25 degrees this morning and sunny. .
Winds were light, and I wanted to check my dock lines.
Fired up the engine, which was understandably stubborn to start. I empathize, I didn't want to get out of bed this cold morning either.
After several minutes of fidgeting and warming up it was finally ready.
The rest of the boat had other ideas.
Thewas ice on the dock lines and low water in the slip...but just enough to get out
The rudder needed help, as the gudgeons had a thick layer of ice encasing them and there was no way I was getting it installed without luck . (That's what I call my really heavy rubber mallet)
I didn't see any other boats on the move in the harbor which is understandable as the watermen would be done by now and the light cool breeze gave me an ice cream headache and burned the tips of my ears.
A slow put around the creek to watch some eagles. Irritate some mallards and wave to one other boater who was working on his boat at the dock before I returned to the slip to test my landing rigging.
I'll need some better bumper and a few more dock cleats to make the system just right. But now I'm pretty confident we'll be able to get in and out safely even when the weather isn't quite right.
Basic Stats: Daily / Year to Date
hours on the water 1 / 7
NM sailed. 2 / 23
people engaged 1 / 11 ( only new participants add to total)