Saturday December 3, 2005
    To complete the entry from last time, the deal did go through and off went "Fun For Five".  It is an interesting attachment we men have for our boats.  I speak only as a man, perhaps some women fell the same.  It was sad to see her go, almost like losing a member of the family.  There is an emotional, a personal attachment to what is, for all intents and purposes, an inanimate object.  I think that it is because it comes alive on the water, responding to the wind and waves, responsive to the hand at the tiller, that puts it in a different category.  It responds to us but not only to us, it seems to have a mind of it's own.  I suppose when we call our boat 'My Mistress' it is because, like a woman, with loving care and a gentle, understanding touch, she can provide great pleasure but if not treated well, a lifetime of headaches and expense.  But enough of that.
    I started working on some spars.  The bowsprit is carved and ready for installation, as is the spiritsail yard.  I decided to change the rigging plan, getting rid of topgallants and lowering the masts.  The bowsprit is a six by six that I carved down, rounded on the bottom and flatter on the top for easy walking.  The jib boom is a sixteen foot four by four rounded and trimmed.  While in Florida I found a used/consignment store and bought a bunch of hardware including the fitting for the end of the jib boom.   
    I also started the water tanks.  There are storage bins with baffles inside, shower drains in the bottom and lids caulked and screwed down.  There will be 150 gallons for washing and one hundred for drinking.  Apparently epoxy is not recommended for potable water so the large tanks can't be for drinking.  I've also put a few more coats of resin on the boat and it is ready for gelcoat on the topsides.  The rudder is halfway finished.  The large amount of money to complete the project is finally on it's way so I should be able to work consistently through the winter and be ready for launch in the spring.

Monday, December 12, 2005

      It has been unseasonably cold the last week or so.  That makes working uncomfortable and in some areas like polyester resin, impossible.  I finished sewing the spiritsail last night and last week I ordered material for the topsail.  I began making blocks.  I bought he sheaves since I don't have a lathe and made the blocks of three quarter inch oak glued with epoxy.  I will do them in the old style with line wrapped around them so splicing that is something I can do in the warm house.
    I also carved the gaff yard but I think I carved it too small and will have to do it again.  I will make it into the davit for launching Dory.  I also gelcoated the cabin top so that is ready to have the windows installed.  The quarterdeck has several coats of polyurethane on it, looks good.  I got the final piece of the rudder so the metal pieces and the four by fours are installed.  Looking back over the past week, it doesn't seem like I accomplished much but I've kept busy and will continue to be busy now that money isn't a problem.  Approximately four months to launch!

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January 11, 2006

    A New Year, more work.  All the smaller spars are finished.  The rudder had pieces of half inch plywood installed on each side, was sanded down and epoxied.  The windows are installed on the sides, they look pretty good.  They are quarter inch Plexiglas and the frames are plywood painted gold.  I have been running a lot of plumbing and electric.  It was pretty exciting when I hooked the battery up to the panel for the first time and there were lights!  I was thinking about how I wished I had planned better when running the wires and pipes before all the walls and floors were installed.  Some of it had been run but I ended up crawling around under the floor and in some other tight spaces.
    Two of the three fresh water tanks are installed.  I found out, however, that my use of epoxy on the inside disqualified them for drinking.  They will be for washing.  I ordered two flexible tanks to install under the dinette.  I also found out that resin that gets wet before it cures makes a real mess.  The floor below the companionway is enclosed with a lip and has a drain.  It was to be coated with resin and while I did that, we got three days of rain before it cured and a leak from the area around the hatch dripped on it and I had to scrape it up and start over.  That was quite a mess.
      The weather has been reasonably cooperative, this week has been warm.  Even so, setting up resin takes forever.  I have been working on sails now that I got our new/old sewing machine working.  It was given to us by a woman Kelly worked with at the hospital.  It must be sixty years old and I had to fabricate a belt and a bobin case but it works very well.