Thursday, April 16, 2009
AH YES ! ! ! ! ! !
SHIP'S LOG:
O how I have longed to say it . . . I was down working on ABISHAG yesterday! As Spring-like as it seemed, it was actually quite chilly by the water, but who cares? Certainly not me at this point!
Surprisingly, someone had dabbed bottom paint on parts of the hull and I can't figure out who. I ask the yard crew and they said "No." I asked the people doing the repairs and they said "No." I can't figure out who did it. IT doesn't matter as it will call get covered in a week or so.
I won't be out of the yard by the 1st of May as the repair work will not be completed. The repair people will square this with the Yard people so all should be OK there.
The inside of the boat was still pretty much like a bomb went off in and it was impossible to do any work so the first order of business was to clean and arrange everything. This brought me my first "hidden gift" from the last little adventure. when ABISHAG went over on her side as the tide went out the tool draw cabinet slid to the low side. When the water entered . . not much . . . before I smartened up and closed the thruhulls, enough water got in to fill the bottom draw. I never thought to check it and so it fermented all winter. The Good news was that it contained only my stainless steel sockets plus one not stainless steel bar. The Bad news was that bar rusted all winter and carried rust and corrosion to every piece of stainless steel. True it was only surface contamination but it was a pain in the butt cleaning the draw and cleaning the rust off of EVERY SINGLE SOCKET inside and out. I smell like WD40 which is a great product for such work . . . . but the fragrance lingers.
Completing that got me to the furler on the main mast . . . . .I know that doesn't seem like a logical path but it is. The WD40 was in the same container as the POWER BLASTER penetrating oil and lubricant. I used that to see if it would make the furler less binding so that furling the main in an out would be less of a chore. It seems to work just fine now.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !
SHIP'S LOG:
Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! ! ! ! Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! ! ! !
Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! ! Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! ! Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !
CAPTAIN'S PERSONAL LOG:
The weather is changing. Rather than being crappy all of the time, it is crappy just most of the time. Once it gets to a 50/50 split, it will be time to get serious with the boat. Of course that could be the middle of May but what the hey, as long as the boat can be splashed on the 1st of May, that means the engine commissioned, zincs on and bottom painted, everything else can be done . . . sort of . . . in the water. It would have been so much better in the Keys, or in the Virgins, or in the Leeward's or the Windward's. Next year!!!!!
Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! ! ! ! Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! ! ! !
Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! ! Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! ! Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !Waiting For the Spring Weather To Arrive ! !
CAPTAIN'S PERSONAL LOG:
The weather is changing. Rather than being crappy all of the time, it is crappy just most of the time. Once it gets to a 50/50 split, it will be time to get serious with the boat. Of course that could be the middle of May but what the hey, as long as the boat can be splashed on the 1st of May, that means the engine commissioned, zincs on and bottom painted, everything else can be done . . . sort of . . . in the water. It would have been so much better in the Keys, or in the Virgins, or in the Leeward's or the Windward's. Next year!!!!!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Back Again!!!!
SHIP'S LOG:
Sorry that it has been such a long time between posts, but there really has been a lot going on . . . . . . at least as regards ABISHAG. She is covered with snow, really covered now, and patiently awaits the onset of spring and warmer weather.
The Insurance company came through with a check for $10,221 for their portion of the repairs. i hand delivered the check as it was made out to me and not the people doing the work. It was a chance to meet them and Sheila & Dave Roxburgh seem to be a very knowledgeable husband and wife team of fiberglass repair technicians. Dave noted that if the masts had been removed from ABISHAG for winter storage they would have moved her into the shop and would have done the work there. It would already have been completed but with the 52foot Mainmast on top of a 10 foot span from the bottom of the keel to the top of the cabin, they couldn't squeeze her inside. So the work will have to await the onset of spring weather . . . . which is a good thing as I don't have the 3.2 Marine Units to cover the deductible right now.
MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:
It has been more than a little depressing recently. It seems that things haven't been going as well as I had hoped. Finances have gotten to the point that I have had to employ a non-profit debt service organization to get a handle on my finances. It cost me two credit card accounts which had to be closed and will take five years to pay off. It will make for some rather interesting financial adventures if the threatened halving of income comes to fruition. It would make things a lot better, at least financially, if the condo could be sold but, while people have looked, not one has made an offer. It bothers me that I am expending so much concern over finances and making ends meet but I guess I am just one of the many others who find themselves in the same situation. I have just got to put it in God's hands and believe that God will make it all right in his own way and at his own time.
