Up the Mast

Not once, not twice but THREE times Daniel had to go up the mast to install the tv antenna wire.  Guess who turned the winch and pulled the line to get him up 50+ feet each time?  Yes, it was me.  It was very hard work, I was sweating afterwards and he just sat in his little bosun's chair relaxing.  Okay, it can't be very relaxing sitting at the top of a 50 foot mast when a barge goes by and rocks the boat.  Poor fella!  It did take 3 times to get the wire up the inside of the mast but it has been done and now we can watch more tv channels!



What in the world are you doing??

This is a frequent question I ask - as you can tell by the picture below it is extremely difficult to tell.  This is the electrical panel and it is pulled down while Daniel is working on installing new wires for (1) a television antenna; (2) wi-fi connection and (3) who knows what else!  He has spent the better part of the day with the electrical panel in this condition and him pulling wires from all over the boat.  The good news is, I am typing this update by using the new wi-fi connection and when I get finished typing I'm going to turn the television on and look at all the new channels we receive.  So far, instead of 1 PBS channel it looks like we're getting 3 and they're all cooking shows.  Maybe I will learn something new. 

 

 

 

As a side note, it has been a nice day at the boat.  It's overcast and about 75 degrees.  There are lots of people out and about.  We really like the marina - everyone is so friendly and our "neighbors" are all really nice.  Everyone helps each other - which is really wonderful too.  Earlier today a man and his daughter that we met last week arrived on their "new to them" sailboat a couple of docks over and were trying to take down their old sails.  They wrestled with them for about 20 minutes and Daniel ended up walking over to check on them to see if they needed any help.  They were getting ready to do something drastic with the sails because they were not budging and were not coming down.  They had lots of people standing around giving advice but Daniel had told the guy last week how to take the sail down.  Anyway, Daniel offered his help and pulled out a clip that was holding the sail up and the sail just came barreling down.  The guy was really happy.  It's nice to share.  We've had lots of people help us when we need it and it was really nice to be able to help someone else.  Sailors are the best!

 

 

Carla Report (Finally)

Every weekend I spend lots of time reporting about all the wonderful improvements and changes Daniel has made.  Even as I type he is up to his arm pits in the electrical panel, but more about him, later. For  this entry is all about ME.  Usually it is "honey, can you hold this board while I cut it...honey, can you hand me a wrench...or would you mind vacuuming up this big mess I just made?" but not this week.  This time you get to see what I do on the boat.  I have my "specialty" and it is considered a "glory" job.  I get to spread teak oil on wood that needs it.  Before I touch it, it is just dull, everyday wood...but after I add my special teak oil...it shines!  It usually takes me about 5 minutes to accomplish a job like this and it usually takes me the rest of the day to get the leftover teak oil off my hands - but it's worth it.  Look at it shine!  Okay, back to vacuuming.

If at first you don't succeed...

drill another hole.  NOW I know why he sounded so frustrated.  The hole was unintentional - he drilled a hole at the bottom where the hinges were already located.  It was the wrong place for a hole.  So he had to drill another one.  Now we are actively trying to come up with something to fill the hole.  We are thinking about installing a fan over the hole.  The fan would blow air on the inhabitants of the forward berth.  I think it's a wonderful idea. 

 

 



Sweetie, What Are You Working On Now?

Daniel:  I'm working on the water maker.  Why do you ask?
Carla:  I'm posting to the blog and wanted to make sure I wrote about the right thing.

Isn't she cute?  In her defense, she did offer to help me on several occasions.

This was one of those weekends when everyone around us were out sailing while we stayed at the dock and worked on projects.  "A" dock was buzzing with activity Saturday afternoon.  It was great to see everyone having a good time, and to be able to talk with several of our friends.  Winters sometime seem quiet and lonely around the marina.

I CAN cook on a Boat!

I was a little worried about whether I would be able to cook "stuff" on the boat.  I mean, I know I can grill steak and chicken, I can make a pot of chili, but can I cook "from scratch"?  I put it to a test today.  Okay, it wasn't totally from scratch - I used a box mix for bread.  One and half hours later, I produced our first boat cinnamon rolls!  I feeling very domestic now...I might even cook dinner - after taking a well deserved nap. 

 

SSB Radio - the fun continues

Everyone needs an SSB radio if they are heading towards the high seas.  Okay, not everyone but I do.  Another item needed to make the boat "livable" for us.  I want to be able to send and receive e-mails from family and friends while we are cruising and the best way for us to do that is with an SSB radio.  Believe it or not, these things are expensive.  So if you can find a good, used one, well you snatch it up.  We found a great deal on ebay or craigslist for a slightly used radio so we bought it.  Below you will see a picture of it.

 

What?  All you see is a hole?  There's a reason for that...not everything you buy on ebay or craigslist actually works!  We received the radio and Daniel installed it.  He worked for about three weeks on it trying to get it to work and it never would.  Now, he doesn't give up easily so we mailed it off to a radio repair shop.  After the initial "look over" it was determined that it was going to take a lot of money to fix it.  Bottom line, please say hello to my brand new SSB radio.  It was received yesterday and was installed and is working in less than 1/2 a day. 



LESSON LEARNED:  not every "good deal" is a good deal. 

Watermaker

As we've said, the boat needs lots of upfitting and items that we want to make the cruising life more enjoyable.  One of those things is a watermaker.  We received it two weeks ago in 3 boxes.  It was a little scary to me - there were so many parts!  Daniel was like a kid with a new set of legos.  He couldn't wait to start installing it.  It was so funny, he walked all over the boat, opening every cubby hole he could find to try to find the best place for the new watermaker.  Finally, he found it's permanent home.  (Don't ask me how many times he hit his head on that table - too many to count!)