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| The final push |
hooray!!!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
T minus 16 days
Even though we were both snotty and miserable this weekend, the windows are rebedded (Dawn is awesome), the rusty bits are sealed and covered with fiberglass and resin, the entire left side is shiny and beautiful, the horrible old name is gone, the inside seems to be staying dry, and Kyle the rigger dude quoted us half of what we expected to replace all the standing rigging. So that's pretty great.
I'll get pictures up one of these days.
more tomorrow.
I'll get pictures up one of these days.
more tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
weekend update
Oscar is doing well on anti-depressants. Apparently, depression makes one urinate. Who knew?
We spent both days at the boat this past weekend, and the rate of improvement is increasing - the rubrail is resealed, the keel is ground down and rust-stopped, the cockpit drain / beer cooler is repaired, and I sucked 15 gallons of nasty bilgewater from under the v-berth - even with a little rain and snow the boat was dry inside yesterday. If the unseasonably warm weather holds, we should be fairing the bottom this weekend and rebedding the portlights; maybe even the first coat of bottom paint will go on.
Lauch date is now March 18th - I'm a little nervous that we'll drop it off the crane or sink it to the bottom of the marina or break every piece of standing rigging when we try to step the mast.
deep breaths....
Also, Brion Toss' Compleat Rigger's Apprentice is heading my way (thank you Mr. Bezos). That might help with the spar anxiety.
Pictures coming soon.
We spent both days at the boat this past weekend, and the rate of improvement is increasing - the rubrail is resealed, the keel is ground down and rust-stopped, the cockpit drain / beer cooler is repaired, and I sucked 15 gallons of nasty bilgewater from under the v-berth - even with a little rain and snow the boat was dry inside yesterday. If the unseasonably warm weather holds, we should be fairing the bottom this weekend and rebedding the portlights; maybe even the first coat of bottom paint will go on.
Lauch date is now March 18th - I'm a little nervous that we'll drop it off the crane or sink it to the bottom of the marina or break every piece of standing rigging when we try to step the mast.
deep breaths....
Also, Brion Toss' Compleat Rigger's Apprentice is heading my way (thank you Mr. Bezos). That might help with the spar anxiety.
Pictures coming soon.
Monday, February 16, 2009
the day of the valentine
Friday we had a bit of a scare with oscar - drinking 5 gallons of water in one 24 hour period is not normal for him. Off to the vet we went for bloodletting, and were sent home with instructions to monitor his blood glucose every few hours.
Dog-stabbing and potty breaks took precedence over boat projects for most of the weekend, plus with snow and wind on saturday we weren't particularly inspired to crawl around in frozen mud.
Sunday we went and looked at the boat for a few minutes, and took some pictures of the really grody dirty dank parts. Then we came home and I began to resurrect the tiller while Trish finished the salon table.
pictures are at the picasa site
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| interior detail - into the pit |
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| February |
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
New Pictures!
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| February |
slowly.... slowly.... soon Trish won't be allowed to wear her hiking boots on board anymore.
Monday, February 9, 2009
also, the starter chicken has a new neighbor
mmmm - etchells.
the one next to us is a lovely shade of rustoleum brown, and named "Sure Beats Housework"
The starter chicken is feeling a little frumpy.
38 days and counting....
Crane day is now march 19th, which granted us 7 more days to get boat work done. That's nice.
Friday we picked up the last 6 yards of upholstery fabric for the cushions. Hooray for $2 a yard 70" width bolts of extra-durable orange nylon!
This Saturday was sunny and gorgeous, and we finally had worker bees show up, so we were able to get quite a bit done. The keel has had an initial grinding and a coat of sealant, the entire port side has been sanded once (see below re: small boys), and I pulled off the port winch. One would think that backing plates or at least nuts/washers/ bolts would be the appropriate way to attach items like winches, but no... the PO just used screws through the deck. eek! I also started stripping the busted standing rigging off of the mast, and we learned many interesting facts about 8-year-old boys:
- They are the perfect height to sand the bottom.
