More from quiet Ganges

I mentioned in my earlier post today that I've been getting lots of work done. People often ask, "How do you get work done while you're on the boat." Answer: battery power and generators.

But batteries still only last so long, and we can only (in good conscience) annoy our boating neighbors with a limited number of generator hours per day.

And so I find myself hanging out at Ganges Salt Spring Coffee Company. This is the kind of coffee shop I wish, wish, WISH that Nanaimo had! Still, after as much time as we spent in Nanaimo this summer, I have not found a coffee shop to meet my simple needs (chai+a plug-in+free Wifi).

This place also has very cool art on the walls, and tout that they have "Great coffee that doesn't compromise the Earth." I like this place. It is a bit noisy, but what do I care; I have noise canceling headphones! Since I was as low on battery power as I was, though, I've been here for quite a while. I have suddenly found myself in an unusual spot: my busy work is all done.

I've answered 6 weeks of non-pressing emails that had backed up, checked out my sister-in-law's Flickr page and oogled over pictures of brand new baby Tessa, sent the invoice out for the work I did in Seattle, published all the work I had done on the boat and was waiting for a strong, reliable Internet connection to finish up, and completed many, many bits and pieces of other stuff as well.

So here I am on the blog again. Babbling away.

But my battery is still only at 83% full. Sure, I've got other stuff I still could do, but... oh crap, a look up and out the window in front of me shows raindrops. We FINALLY got the boat under 80% humidity after Sunday's solid downpour in Nanaimo, and now I'll be dinghying back in the rain. Did I think to bring a raincoat? No. Would Scott have ever made such an error? Never.

Oh well.

And since I'm on a bit of a babbling streak here, I thought I'd mention a law that is true on land as well as on a boat: smoke detectors always chirp their battery's near-demise in the middle of the night. I was wondering why I'd set it off so much less frequently lately. So I'll have a quick stop at the store for a new battery before going back to the dinghy, too.

One thing that is sort of fun with the fall coolness and wetness is that, once we actually get the diesel heater running, it makes a cooktop as well as a heater! This morning I made split pea soup with carrots and onions. I don't know why cooking not on a regular stove is such a fun novelty. But it seems to be true anywhere. It is why men grill and people love camping. Maybe it makes us feel more hearty or something, as if we'd just discovered fire all by ourself.

Yep, that dinghy is going to be plenty wet by the time I get back to it. Maybe I'd better forgo the last 13% of my battery charge and head out now.

Cheers,
Mandy