Day Six, Bow Tie Marina, Lake Charles LA - Saturday, August 13, 20106

Do we go, or do we stay? 

We stay.

It rains.  It rains hard from time to time.

Herb goes to the marina office to let Captain Doug, the dock master, know we want to stay another night.  Doug says, "No problem.  In case you haven't noticed, I'm not too busy."  On Your Mark is the only transient boat here.  

So, what shall we do today?  Laundry!  I will open the nail salon, also.  Pearl says it is a good day to watch a movie.  She had grabbed a couple from the condo in Austin for the trip, and today picks "Legally Blonde2" with Reese Witherspoon and Sally Field, but there's no DVD inside.  It must still be in the player back in Austin.

So we watch John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" with Henry Fonda, which won two Academy Awards in  1940.

Willie:  "Pearl, lets talk about the laundry.  I wonder if the dryer is vented, because the clothes are still as damp as when I put them in.  Or maybe we did not push the right buttons?"

Pearl:  "Ok, Willie, I will get the manual.  Everything seems to be in order.  But, wait, maybe it is the lint filter."  

Willie:  "I didn't see one.  Oh, that little square door?"

Filter is small door near bottom of dryer.

Pearl opens the filter and water literally shoots out of the drain.  Problem diagnosed.

Solution to the problem is to put shirts on hangers and do a trial -- phase one of a non-blinded study -- so Pearl puts a few light weight items in the dryer and turns it on. When the items are not dry in a reasonable period of time, she experiments with the temperature controls:  phase two.

She hangs socks on a bar above the dryer and leaves the door ajar so the light will stay on and help to dry the shirts.  A check from time to time indicates that we are making progress.  

During a check of our WX conditions today Joe and Herb go topside and find a previously empty five gallon bucket within about four inches of being full of water.  It is sitting under the roof, but near the edge, so it catches the rain blowing in.  One of the Coast Guard officers says their bucket in the open boat overflowed.

Checking my laptop, I see an eMail transmission from friend Nancy, asking Pearl what's cooking for dinner.  I take a photo of another serving of red snapper given us by Luther of Port A.  And the salad looks so delicious, especially with the mangoes.  Nancy is a good cook, also, and I bet this gives her some ideas for experimentation.

Find Willie's dinner....

Willie of Willie's Tug,
   and of Walldog, Willie and Jake
   Saturday, August 13, 2016