It's always surprising how simply standing on a boat for a few hours can wear you out. This weekend, I drove three hours out to Westport, WA to visit the Hawaiian Chieftan, where Annie, previously first mate from my two weeks on the Lady Washington, is currently the ship's steward, serving under her boyfriend the captain, Kevin. And, by luck, I happened to pick the weekend that another former Lady crewmate, Victoria the engineer, visited. It was a hot weekend in Portland, so, of course, I underdressed; I got in on the evening cruise, but even after changing into my jeans and windbreaker, I spent most of the three hours quietly shivering.



I didn't get to run around on deck much, either--one, it was my first sail on the Chieftan so it took me a while to learn the ropes (their mainstack gear doesn't run through fairleads like the Lady's: very confusing), and also they were lousy with two-weekers, like five or six, for a total crew of around 20. But also, I wasn't in funnies (or "period costume" as Elf would insist), so I felt more like a tourist than a deckhand. Still, I got to help set the raffee which I'd spent the afternoon patching, and see how that works. It's an odd sail that's hauled up from deck, strung up on the top of the mainmast above the squares. How much does it help move the boat? Don't know, but it looks cool and it keeps the deckhands busy.

Googling for "raffee sail" I just found this old article about the Chieftan from the Hawaiian Airlines in-flight magazine. Funny that in the very first sentence they mention a foremast--which the Chieftan, being a ketch, doesn't have; rather, a main and a mizzen.

Why is that mast in the back shorter than the other? Because part of it's mizzen! HA!

Let's see. I'm back at work after week in San Francisco for WWDC, the Apple Developer's Conferece, where every minute of the day was spent in sessions, sleeping, or visiting all the really great people we only get to see twice a year. And unlike previous years, no one missed a morning session due to hangover; one reason is that, for the first time in three years, we didn't win a Design Award this year, as we didn't have anything new to submit. The winners this year were really impressive, and it looks like our secret new app will have some stiff competition next year.

I keep doing tiny little things on the canoe that make it feel like it's taking forever. I did just put the last bit of epoxy on the paddles, though, so all I need to do is sand and get a coat of UV lacquer on, and I can take her down to the river for a float. Then I can hand her over to Ian and Rachael if they still want a somewhat poorly-made canoe, and I can start on my next one. The keelboat class starts the second week of September, leaving two free weekends before that; the current plan is to visit Annie and the Chieftan weekend after next, then see if there's a spare bunk on the Lady when she's in Olympia over Labor Day weekend. Looking at other people's recent Flickr pictures of her (like I'm stalking an ex-girlfriend), it appears there aren't too many crew members from my two weeks still on board. There's a really clever Ship of Theseus analogy there, but I'm not awake enough right now to do it justice.

Oh! And I knew there was something else—we took a long weekend in Austin a few weeks ago, using my birthday for an excuse. It was absolutely perfect in every way: mid- to high-nineties the whole time; we got to go tubing on the (very low) Guadalupe with Judy and experience the transcendent laziness of drinking beer while floating down a river; went to Schlitterbahn with the White family; visited Grandma in her new home, where she seems very happy; and went to a really great swimming hole where I finally got a chance to practice backflips off a rope swing. Best of all, though, I got to show Molly what summer in the Hill Country is all about.