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Larry's LogI went to the HAM study group Sunday morning but I didn't find the group very helpful since they started talking about the underlying electrical principles (the organizer was an electrical engineer) involved in many of the questions. It was interesting but I wanted to concentrate on passing the tests. Jim had said to try to just get the questions and the right answers. To do that, I just needed to study on my own. After the group, I just went back to the boat and talked with Tom and Steph since they had come over since they wanted to take the tests also. The next morning we helped Lady M III come into the Customs dock and then over to Tardieu Marine after clearing in.. They had a problem with their engine and transmission though and as we came in to Tardieu, their boat hit another and did some damage to the Monitor windvane on the stern of the other boat. Everyone took it calmly but there was damage that could not be repaired easily. We then had to move the boat to the other side but at least that went smoothly since we used lines to warp the boat across the channel. Once Pat and Jim were squared away, Diane and I, Mima and Lady J went to catch a maxi to TGI Friday's, where we had a very good lunch. On the way back, we saw a tool store that we (the males) wanted to stop in. I bought some stuff and we continued back to Chaguaramas. Diane, Jacque and Jim stopped at CrewsInn but I went on to Coral Cove to get some #10 lock washers that I needed to finish the lazarette lockers. Tom and I went to Tang Yuk and then I walked back to the boat. That evening was the monthly manager's cocktail party, which we went to and had a very good time. Tuesday morning I got back to work and finished the lazarette locker hinges and started on the port cockpit locker. When I got the outboard fasteners out of the locker lid, I found that they were indeed machine screws. Of course, since that edge was completely glassed in, I just hoped I could reinsert them. I suspected that they were just held by the fiberglass although there could have been a nut glassed in. Luckily I could screw in a fastener with no trouble so I cleaned up the gelcoat from the rust, cleaned up the hinges, and got out the fastener box. Amazingly, I still didn't have the right size since te old fasteners were rusty and I wanted to replace them, so I got the dinghy down and went across to Tang Yuk, again. While I was on the other side, I stopped at Chag Metal Works to inquire about the ladder mounts. Lincoln still hadn't found the right size tubing that the 1 inch ladder sides would fit inside, so he called one place and I asked what the chances were of finding something. He said he just needed time to go through his bin. I said I could look through it and he said go ahead. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything either, at least nothing that fit well. After that, I went over to Mima, visited a bit, and brought Steph back to go swimming. Back at the boat, Diane had already gone to the pool and so Steph helped me hoist the dinghy and went off. I decided to continue with the port cockpit locker; finishing around 6pm. Diane and Steph had just come back from the pool while I was cleaning up. I was putting away the organizer box with the fasteners and it fell. Great! I think I found everything but of course the order of the box was totally destroyed. Oh well!! The next day I started on the starboard cockpit locker. I emptied it of almost everything, including the 45 pound CQR and the pieces of the 80 pound fisherman, but left the liferaft in, got inside the locker and cleaned the sides and as much as I could. I checked how I could fill the holes near the hydraulic panel and thought I needed to remove the panel. Then we went over to Mima to get Clem since Steph was going to use a bug fogger that day. We brought Clem back and she was OK but every time we went out of the boat she started to cry. Diane was in the boat most of the time since she was oiling the teak while I was working on the locker. It took me almost all day to clean the locker and then put all the stuff back in. Finished that, I started putting all the fasteners back in some order. Steph came over and we brought her and Clem back via dinghy. The next morning, I went over to TTSA with Tom and Steph to see about a pactor modem. They bought it but later had to return it because their radio didn't have the correct plug. On the way back from TTSA, I went to lunch with them (salad only) and then went to the Internet place. After that, I visited on Mima and on the way back, picked up our redone dinghy cover and asked Lincoln if he found any right size tubing. He hadn't yet but said he would try. Walking back, someone asked me if I wanted a ride and so I took it to CrewsInn. The driver was the owner of Goodwood Marine, and he was very nice. After I got back to the boat, I studied the code again and continued with the General license questions. This morning, Tom, Joe and I went to the Military Museum while Diane, Steph and Jacque went into town to do some shopping. They were also going to the mall to eat. The museum was very good although it was a little warm and had some bugs. After we left there, walking around for 90 minutes or so, we went to a 'french' restaurant, and I had just a salad. Diane and I (mostly Diane) had decided to go on the Atkins diet, which is high protein and high fat but low carbohydrates. We had been on a few years before and lost a lot of weight (I lost 80 pounds in 7 months) and so I was trying to be careful). We then went to the new HiLo supermarket a block away and I bought some cream for my coffee since we hadn't been able to find any before. (Of course, Diane brought some more home when she got back Once back, I continued studying the code until Diane got back around 4. She was going to play dominoes at 6 and I was just going to continue with the code. She had ordered dinner for me from Joe's Pizza, another salad. I did the code and also studied the general license questions again. I hope I can pass the tests. February 1 and I had a mix of work and play. In the morning, I worked on the last cockpit locker - the starboard side. I removed the hinges, cleaned them, cleaned the rust from the gelcoat near where the hinges were and re-attached everything with Lifeseal and tightened everything handtight. I would tighten everything more tomorrow after the sealant cured. Diane was continuing with the cleaning and oiling of the teak below. I then studied the code some more and started designing a shelf for the starboard side opening above the settee near the TV. We had decided that the space was really wasted by just putting soda bottles there. Later on, Mo came over to borrow some videos and after that, Tom and Steph came over for dinner. After a nice meal, I dinghied