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Larry's LogMonday, the Ides of March, but for me, it wasn't too busy (or dangerous). It was very hot and while Diane went shopping with a friend, I rebedded the chainplate. Once I finished, I just went below to cool off and pretty much stayed below the rest of the day. After lunch, which I had to make myself (a big accomplishment) since Diane wasn't back yet, I worked on the web site for the rest of the day. Elias finished another coat on the main bulkhead and starboard settee and was working on some little pieces. I invited Ray, a singlehander who had just come in 2 weeks ago, to come aboard for a beer while I gave him the name and phone number of a diesel mechanic that Andrea had given me. He was having troubles getting his engine fixed; there was water in the crankcase oil - not good. He stayed for a little while and then Diane went to grill the steaks on the barbeque. The weekly potluck was tonight but we didn't go up this week. We didn't do much on Tuesday since we planned to go to the movies later in the afternoon. In the morning, I just straightened up a little while Diane did some cooking and then after lunch we went to Plaza Mayor. I got on the Internet first to modify the web site a little and do some more research on windlasses. We saw "Something's Gotta Give" with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton - excellent. We then had dinner at a restaurant there and back to the boat. The next morning we went to the clinical laboratory so I could get my repeat blood test and then to the doctor's office to make another appointment. We could get the results of the tests at 2 but the doctor was not available until much later so we made the appointment for tomorrow morning. We then walked around to the small marine stores, I had breakfast at a nice 'panaderia' and we went back to the marina. After we got back, I re-attached the shrouds to the starboard side main chainplate and went over to talk to Ron, on Jacobite, about his SSB radio. Our radio signal is always very strong and he wanted to know what he might do to get his better. We talked about it for a while and I told him the story of how I installed mine, and had eventually gone to a roofing supply place to get copper flashing to use that as a counterpoise (whether it was necessary or not). In any event, we didn't do too much but talk. I finally went back to the boat to just lie down and relax. Back at the boat, Elias had finished another coat on the main bulkhead and starboard settee so I couldn't sit there. I just relaxed, although I did finish reading a new book we borrowed about Paul O'Neill, the former Treasury Secretary. I hadn't voted for Bush before, and I certainly wouldn't vote for him now. Thursday we went to the doctor early, picking up the results of my blood test at the lab just before. The results were good and the doctor reduced the medication dosage and said to repeat the test in a month. OK, now we could make some plans. We decided to go to the States in late April/early May, so we went over to the American Airlines office nearby and made reservations for me and Diane - I would go to California first to visit my brother and then to New York, and Diane would go to New York directly. We then went to Plaza Mayor to eat lunch and so I could call my brother to make sure those dates were still good. Luckily everything was still good so it looked like our trip was on. We would visit Merida after we got back. That would give Elias plenty of time to finish the parts of the boat that needed us off, like the floor and the galley. We had stayed off the boat in the morning to give him a chance to finish the last coat on the companionway. When we got back, it was done and looked fantastic. We were both very careful not to touch it and while I stayed on the boat working on the PC and fixing Diane's sandals (the soles had come off), Diane went back to the dentist. We had lost power early the next morning but it came back sometime around 10. I took off some locker doors that we wanted Elias to put more coats on as well as taking off the only remaining headliner near the starboard settee (I had just reattached it a week ago). I wanted another 2 coats on that entire area since it had only 4 and the parts Elias just finished had 4 coats now, so he could put the final 2 coats on everything in that area for a total of 6. Diane went to make some phone calls and I straightened up the boat a little, at least as much as possible, so there would be someplace to put the doors below as they were varnished. It was blowing too hard and there was too much dust in the air to varnish on deck. We went shopping in the afternoon - not too interesting, just the basics like Doritos and soda. The next day was a slow one for us - Elias came a little late since his youngest sister was visiting, starting work about 9:30. Diane made some phone calls in the morning while I cut a plug for a hole in the teak ceiling near the port side. First of course, I had to find the piece of teak I had, which was inside the starboard cockpit locker. Once that was done, and after lunch, I went over to help Ray, a singlehander on a boat called Drivers Wanted (he used to sell VWs), with his Sailmail setup. He could send an email sometimes but wasn't sure about the procedures so I helped him for a couple of hours. He still had Carib beer from Trinidad, which I like so it wasn't so bad. The Polar brand (a Pilsner) from Venezuela is OK but Carib (a Lager) is better. When I got back, I did some electrical work and just relaxed the rest of the day. Sunday was busy putting things up and taking them down. While Diane worked on the PC most of the day, I put up the headliners in the companionway and the other few things that I had taken down to let Elias do more coats in that area. While I was doing that, Ron and