Day two of Jeff’s varnish education is complete. Today I began learning about thinning the varnish so that the brush strokes flow out. I am beginning to be happy with the results. There is a marked improvement over what was there before, and I only have two thin coats of varnish on. My auto-body shop instructor in high school, a great man by the name of Karl Schmidt, always said “painting is the gravy of bodywork” and I have never forgotten those words. I really took some time sanding and carefully masking where others hadn’t, and thinned the varnish to a maple syrup consistency, and the results are not too bad, if I do say so myself. Another few coats and it will look like new.
I was a little worried because right after I finished cleaning my badger hair brush, it clouded up outside and began thundering. Thank God that the rain held off for about an hour and a half, so the varnish had set up by then. It was dark when it stopped raining, but I looked it over with a flashlight, and it looks ok.
Tomorrow morning, I’ll put another coat on it, and then the dingy and I are going to Chalong in a truck because the dink is filling with water from holes in the tube attaching flange. I’m going to have the dingy guys glue patches on, because they can get it dry, and properly glue it together. I have tried gluing patches on here, but they just don’t hold well enough because I can never really get it dry and salt free.
It will be nice to get off the boat too. I have not been ashore since Sunday, and the boat is beginning to feel quite small. I feel like there might be a fresh cinnamon roll and a hot cup of coffee in my future tomorrow morning! There is a real nice bakery and coffee shop across the street from the dingy shop.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Jeff's Log ~ Wednesday, January 16, 2008
I did my visa run to Burma on Sunday, and this time we had a modern Mercedes turbo diesel powered bus, and a driver that wanted to get there and back quickly. We stopped at the same Lion’s club for breakfast, and it was very good again. The driver was going fast around curves and up and down the hills. We got to Ranong at about 11AM, cleared out and were on the boat by 1145. The warehouse that had the lofts has been cleared, and the whole area smells better. It looks like the warehouse is going to be used commercially instead of residentially from now on. The trip to Burma on the boat was uneventful, and the crowds at the dock were not as large or aggressive as they were last time.
This time, I couldn’t resist trying the 80baht fifth of rum. That’s about $2.30 US. I got two, because that is all you are allowed. When I got home I tried it, and it’s not bad at all! Now I’ll have a mission for my final visa run in February.
On Sunday morning, the day of my visa run, I got up at 0445, made coffee, etc and was feeling good about getting to the pick up spot on time, and had my pillow and reading material in my backpack, all ready to go. I put the dingy in the water and locked the boat. For the first time ever, the dink really gave me a problem starting. Usually, when it’s cold start in the morning, it starts on the third pull. Well, I was ready to give up and row, but decided one more pull. It roared to life just like normal. Haven’t had problem since either. I guess it’s just not used to waking up at 0530!!
After the visa run, I was back on the boat around 2000, very early compared to the 2230 last time. With the trip being quicker, and on a Sunday, I found out that a lot of the buildings that I thought were either commercial or farm outbuildings are actually peoples homes. Most of the garage doors were open, and I could see inside, and they are open air living rooms. Most looked very clean and shiny inside with very little furniture. Most people were hanging out outdoors and sitting on plastic patio furniture or seating made from various trees, cement blocks or whatever. Very few had TV’s visible. Also, while on the housing subject, I have learned through visiting various business homes, that a lot of the homes do not have running water. They usually have toilets, but keep a barrel of water close by with a bowl left floating in it. When you finish, you flush by dumping bowls full of water into the toilet until it is clear. At this kind of house, a shower is taken out side with another barrel of water and a bowl with which to rinse yourself. The women shower wearing sarong, so the neighbors don’t see them naked. Must be tough to shave their legs!
In the homes that have running water, in most cases, the water is not potable. In order to drink tap water, there must be a treatment facility installed in the house that has multiple filters, and a ultra-violet sterilizer. Maintenance on that is costly, so only the wealthier people have that, and the ones I have seen, only have the kitchen water treated. The homes without toilets still use old fashioned outhouses. One or two holes, no waiting. Some of the old businesses still have outhouses for their patrons.
It kind of sounds like I have traveled back in time doesn’t it? I have knuckled down and am working hard on the boat. I disassembled, cleaned and lubricated the cockpit primary winches. They are three speed racing winches, and this was the first time I have ever had any of these apart. Lots of tiny springs for the ratchet pawls!!! The book on board was only for two speed cruising winches. The first one took a long time; the second was a lot easier and quicker.
Today, I decided to try my hand at varnishing the companion-way teak. Watching someone varnishing sure is a lot easier. I did learn that it cannot be rushed, and the second time that I sanded it down and varnished it going a lot slower, I proved to myself that I can do it. PATIENCE, PATIENCE. I’m sure I’ll still learn a lot more in the next few coats. The first one was an absolute disaster.
Clara finally got her Christmas present today. For those of you that don’t know, I got her a choker of black pearls and matching earrings. The earrings are “Thai style” with a ring of diamond looking crystals as a base. She was very happy when she received them. I was glad that they finally arrived intact.