- Sanding blocks are entertaining for nearly 45 minutes.
- They think it's fun to get all goggled and masked up and then turn blue.
- They enjoy playing fort in the lazarette.
- They would like me to replace the tiller with a missile launcher.
- Three of them yarding on the tiller and making booming noises is an effective way to get it un-stuck. No more squeaking!
Dawn was amazing - she has earned the title of First Mate and all-around-awesome-mom.
When we got home it was raining.
Now it's snowing.
More pictures soon, I promise.
Friday we picked up the last 6 yards of upholstery fabric for the cushions. Hooray for $2 a yard 70" width bolts of extra-durable orange nylon!
This Saturday was sunny and gorgeous, and we finally had worker bees show up, so we were able to get quite a bit done. The keel has had an initial grinding and a coat of sealant, the entire port side has been sanded once (see below re: small boys), and I pulled off the port winch. One would think that backing plates or at least nuts/washers/ bolts would be the appropriate way to attach items like winches, but no... the PO just used screws through the deck. eek! I also started stripping the busted standing rigging off of the mast, and we learned many interesting facts about 8-year-old boys:
- They are the perfect height to sand the bottom.
- Sanding blocks are entertaining for nearly 45 minutes.
- They think it's fun to get all goggled and masked up and then turn blue.
- They enjoy playing fort in the lazarette.
- They would like me to replace the tiller with a missile launcher.
- Three of them yarding on the tiller and making booming noises is an effective way to get it un-stuck. No more squeaking!
Dawn was amazing - she has earned the title of First Mate and all-around-awesome-mom.
When we got home it was raining.
Now it's snowing.
More pictures soon, I promise.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Down with ugly fake woodgrain!
We're trying to do a few little boat projects during the week, as time allows.
Sunday I sanded down the (newer nicer) tiller, and found a big crack in dire need of epoxy and clamps.
Last night Trish put the first green coat on our super snazzy custom dinette table with integral chessboard. Rather than hideous fake woodgrain, we're sporting a safety orange base color with lime green and electric blue squares. It should be nothing short of spectacular.
Oscar stepped on the orange part, so now I know which side to sit on. Goofy dog.
If anyone would like to donate a disco ball to the boat, we will gladly accept.
Sunday I sanded down the (newer nicer) tiller, and found a big crack in dire need of epoxy and clamps.
Last night Trish put the first green coat on our super snazzy custom dinette table with integral chessboard. Rather than hideous fake woodgrain, we're sporting a safety orange base color with lime green and electric blue squares. It should be nothing short of spectacular.
Oscar stepped on the orange part, so now I know which side to sit on. Goofy dog.
If anyone would like to donate a disco ball to the boat, we will gladly accept.
Monday, February 2, 2009
our own private work party
Saturday started out bright and early at home depot... sandpaper, sanding blocks (yay! I don't have to use a bar of soap!), dust masks, fun spinning wire brush attachment for the power drill, rustoleum, 5200 & a caulking gun...
We made it to the marina around nine, and commenced to grinding and chipping and scrubbing. On the plus side, the big boards hiding the keel from our power tools came right off without the need for WD40. That was nice. The first layer of paint came off the keel fairly easily, but our 80 grit clogged right up with bottom paint as soon as it touched the slightest dampness. That was not nice.
Racers started showing up around ten - it was nice to see sails going up in the yacht basin, though it looked like the fleet was all of five boats. Can you race PHRF with one boat per class?
We wandered over to the unsecured dry storage lot to get a closer look at the poor neglected green boat with the For Sale sign on the keel. Teak toerails coming off in huge splinters, and some genius left the keel unsupported so the whole weight of the boat has been resting on the jacks for who-knows-how-long, causing the hull to deflect amost 6" inwards. Sad little boat is slowly committing harakiri.
Dude wants $2000 for it, which made us feel better about the amount we paid for the Starter Chicken. Connor got a little lost on the way back to our boat - fiberglass hulls create some wierd echoes for him.
