SailBlog

It is hard to remember back to this morning, it seems so long ago... last night? I had to go back and reread my blog from yesterday to get a flow of where I am at ... what did I do today? It just seems to keep going 24 hours a day, one thing, the sails, the boom, smacking my head over and over, epoxy and sticky, ... what a mess!

And i was testy and intimidated again this morning when I woke as it was the day to put the boom box really together with the boom inside. I had fitted it the day before and it looked like it was going to be a good fit, allowing for the Thixo to fill in the rough joint cuts. But today was a new day, the epoxy was cured from the prep of the first side of the box.

I procrastinated through my cup of tea and amazing delicious oatmeal with all those dried fruits and five spices...cinnamin, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice... I just wanted to have a second portion. I quickly downloaded my emails...and read a nice email from Jeanne Socrates, and Joan updated me on weather... and they had their own emergency at sea, springing a leak enough to take on 100 gallons and hour...that is a real, 'wanna sink ya', leak. So they are hauled tonight to sort it all out. My Bob is getting the new Palm Beach 50 motor yacht ready for the new owners.

And I got a new chart today from MIke... there is a doozy of a storm, another 960hPa that is going to 'cyclogenesis', sort of near the 28th that just appears on the navy forecast, so Mike sent that on to ensure I am aware of it. And yes...later in the day, I got my forecast and routing plan from Bob McD with his very optimistic outlook for me to have a February 17th arrival at the Horn... His birthday. So... I hope he is correct. My estimates have me there about 10 days later. It is all good as long as I get there in good timing with the storm patterns. Bob McD and I have been discussing these patterns and Bob is encouraged by the spacing of the 'sets' of storms as it may very well mean a good window for my rounding.

Note the lengthy procrastination...actually, I didn't answer any emails and did get down to work. They boom has got to be finished and leave the cabin before these raucous winds arrive...and it looks like I will have Saturday and Sunday to get it hung up, and a sail set to go. But first i have to get it together, epoxied, and put together with wood screws... then once that is cured, I will reinforce the whole box with tapped and through bolts... I managed to round up 4 long enough bolts from different sources...a piece of all thread that is long enough for two bolts, then a gooseneck bolt, and one regular, very long bolt. And I managed to find all the nuts to fit everything. I went through my bolts and taps, finding two sizes of bolts and taps that will work. We did quite a bit of work on the mast before I left and had to tap new bolts into the mast winches and fittings, so I do have what I need. I am short on washers... I will have to improvise some larger holes in some larg er fender washers.

As I looked at the boom. I decided that I did need to make a wood piece to fit the foot track on the top properly...it would just hold the whole boom aligned better and in some way give it more strength at the break... so it wasn't easy to get the boom to separate...it took several attempts until I cut a piece of wood that was near enough to size that I was able to sand it into submission to the square track. I am covered with teak dust now...the day is beginning warming up. By the time I got the piece fit, I was already losing my temper. I just can't seem to get through this process without being frustrated by the small things, bumping my head on things over and over, cutting pieces too small... but eventually I got things ready to line it up an put it together. I was able to tighten the inner reef lines and bang on the ends of the boom to get the joint to set a close fit... Then I got the boom box, one side with the top and bottom screwed and epoxied, not set hard as a ro ck.

I decided to first try to fit it without the sleeve... and needless to say, it was tight. Somehow, the angles of the top and bottom were more inward than in the pre-fiit. It took a bit of persuasion to get the boom into the box, but it went in..tight as a glove. So... I would have to go to plan B with the sleeve...I cut the ends off so that I now have the larger flat sides that I will use to help fill the spaces around the boom corners. It seemed at the time that the sides were fitting fine.

So now that I knew how it was fitting, I took it apart and got down and dirty with the epoxy, using the first container I had, I tried to use the mixing nozel, but found that i didn't have the hand strength with the low ratio caulk gun I have...so I would have to make more of a mess... using a plastic top as a palette, I squeezed a good amount of the hardner and resin, both dispensed together with the caulk gun and stirred them, and began applying the mixture into the corners of the box and coated the surfaces... as well as coated both sides of the tin sleeve, hoping it would help to fill in the corners and what seemed to be a gap between the sides of the box and the boom.

