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| An Osprey we saw Friday night |
There’s something pleasant about sitting in the cockpit on a
Sunday morning reflecting about the previous day over a cup of coffee.
Yesterday was an eclectic day. A difficult task bracketed by entirely different wildlife
encounters followed by a drop dead gorgeous sun set.
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| A bit pixelated, but shows what a great day it was |
After walking Rex in the morning, we headed out on a 2 mile
kayak paddle. We were headed for a
minus tide, so we hugged the rocks, viewing sea anemones, star fish, crabs and
other assorted creatures made visible by the low tide. Jodi lead the way and decided to go around
the breakwater as the outside was flat calm (much to the frustration of several
racing sailboats with sails hanging limp near the committee boat).
Just as we rounded the southern end of the breakwater was
the first wildlife encounter with several seals sunning themselves on the
rocks.
The difficult task involved house batteries. Our batteries were old and failing. It was time for new ones. Deep cycle 8D batteries are heavy. 152 pounds a piece to be exact. And their placement in the aft cabin beneath
the floorboards requires getting through the companionway, down into the salon,
through the galley to the aft stateroom where specially made battery boxes –
made to the exact dimensions of the battery, await in a hard to get to spot
beneath the sink. 2 old batteries
needed to come out, 2 new ones needed to go in.
I’ve been dreading this for weeks.
Fortunately there are two muscled bachelors living on the
dock and after confiding my fears they willingly agreed to help. Unspoken was the currency of the dock – cold
beer.
In relative short order, we hefted the old ones out and,
with some finagling, got the new ones in.
25 minutes of sweating and it was mercifully over. All that remained was the hooking up part. I had dutifully labeled each of the dozen or
so wires and in what may be considered a minor miracle, everything worked.
So with the day not quite yet half way over, the afternoon
suddenly was free. What to do? The Fremont Solstice parade was going on, so
we decided to ride the bikes over to Fremont.
Before I describe what turned out to be a close encounter
with another type of wildlife, Fremont is funky to begin with and the solstice
party is Fremont at it’s funkiest. And
least dressed. Many of the parade
participants where nothing but body paint.
By the time we got there, much of the body paint had worn off.
Being in the clothing industry, there’s the observation that
some dress to reveal, others to conceal.
Those with athletic builds and ‘perfect’ bodies tend to wear tighter
clothes, revealing the body. Most of
the rest of the population tends to wear clothes to conceal perceived
imperfections. So there
are revealers and concealers.
Then there are those in Fremont. Most participants had body types along the lines of
‘concealers’ yet had chosen to be ‘revealers’, revealing
E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.(S).
Enough said and no pictures taken. Only time will erase the images seared into the brain.
Throughout the day we were treated to fly overs by a B17
Flying Fortress and what I’m pretty sure was a B24 Liberator bomber. Both WWII bombers, they would occasionally
thunder over with a sound quite distinct from any other plane. I can’t imagine what it would sound or look
like with hundreds of them fully loaded headed for central Europe in the early
40’s.
The sunset was something special and went on for seemingly
hours.
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