And On It Goes

     Got a chance to get away with some friends from college. We take a weekend in February each year to drink wine and play pinochle and lie about all the things we did in college. We've been doing this for 25 years now and I find it amazing how old THEY all got! They are all grandparents now. Very strange!

     After the weekend, it was back to the salt mines, that is the wash room at the sail loft.  Sadly, the sails are getting bigger and as spring approaches, their numbers also increase. This actually slows down the process as the bigger the sails the less space there is to hang and dry them. Well, at least I know what I am doing most days at the loft.  On those days when I can't wash, I end up sticking patches together. This means using double-sided tape to stick together 7 to 10 little parts into a big patch hat get sewed together and then sewed onto a sail. I would like to say that it is easy but it's not. Each piece has to be fixed exactly or the next will be out of place, and then the next, and the next, and eventually you have to rip it all apart and start again. And that happens more often than I would like to admit. The really "fun"art is that the sailcloth is so stiff and the edges so precisely cut that they are sharp and not a day goes by that I don't cut myself a couple of times.  And when I do, the most important this is, as the Boss says, "don't bleed on the sail!"

     We got 6 inches of heavy wet snow Sunday night/Monday morning. It began to melt but then the temp dropped and it froze and then began to melt the next day, but froze again at night. I am so ready for Spring!

More Fun Than Is Legal!

     There are two things I dislike about sailing and/or owning a sailboat, two tasks that I would love to never do again. The first is painting the bottom of the boat. It has gotten to the point where I no longer get the bottom paint as smooth as glass by launching. I no longer sand and scrape and chip as I no longer use bottom paint that dries to a hard finish.  It was a yearly pain in the butt which never seemed to fulfill the promises made on the can. Several years ago, I moved on to "ablative" bottom paint. It is a "soft" paint  and releases the "magical ingredients" by simply wearing away. As long as there is paint on the hull, it's working. No need to sand and remove the old paint after a year. Simply paint the bottom and you are done. Still, one has to get into all sorts of "gymnastic level" positions to do the job and I age, it gets more and more uncomfortable. But it would certainly be worse using the old style paint. Still, painting the bottom is a pain.

     The second task is washing sails at the sail loft. This particular job is not just limited to my own sails but all the ones dropped off at the loft  in the fall for pick-up in the spring.You have to wrestle the sails into the cleaning solution, as mix of bleach and DAWN and get them completely immersed and let them soak for at least 15 minutes. The water is cold and slops everywhere as we are talking about some rather large pieces of unyielding material. After it is cleaned, each sail must be moved from the cleaning solution into the rinsing tub, another small ocean of cold water in which it must be agitated for several minutes to wash out the cleaning solution. The the "clean" sail needs to be removed from that solution and hung up to drip dry.  Water, water everywhere. It is why the whole process is done wearing foul-weather gear. Then again, all foul weather gear leaks so one is not completely dry when the process is over. It usually takes a day for a sail to dry. Then it must be taken down, folded, put into its bag and hauled upstairs to the loft work floor. At best, you can get get four to six sails done in  a day, so it is a long process to get them all done. While that is going on, you have to keep the floor clean and dry.  You have no idea how heavy and hard to handle those wet sails are and hoisting them up to dry  . . . ugh! And of course, there is really no heat in the wash room and the whole process seems never ending. But of curse, it needs to be done. UGH!

     I bring this up because that is what my days at the loft are made of. Where is the Publishers Clearing House Prize team when I could really use them!

. . . .Now For Something Different!

     I hate computers. They are right up there winter and electrical problems on ABISHAG. And I guess they hate me back.

     I have recently gotten an new computer  and a new printer as the previous one have died. I am not sure why as they were only about 8 years old and have rarely been dropped. Perhaps I can chalk it up to planned obsolescence. 

    And due to the fact that I am so bad with things electronics, I have a maintenance service with Dell. Anything breaks or goes bad, they fix it.  Forever. I make a one time payment and that's it. I get to talk with  them operate my computer remotely ans just sit back and watch them do it. But ther is one problem, the minutes on the phone. Do you know how much time you spend on your phone a month? Well, with the regular phone calls I make and receive, add to it all the minutes it took talking with techs at Dell to get my new computer and printer up and running and talking with each other and the internet, today I hit the limit of my monthly plan: 700 MINUTES! I have a stupid phone, no text, not data, no pictures, no internet. It just makes phone calls and receives phone calls. But if I make a phone call now, it will be 40 cents a minute! The limit will reset, but not until Saturday midnight. I'll have to see about changing the plan again as I can't figure out how all those people I see with the "smart phones," on which they are seemingly all the time, can afford it. AH, such is life in the electronic age!

Why Does It Always Happen During The Winter?

     Well, there is nothing like a fire when the temperature is hovering around 10 degrees unless, of course, it is in your building!

      Yes, somebody down one floor and three apartments over, decide to flambe something and it ignited the cabinets above their stove an sent all of us outside. Thanks goodness the sprinkler system kicked in and basically put the fire out. It got a bit smokey but the fire department quickly handled the remain flames and dispelled the smoke. A little stink remains behind but we are all back inside. It easily could have been bad but no one was hurt and everything damaged is replaceable or repairable and the sun will come up tomorrow and we will all be there to see it.

     Considering all the propane, gas, diesel and other flammable liquids aboard ABISHAG, as well as the open flames, a fireplace and a 40 year-old electrical system exposed to the sea air for its lifetime, it is a wonder there has never be a fire aboard. And I hope it stays that way!

