I WAS AFRAID OF THIS!!!!

SHIP'S LOG:

No change in the boat since the last post. Hopefully today the electrician will be finishing his work and it will all be done by the end of business Wednesday.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

I was afraid that this was going to happen, both the weather and my health have gone into the crapper! Since Friday the weather has been in the low 30's and there has been snow and freezing rain on and off. It really hasn't been conducive to hauling stuff down to the boat and finding places to stow it. For those of you who have not walked down a cock in the winter, nothing ices up quite like it. You get that constant coating from the wind-whipped-water, so even if the yard did ice removal, their efforts would be thwarted before they were finished. And as difficult as it can be going down a main dock, the finger docks (those along side the boat) are even more fun, being narrower and often floating ( they move with the movement of the water). Trudging down such a structure with an armful of stuff and expecting to get it all safely on the boat( and yourself as well) is to be foolishly optimistic in the extreme. Adding insult to injury, I have come down with the first cold of the season. Nothing serious, just one of those 24-to-48 hour-fever-&-chills-two-exits-no-waiting type that is guaranteed to just make you feel miserable. What is frustrating is that this was the very thing I was trying to avoid by heading south. I had hoped that I has seen my last snow (fat chance), my last ice (except in a glass full of rum) and had my last cold/flu season. Had everything gone the way I had planned, I would have seen my first "Green Flash" by now, but we all know about "having a plan." Hopefully, both the boat and I will be up to speed by mid-week and, with a break from Mother Nature, heading south this coming weekend.

HOUSTON, WE HAVE POWER!!!!

SHIP'S LOG:

With the batteries in, the time has come to check out the systems. The good news is that as far as it can be told, everything powered by electricity works!!!!! The less-than-good news is that getting them to work was a bit of an electrical nightmare. The English have a rather strange concept of "an orderly electrical arrangement." It seems as though those who wired the boat originally were penalized if they made simple connections.There are at least three(3), count 'em THREE different grounds on the boat. You need a ground for electricity to flow but on ABISHAG , you have to decipher which ground is tied to which circuit! And none of them is particularly easy to get to in the first place. And it is not just a matter of following the wire as it dips and darts and snakes its way under, around and through every bulkhead, deck and overhead. Several more terminal blocks ( all corroded) were discovered. More switches that didn't quite work all the time were revealed. More wire that went no where and which was ultimately connected to air was uncovered. ( there is a special place in the hereafter for people who do wiring like this!) Of course this would have been a lot harder and much more difficult if all that excess and unnecessary wiring had not already been removed. To show you how bad it was, in a mass of cables running next to the engine, the electrician found five (5) feet of copper tubing that was connected to nothing at either end! Perhaps it was some kind of fuel return line or whatever, but it had been so wrapped by the wiring, that we didn't even know it existed. It is doubtful that the last owner knew and who knows how far back it goes.

I have a semi-firm date for the completion of the work. The yard should, SHOULD be finished by Wednesday next! That means all the DC electrics will be up and running; that the shore power hookup will be up to code; the bypass for the hole in the transmission will be in place, the temp gauge and tach will be functioning; and the wind speed indicator will indicate wind direction and speed ( the genoa can be bent on again). What all this means is that I ain't leaving this weekend! It is just as well as there are still a few things left to be done ..... like a shake-down sail or two. All things being equal, and with a break from Mother Nature and the Weatherman, a week from Saturday should be the day. That's a definite maybe. We shall see what happens, always remembering George Armstrong Custer.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

It is amazing how many small things have suddenly reared their little heads now that things are seemingly coming to a head. There are an amazing number of last minute things that have shown up at the last minute. Things that I have put off because "there is plenty of time" have suddenly become very insistent about being settled immediately if not sooner. I am certain that I will get them all done and still forget a bunch until after I leave. Heck, it is a rare day that I do not go somewhere and forget half of the things I wanted to do. People who have been sailing with me always found it a bit funny when I did what I called "paranoia check" - juice off, seacocks closed, fuel shut off, etc - just before leaving the boat. And if I got interupted during the process, I would have to start from the beginning. If I didn't follow the routine, I just knew that I would forget somehting important and pay for it the next time I went for a sail. Remember the saying that goes:"Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean that they aren't out to get you!" I have found enough items wrong when I did the check to justify doing the check. So I know that I will forget to do something before I leave and will forget to take something ( perhaps a number of thing) when I depart. Well, they don't call it "jury riggin" for nothing.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER JOB DONE

SHIP'S LOG:

It got upwards of 58 today(Tuesday). Slowly things are getting back into shipshape. Picked up the outboard from the shop. For sitting in the great wide open for over a year on the stern rail on the boat, it was in surprisingly good shape according to the mechanic at the Mystic River Boathouse. It looks as though it was never flushed after its last use and the salt deposits were everywhere. But now it runs fine and will provide good service til I get back up this way.

