Journey to the Atlantic
By Linda, Sunny 80's
11/18/2009, Ponce Inlet, Florida
This picture was taken at the top of the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse looking toward the Atlantic and where our journey will begin.
Just a quick note to let you all know we are counting the days until we depart. We will begin watching for our weather window next week. We have listed the car on Craig's List and are doing some final preparations and provisioning. For the first time in a year, we have been able to take breaks during the day, go for afternoon walks on the beach, tour the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, and have lunch or dinner with new friends. We look forward to the day when we can say "Land Ho!". Thanks for following our journey so far.
More updates to come.
A WEEK AWAY by Captain Chris
Sunny, mid 70's
11/15/2009, Inlet Cove Marina, Ponce Inlet, FL
Linda enjoys the Jacuzzi at our timeshare.
During the week we took off from the cockpit teak work, we went to Orlando for the Dive Equipment Manufacturer's Association (DEMA) annual show. This is the showplace for all things Scuba, and it gave us an excuse to take a vacation in Orlando! We booked a timeshare and Linda couldn't stop thinking of soaking in the Jacuzzi tub, and having a few of the "landlubber" conveniences, like a washer-dryer. The only problem was, our unit didn't have either, despite a call to the resort to confirm. Front desk can't help, they're out of room inventory. RCI representative to the rescue! She had a unit at a resort 2 miles away, so we grabbed our stuff and moved there. We wound up with an entire A-B unit even though we had only booked half, but we made sure to use the amenities!
The show was great. We attended the PADI member social and met up with some friends, Glen & Karen, we met two years ago at the show from Helena Scuba in Helena, Montana (where Open Water check- out dives are performed in dry suits!). Chris also spent some time talking to Kyle, his instructor trainer. We walked the show floor pumping all the island representatives about anchoring spots and ignoring the hotel info, eating the treats from the bowls, and collecting tchochkes that we could use on the boat, mostly t-shirts, floating key rings and can cozies. Chris also picked up a discounted pole spear on the last day of the show to try out in the Bahamas. Stay tuned for the underwater hunting adventures!
Our friends from Aquatic Adventures, Inc. (Brookfield, WI), where we used to help with scuba classes, came into town for the show also! We were able to catch up with Jerry, Jenny, and Maureen, over dinner and also spent some time with another AAI transplant, Tim, who came in from Hollywood, FL for breakfast and a day at the show. Hey, Jenny, we're still waiting for our staff t-shirts!
Our friend Rich from Milwaukee also was in Orlando and we chatted over cocktails. Later in the week, Rich and girlfriend, Amy, came to see us and get the boat tour. We sat in the cockpit and reminisced over beers enjoying the sun and warm breezes.
When we left Orlando, in contrast to flying back to Milwaukee like we did two years ago, it was nice to be able to pack everything in the car instead of going through airport security! Less than two hours later we were on the boat, getting ready for a trip to the Bahamas, since we are now in the unofficial end of hurricane season. Here we go!
TIP TOP TEAK by Captain Chris
Sunny, 80's
11/08/2009, Inlet Cove Marina, Ponce Inlet, Florida
With the headliner off the list, we were ready to tackle our most ambitious project: refinishing the teak in the cockpit. It is strictly ornamental, unlike teak decking, which can leak into the boat and rot out the deck. Since the cockpit sees heavy use, the teak had seen a lot of wear. Between each teak strip, there is a line of caulk to seal the two strips to each other. In some places, the teak strips had worn to the point where the groove for the caulk was now flush with the top of the teak. Also, the plugs hiding the screws were worn all the way through in some places, showing the screw heads.
We felt if we were to sand the teak smooth, there wouldn't be much left of it, so we decided to go with a more natural look. The first step was a 2-part cleaner-brightener: the part 1 acid eats the worn old soft teak, and part 2 neutralizes the acid and turns the new teak back to a light brown from the weathered gray color. All this is flushed with copious amounts of water to keep from streaking the fiberglass. The second step was getting rid of the old caulk: Linda tackled most of this. It involved slicing the sides of any grooves that still had caulk with a razor knife, and then scraping the caulk out with a "reefing hook". A commercial website wanted $34 for a real one, so we promptly went to the local pawn shop and got a screwdriver for $1. A few minutes with the grinder and voila, a reefing hook! After the caulk is scraped out, the grooves are sanded back to solid wood to remove any traces of caulk residue.
While Linda was getting rid of caulk, Chris was making or deepening the grooves where we needed them. Our grooves were 3/16" wide. Videos on the internet show people using a router to work on the grooves, but of course they're demonstrating on a section of deck on top of a workbench, with lots of room all around. With bench backs and other assorted contours, I would have missed about half the grooves with my 8" diameter router base, so I decided on the Dremel tool with a 2" diameter router attachment. Although Dremel makes a 3/16" router bit, I couldn't find it locally and had to settle for a 7/32" wood carving bit. I aligned the Dremel along a straight edge, taped the straight edge to the deck, and made several shallow cuts until the groove was deep enough. I repeated this anywhere we felt the grooves weren't deep enough, and then finished the ends where the Dremel wouldn't fit with a wood chisel.
Next came the caulking: The experts say no need to tape, just sand off the excess caulk after you're done. As I've mentioned, we had a somewhat rough surface that would absorb the caulk, and then trying to sand it off would eliminate our teak. SO, blue painter's tape went along the edge of every groove before the caulk went into the gun. After everything was taped, the grooves got a final wipe with acetone to make sure they were clean, and the caulk went in. It went sort of like this: squeeze caulk into three or four feet of groove, put down caulk gun, use putty knife to scrape caulk flush with top of teak, scrape excess caulk off knife, look for imperfections and correct, then repeat, repeat, repeat. After waiting a few hours for the caulk to set, I then pulled the tape. Most of it came off pretty cleanly, but there was one section where I must not have pushed down hard enough with the putty knife and the caulk "flashing" pulled off the tape and stayed attached to the caulk in the groove. I had to attack this with the sander after the caulk fully cured in about two days.
The entire project took place over about two weeks. We worked for about 3 days prepping the teak, and then got a rainstorm which got 3 of the 4 sections wet. We caulked the dry section, then covered the other three sections with plastic in case it rained again, and took off for a week for them to dry out. After finishing the sections upon our return to the project, we gave the entire area two days to fully cure and then sealed the teak with Semco teak sealer, the same sealer we have on our handrails and companionway surround. The raw teak got two coats, the handrails got another coat as long as it was open, and that finished our quart. We'll have to recoat about every three months, but the Semco goes on with a foam brush and then gets wiped with a rag, similar to a Danish oil finish for interior woodwork, so it's very quick and doesn't require all the sanding and other fuss that varnish requires.
Yea! Another big project is off the list!
(See "Refit Wrap Ups" in the Photo Gallery side bar for the latest pictures from our activities.)
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