Day 164 Visitors

As we sat watching tv early last evening, suddenly there was a man atop the stairs to Zephyr staring at her decks.  We get people from time to time staring up at her but few will venture up the stairs.  I poked my head out and there was a couple scoping Zephyr out.  Their first question "Is this a Liberty 458?"  For those of you who have followed the posts from the beginning, I have to hedge what I say as to who and what we are.  For those of you that are new, well we should be a Liberty 458 but can't call ourselves that, at least not in public.  The Zephyrs first owner stiffed the Liberty company way back in the 80's when she was bought.  Cheated them out of their commission.  Ever since then, Zephyr had been the black sheep of the "Liberty family".  The owners of the Liberty company have threatened to file suit against the two previous owners to stop them from advertising Zephyr as a Liberty when they attempted to sell her.  With that being said, I told the couple that we were actually to be called a "Shin Fa Custom Cutter 458" but that we were actually the very first Liberty ever made.  We invited them on board.  As it turns out, they own "Ursa Major".  That is number 30 in the list of 458s and are in the marina!!!  We chatted for over an hour about the Liberties and the difference between being number "0" and being one of the last ones made.  We talked about what we have had done on Zephyr over the Summer.  It was great talking to another Liberty owner.  They have invited us over this morning to see their boat.  We can hardly wait.  I've waited all Summer hoping that another Liberty would show up and here we almost missed it since we hadn't been over near the marina yesterday.

Yesterday was a bit of an odd day onboard.  I spent the morning "whipping" lines on Zephyr.  The ends of all the lines need to have them wrapped with waxed thread so that they don't unravel during use.  In all, I "whipped" eight different lines.  Most had been done previously, but the true end of the line had been fused with heat.  That will truly stop any unravelling, but could cause damage to hands or sails if it rubs against them as the ends can be sharp being basically a melted piece of nylon fibers.

Once that was done, we took off for lunch( at Sea J's-cheapest and best burgers in Port Townsend)) and grocery shopping at Safeway.  Re provisioned with with the normal essentials.

Back at Zephyr, I slipped on one of the last fittings needed to finish the roller furling unit on the bow.  The "centering bushing" that keeps the roller centered on the forestay(big wire at the bow) so that it will rotate properly.  Now that it is on, all we are waiting for is for Brion to make the attachment pieces to keep it from rotating while in use.  It had previously been shackled to the stem fitting(gizmo that holds the anchor on the bow).  With it now being raised much higher, a new fitting had to be devised.  Once it is on, we can run up the genoa sail.

I bought new gear that will lead the furling line from the cockpit to the roller furling unit at the bow.  They look much like donuts and slip through the stanchions(posts on the side of the boat that hold the lifelines).  The line for furling the roller furling runs through them on a ball bearing wheel.  They are made by Schaeffer.  Bill, the previous owner had two of them installed.  They are made in 1" and 1 1/4" openings to fit the width of the stanchions.  The ones Bill had installed had pieces of stainless steel between the units and the stanchions since they were too big.  I ordered in the small units only to discover that our stanchions are 1 1/8".  They don't fit!  While the other size is said to be 1 1/4", it is actually 1 1/2"--too big for the stanchions which is why Bill had put in pieces of stainless steel between the unit and the stanchion.  I've ordered three more of the bigger unit and will devise some sort of metal fitting to take up the slack.  Luckily, the supplier will take back the four smaller units.

It stated to rain about 4pm and that ended the outside work for the day.  It got colder and clammier as the evening wore on.  We had had the heater inside Zephyr going all day for a change.  Normally, with the Sun out, it gets nice and warm in Zephyr.  Not yesterday.  I think we topped out at 48 degrees.  Last night, I think we went down to the high 30's!!   That cold front off the Pacific is making it downright uncomfortable.  At least it will pass in time for the weekend, not that that matters any more.

More odd jobs for today.  Never a dull moment here on Zephyr.

Have a great day!!