Monday, January 6, 2014

PLANS CHANGE

5 Jan 2014
Somewhere over the Persian Gulf





On the way back from home, over Afghanistan....it looks MUCH better covered in snow.



Well, I am sitting at 38,000 feet over the Persian Gulf on my way back to Kandahar, Afghanistan.  I haven’t slept in 40+ hours and my back is killing me……yes, “I would like a little WHINE to go with my cheese.” LOL.

It has been a while since I made a blog entry….a lot has happened since then.  I had to take emergency leave and go home from Afghanistan to be with my Dad.  I won’t go into all the details, but he is 88 years old and he has had two major stomach surgeries within a week.  I was blessed to be able to spend some time with him, and he did leave the hospital a couple of days ago (the day after I left to go back to AFG).  He needs to gain a bunch of weight and regain his strength in a big way.  Pray with me for his recovery. 

Since this is a sailing blog (even though we aren’t, technically, sailing yet), I will get back to sailing stuff.  Our original plan was for me to come back to the States in February (on a full 30-day break) and take a trip up to Cleveland, see the boat, and sign the acceptance papers.  That ain’t gonna happen now.  The trip to Cleveland part, that is.  I used up half of my earned leave on this trip, so another trip in Feb is out.  I called the broker and told him the situation, and, that based on the survey and Dahleen’s visit to see the boat, we would go ahead and sign the papers now.  SO, having done that, all we lack is paying the balance of the money and closing in mid-May. 

Well, that is not all we lack….I should say that is all we lack until the boat is ours.  We have much to do in June after taking possession.  In the last blog post, I mentioned some of the things that we needed/wanted to do to the boat to make a ‘cruiser’ out of it.  I am currently trying to prioritize those things.....the things we must do before we sail away from Cleveland in June for the Chesapeake, and the things we will be able to do on the yard in Deltaville, VA in November when I get back, and finally the things we will do in Georgetown, SC next December/January timeframe. 

What follows is NOT an all inclusive list and is subject to change, but it is the current plan:

CLEVELAND, OH:
Bimini frame and canvas…..made and installed
Fresh water tanks……thoroughly cleaned and filled
Fuel filter polishing/system installed and fuel polished
Engine raw water pump impellor replaced
Anchor chain (300’) installed
Anchors switched out….our 66# Rocna put on board
Rebuild the outboard carburetor (doing that now in Kandahar)
Put dinghy and outboard on the boat


DELTAVILLE, VA:

Address gelcoat crack in rudder
Sand and redo bottom paint
Install thru-hulls and seacocks for genset and h2o-maker
Tune the standing rigging


GEORGETOWN, SC:

Install genset
Install watermaker
Install radar
Install solar panels
Install wind generator
Install SSB radio


POINTS SOUTH:

Everything else


Anyone who has ever owned a cruising yacht knows that “everything” NEVER gets completed.  But, that’s OK….we know that one of the definitions of cruising is “sailboat maintenance in exotic places”.  Are Cleveland, Deltaville, and Georgetown exotic places?????  I am confused. 



 
  

4 comments:

  1. Ahhhh...I remember arriving at my boat with the list of things to accomplish. It's been just over a month and I think I may have manged one or two of them...and am thinking some of the others are now pushed well down on the list of priorities. Seems every time I turn around (or take something apart/try to fix it) I find 2 or 3 more things that need to be addressed.

    Indeed, I don't think a boat is ever "done". Will be interesting to see your perspective on this list after you take possession of the boat and start working on her. ;-)

    Good luck with the projects!

    -Mike
    ThisRatSailed.blogspot.com

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  2. Don't forget satielite thingy for wifi so u can keep us all updated!!!!

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