Kaimusailing

After laminating the cedar strips onto the gunwales of the dinghy I found the screws I used wouldn’t come out. The epoxy had seized them. The screw heads were stripped so I cut a straight slot in the heads with the cut off wheel. The cedar smoked when the screw heads got red hot. I could remove them with a straight blade screwdriver now.
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We had another rain forecast so Komputer Ken helped me flip the dinghy over, bottom side up. Everything else was covered or put away. The weather pattern is a few dry days then a front coming through with rain and thunder. It was remarkable how much rain fell. At least 3 inches.
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With the dinghy upside down I could run the flap disk on the underside of the gunwales. There were other small spots here and there that needed cleaning up with the disk. Someone said “looking good” and I said they needed eyeglasses.
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Because I stupidly installed the seats and their crossbeams without priming them with epoxy I now had to figure out a way to apply the epoxy. It would be impossible with the dinghy right side up and to have enough room to fit myself into the upside down dinghy I would need to put it on taller sawhorses. I ended up laying the dinghy on its side propped up against the catamaran. It was still difficult to get a paint brush in under the seats, but I was able to apply a coat of epoxy.
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The wooden oars were also given a coat of epoxy.
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We were falling into a routine of going to Angelo’s, a small Italian restaurant near exit 3 of I-95 on Tuesdays when the place was not packed, as usual. We found their Pesto Pizza to be exceptional. It had both mozzarella and feta cheese. Eloisa remarked that it had no pesto on it, but I think all the ingredients were there, somewhere, maybe no pine nuts, but there was spinach and ham. I would never have thought of that combination of toppings. I said to the wait staff, I make pizza, and if I made one like this I would be very happy.
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Eloisa was describing a beach on Amelia Island and we decided to picnic at the beach. While on our way we stopped at a Publix market for wine and then I thought why bother trying to organize picnic snacks, let’s just get Cuban to go. We stopped at 1928 Cuban Bistro and she ordered the food. The total was $34, the wine total was about $12.
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She drove past the entrance to Fort Clinch State Park which surprised me. She said you have to see this beach. We went North on a semi paved road along a barrier sand dune and stopped at an access point where a wooden boardwalk with gazebos and picnic tables ran over the dune to the beach.
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No alcoholic beverages are allowed. We brown bagged the wine. A constant flow of beachgoers came and went. The sky had wispy cirrus clouds and a sun dog overhead. I took a photo.
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The vehicle had been running rough so we got a half dozen spark plugs, oil and oil filter, for an oil change. The procedure to replace the plugs seemed to be rather ridiculous. My guess is the Ford dealer would change the plugs using proprietary tools with the car on a lift. Our repair manual had a procedure that included removing the two cowlings that covered the windshield wiper motor and the air intake system for the cars ventilation.
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The plastic fasteners were impossible for me to remove. Geoff, the phd chemist, was working nearby on his Bayliner yacht and stopped by. He was able to remove the fasteners while I worked at replacing the 3 plugs on the front face of the engine. How many plugs have you replaced he asked. One. The plug wires were so seized onto the plugs that I was afraid I would damage the wires. We removed the windshield wiper blades and the two cowlings. The plugs on the rear of the engine were not visible. I had to feel around. Everything was so tight and seized. Geoff loaned me his Snap On ratchet drive which I quickly dropped into the abyss behind the engine. He ran off to get a jack.
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While Geoff was gone I was able to remove the rear plug wires using a short piece of wood to pry them off. I was able to change the plugs with my own ratchet. He came back and jacked the car up and retrieved his ratchet drive.
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The manual says to replace the spark plugs at 60,000 miles. It looked like the plugs were aftermarket, so probably were the second set installed on the car. The plugs we took out were very badly worn.
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We replaced the lower cowling and the wiper blades. A new ventilation filter was on order and we would put the upper cowling on after replacing the filter. The space under the cowlings was jam packed with leaves and other debris. We had vacuumed all that up.
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The next day we installed the filter and the upper cowling. The car was good to go with new oil. I was not feeling well with a lot of congestion, coughing, maybe it was the pollen which has been especially bad this year. Eloisa took Bleu to Crooked River State Park while I remained in the boatyard, under the weather.
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The photo is of the sun dog on that beautiful afternoon at the beach.