OK, the ship is once again safe from calamity.

I wasn’t going to concern you, so I kept my mouth shut, but now that we’re safe again, I can tell you no small amount of angst betrayed my underlying fear of being without protection.

Now, however, my lucky EC (Eastern Carribean) dollar, which has sailed all over the eastern Caribbean with us,  is back in its place of honor just beneath Sojourn’s upper helm.

Certainly, we’re now only bound for bountiful waters and peaceful shores!

Even though she’s only worth maybe forty cents U.S., tops, ain’t she magnificent and most dubloon-like in appearance?

I am also delighted to report that at least the pilothouse is once again regaining the appearance of orderliness and respectability,

even though the galley still looks more like a workshop,

and the stateroom and spaces forward is still definitely “dark territory”!

although, the aft bulkheads in the stateroom, and the starboard side are starting to shape up after today’s efforts…

Lator, ‘gators…

Sunday is our “day off”. A weekly respite from dieting, exercising and working. Well, sort of.

 I spent the morning compiling my ship’s machinery and equipment log, from 1982 to yesterday afternoon–from other logs, notebooks and files and receipts and spreadsheets and yellow stickies I’ve collected over the years.

They all concerned either upgrades or updates or tests or maintenance intervals on virtually everything aboard, including the dinghy. I also will use this binder as the repository of our underway log for over 2,000 miles to treasured input specific to my vessel from some of the most revered marine industry experts to local experts. I like a loose-leaf binder for this stuff as it’s easier to add pages and keep updates online. The formal ship’s log, a traditional hard-bound journal is still aboard for legal purposes, but that’s about it. Nice book, but a pain in the ass.

Thought if you’d like to peruse an online copy of Sojourn’s log, I’d give you the chance. Much too boring for most folk, though, I’m sure. Decide for yourself.

A few entries are still only blank placeholders as future learning augments past experience, but mostly contains far more than you’d ever want to know about this boat, but for an owner (me or perhaps someone else after I’m long gone), this will be a dream come true for a complex boat with complex systems.

It has taken me every bit of fourteen years and two major refits to compile all this crap into something fairly usable. Anyone who says I have too much time on my hands, I would argue that I either resemble that, or I’m just an anal-retentive retired project manager and researcher who considers intense focus a personal demon as frequently as an asset.

Below are pics of the onboard (hardcopy) version that I’ll update online periodically (yeah, right).

and the index tabs within… I know I’ll be adding more  of these over time:

Don’t even talk to me about documentation! Documentation I got!

Just the manuals for all the systems, schematics for all the circuits, the compulsory ship’s documentation and drawings, oh the drawings, of this and that…

All this would easily fill at least one file cabinet drawer in your office, but are handily contained in two portable and water-resistant expandable portfolios aboard the boat. Crashing across the Gulf of Mexico during the passage of a nasty cold front with leaky chainplates (now fixed) is a testimony to the water resistance of these plastic portfolios).

These may not look like much, but they’re super-compacted for onboard storage and super functional.

You better have some table space when you pop the clasp on one of these babies though!

Check alphabetical file “F thru Z”, sprung open on a two-foot wide table below:

Plastic, plastic everywhere!

And similar to the equipment and machinery log above, I keep a few specialized binders that I access more frequently, usually at the helm, perhaps to jot notes in, or for calibrating instruments, or checking fuel or water levels, or making noting when I take on fuel or water:

Of course, I’ll always keep onboard at least one copy of my first book describing our boat trip from Minnesota to Florida:

You know, kids, as I compile the list of this formidable forest of paper, I’m just now considering building a bookshelf, dedicated to just the ship’s papers. Cool!

Now onto more shiny stuff. My shoulders belatedly ache after an aggressive upper body workout at the gym on Friday, and polishing brass for a few hours on Sunday has put the finishing touches on the pain of that workout! (but it’s a good soreness, right?!)

This is my very favorite all-purpose oil lamp aboard, which really begs the question why I neglected it long enough for it to turn not just green, but rust brown with black spots – even some pink putrifaction! Got most of it off, though.

But it’s definitely worth bringing back – a genuine Weems & Plath is always worth bringing back.

This lamp, officially designated as a “yacht lamp”, is also one of the first higher dollar lamps we ever bought, and during far more frugal days at that! Sentiment, shcmentiment! Never waste a buck! (we like it an awful lot, too)…

I’ll likely spend a few more hours on her while lazily danglin’ on the hook somewhere, but for now, she’s presentable and imminently functional!

