SailingKnitter

Here's my latest sock design for the Holiday Mystery Gifts Yahoo group called FLOWER PATCH socks. The are knit top-down with a picot hemmed edge over corrugated ribbing. The simple stranded colorwork is easy to memorize. So now you know another little piece of what I've been busy knitting lately. There's lots more to come too!


Other pre-occupations have been boat chores. I've sewn a patch on the hole in the V-Berth mattress cover, designed and began sewing the massive mosquito netting for our berth, and continued to put "stuff" away in safe places for cruising. Jonesy has had a long list too and accomplishes some task, or two, every day.


Then of course, there was the Sunday night Potluck BBQ, the Tuesday beading session, and then then first Bingo Night of the high-season all at the Vallarta Yacht Club. I won a bottle of tequila on the first hand of bingo. Dang, I'm good. Jonesy gave it to a friend of his - the dock manager - for helping him out with diesel fuel that day. We really appreciate the service as we dread trying to shimmy up to the fuel docks while fighting off the pushy sports fishing boaters. This 22-ton sailboat is not easy to maneuver in close quarters.


We've been sweating out our request for extended boat insurance to go thru the Panama Canal and to Columbia. Finally - we got confirmation that we, after paying a lot more money, can be insured! Yipppeeee! Naturally, they put in the clause that terrorism is not covered. Oh, and we have to have another marine survey of our boat done by mid-April. This involves hauling the boat out of the water. Oh well, we'll get this done in Panama and have the bottom re-painted with anti-barnacle stuff at the same time.



Today, Jonesy picked up our Panama and Columbia courtesy flags from the gal who makes them here in Mexico. Another purchase successfully completed. Now we have the full set of flags needed for our next cruising season: El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Columbia. Marine vessels have to fly a small "courtesy flag" of the country that we are visiting. We also fly a larger USA flag as that is the country where the Niki Wiki is registered.

We'll leave you now with a sign we saw in a gas station/convenience store in Central California. Yep, this is for real.