ABISHAG is 99% legal. The carved official documentation number has been affixed and the only thing that keeps her from being absolutely 100% legal is the home port is missing. It is too cold for the vinyl to stick so it will have to await the warmer climes to get put on.

The aft head has a leak in the seat seal. It will empty the bowl but doesn't have enough suction to refill it. I am not sure if the seals have to be replace or if the seat merely needs to be realigned. Of course, the seat adjusters are metal and corroded in place and located behind the bowl and are a pain to get at, but it is one of those tasks that needs doing. I won't be able to test the forward head until the electrics are up and running as it has an electric pump system. Hopefully that will be today(Wednesday)!

Yes, the batteries are in, as is the batteries switch. when I say in, I mean at WEST Marine and I will be picking them up this morning. Then we shall see what we shall see.

Also spent some time storing items on the boat, tools and repair items specifically. Unfortunately, they seem to take up a lot more space than I thought. It is definitely going to be a sorting out process that will take time and have to be redone several time until I finally get a system that works.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

Even if everything goes perfectly with the electrics, I probably won't be getting away this weekend. It is possible but not probable. While I can't ever get the entire list done, there are still a number of small things that still have to be done and I can't, I won't go until the boat is ready. It is less frustsrating now than it was a couple of months ago. I have come to understand that time spent now to get the boat ready and right means there will be less time spent fixing problems later. Again, I am not looking for perfect, but ready.

IT'S GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME!!!

SHIP'S LOG:

Having had a great Thanksgiving, I could think of nothing better than to do more work on ABISHAG as I await the arrival of the new batteries. Hopefully, these will be here Wednesday next and then, again hopefully, I will be off.

Good Friend Ken came by to help with installing the wiring for the speakers for the radio. In that he knows what he is doing and I do not, he threw me out while he did the work. Like I said, he is a good friend! With nothing much to do other than act as cheerleader, I decided that I would rig the signal halyards on the port and starboard spreaders of the mainmast. This would entail my using the self-propelled "Top-Climber." This little device is composed of a couple of rope clutches, a boatswain's seat, and stirrups. By running a line to the head of the mast and down through the clutches and using a "standing-up-&-sitting-down-slide-the-clutches" procedure, one is propelled up the line to the desired height for whatever purpose one had in mind. Since I have a fear of heights and this whole procedure has something of bungee-jumping about, I have been reluctant to do this particular repair. Ken was very good about laying on the guilt trip and since it was clear, sort of warm and absolutely still, I really had no reason to offer for not going up the stick.

It is not a difficult task, at least in wasn't on the video, but it took awhile to develop a rhythm and get moving up the line. The biggest problem, aside from the paralysing fear that increased with every foot up I went, was that unlike the video I kept swinging from side to side. While this turned out to be very helpful in completing the task once I got to the spreaders, it was getting to the height of the spreaders that proved painful. I would get up a couple of feet and then for some reason swing away from the mast and then slowly swing back. If I wasn't quick, I would whack a body part, usually my knees, once my head, against the mast. It was not painful except in a figurative way but it would always knock me off my climbing rhythm, making the ascent longer than it needed to be.

Eventually I got up to the spreaders, about 25ft off the deck and I paused to look about. It was actually a great view and despite my fear of heights and the climbing harness, I really felt secure and could actually do the work. This was a good thing too for I had to let go of the mast with both hands and stretch out to reach the clip where the blocks for the signal halyards were to be affixed. When I pulled out the first block, I discovered that I had rigged it wrong. (Nasty word!)