This time, I couldn’t resist trying the 80baht fifth of rum. That’s about $2.30 US. I got two, because that is all you are allowed. When I got home I tried it, and it’s not bad at all! Now I’ll have a mission for my final visa run in February.
On Sunday morning, the day of my visa run, I got up at 0445, made coffee, etc and was feeling good about getting to the pick up spot on time, and had my pillow and reading material in my backpack, all ready to go. I put the dingy in the water and locked the boat. For the first time ever, the dink really gave me a problem starting. Usually, when it’s cold start in the morning, it starts on the third pull. Well, I was ready to give up and row, but decided one more pull. It roared to life just like normal. Haven’t had problem since either. I guess it’s just not used to waking up at 0530!!
After the visa run, I was back on the boat around 2000, very early compared to the 2230 last time. With the trip being quicker, and on a Sunday, I found out that a lot of the buildings that I thought were either commercial or farm outbuildings are actually peoples homes. Most of the garage doors were open, and I could see inside, and they are open air living rooms. Most looked very clean and shiny inside with very little furniture. Most people were hanging out outdoors and sitting on plastic patio furniture or seating made from various trees, cement blocks or whatever. Very few had TV’s visible. Also, while on the housing subject, I have learned through visiting various business homes, that a lot of the homes do not have running water. They usually have toilets, but keep a barrel of water close by with a bowl left floating in it. When you finish, you flush by dumping bowls full of water into the toilet until it is clear. At this kind of house, a shower is taken out side with another barrel of water and a bowl with which to rinse yourself. The women shower wearing sarong, so the neighbors don’t see them naked. Must be tough to shave their legs!
In the homes that have running water, in most cases, the water is not potable. In order to drink tap water, there must be a treatment facility installed in the house that has multiple filters, and a ultra-violet sterilizer. Maintenance on that is costly, so only the wealthier people have that, and the ones I have seen, only have the kitchen water treated. The homes without toilets still use old fashioned outhouses. One or two holes, no waiting. Some of the old businesses still have outhouses for their patrons.
It kind of sounds like I have traveled back in time doesn’t it? I have knuckled down and am working hard on the boat. I disassembled, cleaned and lubricated the cockpit primary winches. They are three speed racing winches, and this was the first time I have ever had any of these apart. Lots of tiny springs for the ratchet pawls!!! The book on board was only for two speed cruising winches. The first one took a long time; the second was a lot easier and quicker.
Today, I decided to try my hand at varnishing the companion-way teak. Watching someone varnishing sure is a lot easier. I did learn that it cannot be rushed, and the second time that I sanded it down and varnished it going a lot slower, I proved to myself that I can do it. PATIENCE, PATIENCE. I’m sure I’ll still learn a lot more in the next few coats. The first one was an absolute disaster.
Clara finally got her Christmas present today. For those of you that don’t know, I got her a choker of black pearls and matching earrings. The earrings are “Thai style” with a ring of diamond looking crystals as a base. She was very happy when she received them. I was glad that they finally arrived intact.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Jeffs Log ~ Saturday, January 12, 2008 7 46.527N 98 18.212W
As you can see, I haven’t gone anywhere for a while. I have been working on the boat, however, and she is coming along quite nicely. The A/C powered refrigeration system is back on line. Working on the generator is very hard on my back, so I decided to fix some other stuff while getting my back in shape again. Nobody seems to like this refrigeration system. I had a couple of repair guys come and look at it, but they didn’t want to work on it. I went and found the adapters that I needed to hook up my gauges and diagnosed its problem. The system was pumping gas through the system, but high side pressure would not come up. Getting parts is out of the question, so I took the expansion valve out and blew some cleaner through it, put it back together and charged up the system, and I now have a fridge that goes both ways, AC and DC. What really is nice is the fact that when I run the engine now, I also run the 110 system, using the inverter. Things get much colder much quicker, thusly saving diesel fuel. The cold plates do a much better job of staying cold too, so now refrigerator run time is down to twice a day, unless it’s really hot day, then it’s three times. I also have fixed a couple of electrical problems so the batteries are charging faster than they were too. Unlike most cruising sailboats, the only means of charging batteries is to burn diesel fuel, either main engine or generator must be run. We have no solar or wind generators. We’re too fast for that stuff!!
I have been swimming routinely keeping the bottom clean. The water is very healthy here with lots of fish and lots of invertebrate life too. The prop and the shaft grow barnacles very quickly as well as the very bottom of the keel where the paint has been scraped off. The waterline on the port side usually faces away from the sun, so the grassy moss is a constant problem over there. It is very good exercise cleaning it, and I enjoy being in the water every couple of days. Yesterday I saw a group of about 6 or eight jellyfish riding along in the current as the tide was going out, and everyday I can see very large schools of small fish hanging out under the boat. Sometimes a school of larger ones come and start feeding. It looks like the water is boiling when that happens.
