Friday Funny 05/19 (Sunburn)

Pop Pop! (I love popcorn!)

Yes, it does actually get sunny enough in Wrangell to get a sunburn. So, even though we live in the largest national rainforest, the Tongass, Nat'l Forest, the sun does make appearances.

Don't get me started on Alaska land ownership, that's another discussion, for another day. (Soapbox)

I'm still in the scrubbing mode, and this week, while the sun was shining, I was in the inflatable dinghy floating around Denali Rose. My project this week was to clean, and polish the hull. We have a painted hull, not a colored gel-coat. 

I tied the dinghy off to the stanchions, and worked on a section at a time. The order of my cleaning: wet it down with water, use the toothbrush to clean the green stuff out from under the edges of the metal on the rub-rail, put on Spotless Stainless on the stubborn rust spots, use a small bit of Soft Scrub to clean the hull, rinse off, apply FSR on the stubborn stains on the paint, rinse all of the remaining cleaners off, apply Awlgrip polish, buff, (by hand), push back, admire, move dinghy to next set of stanchions. 

Supplies laid out in the dinghy.

The blue bucket is just for carrying everything, the red bucket has fresh water to rinse the sponges, each sponge is for a different cleaner, and the white container, is a hand-pump pressure washer. 

Tied off to the side, even with this, it's an arm/shoulder workout to hold next to the hull, while pushing against it as I clean.

This is where the sunburn occurs.....

A "farmer's tan".

After a day in the dinghy with the sun reflecting off of the water, (I sort of forgot), this is what my arm looked like the next morning. Ouch. I wore long sleeves after that.

Polished!

It's worth the effort for Denali Rose to be clean. She looks much better!

I took a break from scrubbing, to repair a neighbor's fly-bridge cover. Bill is still pulling wiring inside, so I set up my sewing machine on the dock. I attracted quite a bit of attention as people walked by. 

Sewing on the dock.

Organized chaos.

This is where my sewing table is usually located. When you pull up the sole, (boat talk for floor), you see all of the spare parts that came with Denali Rose. Bill is inventorying them, and deciding whether to keep, put in storage, or sell. 

Meat burning.

As soon as I get my sewing machine back in it's place inside, I can get back to sewing the new sail covers, and weather cloths. I'm looking forward to seeing Denali Rose in her new colors, all clean and shiny.

We enjoy hearing from you, either here in comments or on our Denali Rose Sailboat facebook page.

The Rest of the Story - Swimming

Did she or didn't she? I know the tension, and suspense is unbearable!

I started swim lessons three weeks ago, with classes every Wednesday, and Saturday. I filled my water time with lap swim on Tuesdays for practice, and water aerobics on Friday. I feel fully water-logged.

In addition to the goggles, and swim cap we received at our first lesson, we also got a snorkel tube at our last lesson. Neat-o swag.

We did different kinds of drills over the course of three weeks. We practiced breathing techniques with rotation from side to side, and kick boards, (breathe in with your mouth, out through your nose). Learned proper underwater gliding form, (arms extended, chin tucked in, legs together). Treading water means "egg beater legs", with swirly arms/hands.  We trained with flippers, and without, for leg kicks that are done at the hip joint, not at the knees, and "loosey, goosey" ankles.

We used a pull buoy, which is a float you grip with your thighs, helps your legs to float while you concentrate on your stroke with your arms, (get those elbows up, and skim the water with your fingers).

It's a cool training device, it works!

I learned that if I felt things weren't going right, (too much flailing), I could stop, float, reset my position and my mind, and start up again. I didn't have to feel tense, I could just relax, take a moment, catch a breath, and know it's all okay. I don't need to grab the side, or stand up. This is a big step for me.

My classmates were fun, and we enjoyed the camaraderie. I couldn't have attended this class without you, Kathy, and Maria! We spent some of our water time laughing with each other. (Notice I said with, not at.) Our instructors were helpful, knowledgable, and encouraging, Wrangell has the best! Thanks Kate, and Bruce, you were awesome! I remarked to them, that even though I have had swim lessons before, I've never had anyone break down the steps, and give such complete instructions. I have a really good understanding of how it all works now. Head knowledge, which needs practice, practice, practice for that muscle memory.

The last lesson, required a jump into the pool at the deep end, come to the surface, tread water for a minute, and swim 25yards, the length of the pool. Did I do it???????

Well?!?

Did I get a t-shirt, and what did it look like?

Learned to swim!

Go me! You're never to old to learn!

We enjoy comments here, or on our Denali Rose Sailboat facebook page.