Rio Dulce, Guatemala

Cloudy and 82 degrees

We are still working like worker bees on s/v Island Sol.  We have had about 4 days of rain, which has put a stop to our varnish job on what teak we have.  Thank god it is minimal, although beautiful it is a pain to keep up looking shiny and protective of the wood itself.  But only one more coat and that job is complete.  Luckily our Guatemalan "teak man", Marvin, is doing this job.  

I am still cleaning the mildew off of every surface on the boat.  It is time consuming and very slow.  I am sick of the smell of bleach, although faint it is still there, but of course it is doing the job.  After this season we will hire someone to come and clean the boat every month until our return next season. eroom is done and the bedroom is done, so hopefully tonight we will be sleeping in our quarter berth Why has it taken this long to figure this out???  But the galley is done, the main head in our stat and out of that cabin.

The picture below is my "new baby".  It is a Harrisville Design 4 harness, 6 treadle floor loam.  Charlie gifted me this at Christmas.  Again, as last year, he gave me a Kromski Minstrel Spinning Wheel, I had to leave it to come to the boat. I spent last season virtually spinning and becoming a student of YouTube University.  I am still learning to spin, which is so zen and I can not wait to get on this loom.  I am hoping to get into a beginners class at Harrisville Designs in Harrisville, New Hampshire this coming summer.  Classes have not been set yet, so everyday I check my email for the summer session schedule, as I was told they fill up fast.  So that will be another "adventure" for me.  I have never gone on a trip by myself, but I am so looking forward to that experience.   Hopefully I can add that to my blog this coming summer.

                                                                    Still having trouble adding pictures to this blogsite, it is not very user friendly.  This is a picture of my spinning wheel.  I thought I was very savvy with all things fiber, but this has been a very humbling craft to learn.  I had a bag of alpaca fleece that I purchased years ago, not knowing what I would do with it.  But I carded it, spun it and finally knitted a headband.  Although this was a very simple project, it was very rewarding to me to go from fleece to a knitted garment. I am amazed that someone hundreds of years ago could figure these "machines" out.  Anyway, I have had to lay down this endeavor to do the sailing thing.....so back to cleaning the boat!