Monday, August 11, 2008

Day 104 Worker Bees abound

Worker bees showed up this morning just after 7am. 

First was the thru hull installer.  Then the transmission man.  Then the wood worker that is rebuilding the forepeak--that's the area right at the bow of the boat.  The wood had suffered a blow some time in her life and dry rot had begun to set in.  You couldn't tell by looking at her until the stem fitting--that's what hold the anchor in place--was removed.  She got bonked real bad some time in her life.  He has ripped out about two feet of teak on the starboard side.  

The thru hull installer patched the area where he removed the good thru hull so a new one could be installed later.  He's waiting for the goop he put on to cure properly.  Some kind of epoxy putty.  The three that needed replacing were done today.  I replaced some of the hoses so that it won't stink in the future.  The hoses need to be replaced every 5 years.

The transmission guy ripped out lots of thing just to get to the transmission.  We have parts spread all over the aft deck.  The transmission gets formally yanked tomorrow at about 7:30am.  We folded up the dodger--holds the canvas over the cockpit area--so they can get it out.  They figure it will take a forklift to get it off the boat and off to the chiropractor for all the workmen that are doing it.  They found nothing else wrong with any of the other fittings.  Great news!!  Better they find nothing than find something else.

The teak repairman has made templates for the repair and talked to the yards finisher so that he can stain it the matching color of the existing wood.  It will match perfectly.

We stayed off the boat today as much as possible so we didn't interfere with them.  With the transmission man working in the main cabin, our electrician worked on another boat today.  But he will be back tomorrow.  More parts for him should have come in today.  We'll have it ready for him after the transmission is gone.

The cloth dodger (cloth that covers the cockpit) is ready to come home.  We had it all re-stitched and new zippers installed.  All had been weathered and needed replacement.

I picked up some sanding disks for the bronze propeller.  I want to get her back nice and shiny the way she was when we launched her last year.

Today started out cloudy but cleared out about 11am.  it made for a lovely day.

The local newspaper reported on the Latitudes & Attitudes" party over the weekend.  Front page news!!  They claimed that 1500 people and over 100 boats were there.  The marina only has 34 slips plus space for maybe 30 more if they tie up side by side.  We saw maybe 150 people and no where near that many boats.  You couldn't fit that many boats in this marina if they were lined up in a row.   I'm not sure where they got their information but they should check their facts again.  Ah--the joys of the fifth estate!! 

The hardest part of being "on the hard" is washing the dishes.   There is no place for the gray water to go when you are done with it.  Tracys washed several loads of dishes at the restroom.  You have to go with the flow and cope as best you can.  We will be back in the water soon enough.

Out rigger came by today.  Everything is on order and should be here in a few days.  The new mast head--the part that goes at the top of the mast is on order and will take the longest to get in.  The old one had to be sent to them so the proper new one can be made.  It has to be a perfect fit.  meanwhile, the boom is being reconfigured with new ways to reef(make the mainsail smaller when a storm comes up) and new ways to control the main sheet--it controls the mainsail-how far out it will go.  More on that later.

Lots of things happening and lots of things on order.  The job progresses.

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