Captain's Log

Skinwalker Log January 3, 2007, Wednesday, 0830 hrs

Turkey Creek, Ortona, Florida

We are waging a screen jihad against the dark forces of nature; bugs and sunlight.

Aha, grasshopper, you say sunlight is not a dark force. How bright of you, my little insect. But what of the darkness of the light saber or the lightness of a dark hole exposed by the weight of gravity? Now sit, my son, in silence and darkness and let the master speak to bring you the true illumination of the world according to Skinwalker.

We have now completed the replacement of our white 71 percent reflective sunscreens for the pilothouse windows. Note: Ok, so I made up the 71%. So sue me. They are sun screens, they screen out some sun and stay out of my mood.

Now some of you would like a stitch by stitch description of this task and others are already saying who gives a flying doughnut about your sun screens. To those malcontents I say go quietly, sit with grasshopper and learn the ways of master.

Oh, yeah, I forgot. We had a wonderful weekend with our Englewood friends staying in Les Mansciones de Campo. Thanks for the nice New Years Weekend to Dave, Dawn and all of ya’s.

Now back to sun screens. We simply folded and used the edges of the material as a one inch binding which we secured with two rows of stitching. Instead of the former push snaps we installed the “Common Sense” twist things that hold the screen in place with a metal tab.

Since Lynn & I are both mentally impaired, between the two of us the project only occupied us for a week. Lynn in the process taught me the basics of sewing and I taught her the physics of sewing to aid in troubleshooting and resolving challenges. Between us we now have skill level around the area of what use to be called an imbecile—but we’re happy!

Thanks to the crews of Freedom and Winnie the Pooh for the inspiration for our current project. The swelling of motivation is provided courtesy of the Deer Fly of Georgia, the Green headed Fly of Tennessee, the Blockheaded Fly of North Carolina and the No See’ums of Beaufort, the Horse fly of New York and the Smith Falls, Canada mosquito swarms that ravage one precisely at the same period after sunset each night. That isn’t night falling, it is a blanket of hungry beastie things with teethy mouths as big as a copper pit steam shovel. Of course if there is a rain event the mosquito version of Flight of the Valkeries and the eating of grown men alive may be delayed. What I am trying to say is: we are building door screens.

Not just any screens. Special screens. No See’um screens. Doors that will that will stay in place secured over the pilothouse and saloon sliding doors. Screen doors with zippers we can open and go out so we don’t feel like we are trapped in our own boat. So we can go out with the bugs and get eaten instead of waiting for them to seep into the boat. So we sleep without swatting each other in the guise of bug interdiction. “Smack! Oh sorry honey, I thought you were a Motorized Owl Gnat”. OK, I’ll miss that part a little.

The screen surround is made of Nauga-Leather pretty much matching the interior stain color where the doors will be mounted. The leather will be sewn to a large plastic zipper and the zipper to the plastic wire or screening which is measured at 20x20 which is either holes or wires of screen per inch. Plastic and leather materials of course because of the corrosive nature of salt water we are normally exposed to when cruising. The door will also be held in place with “Common Sense twist locks” and maybe some Velcro in tight spaces. The unzipped screen ties back when un-impeded access is needed, such as docking evolutions.

It’s kinda funny how projects get started. We, especially I, had several important but un-prioritized needs on our list after returning from Canada. I tried to prioritize them into the 987 other items of concern, but there is too much, too many and they are all important at one moment or another. Yet, yet somehow there always seems to be those few tasks that are plucked from the masses that stand out like water on oil. That one trembling sloe-eyed virgin in a thousand who came to worship and becomes the sacrifice. She’s the one. There are no others. Nothing else is seen except this virginal task held up as a mystical offering of peace to the god of maintenance.

On the other hand maybe it’s just Capt’n Lynnie saying: “We’re doing this now and it has to be done before I’ll make dinner”.

Happy New Year and may your resolutions last longer than mine.

Wayne & Lynn Flatt