Just Another One of Those Summer Days!

SHIP'S LOG:

Well, what can I say? There weather has been marvelous and the sailing has been great and so who has the time to spend in front of a computer and blog? A dear friend named Jim, who works harder than any 10 people I know, came down Tuesday and I took him out for his first sail. He had been on some of "those other boats" before but had never been out sailing. He took to it as naturally as can be and I had to wrest control of the wheel finally as we got ready to moor at the end of the day. The way the mooring was sitting in the wind and the way the boats around it were swinging, even I wouldn't have been all that comfortable coming in under sail. It was a great day sail and I think that he will come again soon with some of his kiddos in tow.

Even though we have begun the month of August, the summer seems to be stretching on nicely and at a slow measured pace. After two months of being in "home waters," I still have no real interest in repeating last fall's trek south, well at least not in my own boat. ABISHAG got more beat up than I first suspected and lots of little things need fixing and replacing and I would probably not have the time, and surely don't have the coins, to do everything that really should be done to make such a trip again.While I had gotten her as ready as I thought she needed to be last yearas, the experience of making the trip down and back gave me a whole new appreciation of the wear and tear such a trip inflicts on a boat. I did deal with a few serious storms, but it was the daily grind that seemed to do the most damage, that and the stress and strain and salt water environment in which it took place. Yesterday I reached for a zippered shaving kit bag that contained all my "Bug-Begone" preparations and the zipper was corroded shut. It took a liberal application vinegar, Coke, Marvel Mystery Oil, PB Blaster and careful working with a pair of pliers to get it open. All metal corrodes, some just more slowly than others, and looking after it all, trying indeed to get ahead, is soooooo time consuming.

Most of the sheets on the boat should be replaced. I definitely need new docklines. The furling lines for the Genoa and the Main are looking iffy. The sails need to go to the sail loft for a check out and any needed repairs. I still haven't gotten all of the ports completely sealed. The refrigeration and water systems are still non-functioning. I've got to haul the boat, clean and repair and paint the bottom, replace the zincs. More than likely replace the engine hoses. Build a better strut for the raw water pump. Load up on spares and replacement parts . . . . and the list goes on and on. Lots of stuff got used up and worn out. Sometimes, I forget, as I supose that we all do, even when you are not using something it ages and is less than what it formally was. And even when we use stuff, we tend to forget that we are using it up, something like brakes on the car that get ignored until they start to squeal.

So it would seem, right now, that the idea going South down the ICW again is a non-started . . . . at least on ABISHAG. If I have the time, I would be willing to help someone else out, on their boat, make the trip South. Ill just have to wait and see how that all pans out. That is at least a month or more away and today is turning out really nice and I think it is time to go for a sail.