last weekend in the house
Tom has gone to Palacios to finish wiring and other things. The bimini looks great (story to follow soon)... I'm packing up to go and will drive down with the kids this weekend.
We needed a bimini, as we'll be in the sun continuously for about four months. Skin cancer is a very real concern so this isn't a luxury issue. But it was expensive and everyone we talked to dragged their feet at doing anything remotely custom (Tom talked to everyone from welders to sportfishing shops to people on the internet. Jim and Linda offered to help with the cost, but we were still being told it would take far more time than we can afford to wait. We had decided to hold off and see if we could salvage something from a hurricane damaged boat somewhere along the line.
By our good fortune, Dennis (manager of Serendipity, already our benefactor of work space and loaner of tools) had a bimini frame from a boat whose owner passed away not long ago. We climbed aboard the sadly disintegrating vessel, and measured it. Almost exactly the size of the custom frame we wanted. Tom asked how much he wanted, and Dennis just said "Take it, it was originally mine and I was just loaning it to him anyway. Won't do much good where it is now." So all we had to do was order the fabric and sew a cover. Tom has done some similar things alreådy, ånd was able to pull it all together in a day. So don't let it be said we've had a "run of bad luck"...
As I mentioned before, the depth sounder has gone south, and needs to be replaced. We have never been happy with the in-hull transducer so the new one will be a conventional thru-hull. Which means a hole in the boat. Which means another haul out. Makes sense since we pulled out about a month ago and didn't think to check the instruments. Tom called the boatyeard to see if they will just pull it out long enough to drill the hole, probably 1/2 hour out of the water. But due to the bad weather Laddie had a backlog of boats (three) needing to be hauled, so the soonest will be Monday. Still, we are very close. Jim and Linda went down with Tom to help get ready.
It sounds like it's about to rain, and there's a tornado watch until later tonight. I want to pull in the scooters since we will be taking them in the van. Decided ythat bikes will just take up too much room. (later -- did that. as usual, once I prepare for a rainstorm it usually moves around us. But we're ready if it does come.
If you are a neighbor you will see the lights on. If the lights are out I have failed and may be leaving later than expected. I think I will make some more coffee.
Hope to post more very soon, even though it's busy here. Keep in touch!
Dana
PS Hey Becky, I'll have David and Arthur post something so Connor and Brandon can read it. :-)
We needed a bimini, as we'll be in the sun continuously for about four months. Skin cancer is a very real concern so this isn't a luxury issue. But it was expensive and everyone we talked to dragged their feet at doing anything remotely custom (Tom talked to everyone from welders to sportfishing shops to people on the internet. Jim and Linda offered to help with the cost, but we were still being told it would take far more time than we can afford to wait. We had decided to hold off and see if we could salvage something from a hurricane damaged boat somewhere along the line.
By our good fortune, Dennis (manager of Serendipity, already our benefactor of work space and loaner of tools) had a bimini frame from a boat whose owner passed away not long ago. We climbed aboard the sadly disintegrating vessel, and measured it. Almost exactly the size of the custom frame we wanted. Tom asked how much he wanted, and Dennis just said "Take it, it was originally mine and I was just loaning it to him anyway. Won't do much good where it is now." So all we had to do was order the fabric and sew a cover. Tom has done some similar things alreådy, ånd was able to pull it all together in a day. So don't let it be said we've had a "run of bad luck"...
As I mentioned before, the depth sounder has gone south, and needs to be replaced. We have never been happy with the in-hull transducer so the new one will be a conventional thru-hull. Which means a hole in the boat. Which means another haul out. Makes sense since we pulled out about a month ago and didn't think to check the instruments. Tom called the boatyeard to see if they will just pull it out long enough to drill the hole, probably 1/2 hour out of the water. But due to the bad weather Laddie had a backlog of boats (three) needing to be hauled, so the soonest will be Monday. Still, we are very close. Jim and Linda went down with Tom to help get ready.
It sounds like it's about to rain, and there's a tornado watch until later tonight. I want to pull in the scooters since we will be taking them in the van. Decided ythat bikes will just take up too much room. (later -- did that. as usual, once I prepare for a rainstorm it usually moves around us. But we're ready if it does come.
If you are a neighbor you will see the lights on. If the lights are out I have failed and may be leaving later than expected. I think I will make some more coffee.
Hope to post more very soon, even though it's busy here. Keep in touch!
Dana
PS Hey Becky, I'll have David and Arthur post something so Connor and Brandon can read it. :-)
posted by contrail at 10:00 pm
1 Comments:
Hi Dana, Tom, David, Arthur and Oliver!
It's so close now you can feel the waves splashing against the hull, can't you? Wow. I wish we were as close as you are. Your family seems such a blessing to help you in your adventure. I am so thankful we have become friends and I will miss you so much here at the harbor. I really will...
I finally got my own blog going after your inspiration on here. (It's not typed up too well but it has a couple pictures on it). www.benevolentjournies.blogspot.com
I hope that we can keep in touch with each other often.
You are a lovely family and I wish you the absolute best!
Fair winds!
Kyla
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