Wednesday, April 8, 2015

The Calendar May Say April But It Feels Like November!

SHIP'S LOG:

     Being sans wheeled transportation of a personal nature, I have had no way to get to ABISHAG on my own and she has lain in her winter dozing since October. However a call from my broker has made it imperative that I get up to her and rouse her from her slumber. And so it was that I was able to get friend Fred to drive down to New London and get me up to Yankee boatyard. And not only get me there but help begin the process of getting ABISHAG ready for visitors. The visitors are coming from Maryland sometime this weekend and the broker was concerned about her state.

     She did /does need work. Most importantly was the re-securing of the ceiling panels. Last year, I attempted to replace the screws that held the panels in place with industrial strength Velcro so that they could be taken down and put back up with ease and without having to unscrew and screw 20 millions fasteners. This would make tracking down any leaks and tracing wires (when there was a problem) much easier. I have learned that you can believe everything you see on the Internet and YOUTUBE. It was a nice concept but it just didn't work out.  So Fred  and I (mostly Fred, I was the helper) spent most of yesterday screwing the panels back in place. Since I had re-sized the panels to make them easier to handle, it actually took a while before we figured out the process and began replacing the Velcro with screws. The Saloon is done and part of the galley area, leaving only the rest of the galley and the aft cabin, which I should get through today. To get up to Portland, I have had to arrange  a ride up and a ride back again today as Fred has to work. I am hoping that today will finish the ceilings and the clean up as getting there and back is a pain and an inconvenience for   my friends upon who I must impose. I am hoping that the problems of my lack of transportation will soon be eased. Even after this slap-dash-two-day clean-&-perk-up is done, there is still a lot of maintenance to get down before launching. And even though it is impressive that this couple is coming all the way from Maryland just to make the effort to see ABISHAG, I'm going to assume that there will be no sale and that the spring maintenance will not be done by elves!