Making Preparations!

I got our Hawaiian flag!

Ehhhhhh, brah...

Lookin' GOOD!

Rowed out to the boat early today to finish the final coat on the bow sprit.  After scraping off the old paint (and being careful not to let the flakes or ME fall into the water!) and covering up the wood and stainless steel to keep the paint off, here's the "new" sprit!

Now, if we can only keep the muck off... 

Isn't she a beauty?

Glassy morning on the bay.

And...guess who was hanging out at the dock?  Harold, the harbor seal!

After running to the post office, I spent the rest of the day making vacuum-sealed meals for Paul's journey down the coast.  It was a learning experience, I got the idea from Logan (Thanks Logan!) to seal and freeze, then Paul simply puts a bag of food into a pot of boiling water to heat.  

One pot, one bowl, one fork.  Simple.

I didn't take photos, I was SOO into what I was doing, (placing the sealed bags into Jerry's "Man-freezer" in the garage) but I will take pics tomorrow when I make more meals.

Stay tuned!

FRIDAY HARBOR!

After working on the boat in the afternoon yesterday, we both decided an evening spent dining and dancing and anchored at Friday Harbor was in order.

We motored the 55 minutes from Fisherman's Bay to Friday Harbor and caught some sights along the way:

 Cute little trawler!

 MAJOR compound...too big to be called a house!

 Sod roof, totally cool!

Entrance to Friday Harbor residence.

Hello Mr. Ferry!

We'll be sure to stay out of your way.

And, we saw many different types of transportation in this busy harbor...

A couple of floatplanes tied up.

Must be nice! 

Paddlewheel houseboat. 

Check out the massive steering wheel!

It's fully functional too.

After we set anchor, I decided to row to the showers while Paul did some work on the boat...

And, away I go!

Rowing forwards again. 

Heyyy, don't laugh, it works and I go a LOT straighter!

While I was gone, a band of 3 otters came up to the boat, chattering and eating something they brought up from the depths...

See them trying to sneak up on Paul? 

Caughtcha!

After I returned, Paul and I rowed back (so he could shower) to find a fun place to have dinner and maybe get in some dancing!

We checked out the "Cask and Schooner" where we saw an awesome model ship...

This model (the BOAT, that is...) was used in the movie "White Squall," starring Jeff Bridges.

We heard live music and followed it to the "Rumor Mill" where "Polecat," a band from Bellingham was playing their last live session of the summer.  Lucky us, they were awesome!

But first, we had a nice dinner of Caesar salad, "Hawaiian" kal-bi w/ mac salad and grilled zucchini slices, a nice red wine and blackberry/apple cobbler with ginger and coconut... 

Da Hawaiian-style kal-bi, BRAH... 

and we get one See-zah salad too.

YUMMY, blackberry/apple cobbler with vanilla bean ice cream!

Hmm, why are all the food pictures with ME???

Anyway, after that dinner and dessert we HAD to dance!

Polecat rockin'! 

They packed the dancefloor with all kinds of people...young, old, people who could dance, people who just wanted to get out, move and have FUN! 

And...Paul was definitely having FUN! 

Ok, I was too!  

Sooo much fun that I wasn't cold anymore!

After the band's 4th "hana hou," we headed back to the boat where the fireplace was started and it made the cabin nice and cozy despite being 55 degrees outside!

In the morning, Paul hoisted the bow anchor and caught onto a line of some kind. Good thing it wasn't a power cable!  It was covered in Friday Harbor "muck" and smelled like the Ala Wai canal!  

Uh, whoops! 

After he undid the line and anchor, we set off for Lopez, as Paul needed to be back before 830am to get to work with Jerry.   It was slightly foggy, cold and a little windy but the current was going with us and we were doing 9.2 knots at 1800 rpm's.

A nice hot cup of spiced apple cider for the captain.

Check out those "glove-lies."

Lined with fleece, no doubt!

Back at Fisherman Bay, I made the cabin all ship-shape and we rowed back to Jerry's.  It's still a work day after all, despite the immense fun we had last night at Friday Harbor and the Rumor Mill!

Stay tuned, more fun and adventures to come!

Saturday Farmer's Market, Boat Things and PARTY!

