IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS!!!!

SHIP'S LOG:

I hate Winter!!!!! It has snowed again and the decks are once again covered with snow and ice! I should be in the Keys or Abacos or any place where it is hazy, hot and humid, with a Mount Gay and Tonic in hand . . . . but I am not. (Sigh!)

I have hunted up a fireplace for ABISHAG and hope to install it this weekend. Once it is in place and "fired-up," I can go back to living onboard. Of course, this means another hole in the boat, this time in the overhead. Talking to another owner of a CN 39 from Massachusetts, I got some good info on where to locate the fireplace and how to install it so as to make it easily removable. That way, once the need for heat is past, I can take it down and store it until such a time as I need heat again (hopefully never).

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

I really want to get back to living on ABISHAG. I am really not comfortable onboard yet. It is still much too much like "camping out" and not like living in "my home." Making the boat my home and becoming comfortable requires, obviously, time spent living aboard. Just getting used to things and creating routines, like wearing a safety harness whenever I am on deck and learning how to maneuver on deck trailing the tether and not getting all hung up and twisted, requires time doing it. I am actually a very routine-oriented person. I am never comfortable, really comfortable and at easy until I am in a routine. It is just not something you can do a day here and a day there at a time.

In addition, I have not become comfortable with where stuff is and how it is stored, and I haven't even got all of it aboard as yet. It sounds a simple thing, but being able to put you hands on what you need when you need it is very important. I spent a whole day trying to find a bungee cord I knew I stored but could find the bloody thing. It is really a silly thing to become angry and aggitated over, but it happens. Unfortunately, I can not afford for such things to happen, especially when I am underway. Clear and unemotional thinking (think Spock) is a major factor in safety. Without clear and unemotional thinking and ecision making, I increase my chances of ending up off the boat . . . and I don't mean standing on the dock either.

1500 DOESN'T GO INTO 1000!

SHIP'S LOG:

Well,the learning experience goes on. I have to find a new source of BTUs or heat. It seems that both of the heaters that I have, the oil-filled radiator and the blower, do their task at 1,500 watts. I have discovered that I have only a 1,000 watt inverter and as Sister Mary Mojo told you in school, a big number doesn't go into a small number. Strangely, it has been so cold recently that the heaters worked well enough and the inverter handled the load. It handled the electrical load because it never got hot enough to over load and shut down, that is, not until the recent spate of unusually warm weather. Then suddenly, the circuit breakers kept popping as the inverter heated up with the overload. So now I am without heat and am once again off the boat, at least until I can come up with another form of heating it. Probably go with a kerosene heater as propane on the boat, indeed inside the boat, is a little to scary to contemplate comfortably. Of course, the idea of spending more money on another form of heating isn't what I wanted to do but I like to have feeling in my bodily extremities.

It was interesting to sleep, or I should say try to sleep, on the Tuesday night. I am sure that most people would think that a boat tied up to a dock would be safe and secure during a storm. In one sense it is,, but because it can respond to the waves and wind only just so far, its movements are short and snappy, filled with lots of quick and unexpected jolts. In fact, since the wind and waves often move in competing directions, the boat never gets into any rhythmic motion. Trying to sleep on such an occasion is sort of like trying to catch 40 winks in an RV driving along a rutted road liberally sprinkled with potholes of various sizes. At anchor or on a mooring, the boat always orients itself to the wind. Even though it may "sail" around abit, the motion is much more comfortable and will "rock" you to sleep.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

I have not gotten that rhythm down yet. Living on the boat still feels like camping out. It isn't comfortable yet. I am sure that it is, in part, because of the cold and perhaps with more heat, be it from a new heater or a radical change in the winter weather, that will change. With all the work I have done over the last FIVE MONTHS, I would have thought that I would know the boat better than I do. I am still not comfortable with all of the systems yet and that will take some time as they are, for the most part, all winterized and are not being used. A late night trip to the bathroom on the other side of the yard is a fun experience I would rather do without, but such is life. Then again, not using the heads on the boat mean that the time until one or the other breaks down is growing longer. (And yes, they will break down. It is never a question of "IF," but "WHEN."

On the financial side of this trip, I have reached and exceeded my planned expenditure of $15,000 for getting the boat ready to go. I had planned, and still do, to use the money from the sale of the condo to cover this part of the trip. Of course, Custer had a plan and look what it did for him. Hey, how was I to know that the housing market was going to go into the toilet. But this too is a learning experience though I wish I was just a little less dense. Evidently God doesn't want me to win the Lottery either for though I am not a regular ticket purchaser, I have yet to get even one number on any of the tickets. Here's hoping that I come up with no more major purchases.

IS IT SUMMER YET????

