Thursday, April 7, 1994 - Haulout, Norfolk, VA

The rain was coming down pretty good when I got up, so I put the hose in the intake pipe for the water tank. Needless to say, the rain immediately stopped. Works like a charm every time.
Roy took off bright and early on his bike and got his hair cut. The barber did a good job this time. Didn't cut it too short.
I bought some groceries and then sanded and varnished the cabin sides again.
Poor Ron on the next boat had been planning on putting his boat back in the water this weekend, but today he found out the bearing in the steering mechanism had frozen, and he can't even get at it or the drive shaft without cutting off the rudder and part of the keel. It's a steel boat, so that isn't easy. He just bought the boat a few weeks ago, so this is the first time he's had a chance to work on it. It's a real shame, especially since he's such a nice guy.

Wednesday, April 6, 1994 - Haulout, Norfolk, VA

Sort of rainy in the morning, so I did the laundry, and Roy worked on the sonar installation. By noon, the sun was shining, so I finally finished sanding the sides of the cabin. Roy sealed it, and I applied the varnish. Roy also continued putting primer on the hull. Around five, he rode his bike to a barber shop for a haircut. Guess what--it's closed on Wednesdays! Just like the hardware store in Baltimore and the museums a couple of years ago in Washington.

Tuesday, April 5, 1994 - Haulout, Norfolk, VA

What a beautiful, warm, sunny day! Perfect day for painting and varnishing, but we didn't get much of either done, although Roy put a second coat of primer on the port side of the hull. He also removed a lot of cleats and stuff from the cabin walls and the porthole rings, so I was able to sand where all that had been. With luck, tomorrow I'll finally be able to apply the sealer and one coat of varnish. We've found a lot of cracks in the woodwork, where moisture can seep in. Also found some places where the varnish hadn't adhered at all; it just lifted right off. We want to do it right this time.
Roy needed another gallon of bottom paint. Cobb's would have ordered it for us, but at the list price of $180. Boat/US and West Marine sell it for about half that. I phoned Boat/US, but they didn't have any in stock and couldn't get any until at least the 14th. West Marine had two gallons in stock, so we borrowed Mrs. Cobb's car and went over there. On the bridge, we got stuck in a horrendous traffic jam. There had been an accident two or three miles ahead, and northbound traffic was at a total stop. Nothing moved for more than half an hour. Turned off the engine and read a book. Roy napped.
When we finally got to West Marine, Roy went in and bought the stuff he needed (of course, much more than a gallon of bottom paint!), and I went across the street to Farm Fresh and bought some groceries.
The local bus company is going to start bus service between Norfolk and Hampton, but it probably won't start until after we leave.

Monday, April 4, 1994 - Haulout, Norfolk, VA

Rain had been predicted for today, but fortunately, it didn't materialize. The sky was partly cloudy, and the wind was cold, but the sun shone. Roy applied a coat of bottom paint, and I sanded the port side of the cabin walls. Roy also boxed up the two pilot-house controls for the autopilot, so we could send them in for repairs. I took the box to the post office, so I could pick up the mail while I was there, but the mail didn't amount to much. Bought a few groceries on the way home.
We had read a letter in the SSCA Bulletin that told about special privileges cruisers receive in Italy (such as free docking) if they have an Italian translation of their insurance policy. I was going to phone a translation service to find out how much it would cost, but then it occurred to me that the insurance company might already have a translation and would send me a copy. I phoned them and sure enough, they did and will. So that saved a bit of moolah.

Sunday, April 3, 1994 Easter - Haulout, Norfolk, VA

What a fun day! The Easter bunny found the Jofian and laid eggs all over the place! The first one I saw, an orange one, was sitting on the hot-water faucet. I thought it was the only one until I took a drink of water and noticed the water was green and sweet. There was a green egg (jelly bean) at the bottom of the glass. Then I found two inside a bowl and two more in the refrigerator. Later, when I took the carton of eggs out of the refrigerator, it was full of Easter eggs! It's lucky I put on my glasses before I started the microwave, or we'd have had cooked jelly beans for breakfast. They were all over the place! Everywhere I looked, there were more Easter eggs. One was in my clothes, one on my bottle of Ibuprofen, one in the box of cocoa mix, and two or three in the toaster oven! I was cracking up! Then Roy came hopping--well, actually crawling--across the cockpit on all fours. What a cutie pie!
Sanded the starboard side of the cabin walls, and Roy put another coat of primer on the starboard side of the hull. Around six o'clock, we went to the buffet restaurant and pigged out as usual.

(Interesting how different the date for Easter, even when the days in the year match, just the way the moon cycle does not line up.)

Saturday, April 2, 1994 - Haulout, Norfolk, VA

What a glorious day today! Warm, sunny, and clear, with just a light breeze until evening. Perfect varnishing weather, so I got on coat number six. The last one for the rails, so now I can start on the cabin and stuff.
Walked a couple of blocks to a nearby discount store and got the vacuum cleaner we wanted. Should have gone there in the first place.

Friday, April 1, 1994 - Haulout, Norfolk, VA

It's April Fool's Day, but neither of us could think of anything clever to fool the other one with.
Sunny and clear, but windy and cool. Brought a bunch of groceries home from the nearby IGA. Then finished sanding and varnishing the fifth coat.
Our little hand-held vacuum cleaner gave up the ghost, so I set out for HQ to buy a new one. Missed connections on the bus, so I walked the last couple of miles, but the next bus went whizzing by when I was still four blocks from Granby, so I'd have been better off waiting for it. Ran off some copies, liberated some cash at an ATM, and then went to HQ. To my surprise, they didn't have the kind of vacuum cleaner we wanted, so I headed back to the boat just before dark.