Friday, January 14, 2011

The Fun Of Boat Ownership!

SHIP'S LOG:

I spent most of the day helping Brad ( he's anchored near by) trying to get the old radar cable out of his mast and putting the new one in. It hasn't been a success. We tried using the old cable as a messenger to carry the new cable from the mid point of the mast down to the bottom of the mast where it should exit. It didn't work. The cables got hung up just a couple of feet from success and then became detached. We lost the messenger and didn't have the new cable all the way down. Tomorrow we will try again. There is still an old FM/TV cable in the mast that used the same hole as the radar cable so it is possible that it will suffice as a new messenger. If not, it will be string and a weight. AS I mentioned to Brad, this is why they usually pull the mast when they are doing something like in this is a boat yard.

I actually took the time to do a little maintenance myself on ABISAHG, lubing up all the seacocks and blocks. Nothing major, just trying to get everything in working order. I even did a little bilge cleaning to make it nice and fresh smelling. There is no major stuff that currently needs doing but a whole host of little things that do, but which will probably be put off until they become sufficiently annoying to warrant the effort necessary to correct them.

The weather is beginning to warm, though Northern Florida is still freezing. Orlando has taken a big hit and I am sure that Mouseland is paying for it. It is still rather strange to hear NOAA giving detailed instructions about how to recognize frostbite and announcing that the biggest danger during cold snaps is house fires caused by improper use of space heaters.

Discovered today that Lucille is coming in NEXT WEDNESDAY. Well there are worse place to be than Fort Pierce.