Weather forecast for January 31, 2017:
Turner Marine, Dog River, Mobile, Alabama
Partly Cloudy, low 53 high 73.
Southwest winds 8 to 13 knots increasing to 10 to 15 knots.
Light chop becoming moderate chop.
Captain’s Log: January 26 – January 30, 2017
We are traveling north, heading for Cincinnati and Detroit with multiple stops in between. I am currently sitting high and dry in a Panera Bread shop in Zanesville, Ohio.
The DARK SKY app on my iPhone tells me that the temperature is 28 degrees but ‘feels like’ 22. A swirling snow is falling and the ground is covered with a light blanket; patches of brown grass protrude from the white like hair stubble on a bald head. The parking lot is half snow, half wet blacktop. The melancholy sky is low and grey; I can’t help but wonder if the sun ever shines here. It is cold and ugly outside; our decision to move the boat to Mobile before she was ready for the water was a good one.
Have you ever been to Zanesville in late January? If not, save yourself the trip and just look up ‘depressing’ in the dictionary. This old, run down, economically depressed city claims a population of about 20,000 souls, quite a few of whom sport either purple, green or blue hair and multiple face piercings (for whatever that is worth).
Anyhow, the novelist Zane Grey, a direct descendant of the Zane family, was born here. Zane had the good sense to ‘get out of Dodge’ in his early 20s. The ‘Y-Bridge’, know famously as “the only bridge in the world which you can cross and still be on the same side of the river” is an interesting structure spanning the Muskingum and Licking Rivers in downtown Zanesville. In the days when pilots relied on landmarks for navigation, Amelia Earhart called Zanesville “the most recognizable city in the country” because of the Y Bridge. So, Zanesvillians have that going for them.
Zanesville is also the home of a Kellogg manufacturing plant, which is what brings me to this lovely metropolis. Shirley, my XO and the only gainfully employed member of the crew, manages the temporary labor force for many of the Kellogg manufacturing facilities across the US of A. Shirley periodically visits each of her plants and, on this trip, she has meetings scheduled in Zanesville, Ohio, Battle Creek, Michigan and Louisville, Kentucky. I am her chauffeur so, while she is laying waste to incompetent and/or unresponsive suppliers and replacing the corpses with fresh meat (she is ruthless), I find the most comfortable hang-out in near proximity to the plant and enjoy the benefits of being retired; one of which is the guilt-free wasting of time, another is updating the blog.
Enough of Zanesville. I am sure that Battle Creek will be much more exciting!
Back in Mobile, where it is currently 71 degrees and sunny …..
We celebrated my birthday with Roger and Christy Turner (Turner Marine) onboard s/v Perfect Love. The ladies retired three bottles of wine while Roger and I concentrated on rum (on the rocks and hot buttered). As the evening was wrapping up we moved to the smoking lounge (the cockpit) where Roger and Christy enjoyed a few cigarettes while Shirley and I puffed on our respective pipes. I must admit that I was a bit nervous watching Christy and Roger descend the 12-step ladder to terra firma during their departure.
Last weekend we traveled back to Pensacola and stayed at our friend Jeff’s place once again. On Saturday evening we dined at Pedro’s, a colorful Mexican restaurant on Perdido Key. A table of eight Air Force servicemen were seated next to us and we both were amazed at how young they seemed and how gentlemanly they acted.
Saturday evening brought heavy weather to the southern Alabama/Florida area and severe thunderstorm and tornado watches were in effect for most of the evening and night. Both Mobile and Pensacola were hit with heavy squalls and I was constantly checking radar to see if anything rough was hitting s/v Perfect Love while we were away. The Dog River got hit with short duration but very heavy and violent rainfall twice overnight but, to our great satisfaction, we found absolutely no signs of leakage upon our return to the boat.
We met our friends Nate and Glenda for brunch at The Ruby Slipper in downtown Pensacola on Sunday. The Slipper was packed and the food was out of this world! From there we proceeded to Nate and Glenda’s Vagabond 47, conveniently moored at a slip in their back yard on Bayou Chico.
