June 2007

June 27^th, 2007 BOAT Its been a busy time getting things ready to go. We have just about cleaned out one of our storage sheds (we have one the size of a deep closet and two about the size of a closet, ok a little bigger) and moving things into one small and one large shed. That's along with throwing things away and giving some things to Good Will in Annapolis and selling items. Along with all of that we are going slowly through the boat and taking things off that we will not use cruising. Phipps Boat Works finally finished the "V" berth cabinets and we have started putting things in them. They are now rebuilding our refrigerator door that the previous owner had put in the bottom of the refrigerator. It was a little crude. Our water maker is not back from the factory yet but they promised it by June 30^th. We'll see. The boat yard is emptying a little as the boats all head for the water. Its surprising that not all the boats are in the water and being used. The summer is slipping away.

SOCIAL We had dinner at Steve and Lisa's home Monday evening.

Carlie and Nancy are sitting next to Chef Steve. Wonderful evening, Wonderful food, Wonderful company. Friday night we had a casual dock party on our boat. It was good seeing everyone. We are still trying to find out who left the sunglasses.

Everything is in bloom this time of year. These are just a couple of photos from around our swimming pool.

ILLNESS All of the girls onboard are sick. Blazey (19 years old cat) has a kidney infection and is on antibiotics, Tippy (6 years old cat) had gum surgery and a tooth extraction and is on antibiotics, Nancy ( ?? year old human) has a sore throat and can't talk and is on over the counter drugs. Me ? Well I still have not been sick one day since I retired, almost two years.

June 17th, 2007 BOAT Last Monday we went on the hard. That is the term used to indicate that the boat is no longer in the water and that is was lifted from the water by a huge machine and then placed in a boat parking lot on land and braced up. This was done late Monday afternoon but still gave me time to use acid and clean the scum line (a line that forms along the waterline on the hull, normally from dirt and other environmental things in the water) and tape the entire boat in preparation for painting the bottom hull of the boat. The next day we did some minor sanding and then painted the bottom of the hull twice (two hour dry time between coats). We put a new zinc on the prop shaft (this is a sacrificial anode to conduct stray electricity that would eat up the propeller and other metal parts of the boat, the zinc gets eaten up instead and needs to be replaced when that happens) and then we rested. The next day, we waxed the rest of the hull from the top stripe down to the bottom paint. Boy, did Nancy work hard. (We both worked hard). We did it together and funny as it may sound, we just had a ball working on the boat. We are also having Phipps Boat Works build cabinets for us in the v-berth so that we'll have more secure storage space. The day after that, the boat went back into the water and is in the slip. The following day I drove to Annapolis and picked up our head sail (it was in the sail loft for inspection and repair). Yesterday Nancy and I got up early and while the winds were still calm, hanked (attached) the sail back on the roller furling. Later that day, Nancy got her car ready for selling - changed the oil & fluids, vacuumed, washed and waxed. She has a sign in the window and has it posted on Craig's list. If it sells before her last day of work, she'll just rent a car. Today, Nancy did trip planning for our cruise to Maine and I tried to get the computer working with all of our radar and navigation equipment. Didn't get it done. I have to order a $25.00 part to finish it up - Grrrr.

SOCIAL The marina has started showing outdoor movies every other Saturday. So we grabbed our lawn chairs and watched "Captain Ron".

This is part of the group that showed up. We had some new faces in the crowd as boats return from the Caribbean to escape hurricane season. We were part of the early crowd and got to watch a "Three Stooges" leader.

Great time.

WORK Nancy has about 10 working days left before we leave. The working days are scattered over the next month with the rest of the time going to doctors appointments. Both of us are getting probably the best physicals that we have ever had. I think we will be seeing every specialist known to man. Well there is one that I won't go to but Nancy will.

We are looking forward to our travel along the Atlantic coast as we venture to Maine. We plan on taking things slow and stopping to visit all the historical places along the way. Nancy wishes that all the grandkids and nieces could come along. What a history and geography class this will be!

June 6th, 2007 TRAVEL Nancy and I went to Tucson Az. over the weekend to celebrate my mothers 86th Birthday.

It was great to visit and just be with Mom and Dad. I did some electronic things around the house, hook up DVD in living room, install new 26 inch LCD HDTV in bedroom, take out garbage etc. Nancy did a lot and it just seemed like her day was never done. We went shopping with Mom and Dad. Both are using walkers for the long distance stuff but I had a hard time keeping up with Mom at the store. I could have used a cow bell to put on her neck to keep track of her. We went to a few stores with them and a few without them. Bought Mom a couple new dresses and Nancy hemmed and ironed them. She also gave Dad a haircut (she practices on me) and made a couple of big meals that Dad really wanted (BIG steak with baked potatoes, Truckers Breakfast ((steak, bacon, fried potatoes, eggs, toast with jam)). I gained the weight, nobody else did. Sunday we went to church with them and a lot of friends had to stop and talk. Both Mom and Dad were in the hospital recently and this was the first outing since their release from the hospital. Travel on the Airlines went without a problem. We flew Continental Airlines from Baltimore to Houston with 2 hour layover and then direct to Tucson. We had chosen the 2 hour layover so we wouldn't be rushed going from one end of the terminal to the other. It worked out great and gave us some time to do some shopping at the airport. Coming home we had a 1 hour maintenance delay leaving Tucson, but it didn't bother us since we had the 2 hour layover built in.

Nancy and I in the pink of things at Mom and Dads house. This was not a planned dressing. Then there is Mom, Dad and Me.

Great time.

BOAT I think that Nancy has finished replacing the cockpit enclosure. Maybe just a little touchup on the port bug screen. It was nice to get that job done. Sailrite (that's a store) sure likes us. We bought enough from them. I just keep plugging away on little things. One project coming up is to hook up all of our instruments, helm GPS, RADAR, and Autopilot to the laptop computer. I just hope I can keep a sane mind as every wire is brought together and everything keeps working.