ON IT GOES!

SHIP'S LOG:

As my old sailing buddy John Plante, it was "really blowin' stink" yesterday! Often times, the breeze ashore is not nearly as strong as it is by the water. Iguess that it has less to restrict it, but whatever th reason, it was really steaming up the Mystic River yesterday. At times it was blowing so hard, the governor on the wind generator trip and it would shut down. Nice to know that it works!

Took care of a couple of little things that needed doing. When I was setting up for the water maker, I had to remove a dish rack and a paper towel dispenser. I reinstalled both . It cleared a little of the clutter off the only counter in the galley area. I found the remains of the wind generator and GPS installations. Mostly it consisted of the packing boxes an a host of papers that came with each. Some were worth saving and were saved, some were trash and got trashed, and some were soaking wet which meant that I had found another leak. We had a really street cleaner of a storm the other day and it certainly found every potential leaky location and got them to reach their full potential. This one turns out to be a the corner of the port over the stove. It dripped into the boxes and so reaveal itself. Unfortunately, until the temperature gets above say a low of 40-ish, there aren't any caulking compounds that will work. So it is a case of noting it and putting it on the list, the never ending list of things to do.

I also discovered that I probably need to recaulk the the installation of the wire for the SSB. I had thought that I had done it well but there was an indication that such wasn't the case. The indication was the small puddle on the aft buck right under the spot on the overhead where the antenna wire attaches to the rear shrouds. The water is getting in through the deck plate and following the wire and dripping onto the bunk. I'll have to take down the over head to be sure and re-bed the wire. Again, aside from find the leak, there isn't much I cna do to stop it and fix it permanently until the weather warms. A distressing state of affairs.

Over the winter, I have collect several boxes and bags for stuff used on various projects completed. So I took the time to "de-trash" the boat. It actually freed up a significant amount of room. It might even contribute to the boat being less damp as the carboard collects and holds the moisture. Maybe, then again maybe not. Condensation is always a problem on a boat during the winter months.

I have still not heard from the metal fabricating company on the reflector shield for the fireplace. If there is nothing by Friday I will give them a ring. I would really like to get the fireplace in and running. It is frustrating not being able to live on the boat yet. It is very frustrating to have to wait on other people to provide something or to do something so I can complete a project, but it is all a part of this learning experience. I am not quite sure what I am learning but I must be learning something.

It appears that the last fix on the propane locker was a ragging success. With all the rain we had recently the locker should have flood some but it was dry and that is a relief. I am still trying to figure out how to weather seal the deck lid to this locker. It is set right in the deck. It has not lip or ridge to deflect the water and laying in weather stripping will lift i partially above the level of the surrounding deck. In addition, putting weather stripping on the inboard side will raise the out boat side of the lid exposing it to water. There just doesn't seem to be a way to seal it properly. It appears that the weight of the lid was intended to keep it closed and the water out. Not a very effective design. If there was a way to be able to lock it down without creating a tripping hazard then the weather stripping would probbaly work, but I can't quite figure out how to accomplish this. And the cold temperatures seem to make coming up with a solution even harder.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

On it goes. Spring is coming but things are not quite going as well as I would like. A perfect example is the "Spell Check" on this blog site. It hasn't been working in a while and if there is one thing I really need it is spell checking.

Not being able to do much of anything on ABSIHAG does raise the level of frustration. Patience is an acquired virtue, but acquiring it is a pain in the ass. I must content myself with learning weather and navigation. Weather is not bad but celestial navigation is a chore. It would help to be anally retentive as the worksheets for sight reduction ( the process of working out where you are based on where a star or some other heavenly body is at a particular moment) brook no mistakes nor admit the absnece of any data. In other words, they are a root canal of sailing. They are like the early stages of learning to play an instrument: tortuous, boring, no end in sight and no improvement observable. But i will master it as it has a "certain" importance.

With the passage of the month, I am looking forward more and more to Spring and getting sprung. It really can't happen soon enough. I need something to change .