Back to Las Vegas

After a wonderful month visiting with Lin, we bid Boston adieu and headed to Las Vegas. David's family lives there and, if you'll remember, we bought a house out there last Spring and we haven't been back since. David's sisters, Mary and Karen, have been keeping the proverbial home fires burning, but it's about time we returned to remember just what we bought.

Lin dropped us (and 4 large duffels, 2 suitcases, a backpack with two laptops and another larger than practical carry-bag) off at Boston's Logan Airport. Departing wasn't quite as traumatic this time. In the past we knew it might be another year or more before we'd see each other again. This time, we're hoping to get back to Boston for a few days in October, so no tears were shed.

Our 2-1/2 hour flight connected at Chicago's Midway Airport, a distant and bedraggled cousin of the glitzy O'Hare Airport. Midway's ill-kept terminal was depressing 20 years ago and it's still depressing. There were signs that said “Excuse the carpeting … we're hoping to replace them this autumn.” I think we saw that same sign in 1996 when we passed through then. We were glad it was only a one-hour layover and a quick plane change. Once on the plane, we settled in for another four hours of flying time and arrived, no worse for wear, but definitely tuckered out, in Las Vegas right on time. Mary was waiting for us with a cart, forewarned of all the luggage that was traveling with us. The heat hit us as soon as we left the terminal … all 109 degrees F of it. We crammed all the luggage and ourselves into her Kia Soul. We were home and unloading by 10:30 pm Pacific time … 1:30 am for us. Quick hellos and hugs and we were off to bed.

Over a couple of days, we've adjusted to the time change. The temps have been well over 100 F since we arrived. “It's a dry heat”, we're told. Quite honestly, 100 F is hot even with low humidity. We're still managing to walk every morning, but it's at a much slower pace. By mid-afternoon, it's literally hot enough to fry eggs on the sidewalk.

The landscape has changed drastically: flat desert compared to hills and trees. Flora is hardy and sparse. Cactus, yucca and sagebrush rule instead of dense evergreens and ferns.

Rather than counting flying fish in the scuppers each morning, we count bunnies (desert cottontails) which seem to be in great numbers. Our highest count to date is 15 … one of which was in our front yard. We see pigeons, doves, starlings and hummingbirds now rather than bluejays, robins and cardinals.

It's a far cry from the sea and definitely different from Boston, but we like the change. We'll be here about a month before heading back to Chesapeake, Virginia where Cups is patiently waiting for us. Desert life makes us appreciate going back to Nine of Cups all the more. Absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder.

Anchors Away

One of our goals when we docked Nine of Cups at the Atlantic Yacht Basin was to raise the waterline. We offloaded hundreds of pounds of stuff destined for yard sales, thrift shops and consignment shops. No, we're not thinking of giving up our life aboard Cups any time soon, but thinning out some of the 16-year accumulation of stuff seemed prudent. Anchors seem to be a passion with David. He's even written a book about anchors. We have had six aboard for several years, and in an effort to thin down the inventory, he decided to part with two of them.

Stored on deck we have a 50 kg Bruce and a 43# Danforth. On the bow roller, we have an 80# Manson Boss which is now our primary anchor. On the aft deck, we have a 10# mushroom anchor for the dinghy. Below decks and under our bunk in the aft cabin, there's a 35# CQR and a 32# aluminum Fortress. It was a heartbreaking decision for the captain … which two would go?

The 50kg (110 lb) Bruce was our primary anchor until we reached Australia. Anchoring along the southern Australia coast is difficult. With hard sand and lots of grass, it was hard for the Bruce to dig in. We replaced it in Port Adelaide with a 80# Manson Boss. The sharp claw of the Boss has been doing a fine job ever since and fits better than the Bruce in the bow roller. David built an anchor chock on deck to store the Bruce, but after hauling it around for the past couple of years and not using it, he felt it was time to retire the old guy.

The CQR was used in the high latitudes as a series anchor with the Bruce, but we've seldom used it in recent years. It go the heave-ho, too.

We loaded both in the SUV and toted them to Lin's house hoping that they'd be sold either via Craigslist or at the yard sale. No luck. As the days in Boston dwindled and the anchors, nestled in pine needles in Lin's backyard, fought off gypsy moth advances, David reluctantly contacted Bud at Newport Nautical Supply, a well-known chandlery and consignment shop in Newport, RI and we made the trek down there with the anchors in Lin's trunk. Needless to say, the car rode much lighter on the return trip.

After offloading the anchors and bidding them adieu, we headed next door to Bishop's 4th Street Diner, a Newport institution and, knowing how much we enjoy diners, a natural place to stop for breakfast. Despite the pleasure of dining, we couldn't help feel a little sad at parting with the anchors. I think we're missing Cups.

The Blue View - How to Make a Rope Rug

A few years ago I did a blog on making a nautical rope rug, or in sailor's parlance, an ocean plaitt mat. As I was making my 50^th or so mat a couple of weeks ago, Marcie suggested doing it again as a video. It seemed like a good idea, so here is the video version.