Early Rise
After having fallen asleep so early it came as no surprise to wake up before 6AM. My coffee supplies are running low and are in dire need of replenishment. There used to be a very good coffee roastery up on the hill and I can always go shopping ashore, once I get my dinghy put together.
One of the really big disadvantages of using WordPress for my new website as opposed to html and php as I’d done before is that I cannot update the site while offline. I used to create and edit files offline aboard the boat and prepare the images, then once I was connected I could just upload the changes and the site would updated. But WordPress functions differently and all I can prepare is a text file that I can cut-and-paste when online and export the processed images as JPG files from Lightroom in preparation for manual uploading and tagging in the browser using WordPress.
So I spent my first two cups of coffee writing text files and exporting images from the last few days. I then copied those files to my notebook, which I’ll take ashore with me once I am mobile.
Dinghy and outboard
Fortified with caffeine, I went to get the outboard on the dinghy. My current outboard is a 18HP two-stroke Tohatsu and it seems to be getting heavier with each season! I tied my dinghy to the swim platform fore and aft and managed to heave the heavy outboard aboard the dinghy without damaging anything. But then came the difficult part of the exercise – lift the outboard and turning it so that the mounting bracket is aligned with the transom. It is an awkward thing to do by oneself, to say nothing of the 90Lb weight of the outboard. When I heaved and turned the outboard it was going well until a wave hit the side of the dinghy and I lost my balance. I fell, and prevented the outboard from scratching the dinghy by interposing myself. It took me a while to extricate myself from underneath the outboard aboard the rocking dinghy. I decided to wait for the squall and winds to pass by and for the wavelets in the anchorage to settle before doing attempt #2.
One Aeropress coffee later it was time for my second attempt. I’ve got a line attached to the outboard so that should it go swimming it will remain retrievable. This time I wedged the dinghy underneath the swim platform to prevent the rocking motion and within seconds I had the engine mounted. I should have done that first time, and hope I remember that trick for the next time. I added oil to my outboard fuel in a 50:1 ratio and did my best to shake the 25L canister to mix the oil. I moved the gas tank aboard, connected the fuel line and used the pump to prime the engine. I pulled out the choked and nothing happened on the first pull. But on pull number the engine coughed into life and I knew that I needed to push the choke back in to keep it from stopping. I got the outboard running smoothly and checked the gear to make sure that both forward and reverse worked and I was done.
I’ll still have to find a lock to make sure that my dinghy doesn’t go walkabout at night or at the dock and put the 2 oars in and then I’ll be ready to go!
Afternoon
I’ve only got enough coffee beans left for one more cup so my only mission for the day was to get some fresh beans from the Carib Bean Coffee Roasters here in Falmouth harbour. But I did check in at the AYC to see if there were any tasks for me to do. There weren’t any, so I took the dinghy across the harbour to the Catamaran Marina where I docked the dinghy and started my walk up the hill towards where I remembered the coffee roasters to be.
The walk was longer than I remembered, but when I was there last I was driving a car and not walking in the midday heat. Fortunately they were open and had some fresh roasted coffee for me. The one roast I wanted was not available, so I opted for their lightest roast and got a whole kilogram of beans! So now I’m set for the next week or two.
I deposited everything aboard Zanshin and went back ashore at the AYC. I walked to the English Harbour docks and there were more boats at the docks than yesterday, but they are still less than half-full.
The ASW volunteer kick-off event starts at 5PM and I hope that they have some food, as I’ve not eaten yet today and a liquid diet isn’t a healthy long-term nutrition plan.