of archaic. But they are functional, and they don't look too bad. I still have to plug the screw holes and put a couple coats of Cetol on the face frame, but that will have to wait until warmer weather.

And here is a little pick of my sewing loft. I am actually in the picture, hiding behind the sewing machine.

And I also got a chance to make up our boat cards. The blogger won't let me put the picture right side up, I tried loading it several times with different orientations, but it always came back 90 degrees out of whack. Beats me, I'm either too stupid, or too impatient to figure it out, so here it is. Boat, us, our email and blog address. Apparently these are nice to hand out to fellow cruisers when you meet them. They are especially good for us, because we can't remember peoples names for the life of us, boat names, types, etc..., but people names, not for love nor money. A gentleman in my club once told me many years ago that the reason I can't remember peoples names is because I don't care enough. Thanks Ken..... I never forgot his name. There maybe some truth to that, but it could also be that there is just not enough room in my head for all those names. 15 Johns, 42 Marys, 12 Devons, you get it........ That's why the military always wears name tags.

And lastly...... Our transmission, what a cluster F**k. Pardon my french. I covered it in an earlier blog, the removal. We were planning on having it rebuilt, but we were having trouble getting info on companies that did this, whether it was a good idea or not, etc, etc, etc.....

After a lot of thought, and discussion with other sailors, from the internet, to the club, to those who have done it, we decided to go with a new one. The company quoted me, and I sent back an email requesting information on the shipping costs. That's when they found out that they are no longer available new, I have no choice but to rebuild. Oh well, into everyone's life a little rain must fall. I just hope the rebuild is a good one. So Monday we are off to Toronto to drop it off, hit Mason's Chandlery, and the Nautical Mind Book Store. Serena might even take me out to lunch if I am good. Road trip........................

Later kids.