April 24, 2014

A rough week, but a lot is being accomplished.  The floor grate is back in the forward head, Hector fitted the canvas for the new sail cover and brought the finished isenglass cover for the doghouse skylight.  Jose and his helper have been grinding away and the boat is beginning to look better just because the gel coat is more the same shade from having been sanded..  The noise, dust and constant shifting of "stuff," however, have made it impossible to stay on board, let alone do anything.  As a consequence all my normal activities have been completely disrupted, with some aggravating consequences.  In the last two days I've managed to lock my keys in the truck and misplaced my wallet.  Thankfully, I was able to recover both the keys and wallet (after deactivating my credit cards).  Filling the time has been interesting.  Cleaned out the junk from the truck, washed the Mini and even took a little trip up to Santa Barbara. And I'm doing a lot of paddling with the outrigger club.
There were not as many wildflowers as usual this spring due to the prolonged drought, but there are a few lovely patches....

April 17, 2014

Man plans; God laughs.  It was a frenetic work week as I scrambled to get everything ready for the contractor who is going to prep and paint the deck, cabin and cockpit.  It was only a series of delays caused by his need to finish an earlier job and his truck breaking down that allowed me to finish up the seemingly endless series of tasks that needed to be done before he started.  Lots of removing and stowing gear, removing hardware, vacuuming and pressure washing.  The final project was refinishing the badly weathered teak handrails, mast base and cockpit gratings.  Because most of it was in such bad shape, sanding it smooth and varnishing it wouldn't leave enough wood to make sense, and besides, I wanted to preserve the non-slip quality of the rough wood.  So, I decided to bleach, brighten, stain and seal it.  Instead of paying $40 for Teka or another two-part marine teak cleaner/brightener, I used bleach and oxalic acid (in the form of FSR-Fiberglass Stain Remover gel) at a cost of about $12. Works just as well. The finish is Primo Teak Sealer, a thin stain/sealer similar to Semco, but containing epoxy.  It has held up well so far in the shelter of the cockpit.  The handrails will be tougher test.

Hector, my canvas-maker, is coming Saturday to fit a new sail cover and an Isenglass cover for the seeping skylight in the doghouse roof. Jose is scheduled for Monday morning to start on the prep and paint work.  It's going to be a long and "interesting" process that should result in some major improvements in Circadian's cosmetics!

April 11, 2014

Between preparation for filing income taxes; preparation for the painting of the deck, cabin and doghouse; and preparation for outrigger racing season, it's been a taxing week full of deadline pressures.  I've been a bit overwhelmed by it all, and my regular schedule has been pummeled.  As you might notice, this post is a day late, and my normal weekend get-together with Carol looks dubious at this point.

The prep for the painting has been like a climb up a sand dune: every step up, you slide back half a step. It's frustrating when it takes three hours to remove one nut. And it seems that each time I remove something to facilitate the painting, it reveals something else that needs doing.  I did manage to complete the port installation (except for outer sealant, which will happen after painting).

Even though I'm feeling worn out at the moment, I know it will all get done eventually.   Hopefully I'll be able  to take a longer cruise this summer.

April 3, 2014

Installing the last of the bronze ports turned out to be a bit more of a saga than I would have liked.  While the filling and fairing of the old opening was no worse than the slog I anticipated, after a very careful job of cleaning and resealing the new (used) port, it leaked when tested prior to installation.   It turned out that I had been too conservative in the amount of silicone sealant I used in my effort to keep it all neat and tidy.  When I disassembled the port to start over again, I found several gaps around the glass.  The second time around I made sure I used enough sealant to squeeze out in a yucky mess.  After cleaning up all the excess yuck, it looked pretty tidy anyway.  And it didn’t leak!

Several days of occasional showers this week delayed the installation of the port.   Couldn’t be cutting holes in the cabin with the threat of rain, after all.  So, I turned inward and did a bit of trim work in the area where the new port will be located.  And while the amount of rain wasn’t enough for a severe test, there were no signs of any leaks from the dorade vents I recently repaired.   A good week all-in-all.