The top and bottom fit tightly but there was some space side to side. I could tell right away as I started to apply the epoxy, that there wasn't going to be enough to really fill the empty areas of the box around the boom. I would have to be more selective of how I use it. So I used extra with the sleeve right at the joint hoping that it would fill the space there and harden.

Once I had the epoxy layed in the sides, it was time to actually put the boom in the box. It took some persuasion to get the edges in, but it fit. And at this point,, there is still more epoxy in the box then on me. Once inside the box, I coated the boom and again, chose where I could put the epoxy in the box, as I had to epoxy all the joints still to screw the side to the top and bottom. And that was the end of the second tube of Thixo regular...I still have a part of a tube of the fast cure epoxy and some thinner type...but it would not help in this application. I may use the thinner epoxy to coat the outside against the weather... at least the plywood boards which will not last long once they are outside without some coating.

Finally, the epoxy was in place, the side was screwed down with lots of epoxy oozing out of the joint ensuring there weren't any gaps. My hands were some strange sticky brown color from teak dust still flying around and the epoxy. It was awful and I was not having fun, but it was together. I was relieved but as I looked at it, it was definitely a Donna Boom Box... It isn't pretty.. It is not really square and there was a gap side to side... But it seemed strong. I would let that mess cure and see what I need to do to get it so that it will work...

I used some epoxy at that point to rebuild my lower step that had broken the other day... I stepped down on it and it gave way. So I used enough to fill in the jagged but puzzle like edge that I was able to refit together and I taped it up to hold it while it cured... the Thixo is the perfect consistency to work with, I must say. I am impressed. It really stays where I put it and fills gaps remarkably effectively. I dare say, that the step will actually hold up quite well, I think.

Oh... Along the way of the project...I did do a lttle videoing... it will be comical as I forgot all about the camera in my hand at one point as I am moving my hand all around doing something needing two hands..or at least a finger or two of a second hand.

My mood did not really lift once I finished today's steps. It just was hard to do everything in the galley, up and down the ladder with the boom there, and across the cockpit. The winds did stay up though for most of the day, in fact,they got quite rambunctious and the seas grew increasing our downwind rolling as I am trying to finish up. It was time to clean up though. I was done with all the glue, the sanding ( I hoped, though I will do some to clean up the whole project later, but when it is on deck), and the tin snips, the crow bar and hammer, hack saws, hose clamps....they all made it back to their old home.

I used the balsamic vinegar and cleaned up my hands to some degree,and then soaked them in soapy salt water... it worked, sort of; they were still an odd color brown when I got done. I cleaned the floor, and got my plastic box back out that i sit on when we are on this starboard tack. Except for the boom in the middle of the room, Inspired Sanity was trying to recover from the whole ordeal.

The winds started to get lighter and more variable, the mainsail wanting to back at the same time the jb was backing...wait a minute... though, we are wing on wing..they can't both be backing at the same time! But they were as the apparent wind was swinging with each little movement the boat made forward, so it would blow from behind the boat too far, back the main, but move forward back the jib... crazy! And the lines are all over the cockpit. Teak dust is still coating everything from the mornings shaping of the track wood piece and now sails are flogging.

It is making its way to later afternoon by now. Once I got things somewhat cleaned up, I had put on my soup vegetables, amaranth, herbs, and quinoa to cook... at least the boat started to smell like it had a galley, instead of the epoxy fumes. I ate and drank my routine nutrition as I was hungry...and still have, a stomach ache and bit of the 'runs'''which is weird seeing as I have been eating the exact same food for 6 months... the very same thing everyday,nearly. a few variations ... So... my stomach was just grumbling...kind of like my temperament..though I did keep trying to see things from a positive perspective. The boom box was nearly done. At least I was still moving sailing until the afternoon.

