Solar Panel Mounts

Well, this day started out awesome. As you can see in the picture, I designed and built my T-bar solar mounts. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, fumble fingers may have fubar'd one of the solar panels. The sacrificial wood under the frame slipped out of place as the drill bit came through and the bit caught the back of the panel. Its too early to tell whether or not it is ruined, but I had a $500.00 cry in the garage anyway, just because. And I was being so damn careful too..... If it is ruined I can't even get a replacement, because they don't make them anymore, so I probably have to get two, and mount this one somewhere else. Serena was not happy, but neither was I. Sucks feeling like a failure, especially an expensive one. To top it all off, later in the afternoon, I decided to bend my 7/8" stainless steel bimini frames, using the method explained to me at the boat show. I am still not exactly sure what happened, I think perhaps my radius was too small, but one of the frames kinked really badly. The second one turned out fine, but I am going to have to put in some corner supports in the first one. It might be cheaper to get another piece of steel and try again. Just don't know if I am feeling that brave.

The mounts worked out really well though. They are completely adjustable as you can see in the pictures below. I got the idea from a gentleman named Jim Platz. He is another Bayfield 29 owner, and had already designed and installed a T-bar solar panel mount. He was kind enough to send me pictures of his setup so that I could figure out a way to make mine, and this is the result.

 Goes fully vertical. And rotates around that axis 360 deg.

 The secret is these adjustable clamps with a rubber insert. They hold the panel rigid, but allow it to pivot when loosened. Notice I had to cut some 3/16" plates to hold them though, as the edge frame on the solar panel was not wide enough. I may have to eventually build an entire frame underneath, but I'll try this for now.

 Sit nicely horizontal. The support bar on 45 deg angle here has a 1 1\4" stainless slide with a set screw at the main support pole position that allows it to slide up and down but to be locked in when positioned properly.

 I had to drill and put a bolt through the center of the T fitting, as it needed to be permanently fastened. The pivot point is at the nylon adjustable clamps. But the T fitting is 1", and the main support is 1 1/4". This allows the whole panel and T bar to rotate inside of the main support tube. Its not a perfect fit, but a thin piece of plastic down in the tube shims it out perfectly so that there is little to no play, but still moves.

 A deck swivel hinge is used at the front of the panel to attach the angled support. The second one was broken out of the box, so I'll have to get a replacement from Marine Outfitters next time I am there.

 The slide fitting below.

I will use round 1" bases through bolted to the deck utilizing a sleeved 1" stainless tube for a base, and then U-bolt the main support to the pushpit on the boat.

Overall I am very happy with the mounts. I really hope that the second solar panel is okay. The bimini frame should be okay with some corner supports. I'll put that one at the back. On to new things tomorrow, hopefully a productive and mistake free day.

Waiting for Spring.....Update

Sewing is done! At least for now. There is still lots to do, but not at the house. The remainder will be done at the yacht club on those rainy days. My big sewing machine is in the storage unit down near the boat, and my home machine is sold to the in-laws. In fact, last night I had to sew some velcro the old fashioned way, by hand.

But holy crap did I get a lot of sewing done. I made bags, lots and lots of bags. Bags with handles, some without, and some with drawstrings. I made so many bags, I am not even sure what I am going to do with them all. The below pic is what is left over after sorting through all of our stuff, and putting them in bags. These ones are currently empty, but I'd imagine they'll find a purpose before long. There are 14 of the yellow bags. They are made from an old sil-nylon tent fly that was stored in our first boat when we bought it. Each bag is large enough to hold my hiking boots, with a drawstring. I really didn't need that many, but they were easy to make, I had the material, and I'll bet dollars to donuts that at some point I am going to wish I had a couple of more.

 Then I made liners for our new sleeping bags. We buy our bags from Bushtukah in Ottawa. They seemed to always have the least expensive bags. These jumbo ones were $26.00 ea. And at that price, we just replace them every year. Much simpler than spending a couple hundred on one and having to take care of it properly. Our boat is not really set up for proper bedding, so these bags work great, and then they get stuffed away every morning to free up the salon. Anyway, the liners are made from the extra sheets from the house. We don't have any beds anymore, so didn't really need the sheets.