I had run the line, not through the block, but through the clip that was to attach the block to the spreader. I had woven both ends of the line into a eye-splice and attached shackles. Naturally, I couldn't simple re-run the line correctly, instead I had to undo one splice, remove the line, re-run it correctly, then re-attach the shackle, and finally affix the block to the spreader. I had to do all this laying out in the climbing harness 25ft off the deck. I have a new a profound respect for those in the sailing community who do this all the time, especially this who do stuff like this 110 feet in the air in a squall!

The procedure went off without a hitch save one. Half way through it, I let slip the block More Nasty Words) and it fell to the deck, missing the water I am not sure how. I had forgotten one of the most basic rules of sailing, gravity works! Kenny popped out to check on me just as I let the block drop. He slipped it on the halyard and I got it back without having to descend and reascend.

With the port halyard done, I swung over to starboard, laid out and pulled out the second halyard only to find (Lots of Nasty Word) that I had rigged this one wrong, just like the first. Correcting the problem was no big deal and in a lot less time than I thought it would take, it was done. Then came the fun part, getting down. Actually, it should be easier, a lot easier in that you have gravity working for you. My concern was that gravity would take over and not just assist the descent. It is funny how such a simple procedure of standing-up-&-sitting-down while moving the rope clutches would seem so difficult to coordinate. Once I got a rhythm going it went pretty well . . . . well almost. When I got to the level where I thought I could stand on the deck, I tried to get out of the harness and got hung-up. It was the first time I ever messed up and nobody saw it. It was something akin to the Dance of the Seven Sails but a lot less painful. However, aside from that, everything went well.

Kenny was just finishing up the wiring and it was time to split. I await Wednesday and the arrival of the batteries and battery switch. Once they are in, I will know if the windlass, propane solenoid and refrigeration work. If they don't, corrective measures will have to be taken before departure. I can do without the refrigeration as I have never had it before and have always sail without it. No big problem. The propane solenoid is necessary if I want to cook anything and I have no desire to raise anchor and chain back on the boat by hand, so the windlass must work too. All should be revealed by Thursday.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

Hanging some 25ft off the deck in the climbing harness, I realized that I would have to be willing to do this again. Though the next time I do it, I may not be tied to a dock and it may not be sunny, warm and still. I wasn't scared though I thought I would be. In reflecting on "why not," I came to the conclusion it was because I trusted the equipment, rigged it in the right way, and used it in the way it should be used. But, in truth, it was because I trusted myself. I knew what I was doing and I knew I could do it, and this came from this past summer of learning. I have gown in my sense of self confidence and self-trust. In fact, going up the mast, I kept waiting for the fear to really hit. Heck, swing on that line was enough to give anyone a certain twinge of shall we say concern, and I had that, but not the real fear, fear of falling, that I had expected. Both before the work at the spreaders started and after it was done, I took some time just to hang there and enjoy the view, no rush to get down and "safely" on deck. I really found it surprising and enjoyable. One of the things this whole trip is about developing confidence in myself and dealing with my fears. It may not seem like a big step but it was.

SOME GOOD NEWS!!!

SHIP'S LOG:

I woke up this morning and it was snowing!!!! This did not make me happy. I had to chip ice off my car. This did not make me happy. And it was COLD and this definitely did not make me happy! But there is good news too. Going through a cruising guide that covers from the Chesapeake to Florida, I have found that the route through the Dismal Swamp is NOT the only route South on the ICW. In point of fact it is not even the route used by most cruisers. The other, more popular, and still open route, is the Ablemarle and Chesapeake Canal. There is little chance of this canal being shut down for lack of water as it would take the Chesapeake Bay and Ablemarle Sound drying up for that to happen. That in turn would take the Atlantic Ocean drying up and the chances of that happening are slim and none, and slim has just left town! So the way South is open if I can get there.

Speaking of that, the new batteries and switch will be here by Wednesday and with any luck, and more than a little cooperation of the yard, everything NECESSARY, necessary to make the trip, will be done!!!!!! Basically it means, as soon as I can load up I can depart! Leave! Shove off! Head South!!!

I spent the day figuring out the storage, or at least trying to figure out the storage. There are lots of places to store stuff but not much of it is standard in size. I will begin Friday really trucking stuff down and finding places for it all. Of course it will also mean creating a book to record where all the stuff goes. It will take more than a little time to be comfortable with where stuff is and remembering what I have and where it is. The book will be essential.