Sorry that it has been such a long time between posts, but there really has been a lot going on . . . . . . at least as regards ABISHAG. She is covered with snow, really covered now, and patiently awaits the onset of spring and warmer weather.
The Insurance company came through with a check for $10,221 for their portion of the repairs. i hand delivered the check as it was made out to me and not the people doing the work. It was a chance to meet them and Sheila & Dave Roxburgh seem to be a very knowledgeable husband and wife team of fiberglass repair technicians. Dave noted that if the masts had been removed from ABISHAG for winter storage they would have moved her into the shop and would have done the work there. It would already have been completed but with the 52foot Mainmast on top of a 10 foot span from the bottom of the keel to the top of the cabin, they couldn't squeeze her inside. So the work will have to await the onset of spring weather . . . . which is a good thing as I don't have the 3.2 Marine Units to cover the deductible right now.
MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:
It has been more than a little depressing recently. It seems that things haven't been going as well as I had hoped. Finances have gotten to the point that I have had to employ a non-profit debt service organization to get a handle on my finances. It cost me two credit card accounts which had to be closed and will take five years to pay off. It will make for some rather interesting financial adventures if the threatened halving of income comes to fruition. It would make things a lot better, at least financially, if the condo could be sold but, while people have looked, not one has made an offer. It bothers me that I am expending so much concern over finances and making ends meet but I guess I am just one of the many others who find themselves in the same situation. I have just got to put it in God's hands and believe that God will make it all right in his own way and at his own time.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
AHOY! ! ! !
SHIP'S LOG:
I wish that I had lots of news to report but sadly it is winter in the Northeast and it really inhibits working on boats. I did get a call from the Boatyard to confirm that I wanted them to do the repair work on the keel. i told them to go ahead and when the check came in from the insurance company i would bring it down. They said that that was fine but, what with the weather and all, it would be "months" before they go to it. O well, more waiting and more patience practice.
Electricity is beginning to make more and more sense. It's not getting clearer, it is just making more sense. In that it makes any sense whatever means it is making more sense than it did before, so it is an improvement, but a rather tiny one. I still have some time for it to become a little more knowledge and skill and rather less "magic."
MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:
I am afraid that it has started already. A couple of large (41+foot) boats have mysteriously caught fire and sunk in their winter berths in the last week. I expect more the closer we get to the summer season and if things don't sort themselves out financially by fall, that number will really increase. People who are trying to sell their boats are all but giving them away and still are having serious trouble unloading them. Like every other industry, the marine industry and it subsidiary institutions are going to take a serious hit in the current financial crisis. I am just hoping to be able to get ABISHAG in shape to sail by spring and then to do just that.
I wish that I had lots of news to report but sadly it is winter in the Northeast and it really inhibits working on boats. I did get a call from the Boatyard to confirm that I wanted them to do the repair work on the keel. i told them to go ahead and when the check came in from the insurance company i would bring it down. They said that that was fine but, what with the weather and all, it would be "months" before they go to it. O well, more waiting and more patience practice.
Electricity is beginning to make more and more sense. It's not getting clearer, it is just making more sense. In that it makes any sense whatever means it is making more sense than it did before, so it is an improvement, but a rather tiny one. I still have some time for it to become a little more knowledge and skill and rather less "magic."
MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:
I am afraid that it has started already. A couple of large (41+foot) boats have mysteriously caught fire and sunk in their winter berths in the last week. I expect more the closer we get to the summer season and if things don't sort themselves out financially by fall, that number will really increase. People who are trying to sell their boats are all but giving them away and still are having serious trouble unloading them. Like every other industry, the marine industry and it subsidiary institutions are going to take a serious hit in the current financial crisis. I am just hoping to be able to get ABISHAG in shape to sail by spring and then to do just that.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
At Last, Some Good News! ! ! ! !