That's The Way The World Goes 'Round

     While it has nothing to do with ABISHAG technically, both my printer and my computer are dying or dead.

     The printer is definitely dead as while it copies and scans, it doesn't print what it copies or scans anymore. It is an EPSON and to get one of their techs to look at it, I would have to take it to one of their official tech-places, the nearest of which is north of Boston! I have no idea what it might cost, but since the printer is two years old and cost all of $65, it simply isn't worth the effort, time and money.  So I got a new one. I got it on AMAZON  and it cost $74.34, which means it was free as I got a $75 AMAZON gift card for Christmas.

     The computer on the other hand is still alive and kicking as this new POST indicates. However, it is physically falling apart. The ROM Drive works only when it wants to work. Sometimes, it won't open. Sometimes it won't read the disk. Sometimes it just run without being asked to. And for some reason the top of the laptop is slowly shifting its position and won't close completely. In fact, I actually had to trim part of the cover to get it to close.  SO I guess it was just time. It is, after all about 8 years old and I have no idea how old that actually is for a computer. All I know that whenever I call the Dell Extended Warranty/Maintenance Concierge Service, they giggle whenever I give them the service tag number and tell me how "old" the computer is, as they repair the software problems I have created yet again. I have been using DELL Computers for so long, that get one hell of a deal purchasing a new one.

     Thank goodness, I covered the boat as the ice, snow and rain that have hit here would have been a real pain to deal with.  More snow/sleet/ice/rain coming tomorrow but then temps in the 50's. Ihas been a very weird winter so far.

It Be Winter!

      Finally, it is "officially" Winter! I spent yesterday wrapping ABISHAG.  A good thing too as we are supposed to get hit with 3 - 6 inches of snow/sleet/hail from Friday through Saturday and the wrapping will keep at least most of the "falling, frozen moisture" from building up on the deck and causing mischief.

     Of course, it is only about two months before I start the spring maintenance/ cleanup/ preparation. It will be tons of fun as there is about a 6' space to starboard from the boat on that side and I actually overlap the boat to port and even  the boat astern by a little bit. The engine and water systems are winterized and ABISHAG is set for the winter. Well, sort of. There is still a rather chaotic situation aboard as stuff I was hoping to get off for the winter is still aboard and at this point, it is there that it will stay. It will mean a lot of cleaning come the spring but it will be less work that getting it out, taking it to storage and then bring it all back and putting it back aboard.

     As for spring work, there is very little in the way of parking in the marina as they really oversold winter storage. In speaking with Eric the Engine Shaman, getting electricity and water to the boat will be a little chaotic, requiring  long hose lengths and long extension cord. The electricity might not be too much of a problem as I have a portable generator which should handle that aspect no matter how many people are plugged into the marina electrical grid though water will be more of a problem. It will work out though as I won't work on weekends! I probably couldn't find parking in the yard on weekends anyway. I have a small car and trying to maneuver in the yard yesterday was a thrilling experience. I won't be surprise if someone nails a poppet and dislodges it, perhaps dropping a boat to the ground. It should be exciting.

     Sound Rigging took the halyards of ABISHAG last week and I haven't heard from them. I hoping that that means that aside from building the new halyards there is no real problem (read expensive) with the main's furling system.

     I haven't been called by the Sail Lofty to work. I am not sure why as they should have plenty of work. I will probably stop by again and "show the flag" to see if I can get some work. It would be nice to have a little money to live on. Things are getting just a bit tight. After all, I am still going to have to pay Eric once he gets the engine up and running as well as paying Sound Rigging, two expenses I was not expecting. A little extra cash from the sail loft would be nice, then again, perhaps this is the year that Publishers Clearing House finally finds me.

AH! The Fun Of Boat Ownership!!!!!

      At this time, ABISHAG is still uncovered as the winterization of the engine has not yet been done. As I noted before, I did cover the deck hatches with blue-poly tarps but the foredeck the stern and the cockpit have not. If they get covered, it make entrance and egress rather difficult and much easier to take a header off the boat and 10 feet to the ground. The weather hasn't lent itself to much in the way of projects either. 

     I had to go for a orthopedic check up yesterday as I have been having pain in my right hip and my right knee, both of which have been replaced. The x-rays  showed that the joints were find which means we are talking sciatica irrriatation which could be from spurs, disc-compression, spinal stenosis or several other things that sadly you can't do much about. So it some physical therapy and Tylenol.  If it gets really, REALLY painful, it is MRI time (which I really can't afford) and a cortisone injection . . . which is only a part but not permanent fix.  

     Since I was down near Essex, I went over to Sound Rigging and made arrangements for new halyards for ABISHAG  as they are approaching 40 years of age.  There is also a problem with the "behind-the-mast-furler." This system furls the main into a tube similar to the furling of the head sail. The problem is feeding the luff (Front edge) of the mainsail into track that runs it up the mast. It gets about half way up and then becomes very hard to get it the rest of the way up. It is not something I am willing to tackle  as the problem could be at the top of the mast . . .  53 feet in the air. I just hope that whatever the problem is that it will not require dropping the mast. All of the electronic wires would have to be disconnected along with all of the shrouds and it is an expensive thing to do. Hopefully, the main halyard is just getting caught on something and that it will be a simple fix. Everyone who believes that will be the case please stand on your head. Replacing the halyards might be as much as $500, not including the cost that will be charge to take them off, build the new ones and re-install the new halyards. Like I said, AH, THE FUN OF BOAT OWNERSHIP! ! ! !