Progress

We spent 5 days in Millville from the evening of the 18th to the 23rd and I feel like we really accomplished a lot.

We left Jersey City early on Friday and made an evening of the 3rd Friday celebration in downtown Millville. The weather was beautiful and it was crowded.

On Saturday we'd planned to go to The Cape May Jazz Festival with the Baaklinis but they backed out when they found out it was an indoor affair. I didn't think C would want to come but he surprised us both when he told us he was coming. His interest didn't last but he was a good sport and didn't nag to leave. We liked all the bands but were especially impressed with the Charles Walker Blues Band and I bought one of their CDs.

Finished off the day in Cape May with a putt-putt golf game. I thought it would be payback for Chris because he had behaved so well but he wasn't that interested. On the other hand it was a turning point for me as I was unseated from my long winning streak. Mom took the competition by a stroke!

Repaired the broken handle on the toilet in the hall bathroom.

Cleaned a lot of upholstery on the boat and mounted a USB jack on the console to connect the heading sensor but didn't have the laptop with me to see if it would work. I'm eager to try it out this coming weekend.

Meanwhile K cleaned the top deck and has the starboard hull waxed with a good start on the port.

This year I asked the boat yard to paint as usual but Chris and I replaced the zincs ourselves. It was pretty easy and we can probably do it ourself from here on out.

I was surprised that the big zinc above the keel was $90 at the marine store so I shopped the web to get an idea of prices and it looks like we can get it for almost half the price at BoatZincs.com. Next year...

Discussed the swim platform with Ken and he won't admit that they're responsible for the damage. When the platform was re-attached they used round head screws in the coutersunk holes and cracked the fiberglass. We'll have another chance to discuss it when he presents the bill.

Boat Sheds Shrinkwrap

We left for Millville Thursday night and I "worked from home" on Friday. That Friday we cut the plastic off the boat. Chris did most all of it. Our goal for the afternoon was to just get the canvas up. We installed radar last year and now the canvas hangs down around the antenna because it was mounted on top of some of the snaps that had been used to attach the canvas. We'll talk to Eva and find out what she recommends to correct the problem.

In addition to the standard waxing and painting this spring there is an exhaust leak to be repaired on the starboard engine and the swim platform needs fiberglass work where they overtightened the screws last season. I noticed also that a teak board on the port gunwale had split. Maybe this gets put off to next season.

On Saturday we drove out to Balic Winery in a real downpour. We tasted some of the same wine that we'd had at Tuckerton and came away with a bottle of Alexander that Great to have with dinner that night. Unfortunately it had turned. I look forward to the other 2 bottles; Cabernet Sauvignon and Red Velvet.

There was no hot water so Kevie coaxed me downstairs to take a look at the HW heater. I had installed an X10 control box to turn the water heater off and on by remote control and one of the wires had arced where I spliced in the control box. Sunday I went off to Latorre hardware and bought a junction box and some romex. After mounting the box and running the replacement cable I buttoned it up and believe I've got an installation that won't burn down the house anytime soon.