Mike
09/02/2009, Deltaville, VA

September 1st, 2009 Deltaville, VA
I got up early this morning and made a list of things that needed to be done today. Most of them didn't take too much time but the list was long. I drilled and attached our new chain guard, drove to the hardware and grocery one last time, painted under the pads holding Sapphire in the air by adding a couple extra jacks, added another coat of bottom paint to the leading edges and water line, sanded and added a coat of finish to the starboard toe and rub rails, sanded and finished the bowsprit.
Kathy cleaned most of the day but did paint the board to which we attach our jerry cans. Our new boat names came in the mail so we put them on in the afternoon.
Then we picked up the hose and moved everything up the ladder that needed to be up in the boat and hauled the rest of the stuff to the dumpster.
Tomorrow, we will have to prop up the mizzen boom and tie off its topping lift so that the boat launcher can pick us up properly. The weather is forecast to be windy out on the bay, so after launching we'll probably just anchor in Jackson Creek and do nothing for a day or so. We still have one package that hasn't arrived.

August 31st, 2009 Deltaville,VA
I woke to Kathy shutting hatches and never got back to sleep. It was cool and drizzly...70's , and felt good for a change. It wasn't however a good day for painting. The refrigerator was still not right so I went over to the office and scheduled a tech. to come over and check it out. I told Sean to call about a half hour before the tech showed up to give me time to take out the sink. By the time I got back to the boat, Sean called to give me my notice.
Jim (the tech.) arrived and checked things out to find that we were low on coolant and charged things up. I'm sure that it will be another $100 that we don't have, but was worth it never the less.
Kathy did three loads of laundry during the morning. We took the car to the hardware for some bolts to attach our new sacrificial board to the bowsprit and stopped at grocery one last time. Our bottom paint arrived around noon after its sight-seeing tour of Michigan, but it was still raining on and off so we decided not to paint. I wandered over to the office to push our launch date back until Wednesday. Since we had removed the tarp yesterday, I could move around enough to wash the deck in the rain.
Sitting in the cockpit reading the paint can a little later, I found that Micron Extra needed a minimum of 16 hours of dry time between coats. The rain had let up so it was time to paint. Kathy taped the water line while I wiped down the hull with solvent. We started painting about 4:30 and it was just dusk when I returned from the shower. Kathy had made a nice meal of ham, potato and green beans, which we ate in the cockpit in the dark

August 30th, 2009 Deltaville, VA
On of the things that we wanted to get accomplished here on the hard is some sewing. It's a job that we could do anywhere so it had a lower priority than some. However, the first job of the day was defrosting our refrigerator. I blew up Kathy's hair dryer and had to resort to warm water. It just doesn't seem to be operating correctly. It was only iced up on the lower 2/3 of the evaporator, which can't be right.
After a bite to eat and a load of laundry, Kathy set up the machine while I took off the dodger. The zippers that attached the center panel of isinglass failed in the sun last winter and needed replacing. There are a few more sewing projects if there is time.
I worked on scrubbing the old wax off the port side and after it dried, began waxing. I also put a final coat of gloss on the butterfly hatch and hit the bow sprit as well.
Somewhere along the way we had hot dogs for lunch.
Replacing zippers was a pain and took lots longer than either one of us thought, but eventually at about 4 pm she was done. She also added a leather patch where the boom occasionally rubs. The next job was a tear in the sail cover where it covers a winch. There was a piece of leather there already but it wasn't big enough to do the job. In a few minutes it was fixed. The last job was to look at a tiny hole in the very top of our mainsail. We actually found two



August 29th, 2009 Deltaville, VA
Our main job today is to bed the window panes on our butterfly hatch. It has 5 coats of finish but there are 24 slats that hold the panes in that need to be screwed in, taped inside and out, unscrewed, bedded, screwed back in, cleaned up, and finally the tape comes back off. (Just want to say, that's 60 screws out, in, out, and in)
I went for a walk and stopped in at the cabinet makers shop to see about having the ends of a piece of epay sawed on 45 degree angles to use on the bow sprit as a sacrificial. The chain flops in a couple of spots and the new board will protect the teak. I've been thinking about it for a couple of years.
After breakfast, I scrubbed the old wax off the starboard cabin side. The process calls for lots of fresh water and needs to be done before we launch.
We took a break around noon and hauled the old inverter/charger to the dumpster and then took a walk around the boatyard. Larry from "The Dove" was bedding some dynaplates and needed a hand for a few minutes. After chatting the required about of time we returned to our jobs. I finished scrubbing the starboard cabin side and then had some lunch.
After lunch it was time to attack the bedding project. I opened to tube of sealant to find that it had been around too long and was useless. Luckily the car was available so we changed clothes and drove in to the hardware to buy some new sealant.
It took us forever to get the slats screwed down and bedded and while I was cleaning up one pane, Kathy had to clear the weep holes in the previous one before the sealant set up. We finally finished in time for me to wax the starboard cabin sides. The last job of the day was to get a coat of gloss on the bowsprit.
When we were home some friends of ours gave us a gift of frozen venison, knowing that it is one of the things that we miss in our new life on the water. If venison isn't butchered correctly it tastes gamey so we were always very picky during that process. The venison that we grilled tonight was perfect. Thanks... Mark, Sam, Russ and Carolyn.