I love her ‘cuz she’s small but heavily made, puts out anything from a pretty bright to a more subltle mellow-yellow glow, hangs anywhere, even under the bimini in the cockpit without scorching the canvas just inches overhead, works as an anchor light in a pinch, the wick is adjusted from underneath which is handy when she’s hanging, and just looks all business.

And I can’t wait to install my new twelve inch bronze midship cleats (only twenty-eight bucks a piece at Sailorman’s in Lauderdale!). Hell, the three anda half inch silicone bronze screws to mount ‘em deeply into the solid glass hull were almost twenty bucks!

For now, I have to settle for just polishing them until the exterior railings are stripped , revarnished and ready to receive these exotic beauties.

Enough for now. You’re sick of reading about this damn boat anyway, so go watch T.V. or something! Better yet, read a good book.

Speaking of books, if you haven’t checked out one of our local writers whose snagged some national aclaim, check out Randy Wayne White’s books, most of which revolve around Southwest Florida and his cantankerous protagonist, Doc Ford who’s a marine biologist just around the corner from us on Sanibel Island. Even a couple of real-live restaurants named after him over there.

Randy is a personable guy who can often be found exercising his elbow at the Tarpon Lodge on Pine Island, just down the road from here. He’s also organizing a guide service in Cuba in advance of when (not if) that beautiful island is once again legally open to American visitors. That is DEFINITELY on our cruising agenda one season soon! Check Randy’s stuff out at a few sites:

• http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/randy-wayne-white/
• http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/florida_favorite_randy_wayne_white_talks_about_his_new_doc_ford_mystery/Content?oid=730161
• www.docford.com

I’m currently (re)reading Randy’s “Mangrove Coast”.

By the way, another great native Florida writer you might enjoy is Carl Hiassen. Carl is a lighter and more satirical read than Randy, and sports some of the most eccentric characters in his novels that you can’t help but grin almost non-stop!

Kay is currently reading “Nature Girl”, so if you talk with her, ask her about it!

• http://www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2007-Co-Lh/Hiaasen-Carl.html
• http://www.carlhiaasen.com/index.shtml

Lator, ‘gators, and happy reading!

Rather a good bit of fun shining and painting instead of cutting and grinding! The summer of my discontent has indeed abated, along with the extremely high temps.

Absolutely exhilarating today, for example, low 80’s with all the windows open, allowing the breezy day to sweep through the boat. A fresh twenty knot Easterly also conducted a cacaphony of delicious ship’s music, including groaning moorings, gently pumping halyards not yet attached to sails, and the occasional osprey high overhead screeching obnoxiously loud at the inconvenience of having to deal with a gusty hunt.

On with more of the fun stuff!

First, the pilothouse side curtains… they’re finally re-hung after pushing almost a hundred sharp curtain hooks firmly into place at the condo with a now well-tenderized thumb and forefinger, only to realize they were positioned too high. All had to be relocated an inch lower in situ (on the boat). Oh, my achin’ fingers!

Rather wrinkled from almost a year in storage, but that’ll shake out… they smell fine, which is the key (you’ll recall that Admiral Kay has a bionic proboscis!)

We’re still trying to decide how to treat the three front windows, that is, the “windshield”.

We’re holding out for not only a pragmatic approach to sun control up there, but also something that allows us to actually use the inside helm with decent visibility (unlike the previous forward curtains).

Some night lighting… was going to sprinkle some low voltage indirect LED lighting in the vicinity of stairs and cockpit, but the Admiral tells me the boat is just about finished. She knows ‘cuz we’re about broke! So no new indirect lighting just now. But next year, I’m thinking indirect up-lighting underneath the toilet!

I thought a gimbaled oil reading lamp would be a nice addition over the watch berth in the pilothouse (doubles as a sofa when I’m not on watch on overnight passages or at dubious anchorages watchin’ the hook, or reading when Kay retires before me… the light also doubles as romantic glow-producer when needed.

All the essentials are right here, gang - stereo, reading light and bookshelf, smoke and carbon mono detector, air conditioner controls, wireless remote for the autopilot, full visibility to the charger/inverter panel, the inside helm one step away, my trusty “Don’t Give Up the Ship” pillow and, of course, a comfy berth upon which to perch it and my head - my own mini-”man cave” right on board!

