August 23, 2012

I've always been one who eats to live rather than lives to eat, so it was a bit of a revelation at Carol's birthday dinner last week to find that gluttony can have a certain appeal.  Needless to say, the Maine lobster and its accoutrements more than lived up to prior billing. Unfortunately, the next morning I had to waddle back home to get the boat ready for our cruise to the Channel Islands.
The only construction project this week was the fabrication of new fiddles for the shelves in the v-berth (as part of the effort to make sure everything was properly secured for sea).  Most of my time was spent trying to tick off as many as possible of the 37 items on the pre-departure list: checking, stowing, cleaning, and buying.  I spent four hours with a pressure washer blasting off 8 months of accumulated grunge and another four hours sucking up bilge water with a shop vac, just to give you an idea of what a glamorous week it's been.  I also replaced the broken switch for the new light in the aft quarter berth, and, thanks to John, replaced the rather dubious bridles used to support the dinghy in its davits.  Most of the equipment checks went well, with the exception of the autopilot.  Although it had run perfectly three days ago, it was totally dead today.  Some sleuthing with the volt meter led to the discovery of a loose ground connection on the breaker panel, a thankfully easy fix.  I still have a lot to do, but enough will get done so that we can leave on Sunday.  Since we'll be away from internet access, next week's post will not happen until we're back on the following Sunday or Monday.

August 16, 2012

It was a real battle this week getting the overhead panel mounted above the aft port quarterberth.  The outcome was uncertain for a while, but I won eventually.  The annual marina bbq came just in time:  free beer all afternoon!  On the up side, the aft cabin woodwork is looking good, and I was successful in creating an attractive and effective shade for the recessed LED in the berth overhead.  (Although I need to replace the switch which broke because the overhead panel was a bit too thick for it.)
Because Carol and I are planning a little cruise to the Channel Islands at the end of the month, the focus of my boat work will be shifting to cruise prep.  I've actually already started with the fabrication of a stretchy anchor snubber to add to the bridal I made (OMG!) more than two years ago.
Today is Carol's birthday, so as soon as I publish this post, it's off to LA bearing gifts.  It will be only a brief respite, but Maine lobster awaits!

August 9, 2012

My birthday was yesterday, so I took a work holiday.  Carol stole away from the office Tuesday afternoon, and we walked to the Ventura County Fair shuttlebus from the boat and spent the afternoon at the Fair.  When we'd had enough of the Fair, we walked a block to John's girlfriend's condo and had a fun salmon dinner complete with martinis.  Wednesday morning it was champagne breakfast, presents, and the Maritime Museum with Carol.  In the afternoon I took a little drive around Lake Casitas.  Dinner was sushi with John and Marti.  I collected a few more presents as well.
I could get used to that kind of lifestyle, but alas there was work to do.  Despite the distractions, I managed to finish lining the port side of the trunk cabin with oak battens and added contrasting mahogany trim.  I tried adding a second tongue-and-groove piece of beadboard for the berth overhead, but that turned out to be too much trouble for a poor result.  Soooo......it's back to plan A:  make a pattern and cut the overhead from a single sheet of v-board.
I also sealed two of the walnut boxes/trays from H & L Marine Woodworking using Smith's penetrating epoxy and WEST System epoxy, drilled holes for toothbrushes, and mounted them in the forward head.  They worked very nicely during Carol's visit.
Another little present I got this week was news from Seaworthy (Boat U.S.'s quarterly magazine) that they want to publish one of my sea stories and a photo in the October issue.  I had thought it was a good and well-written story, but it's hard to get editors to even look at a piece if you're not in their existing stable of contributors.
I've recovered enough from my surgery that I feel pretty normal, so it's a bit of a challenge to remember that I can't do any heavy lifting or straining.  At least I still have a good excuse to get someone else to do the really hard work.

August 2, 2012

I'm feeling more normal now, just tire out sooner and have to be cautious about lifting things or exerting myself.  Rough, huh?  I continued to work on the aft cabin, completing the stringers for the battens and panels in the port quarterberth and mounting the first few oak battens around a porthole on the cabin side. It looks great so far, and I'm looking forward to getting more done.

I also managed to find a good used outboard to replace my troublesome and obnoxious old Mariner.  The "new" used motor is a well-cared-for 3 hp Yamaha.  It's the perfect size, runs quiet and starts easily.  It even came with a beautifully crafted cover!  All for about half the price of a new one.  After I got it on the dink, Carol and I took it for a nice cruise through The Keys to see how the 1% live.

I'm hoping to be able to take Carol on a week-long cruise to the islands later this month, so in the next couple of weeks, the focus will slowly start to shift toward prepping the boat for sea and a cruise.  This week's little cruise prep project was working on a couple of the lovely little wooden boxes I got from H & L Marine Woodworking.  I'm going to mount them in the head as a handy place for toiletries, so I'm protecting them with penetrating epoxy and West System.