Tuesday March 19: We Must Need a Vacation!

The work for Steve continues. One of the jobs this week was polishing the stainless stays on the mast.

These wires are made from a dozen or so fairly small stainless wires grouped and twisted into one. The perfect place for saltwater (or air) to sit and rust.

We learned long ago that stainless steel does indeed rust when in Florida or anyplace that has a high salt content in the air.

So we leaned the mast back and Steve cleaned the stays with two kinds of stainless cleaners - one a liquid and one a paste. They look like new!

He then used the same technique with the very rusty swim ladder! Not that this job was on his list - it just came to his notice when he was on the swim platform working on the teak.

One job just sort  of leads to another on this boat ....

By the time he replaced the small bolts holding the steps in, it looked like a brand new ladder!! Another nice job!




In case you are thinking I don't do much on this boat, you would be thinking correctly :-) But since my last visit to Dr. Friedman on March 11, I had the ok to use the right thumb at will.

Just don't go crazy is what he said! So I thought a nice place to start would be to help with the Cetol on the railings.

It was now time for the last 2 coats - this time for clear gloss. Makes more protection but also leaves a nice shiny top finish.

I wasn't sure I was going to like it the glossy finish but in the end it's a keeper.

Steve still ended up doing 80% of it though as he also did the teak on the hatband and the handrailings.

Yet to come is to replace the "Yesterday's Dream" that goes on the sides of the flybridge. We've had the vinyl names for 4 months now and somehow just haven't made the time to get them on!!

Just getting started. Ends of the 3 strands are
wrapped in black electrical tape.

It was an all day rain yesterday (unusual down here) and Steve (with YouTube playing next to him) decided he would tackle the last project related to the anchoring system: attaching the 100 feet of line to the 95 feet of chain on the main anchor.

The attachment has to be able to pass through the windlass as the rope (a three-strand nylon) needs to be attached by a method that basically weaves the rope back into itself.

The beauty of using this method is that the more tension on the joint, the tighter the rope joint on the chain becomes!

Finished weaving the three strands
and ready to wrap the ends.

With the chain suspended from a hand hold on the ceiling, the rope, after passing through the last chain link, is woven back through itself.

The only thing left is to use a small nylon line to wrap the ends of the strands.

Finished product!

What a great job!! Now the rope will pass through the windlass with no issues :-)

It wasn't ALL work the last week though. Randy and Cindy tried out their blow-up paddle board the other day. Cindy went first and did great!

Then Steve and finally Randy.

All agreed that it is very tiring :-)

Steve's first attempt! He was way better after he remembered Matt's advice to look at the horizon instead of at his feet :-)

Time to head out of town for a while! We're headed to California for a visit to Matt,/Wendy's and Becky's. Should be a nice 5 days :-)