The Splice. The New Bike

Moored Naples Florida. Doing?

Working@ Ridgeway Bar & Grill

Moving to California in May. Why? Click Here

My new job keeps me occupied for 30 to 40 hours a week and thus some of my activities will suffer. Boat projects have been one of them. A few months ago I bought new chainplates from Bud Taplin at World Cruisers as I have had some concern mine are just to old. My intent is to replace them here in Naples. I simply thought I would have dove into that project by now. No joy. So I have now decided to take on smaller projects; ones that I can either finish in an hour or work on for an hour a day. The chainplate project is a fairly large undertaking. Set up and clean up will take longer than my allotment of an hour a day. So, I'm working on carving out some time for the chainplate project, but may delay and do the project during the upcoming trucking of Christa. I have decided to start the replacement of the running rigging which is about 8 to 10 years old. Pictured above is the new main halyard splice. I'll climb the mast today and reave it through the masthead block.

Onto my new Road Bike.

 One of the things I really missed when sailing was hopping on a bike and roaming. There are folding bikes that are really cool, but Christa just is not big enough to stow and then the transport ashore would also be an issue. Now that I'm on land I purchased a Road Bike. I've always owed cheap bikes, probably because I've had several ripped off. One right before my very eye's in California, while browsing in  a BlockBuster Video Store. But above you can see my new ride, "The White Rino," is an entry level Road Bike. Having a decent bike makes a huge difference in riding enjoyment. I've already put a smooth 40 miles on the bike, according to my snazzy Strada computer on the handle bar. Including a brutal 15 miles into a 20 mph headwind. Other than just liking the way the world looks from a bike, my main purpose is exercise. I love to run and while I don't have any problems, the pounding on the body over a period of years will create pain down the road. Between the yoga, running and the bike, I should be able stay healthy. It's my day off. Gotta jam.

Capt Chris

PS: I guess I should plug Bikesdirect.com. This is where I purchased The White Rino for $359 with free shipping. I had a very positive experience with them. I ordered the bike at 2:30pm and was delivered in less than 24 hours via UPS. Very easy to put together.

PSS: If anyone is interested in learning how to splice Double Braided Nylon line click here. Splicing is not that hard, just follow the directions. There are some tricks an experienced Bosn could could show you, but it is worth a try.