 I sewed 8 - 3" strips of velcro on the sheets and the sleeping bag to attach them. That way they stay where they are supposed to. This will keep the sleeping bags relatively clean, and we only need to wash the sheet regularly. I made two sets for each bag, I wanted more, but ran out of sheets, so this will have to do for now.

 I designed and put together a padded bag for our netbook. This is the only computer we have left. It has shown itself to be so useful, that we just didn't feel the need to have a full size laptop. The only thing I can't do is play games. But I run Auto CAD on it just fine. All of our electronic charts, and everything else, no problem. The bag also has a pocket in front for the power cord, mouse, and external drive. We store a ton of movies, music, documents, and tv shows on the external 1TB drive.

 I also made an, "important papers" book. As recommended by one of the blogs I follow. This binder is made of a waterproof material, the rings are 550 para cord, so they won't rust or rot, and the pages are the plastic protective covers. I just slide our important papers in there and they are relatively protected. It zips up with a pair of YKK zippers, and has a velcro flap for extra protection. This will hold everything we need for a customs visit, passports, registration, insurance, etc....

 I also made covers for our Black Berry playbook. We use it for a back up internet machine, for playing games, etc... Its easy to carry to the coffee shop for checking in on the world, or weather reports. And my E-reader. It currently has some 750 books or so on it. Looking forward to the days where I sit curled up in the cockpit for hours, nestled into a good read. These covers are made from water repellant canvas, but they are really just a light protection. They just fold over with a velcro flap. Abrasion resistant.

There are a pile of other things too. But they are all down at the storage unit now. So next I move onto the solar panel mounts and the bimini frames before some wood work. Its a pain in the ass figuring out how to make it all work, but I keep playing with it. I'll post about the panels and frames when I get them finished.

On top of all this, we have managed to get 3 truck loads of boat stuff to the storage unit. 1 truckload to the in-laws of things they bought from us, plus they are storing a couple of small things. Emptied the shed so the new owners can start putting their things in there. Got the bicycles ready for the season, and changed the truck over to its summer tires. Etc, etc, etc...... And only 4 weeks to go before we are homeless. More daunting is the fact that we are supposed to be moving onto the boat in 9 weeks, and I haven't even been there since January. The weather man really needs to get his shit together. Its turning cold again early this week, and warming towards the weekend, hopefully for the last time. First lift in at the club is in four weeks,  and there is no way we would be ready for that. We get lifted in on the 12th of May, only 6 weeks to go. Move it soldier....................

Stepping out of Our Comfort Zone

Along with everyone else, I am tempted to hunt down and assassinate that damn ground hog. Although, realistically, its pretty hard to blame a dumb animal. After all, we don't kill off all of the voters who are responsible for electing our politicians, do we?

So anyway, lately I have been trying to define this nagging little feeling I have about giving up the security of the things I know, for the things that I've only read about in books. Living on land vs living on the water.

I am a planner. I look years into the future and try to plan my life for far longer than is even reasonable, but that's who I am, its a disease. Serena on the other hand has a difficult time planning for later today, however, she is always seeking security. She wants to know that whatever will happen tomorrow will be okay, because we are prepared for it, financially or otherwise. So, we have a planner, and a security seeker, and we're going cruising, huh....? Where, when, what, how long, how much, and whats left over........ You can imagine the conversations that go on, and on, and on..

I was talking to my Mom on the phone the other day; hi Mom; and I was telling her about planner and security seeker, and she mumbled something about "grown-up responsibility". Well, you can imagine the names that popped into my head, as I gently chastised her for such blasphemous speak. Hey, she is my Mom. But to most, retiring early and going cruising is a very irresponsible thing to do, isn't it?

The truth is that Serena and I are forcing ourselves to get out of comfort zones on purpose. We are not sure that cruising will be the answer, but we know what the problem is. We've seen far too many people over the years get comfortable in their lives, and miss all those things that they thought they might like to try. There comes a time when its too late, for whatever reason, to climb that mountain. And we don't want to be looking back and thinking, "I wish I had of...."

