Visit to Sue's and Shopping in Seattle

On Tuesday I met Sue Hoover at the Port Townsend Co-op.  She helped me with the very important task of procuring seeds for the growing of sprouts during my long sail to Cape Town.  I walked out with hefty amounts of sprout seed mix (alfalfa, red clover, mung beans, radish), mung beans, and a smaller amount of broccoli. 

Sue probably with a gardening diva at her shoulder

We purchased salads then went to her house for a lunch of crab cake.  Sue is becoming an accomplished sailor with the many solo sails in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca under her belt.  Sue has the right boat, the right attitude, the best cruising grounds in the world at her doorstep, and is having the time of her life.

She then took me on a tour of her gardens and I was amazed at the variety and quality of produce from her patches of land.  She must have the flora divas helping her.  I approach gardening like an engineer: good earthworks, ramparts, irrigation, etc, but shamefully poor yields.

On Wednesday I found my way to Fisheries Supply at 1900 Northlake Way, Seattle.  I had heard references to this store several times during my earlier visits to this area because of their reputation for a wide variety of boating merchandise and relatively low prices.  The trip was worth the effort. 

My main objective was two spinnaker sheets.  The selection of cordage in the store was mind boggling and I needed help, which was not hard to find in the well staffed shop.  I told the young man assisting me that although I was sure that he had heard it many times before I had to say that this was the best marine chandlery that I had ever been in. Yes, he had indeed heard it many times before but appreciated my saying it again.

I described my boat and the asymmetric spinnaker that I hope to fly and he suggested a rope that was strong yet light and had the advantage of floating, which would minimize the risk of a sheet finding its way to the keel.  He suggested either 5/16" or 3/8" diameter.  Given the light duty that I would expect from the conservatism with which I would fly the kite solo (i.e. light airs only), I chose the 5/16" diameter rope.  The invoice describes it as "Ultra Lite Yel Trcr (500)".  I purchased an 85-ft length of green and an 85-ft length of red at a total price of $168.68 ($0.99/ft).  The lines are amazingly light and compact and will not be an issue with my airline baggage back to La Paz.