How'd it go today?

You wouldn't believe the view of the night sky from a ship in the middle of the ocean. Almost zero light pollution... the only lights on deck are a dull red. EVERYTHING else is starlight!
It's kind of like the song "Southern Cross" .It can't be even be talked about unless one had been there .I've seen it through a periscope ,never on the surface but I will some day because lady fair is bound and determined to take me on a cruise to Alaska .I've never sailed the seas on a surface craft .
 
For real Butch, on the ocean at night...can be beautiful!
When my hubby did his single handed cross from Bermuda to Newport (and back)in the 18' dinghy (with 9.9 Mercury 4stroke) he said the first night out it was dead calm, and between the phosphorescence from the wake and the multitude of stars above he felt like he was flying through space...

Off to school tomorrow, going to do that 'Working safely near live electrical apparatus and a non-electrical worker' course so I can be accredited to prune trees near power, taking my part-time helper along too, should be good for the diversity quota, two ladies with silver hair hahaha!
 
Even 50 years ago with electronic navigation ,not navset or GPS because it wasn't invented yet .We would pop up at zero hour Zulu time and take a shot of the north star to calibrate where in the world we were .Thousands of years old ,still works just fine if you know how to figure it .Somehow those tough as nails Vikings managed to get their over sized canoes to the shores of North America .They were tough, certainly not stupid
 
I wasn't actually trained in navigation but being on subs I had to be aware of a lot of things but not really an expert .Several years ago my lady fair went on a cruise to the southern islands and then to the gulf .I tracked her location using AIS readings and plots using course and speed which are just trig .I could usually get her within 20-40 miles without getting right down to the nitty gritty with my figures . I think I could find England from NYC, Bermuda might be a chore .
 
I'm not sure if they ever figured that triangle out .About once every couple of months we made the 10 day "booze" run to Bermuda .Filled a torpedo tube full of hooch and hung a sign on it saying weapon loaded .The customs officials were not even allowed in that area .Snuck them out a fifth at a time in our ditty bags .:D
 
Screwed up milling some ash boards today. Made a few mistakes, but that's why I'm doing it. Practice so I do a good job on the oak later this year. Got my oiler almost perfect. I was looking in the hardware store for some kind of valve. Picked up a brass needle valve, but wasn't feeling too good about it. Settled on that, but made a quick trip through the rest of the store to see if anything was better. Ended up getting a plastic fuel cutoff. That works great for my purposes, and I saved a couple bucks.
 
I need to get my stuff for an oil change together. My twice yearly change is due at the end of October.
 
Last two days have been busy. Spent the second half of the day on the stream restoration job I hate. One of the guys went through, dropped a bunch of trees, and left terrible stumps. Makes me feel better about my work :^D

The dirt foreman on the first job said he had a maple he wanted pruned up. Thinking about taking a look at it, and giving it a shot. I'm a little leery of doing someone else's good trees though. I didn't jump at the chance, but I might talk to him later about it. I wouldn't charge him anything significant. I've known him forever, and would just do it like I would for any friend, but it could help get my name out there for more opportunities.
 
Climbing big trees by the water!

Low-bank waterfront means PITA driveways, steep, curvy, mossy.
Neighbors have allowed access, and requested work.8)

PS 2 miles from home.

PPS, a badass spider lift like that would have been great today.
 
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