Lena came over to see how the varnish looked - they were thinking about doing some as well when they left the boat for 6 months. They liked what they saw and will most likely get it done, except Elias already has several jibs lined up after us and he'll be working on Destiny for at least another month. I gave Ron a copy of the spreadsheet I used to figure out how much varnish I needed and once they left, I finished the companionway. After that, I started taking down the headliners and such in the navigation station and galley since it was a good time to do it and also to get them out of the way. Tomorrow I planned to get the vang reinstalled; Mauritzio from North sails had stopped by on Friday and said it would definitely be ready. So, I got al the headliners down, removed the light fixtures so I could put the headliners outside and then put up some of the fixtures temporarily so we would have some light. I also dug out the hydraulic fluid I had bought before we left cruising. Maurizio said we would probably need some. Diane went off to the pool but I just stayed on the boat; I needed to finish putting some things away. Diane called North Sails the next morning and they said the vang might be ready in the afternoon or possibly tomorrow morning. Well, I got the deck cleared off anyway and I'm glad I did since it took almost the entire morning - although I put some plastic around the headliners that were on deck as well. I didn't want the sun to damage them. Diane was busy defrosting the freezer compartment and then cleaned the refrigerator, mostly so she could get an idea of what we needed to get rid of before we left for the States. We wanted Elias to do the galley and the wood around the refrigerator so it would have to be turned off. I filled the hole in the port side ceiling that had been made by a previous owner when they installed a holder for a deck-mounted liferaft. The hole was in the teak and I filled it with a teak plug I cut from a piece I had on board. That afternoon, I worked on the PC a bit and brought the broken lid to the garbage holder to the boatyard to be fixed. Diane had gone to the dentist. The carpenter said it would be ready by 5pm so although I was a little surprised, I figured OK. I went back at 5 and it was fixed but he had used white epoxy and there was now a white line in the middle of the top. I complained about it and he started sanding it but it was obvious that it was going to remain. Eventually, he said he would 'dye' it, so I said OK since it might be better than it was. I left it and went back to the boat. Diane and I went to a mall and shopping for most of the following day. We went to a new one, for me, and also went to a store that does custom embroidery on t-shirts and hats. We wanted to have some things done and had picked out a typeface (using Word) to use and a design. I was having a shirt and cap done and we were making one for Elias as a present. When we got back to the boat, I went back to the boatyard to get the top of the garbage container. It was marginally better and they had varnished it although to get the varnish to dry quickly, they put it in the sun, which caused the varnish to be very wavy. It was as good as it was going to get so I took it and figured it wasn't worth making a big deal over. I also went to North Sails and they said the vang still wasn't ready. Finally, I got on the Internet and did some more research on windlasses. The next morning was a busy one and not very productive. Elias ran out of the blue tape we use to mask off areas not to be varnished and needed some more. So, I went to several stores but couldn't find any. I found a 'painters' masking tape' at a big Home Depo type store called EPA, made by 3M, that said it was good for 3 days on paint and woodwork. I hope its OK. When I got back, I tried the little store in the marina for the tape but still no luck. I managed to get some from Ray, on Drivers Wanted, who I had helped with his radio and Sailmail. Hopefully I can find some more someplace. We had enough now for Elias to continue for a few days but I would need more soon. While I dug out the 'baja' type fuel filter that Andrea wanted to borrow, Diane went to call the airlines about her flights. She was having a hard time getting a flight on the same day as me but when she came back, she had another full roll of blue tape that Pete on Marnel 4 had given to her. We could replace the tape whenever we could. Thanks Pete. A little later, Andrea stopped by to drop off the motor for the windlass, although it was broken. She invited us over for a drink, which we accepted. We spent a few very nice hours on Midnight Stroller. They were planning to leave for their trip to the Pacific on Monday so we wanted to try to get together again before they left. Thursday we finished getting the port side of the main salon ready for varnishing. I had to take down the remaining headliner, remove the VHS tape cabinet and take off the TV and the stand we had made. Diane had to put away all her various pots and pans - since many of them were simply tossed in a collapsible plastic crate before, this was a monumental effort (but maybe we can keep them put away and out of the way until they are actually used!) The boom vang is still not installed although the guy from North Sails says its ready. We had the radio off during the afternoon since Diane was taking a nap (from the effort of putting away the cookware) so we might not have heard him calling us. I still have a possibility for tomorrow but he had said he was busy Friday so we'll have to see. My afternoon was actually slow. I setup the TV on the table so we could watch it still (we had just gotten the cable installed 2 days ago while the rest of the marina has had it for months) but didn't do much else. I couldn't make any noise, with Diane sleeping, so I just worked on the PC. |