I remember watching Dave Martin on his families cruising video, "Ice Blink", and he said that when all his peers told him he was doing the wrong thing by blowing off a career to go cruising, and all the older gentlemen were telling him he was doing the right thing, he knew he was on the right track. Its the same reason that cruisers quote Mark Twain, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in you sails. Explore. Dream Discover." Partially because of the boating reference, but mainly because it is the drive that makes us go out onto the water in small boats, leave what you perceive to be safe for the unknown, because to not do so is inconsolable.

So during this process I have been trying to make a genuine effort to stop trying to plan my life. Occasionally I slip, like last night, talking about the design of our next house, which I know, could be twenty years away, or never, who knows. Serena won't give up her financial security, but that is okay, since having a few extra pennies to fall back on is never a bad idea. She is giving up the security of a comfortable house, but she has always been a trouper in that regard. After all, we lived in an 8'x12' shed for 5 months while building this house, and then the garage for another 9 months after that.

I tried to figure out a way to define what was really happening in my head, and I have been racking my brain for days. I wanted to be able to put it in words, but just haven't put my finger on it. Above was my feeble attempt. Every time I try I only picture a recent commercial on TV for the movie The Hobbit. I realize this reference may be lost on some, but, if you know J.R.R. Tolkien's Hobbits, other than food, comfort was their primary goal in life, and to be stepping outside of that was considered very strange and "unhobbit-like". ( About 49 seconds in, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1SJ7yaa7cI ) But in this commercial, Bilbo is running down the road all disheveled, yelling, "I'm going on an adventure".

Shopping Cart

Ta Da..... Say hello to our shopping cart. We have been looking for a stainless steel cart with good wheels, and good carrying capability, for a long time. Every video we watch, and every book we read, talks about the invaluable shopping cart for the cruiser, but apparently not a common item up here in snowy Canada.

We finally found one at a luggage store in the mall. Go figure. It didn't have a bag on it, so I made one. We actually bought 2 because they were on sale, inexpensive, and the deal was the we got the second on for half of the sale price, cha-ching. I only had enough material to make one bag though, so the second one will be for bulk items, like cases of beer, or propane tanks, or fuel, etc...

 Velcro'd and strapped to the frame.

 This is what the cart looks like. Folded up above, and put together below.

And the whole package folded up and tied together with the provided bungy. 

Water repellent marine grade canvas, holding 2.25 cu.ft. and yet very tiny once folded up. The manufacturer claims it will hold 75 lbs, but I have my doubts. The only real problem though, is that not all the frame is stainless. I should start carrying a magnet with me when I boat shop. Oh well, we'll see how it lasts. At least I know where to get a relatively inexpensive replacement.

I finished the dodger I was working on for my buddy. I couldn't do the front window because the original was unsalvageable  and definitely no good as a template. So I will have to wail until it is on the boat and then make the front, put all the snaps in, and fix anything I messed up. I also finished up a window screen for another buddy, so I am done doing other peoples stuff. And, if anyone reading this blog wants something done, I died, sorry........

Yesterday we booked our campsite for the month of May. We are homeless at the end of April, and if all goes well, we'll move onto the boat the first part of June. So that just leaves May, and we're good now. I just have to get the boat done. Unfortunately its still snowing outside; really winter......

We also rented a storage unit. Since the boat is under "refit", all the stuff for the boat can't be stored on it, so we need somewhere close by to keep it all in. Worked out well, and dropped off the first truckload. We need to get the shed emptied before the end of next week for the new people to start moving their things in. I would have worked on it today, but it was -10 deg. Celsius with the wind chill. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with this planet, doesn't it know I have a boat to finish. Last year I was unwrapping the boat and getting started at this time. Now it looks like it will be a couple more weeks before I can start sanding the woodwork.

Only 2 months until we move onto the boat.. ha ha ha ha he he he lol,,,, boo hoo hoo hoo....... Am I nuts?

