Monday, March 30, 2015

More Inspiration II

Sunday we drove up to General Rv at Orange Park to buy some new shower hoses, washers and shower head.  On the way back we stopped by Home Depot to get a #70 Delta faucet repair kit. This morning early I tried to take the shower valve apart but it would not budge: The outer ring was frozen fast. I was afraid to torque on it any more for fear of twisting the whole pipe right out of the manifold.  So this became another project for Tom Holland Marine to do in the off season.  There is a list of several minor items (hopefully) and our last venture with Tom was satisfactory and we are glad he is here to adsorb the more difficult projects.

SAM is down in the clubhouse cooking up most of the perishables from the refridge.  It should not be too many days before we leave for the trek back up North.  In a way I will be glad since this season has not been too kind to me ands even now I do not feel fully recovered.

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Sunshine & 49±°F

I was out early this morning and the air was crisp.  The boat heater ran all night from about 0100 hours right up to the time I shut it off. It must be cold since the aft hatches were sweating.  The forward one did not sweat because of constant air movement generated by the heater.

Yesterday we bought a couple of the less expensive Walmart 12" fans.  We are going to try an experiment to see if the air movement helps the boat while we are away.  Carey wants the boat in the water until June.  In theory, the fans should help move air through the nooks and crannies during this period.  We shall see on that account.

The day was cool but perfect: SAM went to her "sale" with me in tow.  Afterwards it was Walmart to see what 5 1/4" radio speakers they had - not much as it turns out.  From there it was Radio Shack who was closing that day: They had nothing left in the entire store.  Back at the boat we had a visit from a broker and his client but I was too busy trying to fix a shower leak.  This will have to wait until have a positive shutoff valve, new shower head, hose and mount bracket.

Yesterday, we moved the cockpit cushions to storage and will continue to move fabric covered pads there as well.

Monday, March 23, 2015

It is raining

I awoke to rain Saturday late, actually it was early Sunday morning.  I zipped the from rainscreen shut but no rain was coming iun.  I pretty much went back to sleep, enjoying the rain.  It rained the rest of the night but became gradually sunny Sunday.

We drove down to Manansas National Park just to see it on the intercostal.  It was a pretty little park and we enjoyed it.

First Mate stuff

Again, the First Mate is out and about.  I tried to call the cellular phone but to no avail.  She is out with our South African freind helping get her situated for the return to RSA.  They have been here for some years and have accumulated a lot of items.  With their boat sold it became necessary for them to rent half a container to ship everything back to RSA.  SAM just arrived back so I will find out about everything pretty soon.

The high tower fishing boat seems to have left this morning.  They have made several excursions out on to the St. Johns and always came back.  This time they have not.  I believe their destination was New Bern, NC.

I called Sailor's Exchange this morning to find out if they had a marine compass.  They did have a Ritche so I am going to go over to see it this afternoon.  As a matter of fact I will finish this when I return.

ADDITIONAL: SAM returned and we decided to go to Sailor's Exchange to look at compasses.  They did not have too much that interested me so we left and drove back to the Monkey Fist.  Steve had several units but none that I want.  I like the Ritche Navigator series.  The problem is it is too small in diameter so I will either need to make and adapter or buy a premade one.  

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

First Mates go shopping & I fix things

This morning the ladies of Winsome and Inspiration II went to St. Augustine to shop - for all day!  After they left, I went over to talk with Jim on Winsome.  We had a great chat.  He gave me some ideas for solar panel mounts.  He is convincing me that I really do need the panels for cruising peace of mind.  The generator will charge the batteries but it would need to be run about 3 hours per day to keep batteries topped.  The panels would cut that in half.

The whole day was windy and cool but sunny and later in the morning Mukota Moon arrived and then Polar Bear V then a third boat all coming form Bahamas.  The weather window was open and many returned on this fine day.

