Second week in Alameda

As busy as the first.

* A the K goes grocery shopping on a large scale, observing logistics problems at the supermarket: each can must be scanned individually at the checkout. No programming for scanning just one can and entering "times X".
* The service guys who come to set up the new wind meter fail to get the antenna cable down through the main mast "it's stuck - you have to take off the mast" - Thomas shows them the way by getting a weighted nylon cord through. Piece of cake for a Swedish sailor. Well, there won't be any service guys out on the Pacific.
* Two days in Nelsons Marine - Anastasia up for a paint job. Two days = two layers of paint. While the Nelsoners take care of the paint, the Anastasia crew services gaskets and o-rings and cares for the crusty surface of rudder and propeller. End result: Anastasia is tip top under the waterline
* Including a new 50 kg anchor - the old 20 kg anchor not heavy enough for the Patagonian archipelago. As the wise New Zealander would have it: "When people start laughing at your anchor, THEN you know you're beginning to get it right.
* Weather in Alameda has been summer hot. R&R for the crew has included première steaks on the LPG grill and going to Fisherman's Wharf for crab. Everything has gone according to schedule, sailing on Monday!

The week that went

Still in Alameda, preparing. Eric the Repairman went over the engine one whole day in the beginning of the week (Monday or Tuesday - not sure how the blog counts the days). More services booked - everything that CAN be serviced WILL be serviced before they set off. And for contact with service people in California you need a US phone number, so A the K got a pre-paid sim card for the purpose.
* Hard work from 7 in the morning to 10 in the evening - ALL equipment must be tested, including the hammock, fortunately. The weather looks lovely over there.
* On Thursday, shopping for charts, fixing the antenna for the Iridium system. When blog posts come with funny line breaks, they are posted by satellite phone.
* Some people at home are getting restless after seven days - but two weeks of preparation were always in the plan. On Monday the cruiser will be hauled out of the water, for a paint job. Smooth gliding, Anastasia!
* Saturday: shopping for fishing equipment. Huge Cedar Plugs for tuna!! Also a test trip, flying the Swedish flag. Looks good!!!

Sunday morning

This is the first installment of the English summaries I have promised to make. I think I'll try to do them on Sunday mornings. As stated in the two previous posts:

1) The flight went well, no problems with the luggage or customs. All passengers on the Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong, arriving at the same time as AK & Th had heavier and unwieldier luggage than the extremely heavy and unwieldy packing of our travellers.

2) The trip to IKEA also went very well, apart from some confusion about sizes and shapes of pillows & bedding. At the checkout the cashier had to split the entries in two, because the cash register wouldn't take all the items on a single receipt. Last item bought was cloudberry jam, which A the K has NEVER bought before. I think she doesn't like it much.

Another way of keeping up with AK & Th in English might be to use the Google translator, which is getting pretty good. Although it does some weird or plain stupid things, too. Like translating "packningar" with "gaskets" even though it's in a context of luggage.