Refit Costs

I just happened across another website, via YouTube, of a young couple that are living their dream on an Albin Vega 27, named Velocir. Incidentally their dinghy is called Raptor; just though that was cute. Anyway, they've been making a video blog of there travels, as well as some written articles on their website, and it is awesome. I've added it too my links, and if you choose to check it out, you will not be disappointed. In my opinion these kids are living the dream at the perfect age. The quality of their videos is excellent for amateurs, and the content is exactly what dreamers want, little bit of fantasy, little bit of how too.

But as you can see by the title, this is not about their site, or at least not directly. I was reading their article on "refit costs", and I noticed that they had managed to complete a refit similar to ours for $27,000.00 when ours has just peaked its nose over the $64,000.00. Yes our boat is a little larger, we may have added a couple more luxuries, and yes, our purchase price was $17,000.00 more, but they had more work to do on the hull and interior. So why is their amount $20,000.00 less than ours. I started with the usual excuses, they are in a better area for finding parts, especially used parts. The market here is pretty slim for used parts unless you want spend the extra money on gas to pay more than the used parts are worth. AKA, nobody gives stuff away free around here. They had more help from friends and family, which is great, because that means that they have lots of support. They do work in the marine industry which gives them a little leg up. And they took a little more time, 4 years, compared to our just over a year. Then I realized that their list was lacking the bits and bobbles. What I mean is the little things that make the big things work. Like blocks, shackles, pins, sandpaper, wiring, etc... They do talk about some of it, and they are very forward about this being a estimate, and that they scrounged a good many of the things they used. However, marine grade wire for our refit was $1000.00. Just the wire, no terminal ends, no terminal blocks, or meters, or panels, or nothing, just wire. And, we don't have a very complicated boat in comparison to the average these days.

So I took a good look at the running list of stuff we have bought for Vita, and realized that I have been attributing all costs to the "refit". That includes operating costs, parts, maintenance, even books that I bought. The first thing I purchased after the boat was Nigel Calder's Mechanical and Electrical Manual. I still argue that no one should be allowed to own a cruising boat without having this on board. But, this cost is on the list, and obviously not a refit item. I asked myself, would I have bought this if I did not own a boat, and if the answer is no, it goes on the list.

I also remembered way back during the dreaming phase, before I had a boat, that I had made lists of all the equipment that I would want on my boat, at the time, an Alberg 30. And, if I remember correctly, the list came to about $21,000.00. I would hazard a guess, since I no longer have the list, that I have accomplished that pretty well, maybe adding a few items along the way, but that it cost me closer to $35,000.00. And that we will attribute to dreamer/boat owner induced ignorance. The truth is we don't want to know what we spend on our boats, I know I don't. We want the dream, we don't really care what it costs, we just pretend that we do. Its not much different than home ownership. How many people really know what it costs to own their house. Not many I would argue, and for good reason, because then we would figure out that we would all be further ahead to rent, which would mean we would lose the perceived security that home ownership gives us, not to mention the dream every man seems to have of owning their little piece of the planet.

Is there a moral to this story. You bet there is. Don't keep track of how much you spend. Make your lists, tell your friends and significant other that that is what it cost to get the dream, and ignore the rest. You'll be much happier in the end. The human mind can justify just about anything, trust me. Besides that, if you have to go with out coffee for a week to afford that new shackle you need for the main halyard, so be it. Nobody needs to know.

So, I have done some figuring, and not including the purchase price of the boat, we are at $30,100.00 into our refit. And if I feel pretty confident that I can get this number a little lower before the end.

Okay, I am kidding, sort of. I am not the kind of person that feels comfortable sticking my head in the sand. But oh Lord I wish I was. However, what I will do is break my costs right down to the nitty gritty, so that someone looking at them can get an idea of why it cost $2300 for our propane stuff when the stove and barbecue only cost $1300.00. But that is going to have to wait, because its a lot of work to get those numbers.

"The cost of cruising is always a hot debate". The first line of Velocir's "Refit Costs". This is the reason that I wrote this post. Not because I disagree with it at all, but because the debate will continue as long as we are allowed to travel in boats. And no matter how many of us publish our costs, no one will ever be able to figure out what it cost to cruise. What do they say, "it costs as much as you have".

Ughhh,,,, I'm "MAN" Sick.