I was sort of napping in the cockpit feeling the tropical breezes when the tap came to the hull...Time for the pumpout - one day late.  Well, that job done it was time to get something else done.  I took Abby out for her constitutional and on the way back bumped into Hansen Marine Services.  He agreed  to look at the forward aircon.  He said I needed a new thermostat.  This is the little mercury bulb that goes in the front of the exchanger and out to the control unit.  He said this is what is causing the snapping we hear when the aircon reaches shutoff temperature. He will return.


New Sta-Set X halyard

We installed the main sail halyard this afternoon.  Steve did a wonderful job of making the eye splice for the snap shackle.  It really looks nice. Thanks Steve.


Afterwards, I spent the time to look over the old halyard line and it was quite worn in a couple of spots.  One was near the old eye splice, so I just cut that 4' piece out at the one end.  The other frayed spot was at the mast top sheave and it was compromised so I cut this 4' piece out as well.  Finally, I whipped the ends of everything and, using my heat shrink torch, resealed all of them too.  I now have some pretty good lines for long dock lines and maybe even a lunch hook anchor setup: you can never have too much line.


Tuesday, March 17, 2015

New Main Halyard Line is in

Mt new main halyard line just came in.  It is 1/2" Sta-Set X and I ordered 150' so there should be plenty of extra line in the cockpit in case a much long reach in needed above or below waterline (e.g. dingy retrevial or person rescue or whatever). It must be in my nature to order a little too much. Steve down the way, who has a Passport 42', is going to splice and eye in the end so I can nicely mount the shackle.  It should be pretty nice when done.

Al is making me some circular plates so I can cover the speaker holes on the arch speakers.  I took a close look at them and found the cones totally disintegrated.  This lets the water blow right into the arch column which goes who knows where.  Hope he gets them done before he leaves for South Africa.  They pulled his boat yesterday for final inspection on a potential purchase.

We are in the clubhouse trying to stay cool.  The boat is too warm for me even with the aircon - I did not get the tent up soon enough to keep all the radiant heat coming through the hatches.  Ok, enough of this missive for now.

UPDATE: Steve & Lori stopped by the boat and picked up the halyard line and snap shackle.  Soon as he gets done splicing a tight loop that will support the snap shackle.


At a snail's pace

We have been slowly doing things on the boat.  The weather outside has not been real conducive to motivate us.  There are tons of little chores and bright work to do.  We have found problems at every turn and almost every major system needs attention but most are not a real big deal.

1. We have been up the mast and replaced the spreader lamps with NAPA 4411 bulbs and re-connectorized the ring terminals.
2. While up there we checked the spreader and somone had put a galvanized bolt in place of the stainless steel and not it is totally frozen in place.
3. The main halyard is frayed and needs to be replaced.  I have to measure the length and order that too.
4. The Steaming Light lens is broken and needs replaced and is on order.
5. The Stern White Light needs replaced and it is on order
6. Safety lines need replaced.  I need to characterize and order them.
7. I want to order a new Raritan PHII 1200CW assembly and replace the current on.  Later I will try to rebuild it as a spare but it is a 1200W unit and the plunger may have worn too big of a hole.

Some of my posts are white letters (correct) some black

I wonder why some of my posts come out dark grey instead of white?  If this keeps up Blogger, which I like to use, may become history.  I can manually correct it but what a hassle.  So this little blurb is a test of white or grey

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Sailing friends have come and gone

Our sailing friends from up north have come and gone.  What a blessing they were.  First, they are boat people and know the rules.  Second, they match our personalities well.  Unfortunately, Kathleen was down with a cold that had that deep lung sound when she coughed.  We all felt bad for her.

D & K had the forward stateroom and the separate head was nice to have and it added a modicum of privacy.  It was cold and rainy during their stay but we stayed warm and visited many local venues and, of course, Sailor's Exchange in St. Augustine. Dan did a lot of work on the boat and this was a real help.  He also found the stanchion thru bolts and tightened them. I need to make some backing plates so I can put a little more pressure on the stanchions.

All too soon it came time for them to depart for their home up in Michigan.  We were sad to see them leave and wished they could stay another weeks or so.