Wednesday March 23: Operation Spruce Up - Almost Done!

So I thought the aft cabin was finished when the wallpapering was completed and the ceiling was painted but I forgot about my little porthole and the mess that is the ceiling under which I sleep every night! Pics of the whole aft cabin redo can be see at: https://picasaweb.google.com/lfrankooh/AftCabinRenovations# as there are just too many pictures to put here. The ceiling is really nasty looking but is actually quite clean :-) Ever since we first discovered the leaks in the walkaround deck 4 years ago, this is what I have been sleeping under! My little porthole was never finished on the inside either. First step was to use headliner adhesive to attached a very thin layer of foam rubber. Once this dries I'll start the final phase of using a light brown fabric to complete the job - more on that when it gets done :-) The Spanish Mackerel was EXCELLENT! This is from a person who will eat fish (it's really healthy) but wouldn't choose to ever have it for supper. However, I found myself reaching for more!! Guess we had better go fishing again :-) There is still plenty in the freezer for now though.

Two more jobs were finished up today. Both of them were must do's. One was polishing all of the stainless steel railings and fittings. We found out from our brother-in-law Jim that not all stainless is alike as it depends on the amount of chrome in the mix (hope I have that right, Jim!). It was obvious that we've been in a salt-water environment as everything needed cleaned and polished. The cleaner will also help prevent rust from forming but this is definitely a new regular maintenance that needs to be done.

The other job that was imperative to complete was to attach all of the thru-hull fittings (which provide raw water to the engine, generator, and air conditioner) to the sacrificial zincs that are on the back of the boat. Same principal as the shaft: the zinc gets eaten away by stray electrical currents in the water (conducted way better by saltwater than fresh water). So Steve attached 3 of them yesterday and I finished the last two up today -- of course in the most forward part of the space under the cabin floor. Smooth job - went well :-) Check!!

And as always, it's not all work. Larry and Tammy (Ty's sister and brother-in-law) cooked for everyone the other night. They own 3 bars/wing joints in the Cheboygan area in Wisconsin and he makes his own sauce - of which he was kind enough to leave us a bottle of each. Before they left to spend two weeks away, he made 450 gallons of sauce to keep the supply where it needed to be!! It's called Legend Larry's and there is a website on which you can order it: http://www.legendlarrys.com/sauce.html We used it again last night to make ribs and Steve has definite plans for the Scary Larry in the batch of chili he is going to make tomorrow. Personally, I liked the Honey BBQ :-) Also more crab claws yesterday - the largest ever! And 4 more today :-) Total: 9 - sounds like a feast!