SHIP'S LOG:
I went down to see ABISHAG yesterday. along the coats, the snow is all but gone and it was warm enough that there was some actual thawing. This meant that the ground around the boat was more mud than dirt. Thank goodness for rubber boots!
Much to my disappointment, but expected nonetheless, the "Fiberglass Fairy" and the " Epoxy Elf" had not shown up since the last visit and the keel was still damaged and in need of repair. The interior also remained untouched and still rather disheveled. I don't know why the gremlins had not shown up to clean-up and arrange the the items wintering on board. They must be busy elsewhere these days. Even with the "thaw," the interior was freezer-like.
Skip, good friend and master carpenter, came with me so that I could point out the things I would like to do with the interior. Carpentry is right up their with electrical work work on my skills lists so it behooves me to get the advice of someone who actually knows what they are doing, and Skip knows. He will provide some simple solutions to the needs (mostly storage) along with practical and easy plans for doing the deed.
The good news came today from Allison Burgess of Zurich Marine Insurance. They will pay for the repair work, less $1,600 and the check is in the mail.
MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:
It was great to be on board even if ABISHAG wasn't in the water. I wanted to start working immediately but it will have to wait. The slight thaw is soon to be followed by a real return to winter so things will have to wait a bit. I still have 75 days before launching.
I went down to see ABISHAG yesterday. along the coats, the snow is all but gone and it was warm enough that there was some actual thawing. This meant that the ground around the boat was more mud than dirt. Thank goodness for rubber boots!
Much to my disappointment, but expected nonetheless, the "Fiberglass Fairy" and the " Epoxy Elf" had not shown up since the last visit and the keel was still damaged and in need of repair. The interior also remained untouched and still rather disheveled. I don't know why the gremlins had not shown up to clean-up and arrange the the items wintering on board. They must be busy elsewhere these days. Even with the "thaw," the interior was freezer-like.
Skip, good friend and master carpenter, came with me so that I could point out the things I would like to do with the interior. Carpentry is right up their with electrical work work on my skills lists so it behooves me to get the advice of someone who actually knows what they are doing, and Skip knows. He will provide some simple solutions to the needs (mostly storage) along with practical and easy plans for doing the deed.
The good news came today from Allison Burgess of Zurich Marine Insurance. They will pay for the repair work, less $1,600 and the check is in the mail.
MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:
It was great to be on board even if ABISHAG wasn't in the water. I wanted to start working immediately but it will have to wait. The slight thaw is soon to be followed by a real return to winter so things will have to wait a bit. I still have 75 days before launching.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
OUCH! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
SHIP'S LOG:
Well, the proposal from the Marine Repair-er showed up today. The total outlay for the proposed work, a "good faith estimate" as they like to say in the marine trade, is 24 MUs or in real money $11,936.80. OUCH! ! ! ! !
Of course, and thank goodness, the vast majority of it will be paid by the Insurance Company, the total less my $1,600 deductible. and afterwards, if I am lucky, they will only double my premiums. Not feeling particularly lucky, I fully expect to get dropped like a hot potato, but I can't blame them though. Let's see: incident #1 tow plus repair work = $14,000; incident #2 tow plus repair work = $17,000 for a total of $31,000! Considering that my yearly premium is, or was, $1,200 in these tough economic times, it is a losing proposition even for a company who business is "risk taking." The fun task of the spring will be finding another insurance carrier if possible. Just think of the conversation I'm going to have to have with the agent. On second though, I don't want to think about it.
It is quite possible also that there will be some downward adjustment, possibly as much as 50%, in my compensation this spring as well. OUCH! ! ! ! ! I have been trying to unload the condo so that I can get rid of its bills and payoff the credit card debt. The realtor says that, strangely, there is an increasing interest in the condos at the present time. So I have dropped the price and hopefully it will be attractive enough to get it sold. they I can pay off the mortgage, the taxes and the credit cards and still actually have a few bucks left to repair my retirement fund.
