After a week

Cordova is still working for me. I'm about to hit the 1-week mark. It seems like I have been here longer than that, but I suppose it is just because the days here are so long and you end up doing much more every day when the sun is up for 19 or so hours.

Work on the Jonathan S (the boat I'm crewing on) is progressing well. We have been doing bottom work, rigging work, and more scrubbing. There are still remains from the soot explosion, most of which are in the fur of the boat dog, Cheeky. Poor little dog; with his filthiness and the fact that one of his hind legs is not running well, he looks rather abused. He has been promised a bath for at least the past 3 days, but so far it has not happened. The bath is going to have to come before the deck gets a final wash down, because this morning I noticed many paw-shaped black footprints at Cheeky's post on the bow of the ship. It is where he sits for periods during the day to watch and bark at people who come by, and to look adorable enough to be scratched by those same people.

Monday we went on what is called 'the grid'. Is it a series of large wooden rectangles which serve as temporary method of hauling one's boat out. What happens is that 'the grid' is high and dry at low tide, but underwater at high tide because of the 15-20 foot tide difference up here. So you wait for high tide, go tie up, and wait for the water to run out, leaving your vessel high enough above the mud to allow you you to work its underside. All we had to do Monday on the grid was clean a bit of growth off and replace some zincs.

Andrew (the captain and Jonathan's dad) and Jonathan have also been cutting into the boat, attempting to make it easier for us to get the fish aboard. I would explain what they are doing, but I myself don't entirely understand what is being done so I doubt I could explain it at all. What I do know is that the end result will make it much easier for us to transfer the fish from the net to the fish hold, making my job on deck simpler. Sounds good to me.

Right now the wind is howling and it is raining, so who knows what we will get done tomorrow. If the day ends up being clear, I'm sure some fiberglassing will be in store. Gel coating and painting are also possibilities.

Last night Jonathan and I watched a movie with a couple friends. I am starting to be recognized and people are actually remembering my name, so things are going well on that front. Tonight we had a bonfire with several other people. I swear, some of these people are a confederate flag bumper sticker away from belonging in the South. Trucks and guns are popular topics of conversation. It's funny to see the parallels between some of the locals here and some Southern 'hicks' (for lack of a nicer word), but I have yet to meet a mean person here which makes it irrelevant.

Only 9 days until we leave port!

-Jack