Sometimes it takes a whip cracker . . .

Soul Mate has sat with little accomplished for a while. But, a friend had kicked me into gear. We replaced the manual bidge pump, and I  have removed the tarps over the cockpit and cabin, scrubbed the boat, and drained the fuel tank, and hope to pull it for cleaning soon. It really does help to have a friend crack the whip and remind you that, as Mom said, "You can't do it any younger."

A quick fix for the Galley.

I needed a convenient space for spices, etc. So, I added a removable (slides on over two bolt heads in the wood) spice speed rack. I kept this old shelf for almost 20 years, moving it from home to home, to storage shed. Now, it lives again. The top shot is the "After" and the bottom, "Before."

AT LAST! ANOTHER CRUISING PROJECT FINISHED.

The hanging locker is, to my thinking, a waste of space. I need shelving for clothes. So, I converted the hanging locker to a shelving (installed on a 25 degree angle to prevent falling).

This is where I started:

The next step was to install supports for the shelves.

Then, fit and paint new shelves white (eaiser to see what's there):

AT LAST! ANOTHER PROJECT DONE!

Critical Crewman - Always Looking Over Our Shoulder

Extended Absence

Sometimes you just can't get to the job at hand. I tore my rotator cuff sailing on the 4th of July 2009. But, that was just the straw that broke the camels back. The shoulder was already giving me pain. So, what followed was a course of med's, then physical therapy, more x-rays, MRI, etc. Then, after waiting at least 30-45 days to get another appointment following each procedure treatment, the decision was to do surgery. But, the holidays were a scheduling problem for the physicians, so surgery ended up in the new year, 2010, January 18. Now it is done. Ligaments reattached, the joint parts ground down and resurfaced, and the rotator cuff stitched up. They thought I should go to a rehab facility for 8 weeks following surgery. I did not.
After one night in the hospital, a friend picked me up and brought me back across the bay and helped me get onto my boat. If it had been a normal Florida winter it would have been a piece of cake; but, the temp dropped to just above freezing every night for a week (and I had no heat), and it has stayed reasonably cold. I must admit I have spent more comfortable nights, as I sat trying to sleep wrapped in a sleeping bag leaning against the bulkhead. The visiting nurse, who came every day, had never made a patient visit on a boat. After learning to check the tide level, she loved her 2 weeks of visits.
It has been a month now, and I still can't get off the boat at low tide. My comings and goings are determined by the tides because at low tide I am 3.5 ft below the dock. And, since we are prohibited from installing ladders, if I miss the tide window I am stuck on the boat until the next day.
The good news, I only have another 4 weeks to live with this straight jacket restraint! Then I start PT and hopefully get back to work on the boat.

Small Project - HINGE COVER FOR UNDER SETTEE STORAGE

Until now, access to storage under the starboard settee was limited to two small doors on the front of the settee and one opening in the seat board, under the cushion. The cat marks the spot for the top access. You couldn't see what was in there or get much in or out.

The obvious cure was to access the area via the seat board which was fastened into place with 27 screws. So, I removed the screws and cut the board to make a swing up cover. Maybe it took 27 screws to eliminate rattles but it seemed excessive as I extracted each with a manual screw driver.

After cutting, I filed the edges and corners down on the brass hinges (they had sharp corners that could have cut through the bedding used on the settee), and set them in place. Then I added a finger hole to lift the board.

The unfinished finish work, is to add a brass hook and eye to hold the board up for easy access to the storage area and some padding around the finger hole.

This is what sailing Florida's Gulf Coast is all about.
No wonder I make so little progress when it comes to getting work done.

WED. 10/21/09
Sunny
High: 85 Low: 71
Sunrise: 7:34
AM Winds: ENE 14
PM Winds: ENE 15