Hot. Real hot. Triple digits kind of hot. Sun that will flay the seared flesh right off your bones - kind of hot. Humidity that fills the air so full of water that the sweat running off your nose has no where to go but to drip in your lap - that kind of hot.
Work on Kintala continued anyway, and she showed her appreciation by taking good care of us this weekend. "How", one might ask? One flip of a switch and the Air Conditioning cranked right up! Yeah Baby - just when the conditions were about to overwhelm a body Kintala would welcome us below with cool, open arms and a 'fridge full of cold beverage. I think we are finally getting friendly, this boat and I. (It helps that, finally, there was one system that worked without it needing to have something fixed or replaced first.)
Items are still be added to the discrepancy list quicker than they are being cleared, but some good things got done this weekend. After more than an hour hanging in a Boson's chair nearly 60 feet off the deck, all the halyards are strung. Fred and Gary helped Deb drag my posterior up the stick and handle a spaghetti nest of feeder strings and lines; all the while keeping tension on the lines that really mattered. (Those holding my afore mentioned posterior aloft.)
With halyards installed we could hoist both a jib and the main sail, so we did. It only took 3 tries to get the jib furler right and 2 to get the new main sail installed. (Here's a surprise, there were no sheets for the furling jib on the boat anywhere. Our rigging inspector has to be a true wonder of the world, able to clamber all over a boat and mast, with his head planted firmly up his ass. They should sell tickets to the show when this guy goes to work.) Money spent on the Tides Marine track system was money well spent. UK Halsey did us a first-class job on both workmanship and recommendations. The reefing lines were run and strung and the lazy jacks were lazy jacking. I was on a roll. Sadly though, I finished rolling about the time that the the wind, which at times had touched 17 kts, finished blowing. According to those who did venture forth, hoards of Corps bugs filled in where the wind had been. We will wait until next weekend to trash our brandy new, pretty white main sail with smashed Corps bug juice.
While I flogged rigging all day Deb got the water system fully functional. She would have had it done even quicker except for taking my advice on installing the sump switch; then she had to do it over. I kept my advice to myself on the re-do.
We spent an extra night on the boat, leaving for the city this morning (Monday). As we headed out I realized that Kintala is almost the boat we thought we had purchased. She has a standing mast, rigging, sails, and most of the major systems now function. (We are still waiting for legal gas bottles for the stove and don't sniff too close while in the head.) For any who may be thinking of joining the cruising community, repairs and equipment purchases for Kintala have already added 12% to the purchase price, and we haven't really sailed her yet. This does not include survey / rigging / mechanical inspections (total waste of $$) or shipping the boat from Chicago.
I have no guess as to how many hours of labor have been invested, and there is a long way to go, in both effort and dollars, before she is ready for salt water.
If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.
7 comments:
When you sail past the Statue of Liberty, the Dry Tortugas or have dolphins playing at the bow for the first time on your own boat you won't remember a dollar spent or quarts of sweat shed.
The old saying was, a boat is a hole in the water surrounded by wood into which you throw money.
Now days you just say fiberglass instead of wood.
That is a very true statement, I have been doing it since 1967.
Bill Kelleher
The crew of S/V Veranda mentioned your blog on their blog. I read it this weekend with great interest. Stephen Cape Coral FL
My best wishes for your continued health, more wealth in order to keep up with the boat and happiness.
If I remember correctly you said there is a lot of weeds in your marina.
Which means that you will have to check each AC water strainer ( if you have more than one )so they don't plug up and make your AC shut down.
Bill Kelleher
Nice to have you onboard Stephen. Thanks for the comments - we can use all the best wishes we can get for this boat!
Good point Bill. I need to do some exploring and see if I can locate them. Thanks!
The post does sound like I'm complaining - which would be kind of silly seeing as we own a Tartan 42 and are getting it ready for full time living and sailing. Not only does that make me one of the luckier people on the planet, I never expected this to be and easy or cheap project. (Taking a “cheap” boat out to blue water doesn’t seem like the best idea anyone ever had.) I feel like we are making good progress, and Kintala looks like everything I hoped she would be with sails flying. Now to try and actually make her go…
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