The crazy part of this financial disaster that we call the American economy is that those things that most people counted on to be financial bellweathers against tough times have become, in many cases, more of a hinderance than a help. If you own a house with a mortgage that has an adjustable rate, you know of what I speak. If I can unload the condo, I hopefully won't have to unload ABISHAG. Yes, that's right, I have to consider selling my boat. Of course right now there aren't a whole lot of boats selling. I have a dear friend who works for a finance company that specialize in boating loans. She has worked all the winter shows so far and there has been little in the way of loans going on. From what she and others in the marine business say, I suspect that there will be a sudden increase in boat "thefts," "accidents" that total boats, and irrecoverable "sinkings" that are of a "suspicious nature" if the financail scene doesn't improve by the end of summer. Many marinas took a real beating from the high fuel prices of this past summer and it had a ripple effect through the industry back then. Fewer people bothered to launch and even those who did, didn't go out as much. This was especially true for power boats. Those that actually saw water were used as "summer cottages" as opposed to being used as boats. I know I commented previously about the dearth of boating traffic over the summer months as indicated by the lack of traffic on the VHF Marine radio channels and it was probably worse than i imagined. This coming season should be even worse. The yard wherein ABISHAG slumbers the winter away already has had abandonments, boats hauled and whose owners, went sent the bill, just ignored it. Surely there will be more by spring.
It is a real buyers market so selling the boat will make selling the condo look easy by comparison. Check the boating web pages shows some incredible deals available. Sellers are dropping their prices by huge chucks of cash trying to unload their boats and having little success. I am hoping that I won't have to get into that craziness.
MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:
I have come to the conclusion that God really doesn't have a plan. I have come to believe that God will make all things right and good. It may not sound like all that much of a difference but it is. Rather than following a script, I can just do what comes naturally, make my choices, good and bad and, in some way, God will get involved and bless the good and correct the bad. Unfortunately, it also seems that it is still not a part of God's plan or of his making good. that I win Powerball. I thought . . . .maybe . . . and bought a ticket on the off chance . . . . not even one number. I was one off on several numbers such that if I had had the adjustment it would have made for a nice financial windfall. As it was, no numerical adjustment, no windfall, only god saying once again, "Trust me, like it says on the money!"
Well, the proposal from the Marine Repair-er showed up today. The total outlay for the proposed work, a "good faith estimate" as they like to say in the marine trade, is 24 MUs or in real money $11,936.80. OUCH! ! ! ! !
Of course, and thank goodness, the vast majority of it will be paid by the Insurance Company, the total less my $1,600 deductible. and afterwards, if I am lucky, they will only double my premiums. Not feeling particularly lucky, I fully expect to get dropped like a hot potato, but I can't blame them though. Let's see: incident #1 tow plus repair work = $14,000; incident #2 tow plus repair work = $17,000 for a total of $31,000! Considering that my yearly premium is, or was, $1,200 in these tough economic times, it is a losing proposition even for a company who business is "risk taking." The fun task of the spring will be finding another insurance carrier if possible. Just think of the conversation I'm going to have to have with the agent. On second though, I don't want to think about it.
It is quite possible also that there will be some downward adjustment, possibly as much as 50%, in my compensation this spring as well. OUCH! ! ! ! ! I have been trying to unload the condo so that I can get rid of its bills and payoff the credit card debt. The realtor says that, strangely, there is an increasing interest in the condos at the present time. So I have dropped the price and hopefully it will be attractive enough to get it sold. they I can pay off the mortgage, the taxes and the credit cards and still actually have a few bucks left to repair my retirement fund.
The crazy part of this financial disaster that we call the American economy is that those things that most people counted on to be financial bellweathers against tough times have become, in many cases, more of a hinderance than a help. If you own a house with a mortgage that has an adjustable rate, you know of what I speak. If I can unload the condo, I hopefully won't have to unload ABISHAG. Yes, that's right, I have to consider selling my boat. Of course right now there aren't a whole lot of boats selling. I have a dear friend who works for a finance company that specialize in boating loans. She has worked all the winter shows so far and there has been little in the way of loans going on. From what she and others in the marine business say, I suspect that there will be a sudden increase in boat "thefts," "accidents" that total boats, and irrecoverable "sinkings" that are of a "suspicious nature" if the financail scene doesn't improve by the end of summer. Many marinas took a real beating from the high fuel prices of this past summer and it had a ripple effect through the industry back then. Fewer people bothered to launch and even those who did, didn't go out as much. This was especially true for power boats. Those that actually saw water were used as "summer cottages" as opposed to being used as boats. I know I commented previously about the dearth of boating traffic over the summer months as indicated by the lack of traffic on the VHF Marine radio channels and it was probably worse than i imagined. This coming season should be even worse. The yard wherein ABISHAG slumbers the winter away already has had abandonments, boats hauled and whose owners, went sent the bill, just ignored it. Surely there will be more by spring.