Bronze hatch hardware for access to the engine room polished and reinstalled:

Fresh paint on the stateroom bulkheads (rods, hooks & curtains yet to be reinstalled here).

Sprinkled a few fire extinguishers around…

And I still had a few minutes left over this afternoon to just admire some of the fresh brightwork!

Tomorrow, we’re even threatening to bring the La-Z-Boys back aboard! This time they get bolted down though!

Lator, ‘gators…

It’s really the little things that look great and take so much time!

but it is very  nice to only be working on little things, for a change!

lator, ‘gators…

A good sign, kids! I’m starting to haul stuff back aboard. You know, the kind of stuff that makes a home comfortable and a boat seaworthy?

Varnishing in the pilothouse, hallway down below and galley is DONE, although I’m still working on the stateroom and a few finishing touches in the head.

A few pics to give you the idea:

The inside helm has a wheel again! 

Mundane essentials (especially in the Sunshine State!) include cleaning, repairing and hanging curtain rods. Curtains are cleaned and stand ready to be rehung.

Last time we had these babies dry-cleaned, the sting was in the neighborhood of two hundred bucks! Those damn pleats will get you every time!

We really enjoy listening to music, especially some of the jazz and classic soft rock stations on the satellite radio (part of the Garmin instrument suite).

I had previously installed cockpit speakers, from which we derive great enjoyment, but had none inside, so that was on the list.

First order of business – routing and connecting another pair of speaker wires…

Now THAT’s done…

Next, disassemble speakers and bolt to the bulkhead from inside.

No really good place for surface-mounted speakers in a boat, and I’m tired of cutting holes, the likes of which that would be required for surface-mount speakers, so bolt-ons it is!

Besides, these’ll be more easily removed and replaced as technology, tastes and financial priorities change…

And of course, what can beat the warm glow of all the essential bronze wall accoutrements (all now highly repolished, of course)!

The less glamorous side of the pic above – the countless hours of removing, polishing and reinstalling all the bits of hardware that contribute to the overall effect of a ship in Bristol condition.

One of my many polishing stations is our living room. For example, beside the screen door hinges near the top of this photo, the other stuff is hardware from the pilothouse sole (floor) used to lift the hinged hatches to the holy place (engine room) below.

Before polishing these silicone bronze (the best!) fittings, I had to take them to the wire wheel on my grinder in the garage to get the old badly-bruised lacquer coating and green patina off these babies before “Flitzing” (metal polish) them in front of the TV!

Also had a marine electrician aboard yesterday to analyze my charging systems and provide advice and counsel on upgrades. He’ll return in a week or so to install those upgrades.

For example, I had it in my mind that I wanted a dedicated starting battery, and a second alternator to charge that battery. This would have meant moving my high output alternator from the port side to the starboard side of the engine, mounted on a new $200 platform and requiring new wiring before adding a new smaller alternator to the starboard side for charging the new starting battery.

I also wanted to combine my two banks of deep cycle house batteries into a single bank.

Tommy from Gulf Coast Marine (also an authorized Northern Lights/Lugger generator service center! Finally! More on this later), prefers the “keep it simple and reliable” approach over excessive redundancy and automation.

I guess if I’m going to throw my lot in with a local expert, I might as well buy into his intuitively-appealing philosophy as well!

So Tommy says “Why not just wire the house banks to position ‘1′ on your existing (expensive) big battery selector switch, the (new) starting battery to position ‘2′, and let your existing very good alternator and shoreside charger charge all the batteries?

Then, the only time I’d switch this rewired configuration out of the ‘both’ position of this switch is when we’re at anchor and wish to isolate the starting battery so as to only draw down the deep cycle house banks for the ship’s operation (refrigerator, cabin and anchor lights, etc.).

Elegant in its simplicity, is it not?

Tommy said he could automate that switching out of the starting battery with a solenoid if I really wanted that “bell/whistle”, when only house banks are desired, “but that’s just one more thing to go wrong, Sir!”, so sayeth Tommy. OK, lets do it!

He’ll also wire one additional (big honkin’) switch in the engine room to cut all electrical power to the engine, only to be used when someone is down there working on the engine. This would still allow 12VDC power to the rest of the ship, but provide a measure of safety for the mechanic (or yours truly).

