Leaving Portland

Monday 12/02/14

Portland, OR

Today was our last day in Portland with Seth and Lisa. We had a late breakfast of hot seven grain cereal and good Portland coffee. We went by a mailbox place to ship purchases from the Columbia store, Kitchen Kaboodle, and dirty clothes home so we wouldn't have to deal with them on the plane. We stopped at a burger joint that had a fantastic burger. Then it was back to the house for some chores and to pack for the trip back. 

The afternoon was spent visiting the Forestry Museum. They have a lot of film clips and interactive exhibits. There was one simulating a smoke jumper where you tried to land on a specific spot. Another was simulating using a timber harvester. The film clips showed the different types of forest ecosystems. Many types of woods were on display. 

We left a little after seven to go to dinner and then on to the airport. I had Braised Beef that was really tender and very good. Lynda had wings that made her eyes water and her nose run. That's how you tell good wings. The kids then dropped us off at the terminal for our flight. 

It is so hard to stay connected at such a distance. It was good to catch up on what is going on in their lives and let them have a peek into ours. We saw their new house for the first time. They were most gracious hosts. 

When we boarded the plane Lynda had an aisle seat and I had a middle seat. The window seat was for a woman with a fidgety 6 month old. It didn't bode well. Fortunately, the child was very quiet and slept the whole trip.  We arrived in Charlotte on Tuesday and found our flight on to Myrtle Beach seriously delayed, but that is another story. Tune in tomorrow. 

Portland Still

Portland, OR

Sunday we hung out in the morning. Then in the afternoon we went to Kitchen Kabootle where we picked up a few kitchen items. After that we went to see "The Theory of Everything". A really good movie. The lead deserves an Academy Award for his role as Stephen Hawkin. I don't know how he did it but he was totally believable.

After the movie it was back to Seth and Lisa's for Thanksgiving leftovers. They were as good the second time as the first. Tomorrow it is back home on a red eye. We wil get home early Tuesday. Loosing the three hours we gained on the way out.

Portland, OR

We did the shopping thing Saturday. First we stopped at one of the many many many coffee shops for which Portland is famous. We went to the Columbia outlet and picked up some things to keep us warm as we head down the way. Then it was off to some "Little Box" shops to support local small businesses. Our final stop was at REI where Lynda was able to find a replacement shell. Her old one was wearing thin. We also picked up a sun shower, some hand warmers, a cap and gloves for me.

For dinner Seth  and Lisa took us out to a local brew pub, also a Portland specialty, where we sampled some brews, had a fabulous cheese burger and finally shared a gingerbread dessert. It was great.

Plans for Sunday include a Chinese garden and movie, I think. We have wanted to see "The Theory of Everything" which has not been showing in Little River, so we will take advantage the larger offering here.

All in all, a good day even if a bit cold. Home doesn't seem to be doing much better.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful dinner with Seth an Lisa. We each mentioned something we were thankful for. We all have so many blessings.

Wineries

We had a fun day yesterday with Seth and Lisa. We visited three of the local small wineries in the area tasted about 25 wines. Most of them were very good. Lynda bought one to drink while we are here. Too much trouble to get it home.

Thanksgiving

Portland, OR

We are taking a few days off from boat work to visit son Seth in Portland. We took a flight that arrived here at 9:10. That would be 12:10 by our internal clocks. We are working at getting on local time. Looking forward to a nice Thanksgiving. It is great to see Seth and Lisa. They are so far away and we don't see them often enough.

Power on an S/V

Lightkeepers Marina
Little River, SC

Well, here it is almost a year later and we are still working on improvements to Sea Turtle. The dinghy davits are installed and so is the SSB radio, though I have yet to get full use of it. We are now preparing for a trip to Florida and eventually to the Bahamas. If all goes well we plan to leave between Christmas and the New Year.

To that end we are still adding conviences. Electricity is something we all take for granted. Just plug a cord into the wall and there you are. Not so on a sailboat. When not attached to the shore, the boat depends on 12 volt batteries similar to the one in your car. Keeping enough energy in the batteries to power things on the boat (think autopilot, lights, chargers for electronics, refrigerator and freezer, etc.) requires generating a lot of power. This is not a problem while the motor is running but when under sail or at anchor you are taking power out and not putting power in. To deal with this problem we are having a rack built that will mount on the swim platform to hold solar panels and a wind generator. Between the two we hope to keep the batteries charged.

To complicate the power situation we want to be able to use some things that operate on standard 120 volt power like in the house. Lynda wants to be able to use a hair drier, we would like to use a toaster, how about a blender and so forth. To use there things when we only have a 12 volt system we are going to install an inverter. It will change the 12 volt power to 120 volts. The problem with an inverter is that it eats energy making a particularly heavy draw on batteries. Think wind generator and solar panels.

So much for now. Stay tuned for the next thrilling episode of Sea Turtle.