Hampton, VA - Man At Work

So this past week we have been at a marina in Hampton Virginia. We usually try not to spend so much time at marinas but this week was an exception for two reasons: 1. we wanted to have our rigging inspected, and 2. Kevin did some remote computer programming work for Starwood (our previous employer).

The rigging inspection was set for Wednesday. Basically since the boat (and its rigging) is ten years old, we wanted to have it inspected before we leave the country in January. When we first bought the boat over a year ago we had the rigging inspected and the inspector recommended having it replaced within 1-3 years. So we figured we'd have it re-inspected by a different company and if they recommended to replace it we would have time to do that before we left the US. So the guy goes up the mast and looks at all the standing rigging (which are the wires that support the mast) as well as the running rigging (which are the lines that raise and trim the sails, etc). They also inspected other stuff like our lifelines (which run around the boat and -- hopefully -- stop a person from falling overboard) as well as our dinghy lift/tackle system (which helps someone as wimpy as me lift our couple-hundred-pound dinghy). We were pleasantly surprised when they said there were no problems and that they couldn't see any reason to replace the standing rigging. They did say we should replace a few of the lines (ropes in the running rigging), but that is going to cost much less than replacing the standing rigging would've been. So we are happy.

The other reason we wanted to stay at a marina was to use the wi-fi access so that Kevin could do a little programming work for Starwood. Of course the minute he agreed to start on the work, the wi-fi access stopped functioning, so he ended up having to use our cell phone to dial in. Since our cell phone charges 45 cents a minute if we go over our minutes, Kevin was working nights (between 9pm and 9am) and all weekend (when our calls are free). He worked like a fiend and finished everything, but I think he got a total of eight hours of sleep over the past five days. Two words: grumpy bear. But now he is well-rested and back to the normal, non-grumpy, Kevin I married.

Where we are:
Location=Hampton VA
Lat=37 00.443
Lon=76 18.982