Back on the boat now. I have spent a wonderful 2 months in Utah. It was great getting caught up with everyone, and helping my kids with house projects. We built a cedar fence with Porter, and my last project of the trip was hanging a hammock from Columbia for Julio and Kenzie.

After arriving back in Dana after a 2 day drive, it took me a full day to sort and shuffle and move piles of stuff from the boat to the truck and from the truck to the boat. I am not sure how I got it all to fit either one, but somehow it all worked and I was moved back in.

Before I left 2 months ago I started trying to replace the pump-out pump on the toilet, and finished it the first day back. I could not test it in my slip, of course, Not allowed to pump sewage in the harbor. so the next day I sailed about 10 miles off shore. (3 miles out is the legal limit for pumping, but I went the extra mile. Or 7.) It was a great sailing day. Good wind, I was going about 5 knots the whole way, and saw several big schools of dolphins that swam with me for a while. After a while, I pulled over, flipped the switch and the pump worked like a champ. Fed the fishes and boy did they all look happy!

I came back here with several big new projects. The pump was one. DONE. Then I had brought my foldy boat to be my dinghy instead of my inflatable kayak. The kayak was easy to stow, easy to launch, easy to paddle, but very hard to get in and out of, and it cant really carry much of a load, which is most of the reason for a “boat‘s boat” in the first place. I was not sure I was going to be able to assemble it on the deck of my boat but wanted to give it a try. I was anchored out in the harbor and put it all together up on deck and launched. It was a bit awkward but I got it done. Later I figured out how to do it much easier next time, and it is going to be a great solution for me. I spent several hours rowing around just for the fun of it. I was pleasantly surprised how well it rowed. It truly was a pleasure to row a light boat and get around so easily. Many people complemented me about how great it looked, and well it rowed. I am a bit surprised how few people row any more. I know there are trendy folks that row those really high tech rowing shells, which is an Olympic event, but it is very rare to see just a plain old rowing boat just for getting around. Many cruisers have inflatable dinghies, but they all use motors, since they row like an inner tube, which is to say poorly. Since they never really deflate the inflatable anyway, I think they would be happier with a rigid dinghy that can row well. (by the way, I do have a motor for this boat but I suspect I may rarely ever use it. Rowing is just too pleasurable.)

The next project was trying my scuba stuff. I do my own underwater maintenance on my boat and have been doing it by holding my breath which is very hard. While in Utah I was exploring the idea of making a hookah rig, which pumps air from the surface down a long tube to me swimming down below. It turned out to require a big supply of electricity which is in short supply on my boat. I decided instead to use regular scuba gear. I picked up some used gear in great shape. I was able to test it in the driveway back home, but today was the first time I could really dive with it. I certified as a diver years ago and have made dozens of dives, but always under the watchful eyes of a commercial dive master and crew. Today I set it all up, double checked it all like a dive master would have done, and jumped in. At first I had trouble descending, too buoyant with 2 wetsuits on, but I had picked up a few leg weights from the DI and added them to my 22 pounds belt and accomplish perfect neutral buoyancy. I cleaned the bottom of my boat, scraping away the barnacles and grass that were getting a start. After the work was done I wanted to dive down and take a look at my anchor. It had been holding just fine for 2 days now, but since I was in the water anyway I went for a look. The water was so murky I could only see a few feet around me, so I followed the line down to the bottom and having no visibly it sort of freaked me out. This being one of the oldest harbors on the west coast, garbage tends to collect on the bottom of the ocean . I was afraid I would run into a chunk of rebar or jagged metal or Jimmy Hoffa or some such, and so before I could go find and see my anchor, I came back up. Scuba project: success! I already have 3 buddies who have asked me to clean their boats for hire. Cool eh? Can you say cha ching?