Jeff's Log ~ Saturday, January 19th 2008

Another day of varnish school is completed and the student earned a B+ for the day. Now I have to really go on the hunt for a tack cloth because in the finish coats, I don’t want the little grit particles that stay there even though I wipe everything down with a clean thinner dampened rag. When I got the varnish and stuff, I asked and looked around a bit, but nobody seemed to know what I was talking about.

My calendar says that it’s January nineteenth and a little flag that says it’s Becky’s Birthday. Happy Happy Birthday Becky, and let me buy you a double on the rocks from Naiharn Beach, Thailand. Next year, I should be home for your birthday. A BIG HUG for you too!

Tonight, my friend Keith is coming to the boat for dinner and stories. He is the fellow whose boat is in the yard being painted. He called me and told me that he had a bit of bad luck. He decided to paint the lower ten feet of his mast. He secured the top of the ladder to the mast, but did not secure the bottom. As he was coming down the ladder, the bottom shifted and he flipped the can of white paint up in the air, all over the freshly painted grey deck. He’s all right, just hurt his pride and caused himself a couple hours of cleanup. My varnish problems all of a sudden didn’t seem so bad.

Today, I went swimming and was quite surprised at how the port side waterline had mossed up already. It’s been less than a week. I spent the afternoon with mask, fins and snorkel cleaning again. I’m getting in better shape than I was. I can now snorkel and clean the rudder and keel. That makes me feel pretty good.

I also was working on the jib roller furling system. The manual that Harken sent me was not very much help. The only service info said to spray with a dry silicone compound. Absolutely no information about replacing the bearings. I figured out what had to come apart and began disassembly. When I started getting down to the bearings, it became obvious that the headstay has to be taken down to replace the bearings. I’ll think about that for a little while. That might be a boat yard job, I may be able to do it with a knowledgeable helper. I did lubricate them, and things rotate much nicer. Maybe I’ll put the jib back up and see how it works. I did get to see the actual bearings, and I didn’t think they were too beat up.

I also gave the dingy leak another try. It was storming yesterday, so we didn’t go to Chalong as planned. Instead of using a patch, I decided to use good old marine-tex. Instead of working where the dingy usually hangs, I rigged a couple of the halyards that come from the top of the mast and raised the dingy above the lifelines and with a couple of lines pressed it against the halyards so it could not swing around when the boat rolls. This let me see what I was patching, instead of guessing. After the marine-tex cured, I splashed the dink, and so far so good. When Keith gets here, I’ll take it for a high speed run and see if it holds.

GO GREENBAY PACKERS!!!!!!