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January 26, 2001
I took a trip down to Oriental with an old friend, Jimmy Horn (best man in Ann
& mine wedding). It was cold today. I talked with Allen to get an update.
He expects to be through with the boat in late March. This suits my time
schedule fine. I have new sails ordered and they will not arrive until April.
I still have lots to do on the boat myself. The old drive shaft was pitted and had
to be cut twice to get it out. I saw the new drive shaft which had just
arrived. The prop should be ready by this time from being re-worked. The
bottom had been ground and was drying nicely. After surveying the boat, Jimmy and I
took a look at Annabelle II, checked into the Oriental Marina Motel and then headed to
M&M's to eat. After a long relaxing supper we came back to the room and watched
some TV before heading to sleep.
January 27, 2001
Jimmy and I did not wake up until 9:30AM - sleep like a log. We packed, ate
breakfast and went back to the boat. I took a number of measurements so I could work
on a few things at home. The new covers on the cushions looked good in the boat.
We left Oriental and ate in Kinston at King's Bar-b-Que. After dropping Jimmy
off at his house, I headed to the cloth shop and purchased batting for the cushions.
I proceeded to put it on the cushions done so far, using mono-filament fishing line
to sew the batting into place. I have finished all the drawings for the electronic
version of the Out Island 41 manual. I now need to find away to convert these
AutoCAD drawings to PDF format. Hopefully in another month the weather will break
and spring will start to arrive in Oriental and I can get back to work on the boat.
February 5, 2001
I finished the last of the cushions until I can get back down to the
boat. I need to set the last two cushions in place in order to match the
strips of the material. Having reached this point, I decided to start work
on the sail covers. I cut the main sail cover down the center to use as a
pattern for the new cover. I got both pieces cut and started hemming the
edges. As quick as it seems to be going it should not take but a couple of
evenings to finish. The hardest part is just dealing with the length of
this stiff material (Sunbrella) - the cover is over 12 feet long. After
the main sail cover there is the mizzen sail cover to do. With any luck I
should be done Saturday or Sunday. I have a couple more sewing projects
lined up after that - covers for the grill that mounts on the stern rail, a
cover for the outboard and a cover for the dingy. I have also spent some
time working on the windless. I purchased an electric windlass to replace
the manual windlass that came with the boat. I
am adding sensors to it, and some smarts in the form of a microprocessor, that
will measure the chain passing through the windlass so I will be able to tell
out much chain is out, or how close the anchor is to being all the way up.
February 23, 2001
The cats and I headed down today after lunch. This was there
first road trip to somewhere other than the vet's. Gabe yowled for the
first 1.5 hours and then settled down to once every few minutes. Kosh
stayed under a seat and never made a noise. Once on the boat they
both hid for a while, with Kosh venturing out first. The new prop shaft is
in along with the cutlass bearing and mid-shaft support bearing. I slipped
off the top step of the companion way ladder tonight - with boat shoes on.
I basically dropped straight down and hit the ladder with my back and arms.
a few good bruises except for one just to the left of the tip of my spinal
column - and it is down right ugly. I knew better than to try to navigate
that ladder not facing the ladder, but you can bet it will not happen again to
me and anyone on board Annabelle!
February 24, 2001
I managed to replace the AC wiring on the starboard side (stranded
rather than solid), and the DC wiring on 2/3's of the cabin light circuit.
So far so good.
February 25, 2001
After finishing a couple of items I packed the car, took a shower and
the cats and I headed for home. Gabe had quite gripping by the time we
reached New Bern. Otherwise an uneventful return home.
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