Ship's Log #3
Hello again. Now it is July and a lot of time has passed, with a few changes to the Godchild.
I raised the floor across from the settee and built a horseshoe dinette there.
By raising the floor I gained storage under the floor and also allowed a deeper seating area. I will not use the dinette as a sleeping area so I attached the table to the mast support and bought a leg/socket assembly from a RV supply. The same part was priced 3 times as much in a "discount" marine store.
We bought material and recovered some pillows and the settee cushions. That really brightened up the salon area. I haven't finished covering the dinette cushions yet, I have decided to staple the fabric to the hatches to keep the cusions from sliding off. They are odd shaped so you can't flip them anyway. I finished closing in the engine compartment and with a little paint it is starting to look like our dream WILL come true...
While visiting Marilyn and Doug in Tampa we saw they had purchased a model home that came with a king bedspread and some pillows that were in the same color as we had decided on in our boat. Marilyn didn't like them and gave them to us! Now we are very "pillow rich" and I have a hard time finding room for me!
We debated about dingies, hard or inflatable, and decided on hard. The ones to choose from were so small, I built my own. There is one at the dingy dock that I had admired and found it was built as a project in the Eau Gallie High School shop class. I took some measurements and made ours 6 inches shorter to fit our bow and 6 inches wider for stability. Ain't she pretty? I must paint the bottom, the barnacle growth around here is terrible.
I am in the process of building a icebox to hold the $1000 refrigerator 'guts' from Adler Barbour. Such a pain. I found JSI sailing supply in St Pete to be the most friendly and inexpensive supply house. Very pleasant working with them and they can actually be reached by phone. We ordered the refrigerator and a 'claw' anchor from them. I purchased 50ft of 5/16 proof coil chain from Home Depot. With another 200ft of line we will be all set in the anchoring part.
Toni has sanded the toerail and hit it with numerous coats of Silkens Armada. Like varnish but goes on like water! What a difference it has made in the 'age' of the boat! Nice!
We continue to sail on the weekends, with some overnighters, to learn the Godchild. We like her more and more each time. Toni has even taken a solar shower! She is very proud of herself. I am too!
Got to run...till next time...
Gary
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