Doing the sanding thing
After a miserable few days of record rainfall, including a complete washout of a weekend, I was able to work on the boat today.
Below is the hatch from the entryway to the cabin. I'm sanding it so I can put a new varnished finish on it. I use Sikken's Cetol, which is a fine sealant and looks great.
I'm using the quarter-sheet electric sander. It works great, but it's so frickin' loud I can't hear my Mp3 player over the noise. Maybe I should get my ear protectors on for this.
You probably noticed the old head in the picture. I'm using is as a convenient seat while sanding the hatch; and yes, I put the cover down. I think I'm going to recycle it into a planter for Joyce. I'm just too attached to it to throw it away. You know how you can feel sentimental for an old toilet, right?
No?
OK, nevermind...I'm tossing it. :)
Working "undercover"...
Literally!
Here's the new door I cut into the shrink-wrap cover, so I can get in and start working on the boat. I need to inject some resin into a spot in the cockpit where a teak footrest has loosened up, and it helps if the boat remains dry for this.
This is what it looks like inside. Today it's a breezy day, but if it was a warm calm day it would be about 100 degrees in there.
Another fun job is replacing the head with the new one I just bought. Sure, they might be tasks on the boat that are
more gross, but I haven't heard of them yet. Besides, it'll be nice to start the season with a brand spanking-new head in the boat.
By next week I'll have the cover off, and then the "real" work will begin.
The 2006 Official Beer of Full Tilt
One of the tasks I take very seriously is selecting the
Official Beer of Full Tilt. As the old saying goes, an army travels on it's stomach...well, Full Tilt travels on it's beer.
Previous year's honorees included
Michelob Light,
Hammer 'n Nail, and
Labatt's Blue. Making the selection isn't a chore we take lightly. For the last six months Joyce and I have been sampling brews from all over New England, searching for the perfect beer for this season's sailing.
We're proud to announce that the winner is
Newport Storm Hurricane Amber Ale, brewed by the
Coastal Extreme Brewing Company, located in Middletown, Rhode Island; just a stone's throw from the sailing capital of New England,
Newport.
This beer is widely available in Rhode Island, but a little more difficult to find the farther away you get. My local liquor store was able to order it, and it's becoming very popular; now they stock it along with the better known brews.
As an added bonus, the insides of the bottle caps are inscribed with over 300 different sayings from popular movies and shows, with "beer" substituted for a word in the phrase. It's fun trying to guess the movie from which the line was taken. Some examples:
"My god...it's full of beer!"
"Hey everybody, we're all gonna get beer!"
"Say hello to my lil' beer!"Believe me, there will be times when we're becalmed, and guessing the movie titles from the bottle caps will provide endless entertainment. Plus, if we drink enough of them, we won't care about the lack of wind.
The season is getting closer and closer...
Even though it's brisk and cloudy today, the weather will get warmer soon and I'll start working on the boat. In the meantime, I'm getting a lot of household chores done. Yesterday the landscaper brought in a 50 feet cherry picker truck and trimmed a bunch of branches off the trees near our house. And today my dad and me made three trips to the dump to get rid of all the cuttings. So, the cool weather is fine...I'm getting a lot done.
But in a couple months, THIS is what I'll be seeing. I took this picture at Port Jeff last June, while we were hooked up to our mooring. Hopefully we'll get over there as much this season.
With scenes like that, it's easy to find excuses to go there.
You probably noticed the old head in the picture. I'm using is as a convenient seat while sanding the hatch; and yes, I put the cover down. I think I'm going to recycle it into a planter for Joyce. I'm just too attached to it to throw it away. You know how you can feel sentimental for an old toilet, right?
