This is a very windy place. We were mighty lucky to have had that one calm morning in which to move the boat to the marina. It's been blowing like crazy ever since. That didn't stop Roy from going paddling, though. He paddled all over the harbor in the wind and waves.
He never did find the receipt for the battery charger, but he went over to the shop and got the number. They've determined that it needs a new capacitor, but they're not sure they have one in stock. They might have to send to California for it, so they don't know when they'll have the charger fixed or how much it will cost. Also, the new generator that Roy bought the other day might have to be sent back to the factory, so for now we have neither generator nor battery charger, but we have plenty of dockside electricity, so that's ok.
My throat is well again. It started improving yesterday and now is completely back to normal, thank goodness. My nose is still running and my eyes are still watering, but that's just a minor annoyance; the sore throat hurt.
My hair, that was butchered in Fort Lauderdale, finally grew out enough for a permanent, so I had one this afternoon. She did a really good job. Best permanent I've had in years. They still know how to give perms on the East Coast; in California, they charge twice as much and do a crummy job.
Roy and I crossed the bridge to New Bedford and strolled around. We were thinking of taking the ferry to Cuttyhunk tomorrow, but they just went on their winter schedule. The ferry now runs only on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Like most cities on the East Coast, New Bedford has a lot of old, old buildings, many of which have been preserved in quite good condition. New Bedford was the fourth largest port in the country and the whaling capital of the world during the 19th century. 10,000 men sailed on the whaling vessels. Towards the end of the century, gas, kerosene, and eventually electricity pretty much wiped out the whaling industry. Then large mills were built to produce cloth, but they went under in the depression of the 30's and are still standing vacant. I keep wondering how cities like New Bedford and Fall River manage to survive. There are a lot of large fishing boats here at New Bedford, but commercial fishing on the East Coast is practically dead, so I don't see how that could be enough to support this city, but I don't know of anything else here that would produce income. The whole place must be on the brink of collapse. One indication of the poverty is the fact that telephone calls are only ten cents! I could hardly believe it. It's been twenty years or more since I've seen ten-cent phone calls.
Roy bought a heavy-duty bag to pack the tools in that he's going to take to California with him. He's almost completely packed and ready to go. Tomorrow evening, I pick up the rental car at the airport, and early Friday morning we leave for JFK.
No comments:
Post a Comment