Well, I was hoping my next post would be from the water, but no...we are still on land. Thankfully our shafts arrived on Tuesday, but as usual...nothing can be easy. What we thought would be a three week stop is now turning into seven. On the bright side, we are completing a lot of projects, Keith’s kidney stones are gone, and Carrabelle is a pretty nice place to be trapped.
Carrabelle is a quaint town with very nice people and apparently very little crime.
If you are a weirdo like me and like old boats, our new home contains some true treasures. This one is my favorite in the yard. I wish I could find a picture of her in her hay day. I would love to know where she has been, and what jobs she accomplished.
What is this? I would not be surprised to see an enlarged version of this hanging in a building in Annapolis. This is actually the bottom of the boat in the last picture. Interestingly, I was just told the story of how water was shooting through the hull like small pinhole geysers the day she was hauled out.
This picture was taken at sunrise on June 1, 2020. Keith and I were completing an overnight passage from Tarpon Springs to Panama City when we came across this beautiful scene. I posted some of the pictures at that time, and also attempted to track down (without success) the owner of the boat to share the pictures.
Fast forward to Carrabelle. We found the boat!
And the owner...this is Jerry. The owner of our boat yard gave us Jerry’s phone number, and after a brief conversation Jerry agreed to meet us at his boat. He loved the pictures, and gave us a tour of his boat.
The white box is a freezer. Shrimp are put into the box with seawater and the temperature is drastically lowered so the shrimp freeze but the water does not, due to the salt content. This boat had a very large hold to store the shrimp until the boat returns to port. Jerry usually stays out for about 18 days.
This is a TED (turtle excluder device), which allows sea turtles to escape the nets unharmed. Jerry said, “anything over 4 inches can get out, and a lot of shrimp get out.”
Look at all those cables and lines. The rigging on this boat is amazing! We greatly appreciated Jerry taking the time to teach us about his boat!
Clearly, I have been very good this year, because Santa brought me a drone😁.
I haven’t named her yet, but since she will be an integral part of Right Hand I think Pinky would be appropriate.
Now we can step up our picture game and view the world from a different angle. Also, this is much easier than me climbing up there to see if the solar panels are clean!
Okay, enough play...let’s get back to work.
That stabilizer fin on the ground is usually attached to the actuator shaft sticking out of the hull, but we figured this would be a great time to have the seals replaced. If you are unfamiliar with stabilizers I’ll give you the shorthand description...there are fins on each side of the boat that move by gyrocompass driven hydraulic action to oppose the roll tendency of the boat during rough conditions. We definitely want to keep these babies in good working condition!
I have been making good progress on my head (bathroom) remodel. I started by removing everything...mirror, towel racks, sink, and faucet. This will be my second faucet replacement this month, and I must admit I am not a fan. Both experiences have made me realize there is a serious misalignment when it comes to the level of patience required to remove old rusty faucets (while crammed in tiny spaces) and the amount of patience I possess.
Three weeks ago I decided to complete the easy job of replacing the galley (kitchen) faucet, I’ll spare you from suffering through the details, but after an hour+ of one handed attempts (in a very tight dark space) to loosen the faucet, I reached for the hammer. When that didn’t seem to help I stuck my head into the engine room and asked a Keith to hand me the blow torch! To his credit, he calmly said, “I’ll get you the torch, but do you want me to take a look at the problem first.” As I explained my problem, and frustration, I realized a new solution that worked great (without the help of the torch). In the end, the faucet installation went fine, and now Keith knows the code words. If I ask for a torch...he needs to talk me down.
The removal of the faucet in the crew head started down the same road with rusty/corroded nuts, a lot of PB Blaster, busted knuckles, neck kinks, the hammer...guess what...the hammer actually worked this time! The nuts were so corroded that they crumbled to pieces when hit with the hammer. Who knew...I never actually thought the hammer was a plausible tool for the job, I was just venting some frustration before asking for the torch.
I have sanded the walls (and painted three), re-surfaced the countertop (and the shelf above) with the tile that was left over from the shower rehab, and have been experimenting on some of the surfaces with wall paper.
Getting a lot done while waiting for shafts!
They’re here!!!!!! The shafts arrived on Tuesday, and all hands were on deck for installation. What do you mean, it won’t go in?? Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but nothing can ever be easy when it comes to working on a 41 year old boat!
After conducting a very high tech laser analysis of the path the shaft must take, to reach the transmission, it was determined that our strut was not properly aligned.
The sad part is that Keith and I had just worked to torque all of the strut bolts to 150 lbs. in preparation for the shaft installation. While I did give a little blood for the tightening of those bolts I guess all is not lost...while removing the flooring in the lazaret (to gain access to the bolts), Keith discovered that many of the boards were rotten. What a great opportunity to replace the flooring. Always look for the bright side😏 I know, I’m really stretching to find the bright side, but it’s all good...I always believe that we are where we are meant to be, so make the most of every day!
We are all watching the weather windows very closely! Hoping to be back in the water on Wednesday, and planning to head south at the first weather opportunity.
Wishing everyone a healthy, happy and adventurous New Year!
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