Hard Times
Every relationship has them. And right now, the boat and I are having ours.
We put the lifelines back on yesterday. Realized afterwards that one set was put on backwards. Problem with that? The connection at the bow is meant to stay connected. The one at the stern is made to be removed, to make it easier to get on and off. Now, that isn’t possible.
The other set of lifelines was twisted.
In both cases, it can be fixed. It’s just one more thing on the long list of things still to be done.
There’s the rest of the non-skid that needs to be applied but hasn’t arrived yet.
There’s the stripes on the hull that need to be put on.
There’s the layer of bottom paint to put on.
And there’s the engine.
My plan with the engine was to ask the marina to remove the plug that was put in when they pulled the prop off, put in the battery box for the new 400 lbs of batteries, and mount the engine. The estimate I got back? $4900, give or take. And that estimate included a fabricated platform for the engine that I kept telling them I didn’t need.
Since the piggy bank doesn’t have that kind of money around, I’ll be doing it myself. Well, I’ll be doing it with the help of friends. I made a desperate call to Dave A., who said he’d be happy to help. If there’s anyone who knows anything about engines, it’s him.
But it brings up the other frustrating part. I’m leaving town next Wednesday for a week and it doesn’t look, at this rate, like everything will be done before I leave.
<sigh!>
This has been one hell of a spring. I thought I’d allowed myself plenty of time to get all the projects done. And what has made it most difficult is the long hours at the job that lets me keep this expensive hobby also does not allow me to work on the boat very easily during the week. The weekends have given me so much rain that it’s made it difficult to get the painting done.
And, on top of all of that, I now have wasp nests in the boat. I’ve counted three so far: two in the vberth and one aft, near the cockpit locker. I don’t like wasps. I’ve picked up some spray that I hope will work fast enough that I won’t get stung when I use it on them.
Enough venting.
Now this is a post that won’t get alot of hits.