Mister Tequila Sunrise came over around 10:30 to inspect our work and make friends, so we decided it was a good time to regroup and consider the purchase of a proper grinder.
The closest hardware store to the marina is the Lowe's in West Valley City. We did not get a real grinder, but we did get a leetle beetle grinder disc for the drill.
Fortunately, Cafe Rio is on the way back, and they make a delicious black bean taco salad with homemade tortillas and creamy tomatillo goodness, big enough to share, for 7 dollars. Also, we bought some cheap beer. Our cockpit picnic was lovely. We made whooshing noises and pretended we were sailing.
Back to work - Trish ground on the keel some more, I scrubbed the cabin sole and chipped ice out of the bilge, and we re-rigged the tarp to try to keep more water out of the cockpit.
We called it a day around four, and went over to the "Observation deck" to catch the racers heading in. You'll see the pictures of the ?Melges? ?J80? Asymmetrical-spinnaker-flying, open-transom-sporting, light-air sumpin'-or-other nearly beating the committee boat back from the course.
Connor rolled in dead brine flies, so that made him happy.
Pictures to come tomorrow.
We made it to the marina around nine, and commenced to grinding and chipping and scrubbing. On the plus side, the big boards hiding the keel from our power tools came right off without the need for WD40. That was nice. The first layer of paint came off the keel fairly easily, but our 80 grit clogged right up with bottom paint as soon as it touched the slightest dampness. That was not nice.
Racers started showing up around ten - it was nice to see sails going up in the yacht basin, though it looked like the fleet was all of five boats. Can you race PHRF with one boat per class?
We wandered over to the unsecured dry storage lot to get a closer look at the poor neglected green boat with the For Sale sign on the keel. Teak toerails coming off in huge splinters, and some genius left the keel unsupported so the whole weight of the boat has been resting on the jacks for who-knows-how-long, causing the hull to deflect amost 6" inwards. Sad little boat is slowly committing harakiri.
Dude wants $2000 for it, which made us feel better about the amount we paid for the Starter Chicken. Connor got a little lost on the way back to our boat - fiberglass hulls create some wierd echoes for him.
Mister Tequila Sunrise came over around 10:30 to inspect our work and make friends, so we decided it was a good time to regroup and consider the purchase of a proper grinder.
The closest hardware store to the marina is the Lowe's in West Valley City. We did not get a real grinder, but we did get a leetle beetle grinder disc for the drill.
Fortunately, Cafe Rio is on the way back, and they make a delicious black bean taco salad with homemade tortillas and creamy tomatillo goodness, big enough to share, for 7 dollars. Also, we bought some cheap beer. Our cockpit picnic was lovely. We made whooshing noises and pretended we were sailing.
Back to work - Trish ground on the keel some more, I scrubbed the cabin sole and chipped ice out of the bilge, and we re-rigged the tarp to try to keep more water out of the cockpit.
We called it a day around four, and went over to the "Observation deck" to catch the racers heading in. You'll see the pictures of the ?Melges? ?J80? Asymmetrical-spinnaker-flying, open-transom-sporting, light-air sumpin'-or-other nearly beating the committee boat back from the course.
Connor rolled in dead brine flies, so that made him happy.
Pictures to come tomorrow.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
picture link and weekend update
if you haven't seen the pictures yet, they're at http://picasaweb.google.com/starterchicken
And if you're in the salt lake area and looking for something to do this weekend, come join us at the GSL marina on saturday and sunday for fun-filled boat-cleaning action. we will wine and dine you in exchange for your strong upper body and ability to squish into small spaces.
the agenda for the weekend includes keel joint repair, deck hardware re-bedding, cabin scrubbing and mast de-rigging.
c'mon, it'll be fun!
And if you're in the salt lake area and looking for something to do this weekend, come join us at the GSL marina on saturday and sunday for fun-filled boat-cleaning action. we will wine and dine you in exchange for your strong upper body and ability to squish into small spaces.
the agenda for the weekend includes keel joint repair, deck hardware re-bedding, cabin scrubbing and mast de-rigging.
c'mon, it'll be fun!
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