Our intention was to take s/v Annabell out for a sail but the winds were blowing at 18 to 20 knots and we only had a few hours to spend so we passed on the sail and instead sat at the dock and compared notes about our respective boats.
On Tuesday our dinghy and outboard motor finally arrived from Inflatable Boat Pro. We had purchased these items last March, shortly after the 2016 Miami Boat Show, and had asked Inflatable to hold them until we were settled in at Turner. In late November, shortly after our arrival at Turner, I called Inflatable and requested that they initiate the shipment. After many delays we were finally contacted and told that a special shipping crate had been constructed to ensure that the dinghy sustained no damage in shipment (evidently a common problem) and that the dinghy and motor were on their way. Inflatable told us to thoroughly inspect the dinghy in particular before signing the shipping release and taking possession.
Of course, upon inspection, we found serious damage to the dinghy, including several punctures. The shipment arrived on a skid but was not enclosed in a crate as described by Inflatable. A four-way conference call ensued (myself, Inflatable, the shipping broker and the trucking company). We discovered that the trucking company had stacked other heavy items on top of the crate. The crate collapsed, damaging the dinghy. The trucking company removed the broken crate before the delivery to Turner. Bottom line; the dinghy and motor were sent back and our replacements should arrive in mid-February.
Nothing is easy; it has been a rough week. But wait, it gets better!
As mentioned in an earlier post, our davits and pulpits are being constructed by Wigfield Marine. The davits and stern pulpit were supposed to be completed ten days ago and, having missed the originally agreed upon date by seven days, Wigfield Jerry gave me his word’ that they would be ready and ‘perfect’ by this past Friday.
Of course, they were not. On Saturday morning, just before we were scheduled to leave Mobile for our trip north, Wigfield brought the davits out to the boat with the intention of permanently installing them. What a fiasco! The davits were not polished and, even worse, were three inches out of square. To make matters worse, Wigfield kept drilling more and more holes in my boat in a failed attempt to line up the backing plates with the outer plates. In total frustration I halted all work and told Wigfield Jerry to take the davits down. Jerry once again gave me his ‘word’ that everything will be ‘perfect’ when we get back to Mobile. I am fairly certain that Jerry and I will be having ‘words’ and parting ways upon my return. I will probably have some fiberglass and painting repairs to make in the wake of this abortion and the launch will be delayed once again.
Oh, one more thing: My carpenter, who is a great guy and does fabulous work, also left me with a little surprise. While installing a piece of corner trim to cover some exposed DC wires and shore power AC wires, he drove three of four screws through the wiring. While troubleshooting two dead DC circuits, I discovered that the screw through the shore power wires only tore the coverings and did not form a connection between the hot and neutral. A wrapping of electrical tape on each wire took care of that problem. The DC wires were cut so I had a splicing job on my hands.
If the old saying “bad news comes in threes” is true, then next week should be blue skies and green lights.
Finally, I regret to inform you that the potential for an alarming ‘arms race’ may soon become a reality at the marina. A bit of background is in order.
As stated earlier, my XO and I have become friends with Roger and Christy Turner, the owners of the marina. We have also developed friendships with Corey, the yard manager, and Chaundra, the office administrator. On several occasions we have shared strong waters with Roger, Christy, Corey and Chaundra. During these occasional social events, with wine as the catalyst, the estrogen levels radiating from the three women are off of the charts. So much so that Chaundra and Shirley are engaged in a competition of sorts; a race to the bottom.
The initial salvo was delivered by Chaundra when she posted, anonymously, a devious, hand-written sticky note in the women’s restroom.
Shirley, of course, retaliated by posting a sign on Chaundra's minivan.
As an impartial observer, I would have to say that the first round goes to Shirley. Unfortunately, I am sure that there will be several more rounds before a settlement is reached. Subsequently, I have informed Shirley that she will be held completely responsible for whatever despicable actions the villain Chaundra may take impacting our Jeep and/or our good ship.
May your tomorrow bring fair winds and following seas!