With the advent of cold weather the circulation of the blood seems to slow down as it gets thicker (I should ask Rhoda whether what I've just written is true; she knows this stuff.) and so does the pace of life in general. But there has been boating activity, just not so much and of course, alas, no sailing this winter.
Six work days -- averaging a few minutes short of three hours each, a bit longer when I visited the boat -- two of the times -- and shorter for the work-at-home days. At the boat, it was scraping and cleaning of the inner surfaces of the freshwater tanks, which is done now except for the final wipe out with cheap vodka on a rag, buying and cutting the rubber gasketing material on Canal St., and closing up the tanks. I also spent some time trying to replace the button snaps that hold the cockpit cushions on their benches so they do not slide off onto the cockpit sole when we heel. The current fixtures are press on button snaps. I installed them but they do not hold well. The targeted replacements (eight of them but I got ten because I'm likely to screw up) have oval shaped prongs attached to the boat with heads that fit through oval shaped grommets that I have to fasten to straps at the backs of the cushions. Then, by rotating the tops of the prongs there will be a positive connection that won't pull off. I placed an order but it didn't go through; the product was not shipped and I was not billed. Order number two worked like a charm but the ones delivered are too big so at year's end I'm trying to reach the west coast vendor and arrange to swap them for smaller sized fasteners.
But the greatest amount of boat work was devoted to refinishing the cabin sole which consists of seventeen pieces of one inch thick plywood with a rather thick decorative veneer layer on top. All but four of them are now home in various states of refurbishment. Ilene is not very pleased with our apartment becoming a workshop, but I've put things away after each day's work and she is tolerant. The bathtub, which is partially enclosed, with a pair of two by fours across it, has become my work bench. It catches the sawdust which can then be vacuumed up without great difficulty. And for application of the polyurethane (one coat on the bottom and sides to seal them against moisture and two or more on the top) Ilene's closet, a large one, is the place to be: rigged with task lighting, it is large enough to do several pieces at a time and it has the primary benefit of preventing cats paws from messing up the work. I have a lot more to do before spring on this project.
And another job has arrived on my honeydo list. When we renovated our apartment in 2007 we installed environmentally friendly kitchen counter tops, instead of granite. They are made of paper pulp and resin. It was a mistake. But with application of sandpaper, of several degrees of increasing fineness, and then application of mineral oil, they are being restored to look like new -- "before we go sailing!" Ilene is not very demanding or unreasonable; it will get done.
Part of the lack of more work getting done relates to the inhabitants of our sick bay. Witty has a serious and hopefully controllable though chronic bowel problem with many visits to the vet. We are hoping that his weight loss has been stopped with a treatment of steroids, though he can't be in the Olympics any more. But he does not appear to be in any pain, though he is listless compared to his former energetic self. I think he is on the mend.
Lene's glaucoma got worse. Therefore she had an operation involving cutting a hole through the wall of the eyeball and creating a blister shaped "reservoir" outside the eyeball that is hidden under her eyelid. This was outpatient surgery but resulted in blurry vision that may last as long as a month. Like Whitty, she has no pain and the doctor is thrilled by the reduction of her intra-occular pressure, the cause of the killing off of her peripheral vision. And me; just a sprained wrist from a fall -- luckily not a broken wrist. But these things slow a guy down.
But it is not all work and illness. I have spent four days, about fourteen hours, having fun planning the Harlem's "Winter Cruise," the annual land cruise. This year the theme, from beginning to end, has been maritime art. There were four false starts before the program came together. The first plan was to visit the annual winter auction of such art at Bonham's Gallery, in midtown Manhattan. But the date of the auction conflicted with Club business so that did not get off. Next, I discovered a great collection of contemporary maritime art at the Jinishian Gallery in Fairfield CT. I visited the gallery and the nearby restaurant, and was impressed that we would have had a good time and eaten well. But family setbacks persuaded Mr. Jinishian that he could not host us this year. He called back to suggest we visit the India House, which was a marine trading firm and is now a posh businessmen's luncheon club down by the Battery with an art collection. I made an appointment and visited the place, but this would not work for us -- it was weekdays only and came with an expensive lunch and the maritime artworks were not easily viewed. While down at the Battery I though of plan four. The main hall of the former Customs House, now the Museum of the American Indian at Bpwling Green, has a set of large murals showing the arrival of an ocean liner in New York Harbor. And two blocks away, mammoth maps in what was the great hall of the Cunard ticketing office at 25 Broadway. I looked at it but the latter is now a Cipriani's restaurant and they said "No!" Plan five, the plan to be effectuated, required a bit more work, which I guess is why I saved it for last,. I was given the idea for it from a man I sailed with about five years ago, whose daughter is an art historian. he told me that she led groups through the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue with an emphasis on sailing related works. So I visited the museum after consulting the Met's website and came up with probably more pieces than we can see in 90 minutes. I registered our group with the Museum which gives us group rate discounts and then organized the art through a logical pathway through the museum (and 4000 years of history). I located and priced out the Petrie Court Cafe for our lunch and nearby parking for those who do not want to use public transportation and then came the best stroke of luck: I have described in this blog museum crawls with my fellow book group member, Greg, an artist (we have one of his pieces in our living room) and recently retired as professor of art at Pratt in Brooklyn. He and his wife have sailed aboard ILENE. And he has agreed to come with us, thereby relieving me of the more difficult part of my docent duties. I'm excited about our upcoming adventure, early in February. I'm sorry if I sound too pleased with myself; but I am!
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