A week with Chris & Linda
17 January 2009 | Inlet Cove Marina, Ponce Inlet, Florida
Linda / Sunny 67

Here is our week January 12 - January 17
Monday, January 12:
Refrigeration guys showed up, pumped refrigerant into the unit, and got the freezer and refrigerator running! They also got the salon air conditioner/heater running! Tom (electrician) did not show up, too cold and rainy by his house. Bob (our broker) delivered the water lift muffler! Chris & Bob commented that the fiberglass floor in galley is sagging more, now that we are living on the boat and using the galley daily. Cut it open to reveal sawdust sludge, water, rotting wood AND (very small) access to the exhaust hose-needed to fully install the water lift muffler! (Sawing through fiberglass and wood creates a dusty mess!) Linda checks bilge - it's dry. Chris's sister, Lindy, coming to visit on Sunday and Monday.
Tuesday, January 13:
Chris notices that refrigeration system is not working. He flips the breaker and it pops; tries this three more times with same results. Refrigeration guys can't come back until Monday. (After waiting one month, what's another week?) Linda continues research on mattresses and visits wholesale foam company for samples. Bob delivers motor mounts (which were shipped from England)! Chris has to paint them before installing. Chris & Bob remove old exhaust house, cut back to where hose was in good shape, and replaced about six feet with new hose, using a fiberglass coupler. Bob recommends industrial type hose clamps and will bring them on Wednesday. Chris and I agree that galley floor should be replaced with a hatch for access to the area that was revealed when it was cut open. Chris determines Lewmar traveler blocks need replacing; discovers parts haven't been made since 1991. He is investigating best way to replace them. Tom works on creating a box to cover 120 volt ac panel. Chris paints motor mounts and accessories. Linda checks bilge - it's dry.
Wednesday, January 14:
Linda checks bilge - it's dry. (I check the bilge every day since I cleaned it.) Chris cleans stringer in bilge and runs fan to dry out area under engine. Chris organizes and cleans all nuts, bolts, washers for engine motor mount repair. Linda washes salon and galley side walls. Chris splices eye for reefing line (he is getting good at this!) Saw dinghy (Caribe) on line located in New Port Richey; negotiating price for one (Novurania) located in Key West. Chris and Linda have dinner at Moe's but the wi-fi is out. So we go to the Port Orange community park which has wi-fi and sit in our car (like two undercover detectives).
Thursday, January 15:
Uncle Carl and Pat, and their friends Linda and Kip, come to see the boat and go to lunch. Chris works on splicing. Linda cleans more of salon headliner & windows. Fan is still running in the bilge to dry out the stringer. Electrical work continues. Linda and Chris feed and trace wires for Datamarine depth and speed transducer back ups. James who lives in the marina on a Carver power boat named Utopia, asks us to cat sit for Gorma, the stray cat he has adopted (and everyone in the marina has fallen in love with). We say yes, because we think she's pretty darn cute (and, this is important, because she can stay in the club house and not on our boat). No work on the galley floor, Bob has car trouble. Bilge, still dry!
Friday, January 16:
Chris cleaned sludge from under the engine with his bare hands and a rag, while Linda rinsed the rag with her gloved hands! Bob delivered and placed a custom piece of marine plywood to temporarily cover the hole in the galley floor. Apparently we aren't going to have a hatch made because he didn't cut the floor anticipating that arrangement (ragged cuts, slipped edges). (Hey just fix my floor, ok?) Chris & Bob placed the new water lift muffler in place and attached and clamped the hoses! Chris changed the oil on the engine, the old stuff was grey. (He plans to change it one more time before we leave Florida.) Chris & Bob attached one of the motor mounts, but the old ones were so bad the engine sagged a little bit, so Bob has to come back with a hydraulic lift to raise it a tad to get the bolts in. Tom (electrician) completed the cover for the ac, and set up a bus bar for all grounding wires. He noticed that the generator does not have a grounding wire. Chris describes all wiring on the boat as kludge (definition: a system made up of poorly matched components.) Linda cleaned aft cabin bilge, headliner and all teak (second time). Forward, lower, and port water tank water tight access hatch covers dribble (small leaks). Chris is ordering new covers. Bilge is dry.
Saturday, January 17:
Slept in. (Well actually although the alarm sounds at 7:30 am, we usually roll out of bed at 8:30...everyday!) Pathetic - or not? Linda cleaned headliner in salon, galley and main cabin, as well as teak strips in headliner. Chris is continuing the ongoing saga of painting and sanding the swim step. (Couldn't do any work on it during the week with all the other things that were going on.) Chris fed Gorma in the morning; and two people from the realty office (attached to the clubhouse at the marina) fed her again! She is very spoiled. Chris used his ascending climbing gear and Linda tended the jib halyard as he went up the mast part way to feed the pole up line through the mast, in preparation for adding the pole car to the mast. He also attached the pulley and cleat for the pole down/pole up to the mast. Dinghy in New Port Richey has been sold; dinghy in Key West still available and seller has lowered the price (second time) and is willing to drive it up to Ponce Inlet. Chris and Linda have dinner at Moe's and spend a few hours on line there.