Thursday, June 19, 2008

Day 51 Three in a row and another delay!

We hit three nice days in  row.  At this rate, I could actually get a sun tan and not mildew spots.  Tracy and I worked outside most of the day.  It was such a delight.

I attached the EPIRB (emergency position indicator radio beacon) to the stern of the boat.  It is an emergency device that when deployed--the boat sinks--it sends out a radio signal that is picked up by the Coast Guard as well as airline jets that may be flying over head just to name a few.  We already have a life raft so we are better prepared than most boats.

I spent a great deal of the morning trying to find out what is happening with the short wave radio I ordered last weekend.  I got an email today from a different company than what I bought it from asking for more money.  It ended up being the owner of the companies email address.  I guess it is for postage but there was no explanation.  Took two hours on the phone and numerous disconnects on the internet before I got it resolved.  I may never buy from EBay again.  It's to hard to get to the person you order from.  So far, all I gotten in response from my emails is automated responses.  No real person.

Tracy went about cleaning up inside and out.  The boat looks much better.  We both have a bad habit of using things and setting them down and not putting things away.  A bad habit that needs to be broken.  

Had to take my new MacBook in for repairs today.  The space key and the letter "c" were sticking.  No real problem but it needed addressing and fixing.  Glad I had Apple Care.  All done and at no charge--took 90 minutes to get it done!

I spent a couple of hours with my head down in the deep bilge.  If you remember, when the sewage tank for the front head split a month ago, it would pump raw sewage into the bilge.  We had cleaned it with lots of fresh water repeatedly over an afternoon.  Now I wanted it totally cleaned out and dry.  We rented a wet/dry vacuum and went at it.  Pump it out and refill over and over until we were satisfied that it was all gone.  With all the new pumps we've installed, we want to see if we have any other leaks.  We'll know if any water shows up down there.

The folks from DuoGen are trying to get me the longest post available for my new electric maker of the stern of Zephyr.  We have to have it higher than we thought so it will need a taller mast for the propeller.

We got a call from the man who is going to do the rigging of our boat in Port Townsend--Brion Toss.  He is heading for Hawaii to do all the rigging on the big beautiful four masted boat in the photo.  He had been selected to do the job but it had been scheduled for late August or early September but after having the boat inspected by the Feds, the people that run the museum were advised that the rigging needs to be replaced now, not in a month or two.  He called to advise us that our job will have to be delayed for a few weeks as he and his entire crew will be off to Hawaii.  Tough luck guys!!  He apologized and said he would pick up any moorage fees and expenses we incurred while waiting for his return.  How's that for service!!  I told him we had emailed his company last week to advise them of the delays we were experiencing here and that we didn't expect to get to Port Townsend till about the first of July anyway.  He was sorry for our delay but relieved that we would not be tremendously inconvenienced because of he and his crew being gone.  I told him that there was no problem.  We could spend time in Puget Sound playing around before he got back.  We had planned to do some sailing there either before the re-rigging or after.  It was no big deal.  We were perfectly happy to wait for his return.  If the feds trust him to do a national treasure like the boat in the picture, we could easily wait for his return.  Now I have to call the boat yard that will be doing the haul out and let them know about the delay.  Again, no problem.   As long as we are gone from the Washington/Oregon coast by September 1 there will be no problem.  The ocean gets really dicey after that.

Tomorrow--another nice day--at least that is what the tv said.

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