I did find out today that the gas generator will run for about 5 hours at top load before running out of fuel. I also found out that the electric space heater will take the edge off the cold but doesn't really do much more than that. Unfortunately, there is no arrangement for a combustion heater in the cabin. Then again, I didn't really think that I would be in need of one.I may have to look into one of those oil filled portable radiators. Perhaps it will throw more heat. Of Course, once the batteries are in, that electrical load should be doable. True it will me that I'll have to shut down the plasma TV but, what the heck....and no, there is no plasma TV.

I succeeded in whacking my head twice getting out of the companionway. You would have thought that the first time would have reminded me of the lessons learned on the trip up from Annapolis, but NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I still have a list of small items to purchase but I pretty much have everything I need, or shall I say, can afford. But hey, it's only money.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

By the end of next week I could be on my way. It is exciting to think that such will be the case. The course to the Chesapeake is all laid out and it requires only the going. I am trying to imagine what it will feel like to finally set out. Even going cross-country on a motorcycle doesn't compare. I can't wait!

MORE LITTLE STEPS

SHIP'S LOG:

With the bilge pumps now connected, pumping the bilge is a snap . . . . though I seem to have discovered some new cache of foul-smelling something - or-other that has created a new need for more bilge cleaner. I would suspect that that leak in the gear oil filter in the transmission has been there for some time and has been "poisoning the well" so to speak. It is a minor if pungent inconvenience and I have the time to do it as I await the yard workers to finish up their end of the deal.

With a little help from a sander I was able to refit the "newly discovered" engine panel. For the life of me I cannot figure out how something that fit correctly when in place suddenly "grows" when it is removed and requires as much effort as it took to get it back in. A couple of days of wind and rain have indicated that the ports and hatches are all tight which is a good thing as you want to keep water out of your boat.

I have begun the process of loading the boat. As I mentioned before it is more of a process than simply dragging stuff down and putting it in the boat somewhere. The "somewhere" is rather important as there is nothing worse than ripping the whole boat apart to find some little doodad that has become necessarily important in the moment. Here is where being a pack rat can be a true draw back. One can't really prepare for every contingency no matter how well one tries and

trying often leads to overloading. Right now I am in possession of three (3) high output alternators which are hefty little items. There is one on the engine, naturally, and two backups in lockers, one working and one in need of repair and repairable. Question: do I repair the repairable and bring it along, providing 2 working back ups or get rid of it? You just know that if I deep six it, the one on the engine will go bad and the back up will be on the fritz. What to do? What to do?

O, the latest fun fact can be found it the Dismal Swamp. The Dismal Swamp, quite beautiful I am told inspite of its name, is an area in south-eastern Virginia/ Northeastern North Carolina transversed by the Intercoastal Waterway ( the Way SOUTH!!). While most people think of the ICW as a big ditch on one level like the Suez Canal, it rises and falls and uses locks, more like the Panama Canal. The locks in the Dismal Swamp Section use water from a local lake to operate the locks. Well, the dearth of rain in the south east has evidently effected the level of this lake to the point that as of October 31st last, the Army Corps of Engineers has stopped operating the locks effectively closing this way south and at the same time "trapping" north of the locks. They will not begin to operate the locks again until there is sufficient rainfall to raise the level of the lake. To get around the blockage means going "outside" and outside at this point means rounding Cape Hatteras, know by the cosy nickname of "Graveyard of the Atlantic." The basic reason most people use the ICW is to avoid this very spot! O Joy!

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

It looks rather certain that I will be in Newport for Thanksgiving. I was planning to be here in any case, though I thought that I would have to fly in from somewhere South and get caught up in some airport mess somewhere. I had not quite expected to still have not yet, at this late day, to have made a start South. I had expected to hear about the leaves falling but on the radio and not from the locals, let alone see it happen in person. It's a good thing that I hadn't been more efficient in disposing of my stuff. At least I still have some winter (good grief) clothes available. It would have been a real financial drag to have to buy more new winter clothes. I had actually wondered how I would get to see the World Series if the Red Sox had made it!

It seems that I have been "10 days to 2 weeks away" from leaving for the longest time now and I find myself swinging between " well, when all is ready I leave" and " Damn it, I want to go now!" Of course, if I was to leave tomorrow morning I would be a mountain of jello. Then again, as the Chinese like to say, the journey of a 1,000 miles begins with a single step." Then again, if that step is off the edge of a cliff, the second becomes completely unnecessary! As much as I know that as soon as I get three hours into the trip I will remember all the stuff I forgot to bring and do, I really want to get started. The weather reporters keep using the "S" word and I want to get south before any of it starts flying.

GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES!!!

SHIP'S LOG:

Well, today, for the first time since we docked ABISHAG at the Mystic Shipyard back in August, the engine was fired up today! Sounded really good, too. The yard mechanic got a chance to check out the temp gauge and the tach, both of which were working just fine. Wouldn't you just know it! Actually, we couldn't get the engine hot enough to really register on the temp gauge, even running the engine under load. The mechanic suspects the location of the temp sender is in the wrong place and that it is influencing the readings. Hey, it's all Greek to me.

Running the engine under load, that is with the transmission engaged made the gear oil pressure gauge do strange things and after crawling around in the engine space, the mechanic discovered a pin-hole in the transmission oil filter hosing. In that the transmission is English like the engine, he had to take a couple of hours to track down a new transmission oil filter housing, or at least he tried. He discovered that they haven't made filters for the transmission for more than 20 years and that the standard procedure for changing the transmission oil filter is to remove it and seal it off. It was decided two decades ago by the builder that the filter was an unnecessary appendage, sort of like an appendix and the transmission was better off without it. So a transmission appendectomy will be performed and I will have one less thing to worry about. The mechanic was also loud in his praise of the engine as was the guy who readied it for the trip north from Annapolis. Evidently the engine is in first class shape.

On the down side, and there is always a down side, the batteries are going to have to be replaced. In point of fact, the mechanic, who is also the yard's #1 electrician, says that the batteries in the boat are the wrong size and need to be upgraded in amps and amp hours (more technical stuff). It makes sense as that battery compartment is so much larger than the two batteries in it. I have suspected that there was something amiss here. The previous owner made some off-handed comment about the "seeing the batteries I use for cruising." With everything going on I sort of let it pass and it didn't impact me until now. I guess that when he was cruising full time he had a much larger battery capacity and that when he came back he down shifted for some reason, probably replacement cost. So, it will be new battery time soon.

Marked and oiled the anchor chain today. It tops out at 125 ft and seems to be in decent condition. I've got 300ft of 3/4" braided anchor line. I also have three anchors, a CQR on the chain and two Danford types connected to nothing. While I think the 300ft of braided 3/4" is actually for the GALERIDER drouge I found, it could work with either of the two unattached anchors, that is if I can separate it from a rusted shackle that is currently attached. Nothing a hammer, vice and hack saw can achieve.

I also have my bilge pump hose connected again to the thru-hull. The chances of sinking are now greatly diminished. It is exciting to see the boat coming together more and more.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

I have to admit that I am getting very itchy about getting started on the sailing part of the journey. Today the temp was in the high 50's and it seemed warmer and I toyed with the idea of taking her out for a little spin. I didn't of course as the mechanic would have been a bit distressed but it was tempting. I still have a ton of stuff to load on the boat and find places for, not counting food and drink, and the final few things to get up and running ( read "watermaker"). While I know a lot about the boat I really haven't had the chance to sail her and get a feel for her yet. The cruise south will be the chance to do that but it is just that itchy feeling is setting in, especially when the weather was so nice today. It was something akin to those days in summers passed when I'd be out sailing and everything was perfect and it literally was all I could do not to throw the helm over and head to Bermuda. Truth is that the first Waypoint on my GPS on every boat I have had was always Bermuda. I used to sail most days with the GPS locked on that Waypoint just in case the urge overwhelmed common sense.

It is strange how God works things out. I had hoped that everything would be ready for me to join the Caribbean 1500 Rally that left on November 4th from Hampton, VA. From what I hear now, they left in the aftermath of NOEL (Hurricane) and have been battered more than a bit and they are still some 600 miles out from Tortola. Long ago I decided that sailing was not a survival sport and I still no sense in pitting myself (and boat) against the ravages of nature. As I have mentioned before (I think), schedules have no place in cruising, at least not for me. After all, the most inefficient way of getting some place is by boat and the most inefficient type of boat is a sailboat. If the weather isn't good, there is no reason to go anywhere, a perspective which I don't think would have fit in with the Rally mentality. Still I want to get going, but not until the boat is ready to make the trip. Not perfect but ready.