January 23, 2007

Shorty and I spent the day at JP's Canvas Shop where the boat is getting a set of mosquito screens added. The no see ums are worse than mosquitos but if we used the screen to get rid of them there would not be much ventilation through the mesh so we opted for a set that gets rid of most of one pest. Having the whole day on hard ground it was fun for me to observe how they measure the boat for the screens. They first do a template which is marked with all of the little nooks and crannies they have to cover so the bugs don't get through or at least most we hope are not smart enough to get through the remaining space. I had no idea the amount of hand work that goes into doing the screens, it is like thinking in 3 dimensions and the sewing and seaming work plus making sure all of the zippers are aligned properly. Well JP has done this for 35 years and can make this very difficult job look easy. After we got here this morning he had to move things around in his schedule to make way for us. It is much appreciated by us that he is taking the time fit us in. Being a family owned business they have built a reputation for the finest quality work and it certainly shows. The bimini, the interior canvas work, and now the screens carry the proud name sewn in to identify them as we make the trip.

The rain I expected more of today turned out to be a little shower as we were loading the boat to come over and the rest of the day was kind of an overcast with another nice sunset if you were watching. I have not listerned to the NOAA weather radio today to see what tomorrow is to bring but tonite it is very chilly. I am wearing a jacket in the cabin as I write this because I am getting ready to call it a day I though it would be a waste of fuel to heat the cabin for this short while.

Sitting here this morning I neglected another very important event which happened and that is Kymi Hum who did the work on Shorty's name on the side came by and added my Florida Registration numbers on the bow while Shorty was out of the water. She also call an Avon lady for me and I now have some Avon Skin So Soft to combat the mosquitos and no-see-ums and which has been touted on other Looper's websites as the thing to have for bugs.