Jeff's Log ~ Tuesday, March 4, 2008 Boat Lagoon Marina, slip #A2

I have a little catching up to do. I wrote a page and sent it, but the green little Martians intercepted it and will not release it. The boat is now on the t-head on A dock, where I will stay until we leave on the ninth for Nihearn again. I hired one of the girls from Coconut Bar to come and clean the inside of the boat. If I did that, the rest of my projects will go uncompleted. She is doing a better job than most detailing companies ever thought of, and the interior is looking great. I removed the bent lifeline stanchions and the top section of the steering pedestal for repairs. Nop is going to cut the bent bottoms off of the stanchions and will weld a new straight piece on.

The surveyor came and did the rigging inspection and the machinery, and added a few things to my list to be done. Just what I needed! Actually, I was happy to have a new set of eyes look things over, because I am not perfect, and sometimes, little things go unnoticed or ignored for a while. I would rather fix a small problem now, than have it become a disaster in the middle of the ocean. I completed drawing plans for the clamp that is needed to stabilize the backstay radar mount. I took them to Nop, the stainless guy, and discussed with his engineer. Language is a problem again, and it may take a couple more meetings before the desired results are made clear. I must say that the drawings did turn out nicely. I drew them at true size, so if need be I can cut them apart and have the separate pieces made and welded together. Hopefully, I will get the problem solved tomorrow when Nop and I meet.

I spoke with my good friend Jimmy on the phone, and he is healing nicely. The cast has been removed from his arm, and the doctor is going to release him in another three weeks for his internal injuries. His mood is very good, and he sounds well.

It rained a lot for a few days, and the whole marina just blew up in flowers. The bougainvilleas are incredible, as well as all of the hedges with red and white flowers. The white ones smell like Jasmine, and I love walking through and just taking nice deep breaths of the sweet scents. Tonight, I made the first box of Macaroni and cheese and enjoyed it immensely. It may sound crazy, but that is the one food item that I really get cravings for. Camille and Leslie picked out some nice cracker snacks for me and sent them with Clara along with a book that I’m sure I’ll enjoy. When I get home, I’ll have to give Camille a big hug and buy her a drink and send a hug home with her for Leslie.

The weather here just keeps getting warmer. I put up the new shade awning, and rigged the remains of the old one to cover the salon area. I then took the side curtains which are 70% shade, and put the two of them together to shade the sunny side as much as possible. It turned out ok, and only looks slightly like the Beverly Hillbillies. The air conditioning pumps do not like 50 cycle electricity, and keep dropping out due to heat build up. I have a new pump, but don’t want to sacrifice the time to change it out now. Maybe in a couple of days. The ac does work fine on the generator that is 60 cycles. I don’t want to burn fuel to stay cool at this point, unless it really becomes necessary.