ABISHAG IS DONE!

SHIP'S LOG:

     . . .  .Well, sort of. I have done all the panels I can but despite three rolls of Velcro, I was able to put in place only 8 of the 9 panels. I simply ran out of Velcro. I also ran out of Marine Units, so the wood strips and more Velcro will have to await June and some ducats from the summer job at TYC. SIGH!

     Actually, it works out pretty well. The problem is that the panels, even in their reduced state are still rather heavy. They are also warped which makes it difficult for the Velcro on the panels to make contact with the Velcro on the overhead. More had to be used but where it works it looks just fine and fulfills its intended purposes, that of making access to the underside of the deck easier.

     I did paint the bottom. I hate that job and if, as old age advances, I  have the yard to any of the work(at an exorbitant price I might add), it will be the first job I give them. There is no easy, simply, clean, tiring or pain-free way to do it. My back has decided to go on strike and every now and then, gives me a serious grab to remind me that i really am getting old.

     Late last year, I closed the drawer that is in the saloon table and haven't been able yo get it open since. It is hung up on something but there is no way to find out what. Basically, it required dismantling the table. It turns out that the opening into which the draw slid allowed  the drawer to be closed beyond the length that the builders intended. The "back wall" of the drawer slot had been knocked further back allowing the drawer to "hang up." Dismantling this back wall I found that the wood had softened a bit over the years due to the leak in the main hatch. Unscrewing the wall, re-gluing it, adding larger screws seems to have correct the problem. Evidently this was a long standing problem as there was a hole drilled into this wall.  Inserting a dowel into the hole while tripping the latch allowed the drawer to be opened. Correcting the problem was not so much difficult as it was awkward. Getting out all the screws and the hardware for hold the table leaves in the open position, re-gluing the wood and screwing everything back together in the right order had to be accomplished bent like a pretzel. But it is done.

      Done also was repositioning the latches that hold the table leaves in the closed position. All the slamming over the years had moved the catches and so they didn't engage. I repositioned them so that they could be adjusted from a normal sitting position and not some type of tortuous contort position. They work now which make the bungee cord arrangement no longer necessary. Huzzah!

      The zinc is on, the toe rail is stained, ABISHAG has been cleaned inside and out, and she wants only a restoration of the items removed and she will be ready to got. Strangely, I have to work myself up to moving aboard and living on her again. This shift every six months or so gets to be a drag. I am tying to psyche myself up and it is not as easy as it sound. Of course, once I am there, I will wonder why I ever left.