Since Tommy is also a generator guy, and specializes in our brand (Dale, you’ll find this interesting), I described the (relatively little-used) generator’s history, including work that Dale Holst had done for us in Minnesota, and there was a disturbing “back-fire” only on start-up, after which it ran smoothly.

He crawled down into the storage hold where the genset is located, so as to be up close and personal with “Little White” (as opposed to “Big Red” in the engine room ) while I fired it up.

He had me shut it down and start it and run it repeatedly, after which Tommy declared, “this baby is perfect! What’s happening is that the rubber engine mounts are allowing the motor to bump into the rather tightly-fitting sound enclosure on start-up, and after that, smooth as silk!). THAT saved us what we thought might evolve into a a few thousand dollar repair!

Tommy definitively answered many other questions I had, including the following:

1. Are zincs on the outside of the hull that are not tied into the bonding system doing any good, as they don’t seem to wear down as fast as those that are bonded? Answer: yes, they’re providing protection, but only to that to which they are electrically connected. For example, the rudder zincs are only protecting the rudder. The others are all protecting the metal in and on the entire boat, which is why they all wear out faster.
2. Do I have a functioning zinc saver that provides galvanic isolation from a known hot shore-power problem in our marina? Answer: apparently not as it should be (a) installed right where the shorepower lines come into the boat, and (b), if I’m going through zincs every three months, more protection is required in any event, so a new galvanic isolator is on the to-do list.
3. Should we be considering a battery combiner? Answer: Tommy doesn’t like these, even though functionally, it automatically allows batteries that have been electronically “combined” until charge is complete, at which point, the combiner has solenoids that prevent one battery from drawing down others if possessing unequal charges. The best combiner is to use similar batteries (all lead acid) and the best isolator is a physical switch. So be it.
4.  Will I still be able to use the house banks to start the engine in the event that the starting battery is not able to do so? Answer: Yes. Just put the battery switch to position ‘2′ to put the house banks online and hit the start button on the engine. Simple, right?
5. While connected to shore power or running the generator, should I always have my house charger on? Answer: Yes. The batteries will only take what they need, and you still have the smartest charger on the market (Heart Freedom 20 with Link 2000R smart regulator option) even though it’s fifteen years old. This also ensures the batteries are always topped off. Then, when you’re cruising, if you’re only charging up to 80 or 85 percent, getting back to a dock (once every week or two) will be sufficient to keep your batteries “in the zone”.
6. Why do the lights on my Heart Interface remote panel flash erratically whenever I use the electric flush option on my toilet, which I installed in 2003? Answer: It would appear that I had installed the negative wire on the battery side of the shunt (which is the voltage/current sensing device associated with the Heart Interface. Move that black wire to the load side of the shunt, and that should do it. In any event, Tommy doubts seriously that this is doing any damage. Not knowing that, we ‘ve been manually flushing that darn toilet for four years, scared we’d fry our inverter/charger interface! Sheesh. Thanks, Tommy! We’ll see.
7. Why does the air conditioner sound funny when powered from the generator (different than when on shore power). Tommy’s response: “Do you know if the genset is putting out 60 Hertz and 120VAC? Does the air conditioner work? If so, run the damn thing, and stop worrying, Sir!”. Got it!
8. Why does battery bank 2  continue to float up on the interface to the tune of ~1 amp-hour every hour or two, but as soon as I put a load on it, right back down to zero (when fully charged)? Tommy says, “Don’t worry so much, Sir, it’s fine.” Again, got it.
9.  Do I need dual pulleys if I want to charge at the recommended maximum of 80% of my 130A alternator (104A)? Nope, just keep the belt good and tight. Try it. If you don’t like what you’re seeing or hearing, dial that sucker back to what you’re comfortable with. When you’re cruising, the only time you really need high output is if you’re only running your engine for brief periods and not running your generator for long periods of time. For your intended primary type of cruising (longer days under power (and possibly sail) followed by longer periods at anchorage where you’ll charge your house with your generator), you really are wasting your money with a(nother) higher output alternator, and at 100A, a single pulley is all that’s required. Watch your water pump. If it develops a leak (due to excessive side force), you can always consider dual pulleys/belts. If your banks are WAY down, and your belt starts to squeal, even though it’s tight (less than 1/2″ play in the longest run of the belt), you can always dial alternator output down using your Heart remote panel. Again, try it before writing out a bunch of big checks!