And as I looked to the south,, there was a line of rain squalls... so now it is going to rain. With epoxy curing and the companionway having to be wide open...it is going to rain. Well, so be it...we need the water. I used the last of the water I caught a few days ago making my soup veggies so...good timing.

Now I changed gears to getting the mainsail down and set to catch water. I already had the dinghy bilge pump handy to get rain from the deck if I can. Buckets are handy... Let it rain...

But as the squall line came nearer, it became more obvious that the real 'rain' was once again going to go farther to the east of me...father to the west of me... just not where I am . I would get a drizzle, but not the rain...

It was kind of a last straw. I went off on a ranting about the blasted constant drizzle ... don''t they make raindrops in this part of the ocean? Always a drizzle and spattering of light rain...but no REAL RAIN... like a good squall on the US East Coast...It rains. And somehow, here i am relying on catching water for my water supply... i just want to be able to drink water, but i can't because I can't afford to end up stranded thousands of miles from the next oasis... the ITC zone. One or two gallons or less at a time is just not going to get me through the no rain zones. So I am spewing and giving Wise mother Ocean a hard time... I am tired and the whole rain dance is so cumbersome, hours spent for a couple of gallons of water.

But then I got thinking... gathering water; Gathering water is what vast populations of people do with their lives... concentrate on just having food, gathering needed water, and the basic necessities... On Ile A Vache in Haiti where Inspired Insanity and i did some Oceansawatch projects...No one wastes water as it has to be drawn from a well far from the house and carried back, but there is no grumbling, it just is the way it is...it always has been, a part of life's being...

For me it seems so arduous that it only drizzles and just won't 'rain', day by day, but I am managing to gather some water here and there... day by day, like the undeveloped worlds do. Gathering water is such a symbol of the kinds of pleasures that I should be enjoying, not worrying about. I am still lacking faith for these kinds of needs to be met... with no spicket to turn, it has been unnerving to think that I could get caught without enough water at some point. I really haven't been catching enough to refill my tank at all, just ease my use of the tank water. But, I have to say, with the mainsail not attached to the boom, it makes a great water catcher with even small amounts of rain....or even drizzle. Enough for a few meals.

Oh... enough. My belly is still grumbling and the sails flogging, though i took the mainsail down. I hate to give in to the idea of giving up on trying to make headway...but the wind has stopped for now and I am going to try to get some rest regardless. Somehow, we are managing to stay on a heading with just a small jib flying and it sounds like it isn't full... the noises are from it wallowing around up there.

Oh the noises... Anyone who thinks that sailing is quiet...is wrong. I have to say...one of the most amazing things about finally returning home, will be the quietness when the boat is stopped and tied to a mooring or on the dock and it just stops...there is that hush of silence that just is not possible with the sails up and sailing or not... After more than nine months of the noise, the silence will seem so loud it will nearly be deafening I think.

Keepin On Sailin On Caring... Oh to just live life simply...how complex our lives are. I have this opportunity to simplify my life and instead it seems to just stay full of stuff going on all the time, drama of one sort or another, the weather, the rain... I am missing something in the constant movement of my mind and body... There is more to find here on the sea; more jewels, more centering, more rich communion that I am letting slip away each day with the details that are encumbering me... Awareness comes and we can be changed...

Anthony DeMello, The Way of Love, p27 "What can one do to attain happiness? There is nothing you or anyone else can do.Why? For the simple reason that you are already happy right now. So how can you acquire what you already have? If that is so, then why do you not experience this happiness which is already yours? Because your mind is creating unhappiness all of the time. DRop this unhappiness of the mind and the happiness that has always been yours will instantly surface." DeMello goes on to say "that only one thing causes unhappiness... the name of that thing is Attachment...an emotional state of clinging caused by the belief that without some particular thing or some person, you cannot be happy." It is a great chapter...

Fairest of Winds and the Love of the Ocean Only Gratitude Donna

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