ICY WEDGIES

Spring has sprung but someone didn’t get the memo.

We had one GLORIOUS day (Monday) that gave us the opportunity to finally get the boat painted -- but today another storm started brewing. Scattered clouds gave way to thick dark skies, and by the end of the day it was freezing cold and blowing a hooley.

With the hull newly painted, we can't lean the ladder against the toe rail anymore; so we have it lashed to the hardware on the bow where the anchor typically rests :-O. I get to climb the scruffy ladder (made out of tree trunks) some 20-30 feet or so, up to the toerail, grab the bow pulpit and headstay, get a serious (and ICY COLD) wedgie as I swing my leg over the rail, and climb up onto the pointy end. Have I mentioned I’m afraid of heights?? Not that I'm complaining you know -- it's just like the Swiss Family Robinson attraction at Disneyland. But cheaper!

I realize this is premature on the icy bits: I’m sure no-one thought I’d be writing about the cold until Antarctica. But it’s plenty chilly here … One of my first nights in Piriapolis (I left Calif. just two weeks ago) I took off the Torture Watch (so called because it tells you the current temp) when I went to bed. It hadn’t been working well … presumably registering higher than accurate temps because of my body heat (this is a good sign: I guess it means I’m not dead yet!). Well that morning when I woke up at 2:45AM (as I have every day since I arrived) I peeked at my watch to check the time, then hit the ‘temp’ button. I couldn’t see the last digit but the first was a “4”! Well 40 anything – even 49! – is #$@& cold! Luckily it has climbed into the 50s at night now, and we have had some lovely spring weather between the cold and blowy bits.

In the meantime, we continue to make good progress on the boat – I have been priming the toe rail; oiling the teak; sealing; sanding; patching; scraping; peeling; sticking … I look like a ragamuffin and smell like solvent. After a full day of work we unwind in the main salon with a beer and dinner (always 5-star); then warily climb down the ladder, and huff and puff up the hill to the Casa, where we attempt to drink our weight in cervezas or wine, discourse on the jobs accomplished, and what’s in store for the day ahead. With the hull painted we are one step closer to getting the boat back in the water … leaving Piriapolis … picking up our sails in Buenos Aires … heading to the high latitudes.

** HAPPY BIRTHDAY PATTI SHEPHERD CHISHOLM!!! **