January 19, 2012

Carol came up for a quick visit over the weekend.  Since I was partially paralyzed from having paddled an outrigger canoe for the first times in about 8 years, we took it easy and explored local eateries and went to the movies to see the English version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

The work on Circadian focused on the new genoa turning blocks, sanding and varnishing various pieces for fencing off the chain locker and completing the screen for hiding the windlass motor.  I also decided, since I was sanding and varnishing other things, to prep a handrail I wanted to add to the galley counter to both hide some leftover screw holes and blemishes and function as a high fiddle.  It will also be a very convenient handhold.  That led to the need to sand, stain and varnish some nearby woodwork that would be more difficult to get to once the new handrail was in place.

In addition, Carol convinced me that mounting a flatscreen tv on the windlass screen would be a great addition, so I had to strengthen its attachment to make it rigid enough and strong enough to secure the tv when the boat is bouncing around.  A conventional “L” bracket wouldn’t work because the cleat securing the screen would interfere.  Cutting away a piece of the cleat would be possible, but entail a lot of work between disassembling it, cutting, drilling additional screw holes and remounting separate pieces.  The only thing to do was embark on an expedition to Oxnard Equipment Surplus (See December 8, 2011 post) to see if I could find something that might work. I was lucky and found the perfect thing:  a 1/8 inch thick stainless steal bracket that would clear the cleat perfectly. Cost:  $2.  Love that place!

I got reminded by the marina that I need to get my liveaboard inspection, so next Friday I plan to take the boat over to the Harbor Patrol with my friend Curt and anyone else I can con into helping me get the boat in and out of the slip.  Hopefully we’ll also be able to get in a little sailing.  So, before next Friday I need to get the new turning blocks installed, new genoa sheets if needed, and make sure I have all the Coast Guard requirements met before the inspection.   Wish me luck!

January 12, 2012

This week I continued to work on finishing the projects related to my ground tackle systems.  I also had the yard fabricate a couple of teak blocks for my mounting my new/used turning blocks.  On Saturday I went paddling with the outrigger canoe club for the first time in about 10 years.  Not surprisingly, I could hardly move the next couple of days, which slowed my work progress considerably.  On Wednesday I was invited to go sailing, and discovered that I can, more or less, still do it.  The swell and surf were big during the first part of the week, which made for a bit of excitement.

Despite the interruptions, I managed to make pretty good progress on fabricating and finishing a screen for the windlass motor and some  boards to partially close off the opening to the chain locker so that the additional rode I added last week doesn’t spill out onto the v-berth.  I’d like to get them finished next week, but you can’t rush that.  I’d also like to get the turning blocks mounted.  Then I can start working on conscripting some friends to go sailing to test and tune.