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Sunday, May 23, 2010

Solar powered again!

It was a big moment--hooking up the solar panels (see the "Boat talk" page for more on those) and seeing the regulator blink on and start charging our boat's batteries. We are off the grid almost completely now, and only need to hook up the watermaker to complete our project of making the boat fully "self-sustaining". Boat projects like this take so long (much like house renovations) that one begins to lose faith in their ever being completed...Then, suddenly, task after task will get crossed off the "to do" list one after the other.
Cap'n Russel has been doing "home improvements" while teaching (two online screenwriting classes) this semester, and now that school is over, he'll be at it full-time for a few months. New additions greet me almost daily on my return from work. Friday was Bike-to-Work day and I bicycled home to find he'd installed the solar panel wiring, and was just awaiting another body to help with the final connection. Yesterday was a cabinet fashioned out of wood to hold our new clock, barometer, and depth sounder. Now installed in the main salon, it provides a wealth of information, seen out of the corner of my eye. Needless to say, I'll be more interested in the depth of the water under our keel once we are again at anchor. And hopefully I'll have more time to read, purely for pleasure.
Just finished a re-read of Austen's "Sense and Sensibility" (free download) and was amazed to find myself anxious to find out how it resolved itself, though I knew perfectly well (I've also seen the wonderful Ang Lee film of the book more than once) Why is it that I so enjoy re-reading the classics? Of course, that term ("classics") is subject to each reader's definition--I include any book that will improve with time and re-reading...and a few select books are added to my "to reread" list each year.
Sunday brings the Hillcrest Farmer's Market and I'm off to select fruits and vegetables for the week, and some fish for tonight's table. Yes, fresh fish at a Farmer's Market--this is San Diego after all. And luckily the sun is shining again--re-charging my batteries in more ways than one.
hasta pronto!