JRWave's Sailing Experiences Old and New

Seems like in order to do one thing I must do another, then another, and another. I was sick through the holidays, this is the first day I’ve felt better. Officially a day of rest for us, but a lot of rest I’ve had so I will leave my ‘accounting’ toils to the week ahead (accounting is my profession) and do what I find is more pleasurable efforts. Debatably, as you will find out below.

Land Log – Salut – Sunday afternoon, January 2nd, 2011:

First I need an area where I can oil, varnish, and work on the boat parts that are removable. My wife says, “You may not do any of that in the house!” My next choice is the garage, but, we don’t have a garage. So I eyed our relatively spacious back porch for an area. No good – it’s full of household stuff, plus my wife is considering using it for sewing and other projects.

The Shed:

What about the back yard shed? It is 9 feet by 12 feet. Possibly! I cleaned it out fairly well last fall and when I looked at it today I was pleasantly surprised at how much I earlier accomplished. So, after a bit of additional organizing, I think it will suffice for several of the projects required in to restore Salut.

But alas, the shed has no power – no light, no heat, so none of my regular power tools will run there. A riding lawn mower that takes up the entire middle floor space of the shed is another obstacle. Perhaps I can sell the riding lawn mower since we only have a modest yard. Perhaps then even Pogo can fit in the shed! Hmmm.. More on Pogo..

Decision making time for the shed: For lighting I’ll wire it for 12 volt lighting. For power tools and heat I will run an extension cord from the house when I need those things. That’s now a project before the projects on the boat. At least I won’t need to add an additional circuit or dig a trench for the line which would be too much – the other work would stall if I were to do that.

Main Sheet and Battery:

My wife is sick today which means I must attend to monitoring and supervising the girls (ages 10 and 11). There are meals to organize, and miscellaneous fights to settle. Nothing serious, just distractions at roughly half-hour frequencies. Somehow I found slices of time to begin charging the marine battery and remove the latch from shed to take to the locksmith during the week to replace missing keys.

I began washing the main sheet in a large bucket using laundry soap. This line was left in the bottom of the cockpit and it grew dark, dirty, and slimy with algae. I took a picture of its configuration as it was in between the blocks before I removed it on my last trip to the boat.

 

After “hand” washing the rope, I rinsed it and began to soak it in a, “safe / scented,” laundry bleach. Some say bleach may be too hard on lines but I’m willing to take the risk. A new main sheet is not too costly, but first it’s worth a try reconditioning the old one. There will be plenty of other expenses later.

Tiller Handle:

There’s just not enough time in the day to do much at all. I seemed to run out of time to work with the tiller handle, except to use it as a stick to stir the main sheet while it was in the bucket. At least there was some “synergy” there. I am hoping to modify this section of the log to say that I completed sanding and cleaning the teakwood in preparation of oiling and staining it. I am grateful to own it though. A new teak handle would over $100 to purchase. In the shed I found teakwood oil and Verathane for the tried and true finish that I had relied on with my earlier boats. Another boon. The two cans of oil (Watkins) are probably more than 30 years old! I’ll do a test patch with it before I rely upon it for the entire handle.