I love our heat pump!

Today in Seattle is one of those cold grey days when it could snow at just about any moment.

But it is warm and cozy down below.  "Why?" he asked rhetorically.   Well, because the heat pump is busy chilling 48° sea water to near freezing, and dumping the heat recovered from it into the cabin.  This is the stream of chilled sea water leaving the boat.

Life is good.

I love our heat pump!

No skiing today

Today was going to be a ski day.

Not anymore.  Today I need to rod out the aft head lines.  And it is raining at the Stevens Pas ski area anyway.

So here's the drill:

First, empty the cabinet behind the head proper.  We put the stuff on the bed because it is convenient, and it is nearby.  Then remove the internal cabinet shelving (also goes onto the bed).

Next, remove the hoses on the Y valve, exposing a path into the lines.  Several years ago, I replaced almost all the hoses with hard 1.5" PVC plumbing pipe to forever get away from the "permeation" problem.  But there are still short lengths of hose at the ends of the pipe runs to make the various hookups.

And... get out the manual sewer snake and begin cranking and feeding the snake into the pipe.  The lime deposits that form as a reaction product between sea water and urine are not terribly hard (at least if you don't leave them in there for years, giving them a chance to recrystallize and consoladate), so this is not terribly difficult, just tedious.

And smelly.

No skiing today

An evening on Estrellita

Livia and Carol regale us with
"Tails from Port Townsend"

Blogging is a wonderful thing - you meet people you have never seen, and you get to know them without ever hearing the sound of their voices.

But last Sunday evening, Jane and I spent an evening with Livia and Carol on s/v Estrellita, putting the lie to that.  They are a thoroughly charming couple.

I will not steal their thunder by telling you about Port Townsend (watch their blog for it), but I am sorry that you won't get to hear the tale in person, over a couple of bottles of wine, like we did.

And I am really, really sorry that we were not at home when they had Estrellita tied up at Shilshole, only one dock away from Eolian.

An evening on Estrellita

iPhone App Recommendation #3

Ever wanted to make 3D pictures?  Now you can, with your iPhone, using the "3D Camera" app.

The app can produce stereo pairs, which you view by letting your eyes relax and staring off into the distance, blending the left and right images into a third image which will appear between them (yes, it's a skill which takes some practice).   It helps if you pick out a prominent feature in both images and concentrate on overlaying that feature in the center.  When you get it, everything magically snaps into place!

If you have a pair of those red/blue glasses, the app can also produce both color and grayscale red/blue anaglyphs.  Finally, it can also produce an animated gif of the left and right images which gives depth cues by rapidly alternating between them.

OK, now let's see some great stereo pictures of boat interiors and anchorages!

iPhone App Recommendation #3