SHIP'S LOG:

It actually got into the 60's today. Gee, maybe I should just take off now? Well, unfortunately, like I've tried to explain to some many people, weather on land is not always, or even often, the weather offshore. So it is that the waters I would have to transverse have small craft warnings posted. It made for a nice day to work on ABISHAG but not a particularly good days to go sailing. Strangely, it wasn't until late afternoon that the winds picked up on shore, and so it was almost like a Spring day today, a fine day to .......work.

I was able to install the water maker ( the high pressure pump and the membrane filter unit) It fits nicely in place and gives me back my limited counter top space. I have yet to connect any of the hoses yet though the electrics simply await the connection as the power is all run to the pump. Once the system is plumbed, I'll have all the water I need and more besides . . . that is once I get far south enough for the temperature to be above freezing all the time and I can "un-winterize" the fresh water system. We're technically only two weeks into winter and I just know that the 60 degree temperature of today and tomorrow are not long for this local.

Once the watermaker was installed, I spent a good part of the day doing a whole host of little jobs that needed doing. The electrical panel and the cockpit instrument panel where held in place by a minimal number of screws so I found and replaced them all, making things less likely to rattle and, in the case of the cockpit, more watertight. It was in doing that that I was able to discover why the main hatch leaks so. A previous owner had installed a plexiglass hatch and had sealed it with some type of rubber weather stripping. Resetting the screws today made it clear that the weather stripping is shot and needs to be replace. As is typical in boating, one completed job reveals another unexpected one that needs doing. It should be a simple fix which probably means it will be a task and a half.

Tomorrow will see the finishing of the propane system . . .for the second time. Not that there is any rush as I can't use it while I am here, but again the parts are taking up valuable space int eh cabin and I am trying to get a handle on get the place, dare I say it, "ship-shape." The floor has been reinstalled in the cockpit locker so a lot of the stuff that currently occupies that forepeak cabin can be moved into that space, making the boat seem more roomy. It may have to wait as I am having a problem with the inverter/charger. This wonderful apparatus converts the electricity coming from the dock into usable power for the boat, keeping the batteries charged and running the heavier electrical equipment (heaters, tools, microwave) which would seriously deplete the house batteries. For some reason it keeps tripping the circuit breaker and i am not sure why. I'll have to see if I can quiz the yard electrician for an answer and, failing that, get him to fix it as he installed it.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

I slept the sleep of the just last nice. Rather than using the salon berth, I slept in the aft cabin. I found that since it was smaller, it was easier to heat and it made for a more comfortable nights sleep. I haven't established much of a routine though it has only really be a day. The work part of the day takes care of itself , it is the "free time" which may prove a little more difficult. This afternoon, as I was taking a quick nap, one of the yard workers came on board. Actually just on board would be more accurate. With the falling tide, the deck is a good two feet below that level of the dock and there is no graceful way to get from there to here. When he hit the deck, the noise woke me out of a sound sleep. I thought the boat had broken loose and had drifted into something. There was an instant of panic and then a feeling of "O crap, now what?" I was very relieved that it was nothing to be concerned about and I want to say that it taught me something profound, but I can't think of a thing at the moment.

LOG OF ABISHAG FROM ABISHAG

SHIP'S LOG:

Well, this is a first, the first entry of the Log of ABISHAG originating from ABISHAG. The only downside is, of course, ABISHAG is still in Mystic and will probably be so for the foreseeable future. If God choose to change things up, I will only be too willing to head out but It just seems that I am to be here as part of the personal learning and growing experience that is this "radical sabbatical."

I brought another load of stuff down to the boat today, not too much as I haven't got the last load all put away yet. It will come in small chunks until everything I need to take with me is aboard and then I can start with the stuff I want to take with me. What remains gets "E-BAY"-ed, given away, donated, trashed or stored somewhere. I am still amazed by the amount of "stuff" that I still have, even after what I thought was a "ruthless" weeding - out process. I suspect that a similar weeding out process will have to take place again once or twice more.

The shipyard, like many such institutions, doesn't allow open flame cooking so there will not only be no out door grilling, i can't even use the propane stove. So tomorrow I will have to make the purchase of a small microwave or toaster oven to handle the cooking chores. Refrigeration should not be a problem, unless it is the case of keeping stuff from freezing.

Tomorrow will also be "watermaker installation day." That project along with several small items should fill the day up rather nicely.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

Today really begins the next phase of the learning process. The obvious part is learning to live in and on a 39' X 12' boat, developing routines and procedures and handling things as they come up.The not so obvious part is learning about myself. I will be alone even though I am tied to the dock in Mystic and I would suspect that things are going to arise that I don't expect that I will have to deal with, not with the boat but with me. I am not sure quite what to expect. I will just have to take it as it comes. DINNER TIME!