Best couple hundred bucks I ever spent! Once and for all, rid us of some old knawing questions that nobody else could answer definitively.

All the other stuff (zinc saver, battery (Deka 4D), wiring, install, test, etc., that Tommy recommends will be a couple thousand, but will yield far greater piece of mind!

Cool beans, huh kids!?

Lator, ‘gators.

Jeez, I haven’t spent more than ten minutes aboard Sojourn all this weekend!

Friday night was a costume party at our community clubhouse (I attended in the costume I haven’t taken off since LAST Halloween!).

Saturday morning thoroughly enjoyed an exhilarating forty-five mile boat trip to and from lunch at Woody’s in St. James City on Pine Island via Chuck and Suzi’s twenty-nine foot SeaRay, mostly making about twenty-five MPH – a nice breeze-generating clip! Joe, Alice, Kay and I all appreciated the ride and the company!

Chuck told me about what I thought was a great idea he had when he first arrived as a new boater in this area. He paid a professional guide for an entire day just to take him around to all the great spots and routes around the shoaled-in areas (too-skinny-spots in and around Charlotte Harbor) to “butter his charts” with all the great local experience-based tidbits that takes most folks years to acquire. Awesome idea, Chuck! It’s obvious he does know his way around and through islands that many others don’t!

Saturday night we ate dinner out with Ernie and Eileen before they headed back to New Jersey this week. Ate at Red’s Seafood House and heard all about Ernie’s jobs haulin’ fish and cleaning pots (!) Great time and good company!

Today, Kay and I had killer tickets to La Traviata (that’s an opera by Verdi for you heathens!) in Sarasota. Ate two great meals up there at two different restaurants before and after the performance at the lovely Sarasota Opera House.

Lunch at Mattison’s City Grill. Kay claims best sandwiches ever! Better than the seafood and steak at Barnacle Bill’s after, but also good.

Beautiful architecture inside the opera house.

Kay studying the libretto (Reader’s Digest version of the story line)…

No pics allowed after the performance started, but the orchestra posed for this shot (you CAN see they’re all looking at MY camera, right?)…

After leavinghome this morning at 10am, we finally arrived back home tonight at 7pm (whew!).

Well, early to bed for the likes ‘o us as we meet with Connie, our trainer at 0730 hours! (see www.ourhealthyretirement.wordpress.com).

Also, you boaters might enjoy my philosophical look at the joy of anchoring in an article I just finished and posted on www.genowrites.wordpress.com. Let me know what you think…

Lator, ‘gators…

She’s looking better all the time. Just seems to be SO much wood to varnish! Wouldn’t have it any other way, but anxious to get finished.

The details take the longest, like removing hardware, cutting a fine line between where I want the varnish to be and not to be, sanding, wiping down with solvent, cleaning brushes, drying time, doing it all over again, and so on. So, do you think it’s worth it so far?

Tomorrow, I’ll grab a couple of shots of the marvelous hand-carved doors that are drying out in the cockpit. Getting the right precise contrast between satin and high gloss on the raised panel construction, in addition to the hand carvings, make for a challenging brightwork project, should be well worth it, but I’ll let you be the judge…

All the hardware taken off the doors, including knobs, latches, hooks to hold open in a seaway, etc., all sit in a pile in the living room waiting for me to get the polish on and the tarnish off.

Sail bags await transport to the boat, but not gonna happen ’til I finish the mast wiring, which happens after varnishing is essentially complete. Shouldn’t be more than another week at most on interior varnish (I hope).

Lator, ‘gators…

Now, after several days of suffering with a S.L.O.W. internet connection (just found a faulty filter on the phone line causing our speeds to drop over 30X !!), a few photos I was planning to post that now won’t take forEVER!

We’ll, were certainly legal. State sticker alongside sticker necessary to re-enter the country. Had we gone to the Bahamas like we originally planned this last winter, we could have come back to the good ole U.S. of A. legally!

Seeing the little things coming back aboard keep reminding me that she’s “almosta” ship again!

Armed with a breakfast of champions comprising yogurt, cottage cheese, fruit, protein powder, walnuts, wheat germ and soy milk (HOO-yah!), dreamin’ up the  next boat project- awnings for the whole (sun) blasted ship.

