How I spent my summer vacation, Part II:
(the Interlude)

Work like mad to make up for lost time (my 6.2 hours of vacation aren't doing me any good yet, but I probably couldn't keep taking time off like this is I was a full time employee).

Take suitcase to work and leave immediately to make it to that wedding. Leave at 3am to catch a flight home so I can go to work on the way. Eat as much as possible while in NC and feel queasy the whole time. Go straight to work. Swear I'll never do that again.

Work like mad to make up for lost time (boy, that sounds familiar). Take suitcase to work so I can leave immediately to visit my folks. Pick up dogs and daughter (and baggage), swing by summer bbq for visiting relatives on the way out of town. Arrive in Oregon later than I hoped, but still before my sister's delayed flight.

Pack 18 months worth of visiting into 66 hours:

Leave the dogs behind.

Work like mad to squeeze hours into this pay period since I'll be taking off the following week. Swear I'll never do that again.

How I spent my summer vacation, Part I:
(it sure wasn't sleeping...)


Here it is, my home away from home for the summer:

You'll note that this little stove is tipping. This is very exciting. When sailing, the boat tips and when one changes direction, the boat tips the other way. This makes cooking a bit challenging with a fixed stove, and scary when cooking in large, heavy, full-with-simmering-chili pots. But the new stove is gimballed, so it stays horizontal regardless of which way or how much the boat heals. Oh happy day! So, I cooked. Spaghetti, dumpling soup, fish and potatoes, pancakes and sausage, cobblers, brownies, and lots of hot coffee, tea, and chocolate.

The weather was suprisingly cool, although it gave us some lovely days, like this one at Sidney Spit in British Columbia:

I recently made the prettiest birthday cake ever:

Swiftsure II
I realize that writing this post three weeks after the fact does not give it the breathless immediacy it deserves, but the penalty for taking four days off was three solid weeks of work. Luckily, I'm off one job for the summer.
So, Swiftsure is a yacht race in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, leaving from Victoria, BC. We sailed overnight to get there, rested a day, raced (poorly) a day, and returned home over two days.

Take a look at this picture:

I did not take this picture, nor is it of the boat on which I was, but it is an excellent illustration of what sailing hard looks like. See how far over it is tipped? Intellectually, we all know that this will make daily duties (like making sandwiches or using the head) much more difficult. It is hard to explain, however, how nearly impossible these duties become, because there are no flat surfaces on which to set anything. Or to walk on. Learning experience indeed.
That said, this was the most intense, real-life, no-shit sailing I have ever done. I have now buried the rail on the boat and recovered. And while it was scary at the time, She and I agree that we can't wait to be able to do it again.

Swiftsure post I

I'll give a real rundown later, but here is a snapshot of my holiday weekend...

Eleven people bunking in a space approx. 20X7. On the last night, She pokes her head out of her sleeping bag while I brush my teeth around someone else's elbow:

A quelle heure est-ce que nous rev...rev..

Nous allons reveiller? I ask.
No, its in the future. Reveilleions?
No, that's what the allons is for. We're going to get up.
Mom, reveiller is reflexive.
Ok, then nous allons se reveiller?
Whatever. Go to bed!

Plans

I am quite looking forward to the Opening Day Parade this year, my first on a boat. In fact, we'll all be on boats as both She and rtg have crew assignments, as well. But mostly, I am looking forward to seeing this:

With less fanfare, a single boat will slip out near the head of the fleet, powered by a single rower. His craft will be one long wisp, 26 feet of nearly pure waterline displacing less than 36 pounds.

You can read the rest of the story here: Wooden-boat heritage gets a boost with revival of historic Pocock shell

Closer
We have doors, drawers, dishwasher, sink and faucet. All we need is the counter, water reconnected, and we're back in business.
Check this out...

That boy of mine has got some skills!