REASONS WHY I HATE WINTER #375

SHIP'S LOG:

It will not go down as the brightest thing I have ever done, beginning to live on ABISHAG on a day when the temperature never exceeded 20 and go down to 2 degrees during the night. Wrapped up in a "plush throw," a polar fleece blanket and a down sleeping and I still froze! The reason was #375: I CAN NEVER QUITE GET WARM ENOUGH IN WINTER FOR EVERY DRAFT ALWAYS FINDS THE HOLE IN MY DEFENSE! I could get all wrapped up and was getting warm when I would move or shift and that would create a little crack somewhere and in would come the freezing cold draft. I would drift off to sleep, move and then get awakened by the draft. And getting up to use the head was even more exciting!

Lying there in the dark, I was listening to all the sounds that ABISHAG made, trying to get use to what is "normal" and what might be a problem creeping up. Definitely, I have to come up with a way to tie off the halyards to keep them from slapping against the masts. It didn't help that the wind was honking at 30knots causing them to really slap around and the whine of the wind through the shrouds kept going even when the halyards quited down. And I have to find out what keeps hitting the shrouds. Something whacks some shroud on the port side and causes it to ring and vibrate throughout the boat. All of these sounds, along with the groans caused by the lines holding the boat to the dock, stretching and contracting, as well as the boat heeling and righting, made for a very long, semi-sleepless night.

And the cold. The heater worked fine. The 3 - 4 feet right around it it were comfortable but the rest of the interior were ice-box like.I used the berth in the salon, closed off the fore-peak and the aft stateroom, but it still got down to a toasty 30. The heater works fine to take the edge off when it is cold but last night was far outside its operative range. And the next few days promise more of the same. I am going to admit defeat and wait for the weather to get just a little bit warmer.

I also discovered the joys of condensation! It was amazing to wake up and discover how the moisture in my breath had, overnight, turned to ice "inside the boat." The sun coming through the ports, where it focused on the ice, began to melt it and I've got water dripping in the boat . . . and you just know that I got one, big, cold drop right down the back of my neck, just the thing to get you up and running in the morning. I hate winter!!!!!

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

It was interesting to spend the "first night" on the boat. Eve with all the things that worked against it, I enjoyed being on ABISHAG. There is just something about the rocking of a boat that is comfortable and relaxing. It was a learning experience, learning to move about the interior of the boat, learning where things were . . .like lights and switches, learning the sounds ABISHAG makes and trying to understand what each sound means. And even being tied to the dock as I was, learning about being alone. As cold as it was, there was little I could do in the way of tackling projects, so I couldn't fill the time doing things. I spent the evening watching a couple of movies I had downloaded to my computer and then trying to get some sleep, wondering all the time what I was doing there.

I did learn that it when there is a problem that it is better to get up and deal with it rather that lay there and suffer. If I don't it just works on my mind and sleep is a stranger, but it took some effort to make and act upon the decision. I also learned that on a boat things look better in the daylight. I really get the feeling of being closed in at night, that there is nothing besides the boat and things are a little more tense for me.The daylight makes things seem much better and anything is possible. I am going to have to work on night time a little bit more.

Several times, I had a conversation with God during the night, well actually it was more of a monologue. Actually, it was one question, "OK Lord, you got me here, now what?" No answer was immediately forth coming, so I guess it's going to take a little more time and reflection.

AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

SHIP'S LOG:

It is bright and sunny, warm and windy off St. Kitts. The Christmas Winds are up and if one wanted to push it, and it would be a easy push, one could make St. Barts in time for cocktails. But who wants to push it or go anywhere on New Year's Day . . . . .. . especially after last night! WOW!

Well, enough of fantasy. Reality rears its ugly head and ABISHAG is still in Mystic. And it is in the 30's. And the wind is cold. And it is raining/snowing/sleeting. And though it is warm inside the boat, it isn't quite the same. I am sure you can appreciate that!

Sorry about the long time between postings, but then it was Christmas and other things became priorities. True, I hadn't expected to be here (there?) for Christmas but here I was, trapped by the lack of an appropriate weather window. So I had the gift of celebrating with family and it was a great time. It also meant that not a lot was done on ABISHAG. I have discovered that my great propane locker reconstruction was " flawed." Actually it was too good in that I extended it just a little bit too far and as a result, it doesn't drain. This is not a good thing. It is not so much the water, for the water will not bother the tanks or the hoses. It is the fact that since it won't drain, should there be some type of propane leak in the locker that is where the propane will remain. It will not drain harmlessly overboard. The longer it stays in that situation, the greater the risk that it will find some way into the boat and down into the bilge and there await a spark. And should the spark be provided, well lets just say it could ruin my whole day. So, I am in the process of repositioning the drainage system which entails drilling and hole cutting and a "little fiberglass work." and it is even more fun in the snow and cold.