Why is it that men turn into such babies when they are sick. I know I am horrible to be around when I am not feeling well. Not mean, or anything, but probably irritating as hell. Whiny, I think is the word that Serena uses. She's so kind to me....

Our trip to Ottawa left me with more than a visit to my Daughter's, and boat toys. It left me with a cold. I managed to make it Kingston to pick up my order at Marine Outfitters before the symptoms set in on Tuesday, so I hope I didn't give it to anyone down there. Now I am holed up in the house so that I won't spread this to our small town. It would be a bonus, except that I am borderline useless when I am sick. I can't get my brain to work properly. I am good for small periods of time, and then I need a break. She's right, I do sound whiny.

Big order from Kingston. Hopefully the last big one. I ordered everything I could think of that we might need to finish the refit. Although, the order was absent all the bits I need for the plumbing system, because I haven't fully designed it yet. We now have our whisker pole, a Forespar 7-15, all the stainless steel pipe and fittings to complete the new bimini and solar panel "T" mounts. And a pile of other little things.

 We picked up these integral Dorade boxes. I was going to build a dorade box from wood, or fibreglass, in the traditional manner, however, these units cost the same as the materials for the traditional boxes would have cost, so I figured what the hell, give them a shot. Worst case scenario, I still have to build boxes one day, best case scenario, I save many hours of work. Have to see how they work out in the long term.

 Lots of pipe. And the two 12 footers to make the bimini bows are not in this pile.

Bits and bobbles. It is amazing how much money gets spent on stainless steel fittings to connect all those pieces of pipe. 100s.... Some of these small fittings cost as much as $24 ea. Ouch. 

We also bought all of our new flares, all 12 of them. Our boat is one of those weird in-between boats where we might legally be able to get away with 6 flares, but probably should have 12. And boy are flares expensive. I tried to go as cheap as possible, since I am pretty sure that our expired flares are still good. So Vita has 24 flares, 4 different styles. If we ever do any serious offshore work, I'll add some smoke flares, expensive, but visible for a long way during the day. We also ordered and picked up our C-Map charts for our chart plotter , that covers us from NY down through the Bahamas. So now we are chart ready. Maybe one post I'll go over our Nav materials, but not today, I'm already running out of steam.... I'm sick......

However, I must mention my latest indulgence. If you've been following this blog, you know we chose a rigid dinghy. A Walker bay 8. Easy to row, light, takes a motor, will never go flat, and doesn't mind being dragged up on a rocky shore, plus I can sail it for fun. Unfortunately it only holds 410 lbs, give or take. So, with me, @ 215, Serena @ another weight somewhat less, the motor, oars, and safety equipment, we are already up to about 425 lbs. I'm no math wizard, but its starting to look like I might have to leave Serena on Vita. Yeah, that'll work.... So, with this obvious oversight, we started considering a hypalon rigid inflatable @ $3000.00 plus dollars. The problem is that we lose some of the benefits that brought us to the Walker Bay in the first place, and a Bayfield 29 is no place for two dinghies. I was going to use regular fenders to create a tube around the dinghy, which would give us a little better carrying capacity, but not near as good as the collar created by Walker Bay to turn our little dink into a RID. I didn't know it before, but they do make a hypalon inflatable collar for the boat. Its hard to find information about them, because they are not that popular, especially in northern climates. I emailed the company and the president replied offering to ship one directly to me. A nice gesture, but Marine Outfitters hit the phone lines and found 2 in Barrie Ontario. So I ordered one. $1199.00 + tax. We now have $2500 into our dinghy, and that includes the motor. Expensive yes, but cheaper than an all out RIB. A compromise, but hopefully a good compromise. Time will tell.

I haven't been completely idle. I have been trying to get some things done. Below is our dinghy outboard. Its a relatively new Suzuki DF2.5 Four Stroke. But it doesn't look like it anymore. Taking advice along the way, I didn't want it too look to shiny. I removed all the decals, and when I cleaned the cover with Goo B Gone to get rid of the sticky residue it took the shiny finish off the plastic. Perfect. Would you steal this, or the shiny Honda on the dinghy next to it.

 Charging all the batteries before they go in the boat.

