Time Flys When You're Having Fun . . .& Even When You Are Not!!!

SHIP'S LOG:

The 4th of July was brutally "HOT!" The 5th of July could best be described as "being like an oven!" The 6th of July was "purgatorial" with it's heat and humidity! The 7th of July was "hellish!" All I can say was thank God I was on the boat. But even ABISHAG was not full safety from the heat and humidity. Wednesday night I had to sleep on deck until after mid-night before there was enough of a cool breeze to sleep below. Now that's hot & humid!

Monday was a great day for sailing. Great wind, clear skies and,once out in the Sound, cool temps. I didn't go any place in particular but since it is the going rather than the getting, it was a wonderful sail. I got into an "impromptu" race with several other boat - nothing serious - just one of those things that happen when a couple of sailboats going in the same direction notice each other. The tweaking starts, trying to unobtrusively adjusting sheets and sail shape to get a little more speed out of your boat. If asked, none would admit there was any racing going on but there was. Once the "faster" boat is determined, an acknowledgement is made by all the other boats and break off on other points of sail. I wasn't the fastest boat, not by a long shot, but then, who cares?

Each morning there has been no wind. It became the perfect time to do one project on ABISHAG, which was usually complete as the wind came up about noon. I sanded down some fiberglass repairs, rigged a new system for holding the awnings in place, glued down the loose slats in the cockpit grating, replaced the broken cowling forward, got the stove working and paid my bills (well at least some of them).

On the cockpit bulkhead there were several small holes where various wire and screws had past through to secure and operate long gone equipment. Last year . . .LAST YEAR!!!! I removed the wires and the screws and filled the holes with epoxy. I never got around to sanding it flat and making it "Pretty!" They were all in positions where they had to be sanded by hand in the hot sun!!!!! They are done and now only need to be painted.

I found awnings for the cockpit enclosure. I could figure what they were at first but after a little trial and error, figured out their purpose. They attach to the Bimini (roof) over the cockpit and can either hang straight down and be attached to the cockpit side to keep out rain, snow, sun and the like, or extended out ward to keep off the tropical sun and rain. Rather than going through the hassle of taking them down and putting them up for every use, I left them attached to the Bimini and tried to roll them up in place. They rolled but unrolled. I tried affixing them with Velcro but didn't have enough and the wind unrolled them. Also the Velcro doesn't seem to adhere well to the awning material(it's sort of a vinyl) so I just tied them in place. It works but is not even close to perfect. It will require more thought and imagination.

The slats of the teak cockpit grating keep coming loose. And I keep gluing them down. Some of the slats have just deteriorated into dust and itzy-bitzy pieces of teak. Teak ain't cheap so I visit paint and hardware stores, buy some little thing, take a couple of "free courtesy" paint stick and go back to the boat. I sand off the stores name, cut them to fit the grating and glue them in. After awhile, they weather and look almost like the teak!

Originally, there was a fan in the forward head. To supply fresh air, a 3.5 inch hole was drilled in front of the mast and a deck plate (a plastic collar around the hole) set in place. Into the deck place was set a cowl or dorade, through which the fan sucked fresh air. It must have been a very efficient system and a previous owner put an overhead hatch in the forward head. The fan turned into a pile of rust which I removed but the dorade remain. Or it did until this past Wednesday. During a tack, one of the sheets neatly wrapped itself around the dorade and yanked it out of the deck plate. Both broke and it necessitated repairs. There was no need for the dorade anymore really, so I brought a new deck plate with a cover. It was 4" in diameter so that if, at some future time, I wanted to put in some type of vent, it would be the right size to accept it.

I was scared to death to try the stove. Technically it should work fine but everything you read about propane stoves in boat magazines make you feel they are fraught with danger if used. But the one on ABISHAG look almost new. Surely the oven had never been used. There were new propane tanks (in a special locker outside the boat), a new solenoid to control the flow of gas, a "sniffer to detect leaks and two, count'em two, emergency shut offs. I spent an hour reading and re-reading the manual for the stove and the propane system. I could quote them verbatim if I had to. But with great trepidation I began:

- make sure the burners on the stove are off; - they're OFF;
- test the propane flow system - it checks out OK so I leave it on;
- check to see there is gas in both tanks; - the valves on each tank indicate gas;
- turn on one tank
- open the manual safety valve;
- open the solenoid safety valve from the panel of the propane flow system;
- open the valve on the stove for one of the burners and set it to light;
- hit the ignition switch and NADA! Again, and again NADA!

I undo everything and then do it all over again, step by step and still NADA! I shut everything off, sit down and reread the manuals. Do it all again and again. . . .NADA!!!!!

In desperation, I call Cliff and explain the situation. He listens carefully and then begins, " There must be another such off valve somewhere. Start at the tanks . . . " and then it hits me. On the solenoid which controls the flow of gas from the tanks into the line to the stove, there is a valve which allows for the drawing of gas from one tank or the other. There is also a central position which means that your get now gas flow. I had forgotten to open that valve. Cliff is so knowledgeable about all thing boating, he fixed my problem by phone with a dozen words!

Stupid move of the Day: It's been so hot that I have been swimming to stay cool. To get back on board after swimming, I have to lower the boarding ladder at the stern which means I have to lower the dingy from the davitts into the water as well. It is always a good thing to remember to raise the dinghy back in place when you go sailing, that ways people don't go by you pointing and laughing!!!

MASTER' PERSONAL LOG:

What can I say but "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"