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Mike
08/29/2009, Deltaville, VA

August 28th, 2009 Deltaville, VA
Although there are still lots of things to do on the boat, we are basically waiting for deliveries at this point. We were scheduled to launch on Monday but with our bottom paint being sent to VA via MI won't be here until then. I spoke to Sean to push back our launch date until Tuesday.
Kathy spent the morning working on the phone ....credit card mistakes and car insurance screw-ups, while I got another coat of wax on "Sapphire." The car was available so we made a trip to the hardware and grocery.
After lunch I installed our zincs and worked on the davits. The have shown a tendency of trying to work their way out of their bases with the constant wave action and weight of the dinghy and solar panels. It was a simple fix simply drilling through the base and the bottom of the davit and sliding a small carriage bolt through.
Kathy worked on the final coat of finish on the butterfly hatch before it gets reassembled tomorrow. I sanded the bowsprit and applied the forth coat before quitting for the day and heading for the showers.
We cut up our leftover grilled chicken, some grapes and celery for a salad, which we had with sliced tomato. The second no cooking meal in the day...but in 90 degree temps it a good thing.


August 27th, 2009 Deltaville, VA
Our main job today was to remove the old charger/inverter and install the new one. It wasn't going to be fun so I went for a walk around the boat yard and ended up spending an hour or so chatting with Larry from "The Dove." By the time I returned it was already above 90, so I got to work. I won't bore anyone with the details but it took most of the day to get everything back together, replace the stove, and pick up tools.
Kathy worked on the last of the teak and spent a lot of time holding a flashlight for me.
When the bowsprit was in the shade around 5pm, I applied the third coat of finish and then headed for the shower.
We grilled some chicken (basting with a mix of lemon and butter) and Kathy made a salad and sautéed some squash for another good meal.

August 26th, 2009 Deltaville, VA
The lids of our anchor lockers are set in a channel that drains. The thru-hull fittings are bronze and are located about a foot below the respective gunnels. The thru-hull on the port creates a perpetual rust stain on the topsides that looks like crap. So after coffee and breakfast I went forward raised the dinghy with a halyard and emptied the port anchor locker. The thru-hull in question was visible but not really accessible. I got out the jigsaw and opened things up enough to get a hand inside. I found that the thru hull was attached to a vertical tee with the vent from the holding entering from the top and the lid drain entering from the bottom with about a foot loop. We took out the thru-hull and I was off to West Marine for a new one made of plastic, which didn't take much effort to install.
I spent the rest of the day first scrubbing and then waxing the topsides, finishing just before dark.
I took a quick shower and then grilled a steak for dinner which we had with a salad of onions, tomatoes, pepper, and cucumbers in a dressing of oil, vinegar and oregano.

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Mike
08/28/2009, Deltaville, VA

August 25th, 2009 Deltaville, VA
We got a slow start this morning which is normal for Kathy but not so normal for me. But finally after an hour or so I sanded the cockpit teak for the last time and slapped on the last coat of Cetol Gloss. Then set up scaffold system and applied a coat of finish to the rub rails. By the time I was finished Kathy had a BLT salad made for lunch.
She had spent the morning working below trying to figure out the fate of our bottom paint which it turns out made the trip to Michigan on its way here to VA. and won't arrive until Friday or Monday.
We also have a new clock that just arrived here and was defective. So she had to get the printer out to print a mailing label. She also spent some time getting blogs posted and organizing the "garage".
We signed out the car and made a few stops in town before returning for more teak work. While Kathy worked on the window panes for the butterfly hatch, I got a coat on the hatch itself and then went forward to hit the bow sprit.
After a short rest, I moved the ladders to the port side and applied another coat to the rub rails.
Finally, with the teak done for the day, I went to work cleaning up our prop. A new pickup pulled in and parked in front of us and a guy got out and began inspecting one of the boats over there. He left briefly to find a ladder and retuned to climb up and into the boat...
I finished with the prop and was loading up my shower gear when Roy came over and introduced himself. He has holding an extension cord and a circular piece of charred metal with Metz on the side. He asked if we had had any lightening problems lately. His boat is undergoing a long retrofit and most of the electronics were gone...what were left aboard however were toast.
Roy lives in Florida and makes the drive up here once a month for a few days to work on his boat. This time he found a bigger mess than normal. He set out for a Walmart for a new extension cord and a few other items.
After my shower we grilled a huge grouper fillet we had purchased earlier at the seafood store.

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