There Is An Upside

SHIP'S LOG:

Well there is an actual upside with having ABISHAG up for sale, I can now look at catalogues and not plan and scheme and drool over all of the "new toys" that I would like to buy for her for next season. Not having any real money to spend, I know that I can't afford anything, short of maintenance items and not even those right now. So I am free to "spend" outrageously and never fear or worry over paying for them.

I can't get down to the boat today so the rest of the cleanup and decommissioning will have to wait. It is neat enough for the brokers to take their pix, so I would expect that the "For Sale" ad will be up by Monday. It will be interesting to see how long it is before we get a nibble, though considering how long it has been with the condo, it could be a long, long wait.

Sometime over the winter, I will have to pull out the windlass and get it to a electrical motor shop and see if they can re-work the motor, Considering a new windlass is about four(4) Marine Units, a couple of hundred for re-working the motor will be a steal.

I will also have the chance to redo some more of the wiring. Some of it is still pretty ratty and it would be a good thing to neaten it up. Come the spring I will also have to finish the deck. I was able to re-caulk about 1/3 of the decking and it eliminated the leaks that were apparent, and if I don't finish it, it is only a matter of time before the water finds another entrance somewhere. Based upon last spring's effort, it should not take more than a week to get it done. I still have to get that one winch on the mast working. So far though, it has resisted every attempt on my part get it going. The central shaft seems frozen for some reason. A winch repair shop feels that the pawls were put in backwards and that is why the central shaft is stuck. It happened sometime in the past and that is also why it is impossible to completely dismantle it. I will probably have to take it completely off the mast to be able to do it properly.

One rather stinky project will be to empty the fuel tank, clean it out and get all the grunge, sludge and crap that is inside out. I was reading an article about how to do it and it seems a rather simple though messy project. The most difficult part will be removing the fuel. I'll have to get a couple large fuel containers and "polish" the fuel as it comes out of the tank. "Polishing" means cleaning the fuel of all contaminates by running the fuel through a filter as I take it out before wiping the inside of the tank with "diapers" to suck up and remove all the sludge. The putting the fuel back in, "polishing" it again by running it through some finer filters as it goes back in. This should pretty much eliminate any clogging of filters in the future. Luckily, there is already an access panel in the tank which will eliminate the need to put one in before beginning the project. I think I may also add a new fuel gauge with a float to determine the amount of fuel in the tank. There currently is a pneumatic fuel gauge, but I can't quite figure out exactly how it works or if it is actually working. A pneumatic gauge works by pumping air into the tank causing the fuel gauge to register the amount of fuel in the tank. However, it just doesn't seem to work right, or measure accurately or at all. Perhaps there is an air leak somewhere. But emptying the tank anyway will provide the opportunity to add a back up fuel gauge and I might as well do it.

Aside from that, the only work that "needs" to be done is to paint the bottom and put on new zincs and ABISHAG will be ready to go. Of course, there is always the eternal projects list but there will be nothing that absolutely needs to be done. It has only taken me about three (3) years to get her ready to go.

CAPTAIN'S PERSONAL LOG:

I am hoping that she sells quickly. I am hoping she doesn't sell. I am feeling very schizophrenic right now but then it is winter. What do you expect?