IT'S GOING TO BE A HOT TIME IN THE OLD BOAT SOON!!!!!

SHIP'S LOG:

At last, at last, Crown Manufacturing and Metal Fabrication called to say that the heat shield for the fireplace is complete! I will be picking it up on Monday (tomorrow) and as soon as good friend Skip can find the time to help, we will install the whole shebang and ABISHAG will be warm enough (hopefully) to live on. That being the case, all the little things that need to be done can e begun and finished and then we are away. Well, at least for a test sail, shake down cruise type of sailing. But who cares, sailing is sailing and that is what counts. Huzzah!!!!

There was a hell of a blow last night, preceded by several inches of rain. I have to get down to the boat to she how she handled it all. I really have no doubt that it was a piece of cake for ABISHAG but hanging on the dock is not what she likes. I am sure that the leaks are still going on in the aft cabin. I am beginning to think that the water is coming in through the old thru-deck connectors for the old electrical cables for antennas and the like that got cannibalized last fall. I probably didn't plug them as well as I thought I had . Of course it means taking down the overhead panels but what the heck, I haven't had a lot of "fun" over the last few months so this might be the time to do so.

I wish that there was more to report but such is not the case. Of course, there should be a lot more coming up in the days ahead. I am still awaiting to hear from the diesel company that is trying to find out what sort of lubricating filter I need for the 12 year old re-powered English Ford engine that was installed in Bermuda in 1996. It will be another opportunity to practice patience waiting on someone else to do something before I can make a move. Of course, it is always possible to jury - rig a filter system but I would rather have the system in place that was intended. Then again, it is an English system and so far some of the English engineering approaches on this boat have been inventive and entertaining to say the least. So it comes down to waiting to see what will happen.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

And on it goes. The weather, as crazy as it has been, seems to be heading towards being more like spring than winter. I feel as though I can knockout the list of items that need to be done rather quickly which means doubling the time I estimate, but with all the built up energy I have stored, I can't wait to get started. This week, doing the fireplace will be a great thing, getting my psyche geared for the Spring work. I want to get it started. It can't happen soon enough.