Will keep her cool on the hook or at the dock, protect the finish for which I just went abysmally in hock, and will increase the usable outdoor living space, all in one swell foop!

This one will take some think time to absurdly over-design, and a bit of time to accumulate some additional materials (ka-ching!), however…

Making good headway on interior varnish. I really like how the satin finish, highlighted by gloss trim brightens the former monotony of all satin (tough to have “boring” teak floor to ceiling, huh?):

On my way back to the docks to continue varnishing. And now, here’s the results of the rest of today’s labors. Hot this afternoon, so closed up the boat and turned on the air. Love the smell of varnish (sorta)! Whew!

Note the discolored spots on the bulkhead to the right of the companionway door, where various bronze and brass wall-hangings will soon be re-ensconced:

Haven’t brought the second helm’s wheel back to the boat yet – conspicuous by its absence, huh?

This is just too darn nice a helm to never get used. Gotta change that!

She’s (ship) shapin’ up! While I was at the boat, it occurred to me that I hadn’t flushed the salt water outa the dinghy motor after hoisting, so that’s now done too. As you may or may not know, a flushable outboard is a must here in the land of corrosive salt!

Just untwist this fitting…

attach a hose, and turn on the (fresh!) water. Nothin’ to it.

Well, enough boat stuff for today. Gotta go check out what Admiral Kay is up to.

Lator, ‘gators…

It is a sign that the ship is truly coming back together now that the dinghy is back on her davits!

One important lesson we learned with Sojourn’s first off-shore experience with a dinghy is to “prevent the pendulum effect” at all costs.

In moderate quartering seas when crossing the gulf, the dinghy starting swinging like a pendulum, as it resonated with the fairly heavy motion of the ship. Boy, did that get scary quickly!

Not yet evident in these pics, but soon to be pulled out of storage are the two ratcheting straps that will diagonally cross the dinghy and be secured at the rail… evidence that we learned our lesson: ALWAYS keep the dinghy secured longitudinally (fore and aft), as well as transversally (to port and starboard)!

Inside, new varnish on the port side of the pilothouse bulkheads and floor is laid on and drying (yes!). The floor will get at least one more coat. Maybe there IS hope in starting to enjoy a usable boat by my sixtieth (!!) birthday, after all! I do see November 21st coming awfully fast, though!

You might observe that the trim around the storage locker is not yet varnished. This, and other trim will be highlighted in high gloss varnish, not satin like the floor and walls… ain’t that teak parquet floor jumping out at you with its fresh clothes?

Also, I guess the secret is now out concerning the location of one of the two bolted-down safes aboard. Help me keep the secret of this one’s location, though, OK?

We can tell that summer is coming to an end here, and that the water is cooling off a bit from its peak of almost a hundred degrees.

Unlike Minnesota, this does NOT mean relegate the boat to sitting on the hard in the parking lot for the winter and only dream of boating for the next several months.

Instead, end of summer here means, among other things, that we’re once again starting to see dolphins and manatees coming into the marina on a daily basis to check us out, and perhaps to feed.

Their path from the marina entrance to Charlotte Harbor into the marina’s south basin brings them, and huge schools of fish, directly under our port side and under our dock.

Here’s a pair of dolphin that momentarily watched a new boat neighbor (welcome to the dock, Rick!) chewin’ the fat before cruisin’ further into the marina.

Good to see you guys, again!

Hey, if you’re wondering what’s happening with the mast wiring project I started to share with you in my last post, I put that on hold since varnish is taking priority right now (per the Admiral!), and  it’s been raining here during prime time, so watch this space!

Well, one of my personal commitments today was to share with y’all a “coming out” for Kay and me.

I’ll honor that commitment by pointing you to a 4,500 word feature article I’ve written for freelance publication entitled, “Wake Up, Sober Up & Shape Up–Or Die!” with the subtitle, “A Transformation from Slow Mutual Murder to Practical and Fulfilling Life Extension”. Check it out if you’re interested by clicking on the title.

Yes, there’s a bit of melodrama there to jump-start the reader’s attention, but this article describes, in some detail, a very serious and very personal transformation process that Kay and I have begun, and have made solemn vows to each other for its completion.

My intent is to use variations of this article from the ole portfolio, to which I’m slowly but surely adding, for submission to several different magazines over the coming weeks and months, eagerly anticipating several rejects before striking a hit. And, like most articles, may be a book idea in there somewhere!