Since I will be living on ABISHAG starting tomorrow, I also have to install a CO2 detector. The re is a propane "sniffer" already in the system, CO2 can be almost as nasty since you can smell it and it can/will kill you. Buttoning up the boat to keep the water out, keeps everything else in and in the middle of winter, it is a little difficult to ventilate the boat and not end up freezing as a result. I am sure you can begin to understand why I wanted to be "South" by this time.

Living on the boat will allow me to finish a couple of big projects and star digging into the never-ending boat maintenance projects. The two biggies are the water maker installation and the SAT phone installation. I have everything I need and now will really have the opportunity to finish them both off. I'll just have to see how long it takes. As you know, any work on a boat takes at least double the time you plan and three times the cost you estimated. By Spring??? God only knows and he ain't saying!

I've downloaded a couple dozen movies off the Internet so I will have some entertainment. After all I can't work all the time. I have also downloaded the manual for the SSB radio (one didn't come with the boat) and if I have connected it correctly, I'll try making contact with cruisers and the various radio nets for cruisers and just try to get into the mind-set.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

It is really frustrating to still be stuck here. It was really what I didn't want to happen. Trying to figure out what God has in mind is an exercise that has stumped theologians far greater than I and I don't really expect to do it, but it looks like that I'll sure have the time to try. I suppose that the simplest answer is thatg God is giving me the time to learn how to live in a 39ft boat, not campout but live. I am sure that I could do so where the temperature is over 70, but for some reason God wants me to do it here. So here I'll do it.

NOT A GOOD DAY!

SHIP'S LOG:

It actually got a few degrees above freezing today and the boat was moved. We didn't go all that far, maybe 300ft upriver to "C" Dock. ABISHAG will be there until we start the sailing part of the journey. I have discovered that the "radiator/heater" works very well. I am not quite sure of the amp draw, but it certainly produces more than enough heat to keep the main cabin very comfortable. All the electrics are up and running. There is one strange thing though, when you put on the circuit breaker for the cabin light something turns on with a "beep" signal somewhere in the boat. What it is, I have no idea, but it must be either the Propane System Power Panel or the Refrigeration Power Panel indicating that it is now "On." Unfortunately, neither panel lights up so there is no way to know which one it actually is. The Propane System doesn't yet have the solenoid hooked up yet but the "sniffer" is, still no lights on the panel. The Refrigeration system is now "winterized" and so it won't be any time soon that I will be checking that out. It is bothersome to not know what is what.

One little project I never did get around to finishing was the winch for the main sail out haul. Now I may be paying the price. The Mainsail doesn't completely furl into the mast as it is supposed to. Usually, the last 5-10 inches remains exposed, covered as it is with UV Protection Sail Cloth. There is just a little bit more than that exposed and I want to unfurl and then re-furl the main properly. Just pulling the main out haul doesn't move it. Wrapping in on the winch and pulling doesn't move it either. However, since I didn't fix the winch, I can't crank it, can't use the power of the winch to get the mainsail unfurled so I can re-furl it. looks like that letting this project go because "it really isn't absolutely necessary" turned out to be less than a good decision on my part. The snow and ice and cold will make the project all the more fun to do now!

Friend Kenny got the speakers in and they work just fine, great in fact. Nice to have tunes on ABISHAG. All the radios work now, though there is no manual for the SSB. I am going to have to find and down load one so I can find out whether or not the thing works. If it doesn't work, it will be the tuner according to the people at DOCKSIDE ELECTRONICS. Their suggestion if such is the case is to drop it overboard! It is a dying technology and it is better to go with the SAT Phone. I have the SAT Phone now and will be installing it over the next few days. This will allow access to email and the Net as well as phone calling throughout the world. It will be great . . . . if I ever get out of Mystic.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

The sadness of the day comes from a phone call I received Wednesday afternoon. The call informed me that Dan Grandy had suffered a massive heart attack and died at his farm in Georgia. I met Dan at the Chapman School last March and he became a good friend. He was a delivery captain and was extremely knowledgeable about all things boating. He was very supportive of what I was planning and there was hardly a week when I did not get at least an email from him urging me on. I last talked to him this past Monday when he talked me through an electrical installation. We had plans that when I got to Fort Lauderdale, where the boat he ran was based, we would have venison burgers and beer to celebrate my trip. I last saw him over the summer when he had brought the boat to Newport for some summer cruising with the owner. He would have come with me to bring ABISHAG up from Annapolis but the owner had a trip that he wanted to make and Dan, naturally, had to take him. It was his job after all. I was really looking forward to seeing Dan again and, after the burgers and beer, to go sailing with him for a couple of days. I am really saddened by his death.