In Maine. At Bittersweet Landing Boatyard. In a plastic-tented shed. Up a 10-foot ladder. On Cilantro!
Sue did not expect that her first time staying on the boat would feel like living in a treehouse, but that's what climbing a 10-foot ladder many times a day will do to you. Sue: Where's my coffee cup? Rats! Down in the yard. Curtis: Have you seen the tape measure? Yup. Up in the cockpit. Sweatshirt? Rental car. Grocery list? Somewhere in the boat. Sigh.
These first few days have been filled with cleaning, shopping, list-making, and re-familiarizing ourselves with the boat. Curtis has tackled replacing older incandescent lamps with power-saving LED types. He has also been measuring for (and consternating over) where to mount solar panels. Sue has filled the galley cabinets with plastic bins and kitchen equipment. She has also masked off the portlights (windows, for you landlubbers) and cleaned and polished the bronze frames. We have been opening expensive packages and gazing at a new engine propeller, autopilot, and radar system. Do we know what to do with any of them?
Mikey and Charlotte, owners of Bittersweet, have been very kind and welcoming, including letting us use the shop shower after hours and the microwave for our Starbucks instant coffee. With luck, we may get to go sailing on another Pacific Seacraft this weekend, with our "shed neighbor" Bob Steneck. (His boat sits next to ours over the winter.) That would be a fantastic introduction to the Maine seacoast and Pacific Seacraft.
One thing we do not have much of in South Bristol is Internet access, so we haven't been able to upload photos to the blog from Sue's camera or laptop. Sue is typing this post by hunt-and-peck on the iPad, which has an intermittent 3G cellular signal.
But we are very glad to be here in beautiful Maine!
