Hey all - thought I would put my face in this one in case you have forgotten what I sound/look like - or maybe you want too hmmmmm.

Well, the boat paintwork is finally finished. They moved the supports holding the boat up to different spots so they could finish the antifouling. The topsides look absolutely great. If you look closely at the picture you can see my reflection as I came down the ladder (in the blue stripe).

We still have to get our lettering reprinted on the back and Cheryl and I have been slaving away putting all the hardware we took off back on. The only outside portion of the boat that needs work now is the upper section i.e the part covering the salon and cabins. It has a single coat with fairly cheap paint on it and when the tape that was put on for the awlgrip application on the deck was taken off, it took some paint off too. This had actually happened to us before when we removed some masking tape we were using to steady our computer antenna. There is also a bit of primer got splashed on that portion so we need to deal with that but not before we go back in the water. Frankie, the supervisor who was the project leader for our boat has offered to come onto the boat the first weekend we are in the water and show us the best/easiest way to re-do the upper part.

Apropos of nothing, I was walking back from the bank today and again noted the non-relationship between car drivers and pedestrians. It seems to be accepted by both - like the drivers don't show any courtesies and the pedestrians don't expect it. An example would be when you are approaching a lane of driveway that provides access to the main road. In Canada, if you are walking on the sidewalk and come up to one of these that has a car about to come onto the road, normally the driver will stop and let you cross. Here the objective is for them to get into the traffic - it is not like they are in conflict with you - it is like they don't see you in the context of having any right to expect them to stop. It is alright once you get used to it but kind of "insulting" in the beginning. The other thing I realized the other day while watching two cars racing each other down the 1 1/2 lane road I mentioned before. There are no posted speed limits on any of the roads and I have never seen a police car with a car pulled over. Cool.

Enough - see you next time