Satisfyingly full day.

Up a little after 4am. Another early to bed last night. Headed over to the Marina's facilities but could only muster a sink splash. Back to Makina for breakfast and some internet-ing. The rain started to come down pretty hard outside. Was enjoying the coziness of it all when my attention was drawn to the sound of running water coming from the engine compartment. Removed the companionway ladder and opened things up. The drain pipes from the cockpit are not yet connected. We seemed to be taking water WHILE ON THE HARD! Not wanting to bother Chris, the owner, about the bilge pump situation yet not wanting his wonderful wiring strung under the lower deck to get wet either my thought was to just grab the water until it subsided. This was easy enough with a large plastic bucket and some plastic hose from a previously removed project. The head maybe?

Anyway two buckets over the side later thought it may be time to text Chris about it even though he and his wife were scheduled to drop by at noon. He explained that the bilge will drain through the keel plug which has been removed. Hugh had mentioned in his report to not to forget to re-attach the keel plug before launch. He very graciously shaped the report to fit a rusty old seadog. To my own credit not all designs have such a plug and Chris graciously added, "It is another nice feature of the Cabot design".

Source : discoverthedinosaurs.com

How to turn an embarrassing moment into a profitable experience? While draining off the rainwater it gave me an idea of the vast amounts of water that can come down from a squall or the like. In the videos of liveaboards on UTube, water seems an issue for those real off the grid cruiser/surfer/diver types. Not sure if you have ever seen a bathtub plug that is basically a round and flat piece of plastic that over covers, by a large degree, the drain? Something like that could be thrown down on the cockpit drains when a squall is sighted (recommended maybe after spraying something on the floor or possibly a spin off product). You could offer design plugs with the boat's name or maybe color schemes or both on it. As we have a 3D Printer at home, that is looking for a project, this could well be one.

Here's a pic of something similar found online...

Damn but those 10MG pseudo Oreo edibles have a sweet morning buzz to them! Guess you may have noticed by now.

The downpour eventually rained itself out. But she was a foggy day on the hard!

Chris and his wife arrive around lunch or a little later. They had their SUV loaded down with goodies. It was like Xmass! From past posts regular readers may know that one of my beliefs is in backups. They had a Fortress anchor awaiting me after my decent from onboard. Makina just went up a notch in the secure and stable vessel category in my opinion. We must have get her modern day's radar with the overlays of the chart scanner output. And there was a wind generator in the presents! As if solar was not enough. We are ready even for the darkness. There were bumpers, boathooks and even a spinnaker!

They were going to visit his wife's family for a couple of hours while in this part of the Metropolis and after their visit they would bring the last few items from Makina's storage over. Few items more!?!

They kindly dropped me off at the No Frills grocery store. It being the weekend the bus was running to Bluffer's Park. My plan was to take the bus back to the Marina to meet them after their family visit. Supplies were getting low and we are not talking only about food.

First stop was my new favorite store, the Dollar Tree. Bought some brushes for cleaning up the hull to prep for painting. Also my supply of paper coffee cups and lids were almost out. There is always something you see in that place that you did not need but had to have it. Found a solar stake light which at the time seemed like something that may be handy. Not 100% sure now... but hey its Dollar Tree, the name says it all!

The next critical supplies needed were edibles. Returned to the place that had the chocolate indica a week or so ago. They were low on stock on this visit so had to go into new avenues of products. Got me a couple of nice Doppio vanilla cookies. Nice is used in their descriptions 'cause one of them bad boys was chowed down upon my return (dare it be said) home? Also got a 10mg THC/5mg CDC Brownie..

And of course the soft caramel, crunchy praline balanced creamy chocolate and a straight up chocolate indica like last visit.

Next it was off to the No Frills grocery store. Picked up much of the regular fare and thinking of doing another run tomorrow rather than overload things.

Went to the stop for the bus to the Marina and after just a few minutes (and to be fair my location was not directly at the bus stop) yet this driver turns the corner and came very close to what you call driving by. Looking in shock a nice young fellow said the next bus would be in 20 minutes. Thought to do a little walking and maybe headed about a 1/4 of the way back to the Marina when a proper bus shelter with bench came into sight. Waited there for the next bus and was back on Makina before Chris and his Wife returned.

One welcome item which they brought in the second load was the door to the forward cabin. Chris and his wife found it to just get in the way for them. Thought to hang it as that would be the most practical place to store it on the passage to Halifax. He also had three different table and drink tray accessories. The drink tray fits on the helm's pedestal and the table extensions allows one to use both benches, port and starboard, to all sit down with the extensions installed. Will probably have some pics of them in the next few days while playing with setting them up.

Had a little chat with my Daughter earlier and will probably do so again before bedtime, which after today's activities may not be long away.

May the wind be at your back!