Worked at the Isla Glass booth yesterday at the Lopez Farmer's Market...

Much Aloha to Sara who helped me set up this awesome display. 

The pumpkin on the left...SOLD!

Beautiful fern leaf, all one piece,  made by one of Rahman's friends.  The glass flowers were made by Rahman. 

Total sold yesterday:  4 shells, a glass body sculpture,  the pumpkin and a doll's head drinking cup.

A GOOD day, for sure!

Rahman, your art makes people SMILE!

The San Juan Flying Hospital helicopter paid a visit to the health center across the street from the market, a joy to the kids because they were allowed to go inside and sit in the pilot's seats.

 Coming in for a landing...

Down!  And, uh, thanks for all the flying debris!

Seriously though, these guys rock.  Residents pay $75/year and it covers your transportation to/from mainland hospitals.  I'll check with Jerry in regards to the accuracy of this, and update later.

After processing the sales at the studio:

"Crikey," Sara's Australian heeler puppy and one of the studio's mascots.

...Paul and I went to work on the boat, finishing the installation of the solid-fuel fireplace and testing out the Ubiquitis Internet Wi-fi enhancer.

The "enhancer" strung-up under the spreader, with the ethernet cable attached. 

...then into the POE (power over ethernet) and then into Paul's Macbook...

"WE HAVE SIGNAL!"

While I was fussing with this, Paul was completing the fireplace install.

Paul caulking the fireplace "chimney" into place, and...

TAA-DAA!  

Chimney!

We attached the fireplace to the bulkhead, and gave it a "test light..."

Putting in a little bit of kindling... 

"REAL wood-burning fireplace...just you watch."

And, FIRE!

This fireplace worked so good, it put me to sleep!

Later that evening, we all went to an "End of Summer" party just up the street from the ManCave.  This potluck party was hosted by Shawnee, who works at The Galley.

 The obligatory keg.

The band setting up on the lanai. 

Henry, the son of one of the bandmembers, all ready to perform with 2-stringed ukulele in hand! 

The band, and they were good, playing folksy-country boot stomping music.

 Jerry enjoying the festivities.

 The kids (and adults too) enjoying the bonfire as the evening really cooled off.

And, yes I was freezing my butt off and resorted to using Jerry's leather jacket, aka straitjacket.

A view of Shawnee's garden lighting.

A great party for all, a great mix of people and we sure had a good time!  Thank you Shawnee!

Typical Friday and...SALMON!

Usual day today, Paul and Jerry went off to work and I went to Isla Glass, where Rahman and Sara (his apprentice) were busy making shells for the Sea Shepherd Foundation.

Busy as bees! 

We were planning to attend a wine-tasting event at a local deli, Vidas, but we were both running late and we decided to just go grab some prime-rib sliders and Caesar salad at The Islander.  The Friday night band was warming up doing soundchecks in preparation for their 9pm show.

Don't know their name, but they were actually pretty good!

We then stopped at the grocery store and saw a couple of women across the street selling fresh pink salmon for $1.50/pound.  They were just caught that day in reef nets and were all in a cooler in the back of her pick-up truck.  

This is about the size of our fish, 4 lbs.
$6.00!

Reef nets are strung between two rafts with high viewing platforms.
Check out  this YouTube link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXL3jfsPWKk

Our new "Food Saver" that we'll use for the fish and also for the meals I will prepare/freeze for Paul's journey down to San Francisco. 

"Off with your head..." 

Removing the guts, while the salmon keeps an eye on Paul... 

Hosing it all off... 

Prepare to be filet'd! 

And Voila'!  Two nice pink steaks that we will both grill and smoke, the latter on our stove-top smoker.  Oh, and nothing went to waste, I tossed the head and scraps into the bay for Mr. and Mrs. Harold, the harbor seals.

 Chef Paul, with his salmon steak ready for the BBQ grill.

 Our handy-dandy little stovetop smoker, complete with wood chips!

One-quarter of the other half of the salmon, smoked to perfection on the stove.

Chef Paul's other half of the salmon, also smoked to perfection on Jerry's "Man Grill." 

The "Man Grill'd" salmon was darker, but they both tasted heavenly and smokey.

It's a KEEPER!