 Building a new dodger for a friend. Took apart his old dodger and used it for a template. It is in pretty rough shape. But this is going to cost him $460 compared to the $2500 to have a shop do it. I've never done anything like this before, so I wanted to give it a try. We made the deal, and he is fully aware that it might be a complete wash. Apparently he has faith. Either that or he is not afraid to throw away money. How bad could it be?

Lots of other things going on too. Yesterday I made a new wallet out of waterproof Stamoid material, polyester webbing, and Lifetime thread. I shouldn't have to replace it anytime soon. Loaded the truck with stuff for the storage unit. Made a set of really nice fender bags for a friends 31' Corvette. And.... I just realized this post is getting too long. Must learn to make more frequent shorter posts.........

I just took a break from writing this post, to go out to the garage and stoke the fire. I'd like to get some sewing done today. And standing in the driveway of our recently sold country home, I was filled with a scene that I know that I am going to miss dearly. There were 6 white tail dear in the yard, blue jays sparking up a conversation, several red squirrels trying to figure out who was the biggest threat to their sunflower seeds, chickadees, a woodpecker, a rock dove that flew within a couple of feet of where I was standing to pickup grit out of the gravel driveway, the warm sun, and the beautiful smell of spring in the air. This is more the norm here than the exception, and I never tire of it. The only saving grace is that I know that our new life on the water will provide us with similar fulfillment, and that when it is all over, the country will still be here waiting for our return. Sometimes the little things in life are what make it worth living.

Sewing Palm Update

About a year ago I made a pair of sewing palms. My intention was to get a custom fitted palm, and not have to spend the farm to get it. It has turned out to be my most popular post. In fact I just had a question asked the other day about it, so apparently its still of interest to someone. What I really wanted to do though was take another look at the palms and see how they have held up after all the sewing they have had to do since last spring. Which included making a new mainsail, and a new staysail; whipping ropes, and a mess of other sewing projects.

What I have found is that they have turned out way better than I ever anticipated. They have broken in famously, forming to the specifics of my hand.

 I thought for sure that the regular sewing palm would have been the most useful of the two, when I originally made these. Of course I defaulted to Emiliano's recommendation and made both. And, as it turned out, the roping palm became the most important and most used of the two. It is amazing the amount of pull you can get on the thread when it is wrapped around the leather on the thumb. In fact, I find that the only time I use the regular sewing palm is when I am doing very light stitching, where I normally would use a thimble.

 The other thing that I have noticed, is that after repeated use over the last year, the palms have become very easy to use, to the point that I don't even think about it. The needle just fits where it is supposed to, and the motion is second nature. Which is nice to see, because when I first made these, they were very uncomfortable to use. The motion wasn't well, and the needle always felt like it was in the wrong place. So, if you have made these, and are unsure about the fit, use them for a bit first.

The only thing that I should mention, is to keep the area around the thumb a little loose. If it is tight at all then you will get a lot of fatigue in the thumb muscles. And, it after using it for a while, it doesn't become an extension of your hand, make a new one, don't give up. Sewing with a good palm is an incredible experience, sewing with a poor fitting one is an exercise in sado-masochism.

So, definitely one of the more useful things I have done with my time. In fact I have decided to keep some spare tooling leather on the boat, should I ever wear one of these out. As long as I am sewing, I will have a pair of these. By the way, if anyone has made them, I would love to see some pictures, or hear about your experience in the process. I figure with the traffic the post has gotten, someone must have tried it.

Cheers and fair winds.

7 Weeks Until "H" Day

"H" day meaning homeless day. Okay,,, I guess technically 7 weeks from tomorrow is homeless day. Give me a break, people are always so critical...

We have burned through 4 1/2 weeks of the 11 1/2 we had since shoring up the deal on the house. And although I know things have gotten done, it is starting to feel like nothing has yet been accomplished, and everything is left to do, ughhh!!! The garage sale went off with a blast. Its hard to believe that something like that would be that popular when its cold and snowy out, but we got rid of almost everything, and put another $1k in our pockets. Family members cleaned up most of the left over scraps, at the friends and family discount, (free), and the small little bit remaining went to the second hand store, so that someone else may find a good use for it. We still have a few things left, but they are needed for the transition, the boat refit, or are headed to the dump once we are done with them. Its hard to believe that in 6 weeks when we toss our mattress into the dump, that we will be moving into our camper, especially when I look out window and there is still a foot of snow on top of it. I guess its a little late now, but I am starting to wonder if the end of May might have been a tad bit warmer for moving out of the house???

