Kindle, Whisker Pole, Wine

My objective for yesterday was to set up the Amazon Kindle that Arnold and Sandra had given to me for my birthday.  The task was to register the Kindle with Amazon so that it was linked to my Amazon account and its payment arrangement.  I took the netbook as well as the Kindle to the table where I do my internet work and in the netbook was the Kindle manual that Arnold had downloaded for me.  I had already done some familiarisation with the Kindle and had a pretty good idea how to navigate around the screen and drill down to the manyy functions.

The first step was to connect the Kindle to the WiFi, which turned out to be very easy by simply following the instructions in the manual.  I selected the WiFi service, entered the password, and jthe little “WiFi” logo came up on the screen.

The next step was to register, but that required an Amazon account.  I was pretty sure that I already had an account due to the numerous purchases that I had made through Amazon during my previous two visits to the USA, but needed to make sure.  I went into the Settings function, had a look at the payment method and saw that all of my Visa card details were already in place.  I could not remember my Amazon account password and used the system to set a new one.

With the account issue settled I registered the Kindle with no problem.

Then it was time to visit the candy store, so to speak, and I was determined to restrain myself and start of with a bit of bottom feeding.

My first download was all of the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald for $2.99.

Then I downloaded four novels of W. Somerset Maugham at no cost.

I finished the session by downloading all of the works of Dickens for $2.99.

With that, the last of the big spenders called it a day.

The Kindle is a well designed piece of gear with all sorts of functionality and is a credit to Amazon, but the book management  functions will suit my needs very nicely until I reach Fremantle.

I started off this day by giving the whisker pole some attention.  I lubricated the latches, looped a piece of thick stainless steel wire through one of the triggers then tied a loop of cord around that for easy firing.  Then I secured it well with the aft end clipped onto the bracket designed for the spinnaker pole and the middle and forward end lashed to the toe rail with shock cord and ordinary cord.  (The shock cord is to ensure that the pole doesn't move and clank during heavy rolls.)


While rearranging the contents of the V-berth area I took an inventory of the wine.  I'll be sailing out with 6 whites and 21 reds from the stock that I brought from Argentina.  I expect to be somwhat restrained in my wine drinking during the passage to Cape Town, but I will definiely enjoy a chilled white at one of the anchorages in the Angra area.