Hi folks. It’s Saturday evening and we’re back at home after a fairly productive day on SSpirit. I must say though, it is hot! We’re only able to work for a few hours at a time and then we head for the house to cool down and spend some time with Miss Sophie. We each have numerous projects on our chit… mine include some of the fairly basic systems… you know, the kind that we depend on without even thinking about it much… like toilets :-) Yup, I am the queen of the sanitation system. I also look after things like the ground tackle collection, and tons of littler stuff here and there and everywhere. Kathy on the other hand must use her talents in the electrical/technical world (a different planet from where I sit) as she upgrades our communication and navigation systems – no easy task. Boats always look so pretty, until you undo a tab or two and pull out a panel to look behind it. Sigh…. We’ve had to prioritize our tudu list. There just won’t be time to do everything before it’s time to leave. Mother nature waits for no-one and she’s already kicking up some northerly winds (two months too early) in honour of this El Nino weather year.
The last two days have been spent ripping off all the old foil, cloth and duct tape coverings that have protected SSpirits ‘parts’ on deck. We’ve also cleaned out the critter traps and dust covers, etc. below. Then there was the gungy stainless steel framework for the dodger (a little polish required there) and finally, the wrestling with crusty sunbrella, snaps and windows…. to get the dodger and bimini back onto their frames and (almost) all the snaps done up. This was an early ‘must’ as we dearly needed the shade in the cockpit.
Today’s photos will give you the picture (pardon the pun) of our morning. I was lucky. The new stove mostly fit where the old one came from and we were able to bring the newby up the ladder and into the boat (with the help of two strong Mexican gentlemen). We also managed to get the old one out of the galley, up the companionway stairs, over the side and down the ladder to the ground with their help (and found a new home for the old stove, once we’d confirmed the new one was going to fit and work). The main challenge was the fact the new stove was narrower than the old one – but a few blocks of starboard beneath the swivels on each side took care of that. Sue, you’re going to love this Force 10, two burner with oven, little gem. We’ve never had a new one before. What a treat!
Kathy’s first and biggest challenge is the SSB Radio and all the equipment that accompanies it. There’s the transceiver, the head, the speaker, and the tuner… all with their own requirements with respect to placement and installation. Once they’re all mounted… there’s the wiring. What a night mare! And then, just when you might think she’s finished… there’s the GAM antennae and the KISS ground plane to be installed. It’s a huge job and my hat’s off to her for being willing to take it on.
Having been forced into a late start, we’re doing our best to be organized and efficient as we approach the list of ‘things’ we’d like to accomplish over the next few weeks. We are so lucky that Sue and John (our very able crew for a good chunk of the season) are arriving next Wednesday. They are coming early so as to give us a hand with these projects and we are looking forward to seeing them and to working with them. For now, we’ll let the photo(s) do the talking.
CJ’s day….
Kathy’s day….
So there you have it… just another day at the boat yard… Bye bye for now. Will write again soon. CJ
PS: my smile looks a little funny… that’s cuz there’s a bandage across my upper lip. Comes off tomorrow.