So after the sale, it took a couple of days to get the shop back together, get rid of the left overs, and load the furniture that was going to my Daughter's place in Ottawa. Silly as it may sound, we also had to take everything that we had sorted out that we wanted to keep, and sort through it again. One to make sure, and two, to figure out where everything was going, boat/camper/storage/dump/etc.... That took as much time as getting ready for the sale in the first place. Then we started changing our address, did our taxes, made more lists, listed stuff for sale on Kijiji, and on and on and on.....

Oh, did I mention that I got my sewing supplies in from Sailrite. Thanks Colin, you are the man... I also bought more zippers to make more bags, made a list of all the things I have to make, and the weather is warming, so I'll be at the boat working soon. Just 4 more weeks in March oh Lord, I promise not to squander it like the last 4......

My daughter is a busy person, with somewhere between 3 and 5 jobs going on all the time, she works very hard, but that means that putting up with us lounging around her house is very inconvenient for her. Added to that, that we are never comfortable staying at someone else's house, we stayed in a hotel. And thanks to my sister Tish, we got the friends and family discount at the Marriott again, sweet! Spent Friday shopping, and Saturday being entertained by our Grandson Duke (a.k.a. Squirrel).

We hate to shop, but with our life in a constant transition over the last 3 years, retire/build house/refit boat/sell house, etc..., it seems that all we do is shop. And, again, we are buying stuff for our new life afloat. The highlight of the trip was our new snorkeling gear. I couldn't imagine going to the Bahamas and not having a good set of snorkeling gear. I am a part time fish; but I have landsman's eyes and fins, and have not yet mastered the breathing under water thing, so snorkeling gear it is.

As in most things, the quality of the gear is directly related to the quality of the experience. Now that doesn't mean paying to get gold plated is worth the cost, but there is a level at which the quality doesn't change much, but the price does, and we like to stay just below that level, maximizing quality while maintaining a reasonable price. Saying that, the stuff in this photo came out to $525 clams, including the weights for the belts that are still in the truck. Unfortunately, what we know about snorkeling, you could write on the head of the pin with a large font, so we refer to the experts. We usually find that the people working at a shop have the right expertise to help us in the selection. Of course, you never want to try this with a computer geek, because nothing but top of the line seems reasonable to them. And then there is the car salesman.......

Everything else we bought was just little bits here and there, a pair of pants, collapsible water jugs, spice containers, sleeping bags. Its hard to go crazy buying stuff for a little boat, with little spaces.

The real excitement last week though was that our Garhauer came in. Ohhhhh Baby.....

What a deal this was. The stainless steel boom vang, and 3 cheek blocks for the mainsail reef points on the boom, cost about $525. Well worth it when you consider what these things normally go for, and the amount of control one of these babies gives you over the mainsail shape. The only problem was the fitting for the boom was the wrong shape. I had given them the spec sheet of the boom, but they used the top instead of the bottom. An honest mistake considering that I didn't specify which was which. The good news is that I had a little talk with the 3/16" thick piece of stainless steel, and it decided that it should modify itself to the shape I needed it, perfect. I am so glad that I made the leap to pick this up. It was the one thing that all the experienced cruisers convinced me to get.

That's about it for now. We are headed to Kingston tomorrow. I have a $2200+ order to pick up at Marine Outfitters. They have been absolutely awesome to deal with. I ordered almost everything I could think of that we are going to need to finish the boat, even if I didn't need it yet. At the boat show one of the stainless fabricators told me how to bend my own steel tubes for our bimini, so I am going to give that a try. I ordered all the stainless tubing I need for mounting the solar panels as well, whisker pole, more polycarbonate wine glasses, just a ton of stuff. But today its going to get to +10 degrees, so a long walk must be in order. We can't work all the time, jeese.

Later......