Nice Night - New Product Thoughts

[Maine Sail]

So I am sitting here in my cockpit while my wife and daughter are cozied up an asleep in the v-berth. I'm in this beautiful spot watching a couple of anchor lights twinkle in the distance and enjoying fall like temperature, fairly dry air and a light breeze, about 8-9 knots.

The cool thing is I am on my little "netbook" laptop enjoying a glass of wine and can still check in with the real world thanks to Verizon Wireless allowing me to use my phone as a tethered broad band modem. Unfortunately the only downer is that we motored here today due to lack of wind. though it of course came up after we got into the anchorage. Doh...

Product report so far this year:

New bottom A+++++
New Campbel Sailor Prop A+++++ / Wow should have bought one of these a long time ago.
Caframo Bora cabin fan A+ / low draw but could be a little louder, I like the white noise
New main sail from National Sail supply A+++++ / great fit, finish, shape and COST!
Yale Vizzion halyards B+ they would get a better grade but they tend to like to hockle..
Lewmar 40" folding steering wheel A+++++ / Thanks Tim!!


Was hoping to give an update on the new Magma BBQ but my dumb ass left the grate for the new grill sitting on my work bench.. My mouth had been watering for that steak all day too...

 

[SoSound]

Our Nice Night

On our very first "real" overnight, the first time we'd ventured beyond sight of our own inlet on the Puget Sound. We went to Longbranch, about 17 NM each way. Gorgeous fall night, clear, Mt. Rainier dominating the sky to the east. Only one other visiting boat when we arrived, three guys from Portland sailing their Catalina to Olympia after a full summer of cruising in the San Juans. Turns out that one of the three and I had a LOT in common (past hobbies to an extent that was almost scarry).

Since we're new to overnighting on board, we tried plan everything down to the last detail... But a couple of oversights. We chose our location out of a south sound cruising guide that was slightly out of date, neither the restaurant nor the general store listed in the book still existed. And we managed to forget the eggs that would have been the biggest portion of the next morning's breakfast. Without them we'd have a couple of granola bars and that's about it...

We had learned about the restaurant and store while chatting over drinks with the Portland crew and the president of the club that runs the marina at Longbranch. Part of his duties are to check on the guests each evening. He volunteered to pick up a couple of eggs at a nearby farm stand, as long as we didn't mind the farm fresh color... When he returned later that evening, he presented us with a full dozen eggs that he'd picked up not at the farm stand close by (they were out, nobody home, who knows?), but from the market in town several miles away! We were extremely impressed! And we split the dozen with our Portland neighbors who had all but exhausted their own breakfast provisions by the last night of their trip to Olympia.

Not just a nice night, but a great morning as well!
Dave

 

[mcaswell]

New Campbel Sailor Prop A+++++ / Wow should have bought one of these a long time ago.

Please elaborate on this... what kind of improvements are you seeing?

--Michael

 

[Cpt. Jon]

Was hoping to give an update on the new Magma BBQ but my dumb ass left the grate for the new grill sitting on my work bench.. My mouth had been watering for that steak all day too...

At least you didn't drop it in the water