Thought you might enjoy a sneak preview, and learn a few secrets about us that you probably didn’t know…

You can also check out some of the other articles in my portfolio at http://www.writing.com/authors/gjurrens.

By the way, on the offhand chance that this kind of stuff catches your eye, you might also be interested in my writing blog at http://www.genowrites.wordpress.com.

I update it as time and priorities permit (this retirement stuff keeps us SO busy – definitely not for wimps!)

Lator, ‘gators!

Time to get the mast wiring connected below decks. A bit tricky, since there needs to be a waterproof connection where the wiring goes through the deck.

Here’s the rat’s nest coming out of the mast…

I created a new fitting (old one busted by the crane operator taking the mast down) in the plate on the mast that covers the wiring. It’s a new 1.25″ high pressure plastic water hose clamped to a plastic electrical fitting secured to the aluminum plate with a galvanized nut – how’s that for creating the potential for dissimilar metal corrosion! I created an insulating plastic washer out of an old flexible cutting board from Kay’s kitchen – any port in a storm, huh?

That other jpse-end of this conglomeration will connect to the stainless fitting on the deck that you see currently covered by blue tape to keep the rain out til reconnected…

The first trick was getting all the wiring through the fitting on the plate and through the hose. I used a double length of parachute cord with a clove hitch to each wire in order to pull it through the hose. I first sprayed a generous amount of BoeShield T-9 teflon lubricant into the hose, which then dripped all over the foredeck! Oops. But it did seem to make sliding all these wires through that constriction a bit easier.

The next feat of magic will be to get those same wires through that small hole in the tabernacle, after removing the blue tape, obviously. I have yet to make that happen, but I harbor more than a little consternation of doing that successfully, recalling how challenging that was the last time several years ago.

Third, once the wiring is through the hole, and hangin’ in the hallway ceiling, I need to build a new shallow box to hide all that stuff. I’ll use the old teak lid to size that box during construction, and to close it up once the step below is complete.

And finally, I need to get all those wires connected to the appropriate ship’s wiring below so all the mast lights and instruments can be controlled from the appropriate main circuit breaker panel. Most of them connect to an electrical terminal block – one side from above, the other side from below. Piece ‘a cake!

My focus right now, however, is just to get the deck waterproofed by snaking the wires through the deck and waterproofing both ends of the white hose conduit by hose-clamping the upper end to my plastic/aluminum/steel/ conglomeration and the other end tight to the deck. Watch this space. I’ll keep you posted.

Inside, I’m concurrently fixing the water stains from the old leaky windows and preparing the entire interior for fresh varnish.

The really good news is that the new windows appear to be completely watertight. Amazing what ten grand will accomplish, huh!

Here’s one spot (the worst) directly under what USED to be the leakiest pilothouse window…

Fortunately, it appears that most of the damage was just discoloration to the varnish (with a few exceptions where epoxy needed to be applied). This is what it looks like with most of the varnish burned off, but before sanding.

Similar spots under the other windows were simply discoloration of the varnish. Solution? Burn off old varnish and build up new coats while varnishing the rest of the interior:

Once sanded, these old water-stained spots appear similar in color once again to the surrounding wood (whew!). So we sand the whole interior, including the floors, in preparation for the new finish… I’ve completed this step for the port side bulkheads so far, and am laying on a coat of varnish (Interlux Satin). We’ll probably lay at least two coats on the teak sole (parquet floor) since that gets a great deal of traffic, and has to put up with our La-Z-Boy recliners on top of foot traffic.

I’ll highlight the satin (rubbed look) with high gloss on trim, such as door frames (not the center panels) and chair bumpers (the large horizontal strip below, for example)…

That’s as far as I’ve gotten, between other commitments and adjusting to our more healthy lifestyle (which is time-consuming!). You can check that out if you’re interested at www.ourhealthyretirement.wordpress.com.

I’m also continuing to develop my radio station (“shack”) in the condo. You’re also welcome check that out at www.k0gkj.wordpress.com if interested in “the geekier side”.

In addition, I continue to dedicate a slice of my time to “the artsy-fartsier side” by writing some articles and short features, in addition to the book I published on our boat voyage. Other works in progress at www.genowrites.wordpress.com.

Never a dull moment!

Lator, ‘gators!