It is a real buyers market so selling the boat will make selling the condo look easy by comparison. Check the boating web pages shows some incredible deals available. Sellers are dropping their prices by huge chucks of cash trying to unload their boats and having little success. I am hoping that I won't have to get into that craziness.
MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:
I have come to the conclusion that God really doesn't have a plan. I have come to believe that God will make all things right and good. It may not sound like all that much of a difference but it is. Rather than following a script, I can just do what comes naturally, make my choices, good and bad and, in some way, God will get involved and bless the good and correct the bad. Unfortunately, it also seems that it is still not a part of God's plan or of his making good. that I win Powerball. I thought . . . .maybe . . . and bought a ticket on the off chance . . . . not even one number. I was one off on several numbers such that if I had had the adjustment it would have made for a nice financial windfall. As it was, no numerical adjustment, no windfall, only god saying once again, "Trust me, like it says on the money!"
Friday, January 23, 2009
I'm Going To Take It As A Good Sign
SHIP'S LOG:
Today in the mail I received a copy of Cruising World magazine, on the cover of which was a 53 Friendship just sailing along on a beautiful day. In the mail today I also received a copy of SAIL magazine and on the cover was a Swan 48 heralding the lead story of "How You Too Can Join The Caribbean Racing Scene." In the mail I also received a promotional package from Pond Bay on the island of St. John in the American Virgin Islands, touting a wonderful assortment of luxury cottages and palatial villas available for time share. I also received an email from Michael Harris of the Catamaran Company offering a truly insane deal on a 35 foot Island Spirit Catamaran. Tonight the temperature is supposed to drop like the rock again and I gather there is the possibility of more snow by Wednesday.
AH, but I am one day closer to launching. Actually it is 99 days and counting down. The mist around the mystery that is electricity is beginning to lift and that in the next few days it will all become clear, at least enough to know what I don't know. I am really chomping at the bit to get started but with the weather hovering around ZERO!!!!, and possibly less inside the boat, that is not going to happen, at least not for a week or two. It doesn't matter when, I will be ready!!!! I've got the work list all planned out ( it keeps growing with unnecessary but really neat projects). Hopefully, I will even have enough MUs to pay for the truly, absolutely necessary stuff - like bottom paint (approx. $218) - and perhaps have a few leftover for other , not necessary but would-be-nice-to-have items. In any event, I can't wait to start.
At another time, such an array of such items would have
Today in the mail I received a copy of Cruising World magazine, on the cover of which was a 53 Friendship just sailing along on a beautiful day. In the mail today I also received a copy of SAIL magazine and on the cover was a Swan 48 heralding the lead story of "How You Too Can Join The Caribbean Racing Scene." In the mail I also received a promotional package from Pond Bay on the island of St. John in the American Virgin Islands, touting a wonderful assortment of luxury cottages and palatial villas available for time share. I also received an email from Michael Harris of the Catamaran Company offering a truly insane deal on a 35 foot Island Spirit Catamaran. Tonight the temperature is supposed to drop like the rock again and I gather there is the possibility of more snow by Wednesday.
AH, but I am one day closer to launching. Actually it is 99 days and counting down. The mist around the mystery that is electricity is beginning to lift and that in the next few days it will all become clear, at least enough to know what I don't know. I am really chomping at the bit to get started but with the weather hovering around ZERO!!!!, and possibly less inside the boat, that is not going to happen, at least not for a week or two. It doesn't matter when, I will be ready!!!! I've got the work list all planned out ( it keeps growing with unnecessary but really neat projects). Hopefully, I will even have enough MUs to pay for the truly, absolutely necessary stuff - like bottom paint (approx. $218) - and perhaps have a few leftover for other , not necessary but would-be-nice-to-have items. In any event, I can't wait to start.
At another time, such an array of such items would have
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