them back to Mima. Sunday was a busy day. I first finished up the cockpit locker hinges and that seemed to work well. Then I took apart the binnacle to clean and regrease the steering chain. I cleaned and polished the stainless steel at the binnacle compass also since it was off anyway. Everything there seemed good also. Diane was preparing for company tonight while I was doing that. After finishing, I went over to Lady J to help Jim with a computer problem with running Scandisk but it was a simple issue of taking tasks out of the Task Manager. I then came back and studied the questions and answers for the General license. After going through the entire question pool, I took several tests using a program that gives you the test and did very well. Now I need to concentrate on the Morse code. Steph stopped by to borrow a book and I showed her some pictures we took at PSV and La Blanquilla - she seemed to like them. She didn't stay long though and the Carnival fete that CrewsInn was giving was really getting into full swing, the music was incredibly loud. It was supposed to end at 10pm, hopefully it will since we wouldn't be able to sleep with the blasting. (It did finally end at 10:30 - not too bad.) Mo and Joe came over around 6 for dinner and we had a very nice time visiting with them. They were going on the hard tomorrow and they were leaving for the States in 2 weeks. I helped Mo get off the CrewsInn dock around 8:15 the next morning. I then had breakfast and started work. We wanted to get the dinghy cover back on so I put the dinghy in the water but then I decided to get the oil off the side of the boat, at least on the side I could reach. So I washed the port side down with water and Simple Green and then rinsed the dinghy and put the cover on. It seemed to fit fine. Rubbing the waterline down was pretty strenuous and so I relaxed for a while before lunch. Steph came over, giving us some forms she had gotten from the guy that used to work for her in the brokerage she and Tom owned. We were going to use him to invest some of the proceeds from the house. Just before lunch, I started on rebuilding the winches. Starting from the front of the boat, I took off the one on deck near the mast and found that it wasn't too dirty but there were salt crystals in one of the gears so I was glad I did it. That winch, even though it wasn't too bad, took most of the rest of the afternoon. After a shower, I spent an hour or so studying the Morse code before dinner. It was shrimp alfredo (no carbs) that was very good. The next day was similarly busy although I didn't accomplish much. The morning was occupied with rebuilding the mast winch and I finished that around 12. I was just going to start my Morse code practice after relaxing for 20 minutes when Diane came back from shopping. Ben, from Adventure, had a car and they had gone to PriceSmart together. I figured I would start code practice after lunch but Tom called to ask if I wanted to go to WH Scott, a large hardware store in Port of Spain. I initially so no but then changed my mind so we left around 1:30. We were all supposed to go to a party that Taffy and Shirley, on The Road, were giving at 5 but I figured that there was plenty of time. The ride down was fine although there was a small traffic tie-up just past Carenage. We found the store easily since Tom knew were it was and we got some things he needed and I bought some extra length screwdriver bits. On the way back to the bus, we found the RadioShack store and I tried to get a spare bulb for the compass but no luck so we walked back to the bus stop, found the right bus and waited for it to leave. It left after waiting 10 minutes for it to fill up. We started out with a fast trip back but as soon as we got past the West Mall, traffic stopped. The construction was still there and traffic was blocked for miles in each direction since the road was one lane each way. The driver tried to go around the traffic but there were many others with that idea and we got caught again. It wound up taking about 90 minutes to get back to the boat. It had taken only 45 minutes to get to town. By the time I got back to the boat, it was time to leave for the party. We went over by dinghy and saw Jacobite, Mima, Jolly Moon and several others there. There were lots of food and drink, and some of it we could have on the diet. We got back from the party around 7 after a very nice time. Taffy was leaving for a 2-year job England while Shirley was staying around for another month. Today was a hectic one again but not with boat work. In the morning I went on several errands, dropping off a Windows CD at Lady M III and some groceries that Diane had picked up for Steph. I had to go back to the boat when I realized I forgot some information I needed to do some things on the Internet. I also went to Chag Metal works and Alpha Canvas to pay him for the cover. After I finished on the Net, I was going to go to Mima for a visit but went back to Destiny and started doing some more Morse code practice. Jim came by and got the WinME CD and start disk the next day since he still had problems with loading his laptop. Ben also stopped by to see if I was interested in going to Grenada with him - he would pay my expenses back to Trinidad but I wasn't sure if I could afford the time. After taking a shower I did some more code practice and we then went to our first Carnival event, A Taste of Carnival around 4:30. It was an introduction to the upcoming events but also had several 'traditional' characters, like 'fancy sailor', fireman, minstrels and the bat. These characters all did some traditional performance to calypso music and they were very colorful. The remaining show was musical with a pan band and several excellent traditional calypso singers and one guy who did a Soca song (he was a white guy from Texas). Overall, it was very good and we were glad we went. There were 2 more such 'Tastes' over the coming weeks before Carnival itself. I got up early the next morning and did some more code practice. I was going to the Winlink seminar at 9:30 so I could get a better idea about what things I could do once I got my FCC license (hopefully). Steph brought Clem over again today since they were going to bug bomb their boat again and were also going to tour around the island with Mo and Joe, who were leaving soon. I left for the seminar around 9 and walked over to TTSA. The seminar lasted over 2 hours but it was pretty good and I found out how to setup the HAM part of the Airmail program and use it. Now, hopefully I will get my license. After that I went over to the Internet place again and then back to the boat. Clem was pretty good but 'Aunt Diane' had also bought baloney for her. I just stayed on the boat and did a little more code practice but basically just relaxed. Steph came back around 4:30 to pick up Clem. |