Just Poking Along...

Time has slowed to a bit of a crawl as I recover. I feel pretty good all things considered, but there is still a dull but persistent ache around the implant, and the wound has yet to heal over completely. Normally being this inactive would result in a serious case of boredom driving both of us crazy. But I am kind of enjoying not having much to do. Deb and I take long walks and indulge in an occasional treat at The Bean. Much of my time is spent making music with the various Ukes we brought along. Deb puts her guitar (and the baritone Uke) to regular use as well. The electric table top drum kit and pan drum have remained silent as I am not convinced my left side can take a drum pounding.  I also spend a lot of time just watching the world go by from the fly bridge or aft deck. Dolphins, otters, fish, and a squad of different birds spend the day ruffling the waters around our slip. Though I don't really understand why, I am encouraged by the knowledge that they would be doing what they do regardless of me being around to watch, or not. All of human kind will disappear at some point in a cosmic second, with our entire history forgotten, and the universe will not even notice. Knowing that, one would think we would treat each other better than we do. Evidence, perhaps, that we are not nearly as intelligent as we think we are.

Though dogging along at the moment, we are slowly getting back to the routine of getting ready to go. A day or so ago the good folks from the engine shop dropped off the revived Dink motor. Not only did they deliver it, but they mounted it on the Dink and fired it up. It takes a bit of a pull to get it started but Deb handled it without problem. It will be a while before I am yanking on the thing. After they left we took the Dink out for a short cruise, me sitting in the front. I was never particularly comfortable in Kintala's Dink. First Light's, with its hard floor and bigger motor, should soften my dislike for Dink travel. As should have been expected, one of those center console fishing boats cut in front of us during the test run, throwing a pretty good wake. Deb slowed up and turned bow in, but I got a bath anyway. For some reason they slowed down about the time water came pouring over our bow. I guess pulling one's head out of one's ass is still better done late then never. Since I enjoy anchoring out far more than being on a dock, Dink travel is a necessity—even with the occasional waterway bonehead encounter. But I don't have to like it.

With the motor mounted and the test ride over, we gave the new lifting rig its first real test. It worked better than the old rig but it is still a serious bit of lift for a single person to handle. There were many times on Kintala that, after a long day's sail, we were just too tired to wrestle the Dink into the water, mount the engine, and go exploring. Something we do not want to be the case with First Light. So we wandered down to the hardware store and then the marine supply store to see what we might come up with to make Dink launch and stow easy. At the second stop we found a small used winch that appeared to be in pretty good shape. They were willing to part with it for a fraction of a boat buck. We mounted it in the aft cockpit which gave us the final bit of lift we need to get the dink and motor out of the water with just a modest amount of effort. Once we were sure it would work, we added a small cleat and a thing to hold the winch handle and line when the Dink is up and secured.

Dow Corning 795 is awesome stuff for bedding
hardware of any kind

It was a project I thought easy enough to tackle without compromising my recovery. But (now don't be surprised) we got into things a bit deeper than anticipated by pulling the haws horn unit to see if it provided access to mount a backing plate for the winch. Getting it free of the aft bulkhead turned into a wrestling match that was more than enough for my left side. Deb took over and the unit eventually admitted defeat and came free. Unfortunately, it didn't provide the access we thought since there is a solid block of wood that the haws is mounted through.  We had hoped that the wood was big enough to catch the winch as well, but it didn't work out that way. After some debate we installed the winch as close to the wooden support as we could. It should work since the load is strait shear, but we will see. One thing is sure, getting the Dink + Motor up and on the swim platform is one-person easy now. I managed to rejoin the fray by drilling a few holes and installing some screws. 

There are other things I should be able to do. Another coat of teak oil on the rails as well as prepping and oiling the steps up to the fly bridge are high on my list. Those steps have been left raw. For me teak left to weather “naturally” marks a boat as wrecked, abandoned, or neglected. (Your opinion may very, no offense intended.) It is our experience that teak oil doesn't make things too slippery to walk on and, with the rest of the boat starting to look pretty good, those steps stand out as major ugly.

While down in the engine room working on some lighting, Deb found a failed fastener on a shaft seal that also held the bonding wire. That will have to be addressed before we head out, but will have to wait a couple of weeks. My arm is not yet up to that kind of work in a confined space.

So we poke along pretty pleased that just poking along is still an option.