This morning when I called Clara, she surprised me with a whole gang of people to talk with. That really made my day, as I have been homesick for the last few days. I sure do miss the Fireplug gang. Everyone there sure is wonderful. I heard that Jessica is almost as tall as her Mom, and quite a pretty young lady with very long hair. You go Girl!!
Winter time here is called the northeast monsoon. Nobody has told the wind that yet. The bay in which I am anchored is open to the west. When the wind comes from the west, and the tide is running hard, I lay ninety degrees to the tide and if it’s really windy, sometimes the boat rolls fifteen or twenty degrees on the waves. Because of the shape of the bay, the incoming tide creates big rolling swell, especially the last forty-five minutes of flood. Today is one of those days, and pretty windy so I’m rolling a bit as well as dancing hard on the anchor rode. Doesn’t really bother me, except for having to repair a lot of typos because I miss the keys sometimes.
Tomorrow I have to do the visa run to Burma again. I did get some English newspapers and magazines yesterday, so at least I’ll have a little something to read this time. While signing up for that, I also have the travel agent putting together a trip to Bangkok for me to renew my passport at the US Embassy. That will be the next exciting trip.
I did a little reading and I’m sure you trivia buffs already know that the earth is roughly 24,900 miles around at the equator. I am halfway around the world from all of you, so that is roughly 12,500 miles. I just kind of roughly plotted a quick sail home, and with the obstacles in the way, it’s around 20,000 miles of sailing from here to Fort Lauderdale. I never thought about that before, and just thought it was interesting.
I want to thank my brother Keith for his supportive E-mail. My big sister Chris I want to thank also for her very welcomed New Year's e-mail. I don’t mention much about Family, but I do want them all to know that they are in my thoughts a lot. I will try and be better with personal contact. Extended time away from civilization as we all know it is really good for the soul, and really makes me think about how lucky I really am to have the friends and family that I have and I love all of you! Got a little emotional there, Hope you all don’t mind. At this point, I’d like to ask you guys to please take a minute or two and add some comments. It is always nice to hear from friends, and I think it helps spice up this blog page too. Just remember to keep it more or less PG rated as I hope there are some young impressionable minds reading this too.
I have been swimming routinely keeping the bottom clean. The water is very healthy here with lots of fish and lots of invertebrate life too. The prop and the shaft grow barnacles very quickly as well as the very bottom of the keel where the paint has been scraped off. The waterline on the port side usually faces away from the sun, so the grassy moss is a constant problem over there. It is very good exercise cleaning it, and I enjoy being in the water every couple of days. Yesterday I saw a group of about 6 or eight jellyfish riding along in the current as the tide was going out, and everyday I can see very large schools of small fish hanging out under the boat. Sometimes a school of larger ones come and start feeding. It looks like the water is boiling when that happens.
This morning when I called Clara, she surprised me with a whole gang of people to talk with. That really made my day, as I have been homesick for the last few days. I sure do miss the Fireplug gang. Everyone there sure is wonderful. I heard that Jessica is almost as tall as her Mom, and quite a pretty young lady with very long hair. You go Girl!!
Winter time here is called the northeast monsoon. Nobody has told the wind that yet. The bay in which I am anchored is open to the west. When the wind comes from the west, and the tide is running hard, I lay ninety degrees to the tide and if it’s really windy, sometimes the boat rolls fifteen or twenty degrees on the waves. Because of the shape of the bay, the incoming tide creates big rolling swell, especially the last forty-five minutes of flood. Today is one of those days, and pretty windy so I’m rolling a bit as well as dancing hard on the anchor rode. Doesn’t really bother me, except for having to repair a lot of typos because I miss the keys sometimes.
Tomorrow I have to do the visa run to Burma again. I did get some English newspapers and magazines yesterday, so at least I’ll have a little something to read this time. While signing up for that, I also have the travel agent putting together a trip to Bangkok for me to renew my passport at the US Embassy. That will be the next exciting trip.
I did a little reading and I’m sure you trivia buffs already know that the earth is roughly 24,900 miles around at the equator. I am halfway around the world from all of you, so that is roughly 12,500 miles. I just kind of roughly plotted a quick sail home, and with the obstacles in the way, it’s around 20,000 miles of sailing from here to Fort Lauderdale. I never thought about that before, and just thought it was interesting.
I want to thank my brother Keith for his supportive E-mail. My big sister Chris I want to thank also for her very welcomed New Year's e-mail. I don’t mention much about Family, but I do want them all to know that they are in my thoughts a lot. I will try and be better with personal contact. Extended time away from civilization as we all know it is really good for the soul, and really makes me think about how lucky I really am to have the friends and family that I have and I love all of you! Got a little emotional there, Hope you all don’t mind. At this point, I’d like to ask you guys to please take a minute or two and add some comments. It is always nice to hear from friends, and I think it helps spice up this blog page too. Just remember to keep it more or less PG rated as I hope there are some young impressionable minds reading this too.
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