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Anchors Aweigh

Good morning everyone. I was in New Hampshire yesterday and the top of Mt Washington has a heavy dusting of snow. The view across the Mt Washington Valley was just beautiful and afternoon snow flurries confirmed the coming of winter. I attended a day long recertification workshop for my wilderness EMT credential. We spent the better part of the day practicing scenarios outdoors. I attend many of these kinds of workshops and trainings all winter long. Next week I will be attending the local EMS seminar here in Rockland including a day long intensive in pediatric issues.

So it is busy, busy, busy. Today we will be spreading another coat of varnish onto the spars while the weather is warm. We are trying to get the deck oiled as well. I will continue vacuuming the bilges and cleaning the nooks and crannies below decks.

Even the anchors on the wall get a coat of winter protection in the form of 50/50 gloss black paint and Penetrol. Penetrol is one of those sakes oils that helps seal metal work and paint flow. We love it as an additive to everything including our morning coffee. Someone asked how we get the anchors up onto the wall. We used to just grab hold of the anchors and physically lift them (all 540 lbs) up onto the wall. Well, 16 years and one hernia later I finally devised a long overhanging beam that mounts to the rack on my truck to which I attach a chain fall hoist. I back the beam and its hoist out over the paint float on which the anchor has been transported and raise the anchor clear of the wall. Pull ahead 3 feet and lower away. As simple as that. No fuss, no muss. Now you know just how slow on the uptake your beloved captain really is.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good. Please VOTE!

Comments

Unknown said…
Dear Captain,

You're not slow. You're a man. We men, when we're young, think we are indestructible and that we can simply muscle anything. It takes a little aging, some maturity and perhaps an injury or two to make us think. That's when we reach our prime, when we think. Necessity is the mother of invention and until we're old enough that sheer muscle power won't do it anymore we don't have the need.

I voted.
Unknown said…
I should have included in my comment the situation where young men think. Take the example of Bill Gates. As a young man he couldn't get his muscles to do anything coordinated so he began thinking at a very early age. What did that get him? A beautiful yacht to enjoy off the coast of Maine? No. A country home with doors that don't need to be locked? No. A barn filled with sailing paraphernalia waiting to be maintained? No. Friends from all over the country and the world who love to go sailing with him and his family? No. He just has a few billion dollars, stays locked up in some huge house in Washington, and still struggles to walk a straight line. Oh, he has lots of people who say they want to be his friend but does he know anyone who is willing to pay for the opportunity? I don't think so. Quite the reverse, I imagine.
AL from Alabama said…
Seeing the anchors and thinking about the weight takes me back to the first back packing expedition Ed and I took. If we did not carry an anchor it was because we could not find one available. We certainly took everything else. Our packs weighed at least 540 lbs each. Now, some 25 years later, the leg joints and spinal discs are gone. The packs gather dusk on the pegs in the attic. Having a well found ship to carry our goods, and the wind to move us along a sea level path is much easier. Now I must admit, Ed was one of the best back country cooks in the mountains, his Spam and egg omelet attracted every starving hiker and bear in the woods, but I am sure he will agree, Mary's food is hard to beat.
I did vote, the long lines giving visual proof of democracy at work was inspiring.
Anonymous said…
Those two anchors look relaxed. They've done their work for the season and now sit on shore, simply looking out over the harbor and talking it over. What do they say? "Our friend gave us a nice winter coat and now we can rest comfortably and contemplate next season's joys."

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