The one nice thing about writing a blog, is that I get to rant about things that bug me. Well, today its West Marine, but not the company itself, just one store in particular. Every time I walk in there I get the feeling that I am expected to steal something, and most of the time I end up feeling so uncomfortable that I just leave. You wonder why I would even go in there, but they have boat stuff, nuff said. Anyway, yesterday after getting the, if you need anything, just ask speech, (which never makes me uncomfortable anywhere else), I approached the manager about a thru hull step wrench. Pretty simple request, they had a bunch of thru hulls and seacocks on the shelf, having the wrench to install and removed them seemed logical to me. One of the other employees, a man, got involved when I was trying to explain to the manager what it was, and he spent a few minutes trying to explain to me that the thru hull is put on with a nut and the seacock is screwed onto that. I tried to tell him that he was incorrect, and that the seacock was bolted to the hull, and then the thru hull is screwed in from the outside, but the concept didn't seem to make sense to him, he got mad at me and walked away. The manager then tried to tell me that that is how "they" did it on her boat, and I explained to her that no, if they used the nut on the thru hull then "they" put on a ball valve, which really is the wrong way to do it. Eventually the manager looked it up on the computer and found the item, not in stock. However, it was more expensive than Marine Outfitters. Not that it matters, after getting treated like that, there wasn't a chance in hot pucky land that I was going to buy it from them, further more, I don't imagine I will ever set foot in that particular store again. I feel better now. In contrast, I have dealt with the West Marine in Scarborough, Ontario, and the manager and staff are top notch.
Anyway, I spent another $1600.00 yesterday on electrical connectors, grab bars, seacocks, thru hulls, epoxy, and misc other boat stuff. This boat will be brand new and bullet proof by the time I'm done. If I don't keep it for 20 years, someone is going to get a nice cruiser when I sell it. So that's now a total of just over $56,000.00 on a 30k boat(if I'm lucky). It will be over $60k by the time we leave to go south. Doesn't sound so simple anymore, does it. Then on top of that, if cruising becomes a way of life, there will likely be a watermaker added, a new autopilot, a wind vane, and lord only knows how much more stuff. I'll end up like my buddy Jack, $100k in a 30k boat. And to think, someone got upset with me once because I said that a boat was a hole in the water you throw money into.
I did manage to get the top on the nav table, and the fiddles around it. I'll install it today and take a picture. I have never used contact cement to attach a laminate before, so that was kind of fun. I used a flush trim bit in my router to clean up the edges, and sanded the sharp edge off by hand. I just realized how many new things I am doing on the boat. Things that I have never done before. I have a lot of experience doing a lot different things, more than most, and now I am adding to those skills exponentially. I usually joke that I am a jack of all trades, master of none, and now I think that is starting to come true.
I also managed to make myself sick doing the laminate. After playing with the contact cement, then doing some painting, and cetol, there was so much fumes in the shop that I spent the rest of the day a little dizzy with an upset stomach. I know I am not expecting to live forever, but I should know better than that.
Anyway, the truck is loaded to the top of the cap. Its time to start adding all the nitty gritty stuff to the boat, on the downhill slide to completion. That is still months away, but I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Plumbing, electrical, fit and finish. There is still a lot of work to do.
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