Between a busy time at work, family matters, vacation to go see our grandkids, and weather (which tends to be beautiful everyday...except the days I'm free to go work on the boat)...time at the boat to get her ready for sailing has been in short supply. In fact this year, I have spent one night on the boat, which was January 1; had one good long day of boat projects back in January; had a brief, mixed result, morning of working on the boat; and one very relaxing lunch and a few hours rest on the boat with Angela.
While we were on vacation I worked up a plan to get the boat ready to sail...and I told my wife I thought if I could get four good days of work on the boat we'd have hear ready to fill her sails with wind. Now, please understand...I notoriously either overestimate my ability with any project or grossly underestimate what a project will take. But I confidently stood by my plan.
Operation Fix-A-Boat plan:
- Day 1 would be projects I could pretty easily take care of myself.
- Day 2 would be dedicated to the outboard...getting it cranked, replacing lower-unit oil, etc...
- Day 3 would be focused on the roller furling...replacing the halyard, tightening the forestay, etc...
- Day 4 would be tackling replacing the steaming light on the mast and dealing with the marine head
Yesterday, the last day of March, I headed to Southport in order to commence with Day 1 of "Operation Fix-A-Boat". I loaded up the car with personal gear and food to spend the night as well as some tools and supplies I had recently picked up. My list of Day 1 projects had me feeling pretty prepared.
While I ended up not spending the night on the boat, I will say overall it was a productive day...even if it wasn't very exciting. My list of "accomplishments" includes...
- attaching and storing new anchor rode...200 feet of rope and 15 feet of chain;
- Removed expired registration stickers...would have replaced with new had I not left them at home!
- Dried the bilge;
- Topped off the water in the batteries;
- Removed old, rusty curtain rod...partly because there is no longer a curtain!
- Hung some LED lights in the cabin
- Tightened all cockpit hatches...finally!
- Tightened all cleats in the cockpit;
- Re-seated the jam cleats for the Jib sheets
- Measured the companion way and forward hatches in order to make bug screens;
- Measured marine head hoses so I can get ready to remove/cap them;
- Tightened all connections/clamps on the fuel line;
- Clean out "dumpster" locker in cockpit;
- Installed hinge on cabin table mounting bracket so it can be stored upright when not in use.
I know...I really do...that none of these are exciting or "sexy". But these small projects have been on the to-do-list for a while and they needed doing. Plus, they were projects that I could do by myself. Though, most would have been SOOOO much easier, and probably quicker, had I had help.
So, something you may not know is that I am down some 17 pounds...which is a good thing. Climbing into the "dumpster" locker in the cockpit to access some nuts and bolts, was a pretty tight fit. But not as tight as it would have been 17 pounds ago! The other thing that really struck me was how much roomier and open the cabin felt when the table is stored up. Day 1 of 4 is in the books...so far so good!
I'll share a couple of the few pictures I took yesterday below. But the one lesson I learned is this: I AM NOT AS YOUNG AS I USED TO BE...and my legs and body are reminding me of that this morning!
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| My first trip into the "dumpster"...pretty tight fit! |
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| So much room with the table up. This is dancing mode... |
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| Single table for when I eat by myself or am studying/working |
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| Dinner party mode! |
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