Back at the boat

After being away from the boat for two weeks it was nice to get back on her.

Saturday started off with Susan doing some serious cleaning in the galley while I went through the lazarettes cleaning them out and culling the many extra life jackets we have on board. I saved 6 adult life jackets (plus the two inflatable Mustang ones we've bought) and 5 child / infant ones. Once my ski vest makes it to the boat we'll have 14 in total. I can't imagine EVER needing that many but it's good to be prepared. That's how many I saved. We took 11 to a resale shop (more on that a bit later) and then later found two more children's jackets we gave to T and Teri. My word! This boat had 22 life jackets, three throw boat cushions, a life ring and a horseshoe collar. 

A trip to West Marine after lunch to get a replacement exhaust hose for the generator and a few other small items (some stainless steel hose clamps to have as backup). The exhaust hose (hose because it carries both water and exhaust) was one of the items on the survey list that needed replacing. Before lunch we spent about an hour getting the old one off. The hose clamps were no problem but getting the hose unstuck from the exhaust manifold and muffler was no small task. There isn't much room to work there. Putting the new hose on took even longer. The hose has a metal coil running through it and the way the hose had to snake around in a very cramped space made it not one of the funnest tasks I've ever done. I said "I" but it was definitely not a one person job. Both Susan and I took turns trying to bend that hose around and both of us were sore the next day from all the contortions we'd put ourselves through. It is done now however!

We've seen and heard of a resale shop in Kemah so we took all our extra life jackets by there. What an amazing place. It was unbelievable all the stuff we saw in there. They have electronics, rudders, life rafts, scuba tanks, water skis. They have everything. We sold our life jackets for 50 cents a piece and bought some previously enjoyed stuff, like a baja filter for filtering diesel fuel when it comes with more water and trash than actual fuel. We'll be going back there to get more treasures.

Last time we were down we met Dave (Kona Breeze), a neighbor of ours. On Saturday he brought his better half, Kelly, by and we sat and talk with them for a while. On Sunday we met Bryan and Cindy, they're the couple with the new boat across the pier from us that were without a mast for a little bit. It has one now! They have sold their house and moved onto their boat. Saturday night was their first night aboard. Cindy works from home, now the boat, so hopefully they'll figure out the high speed internet thing before we need it. I hope, I hope!

We've met some really nice people that will be fun to spend some time with, swapping stories and plans. As if we didn't already look forward to getting to the boat as often as possible, our new neighbors make it even more so.

Fortunately or unfortunately we didn't have time to try out the bosun's chair. There is still a light about half way up the mast that needs to be replaced. We've been reading and studying on how to safely go up the mast but we plan to make the first excursion only about 2 or 3 feet to make sure we can get each other up and back down again without causing bodily harm. Allen has made it clear he wants to be there for our first ascent. The funny grin has me a bit worried about just why he wants to be there.

This weekend the weather is supposed to be nice so we may have to find some time between working on stuff to take the boat out into the bay. This time maybe even the sails will come out!

Sorry it took so long to get this post out, work keeps getting in the way of important stuff.  :-)

Brian