Summer in Baltimore
June 8 thru June 11
—Blogpost written by Bob
Late yesterday (after I published our blogpost) the stainless steel fittings for the additional bimini struts (#6 and #7) arrived and I was able to cut the stainless steel tubing and affix the additional struts.
 |
| There are now two diagonal struts like the one in the foreground, one on each side. These struts added a lot of stability to the bimini frame. |
The two additional struts add quite a bit of rigidity to the bimini frame. I hope that's the last of the struts!
 |
| The bimini fittings that make the installation of the struts easier--they clamp around the existing structure. |
Saturday, June 8
As we walked up to the boater's lounge for a light breakfast, the sky was overcast and it was relatively cool. The continental breakfast every Saturday morning is one of the things we really like about this marina. (A lot of marinas seem to be doing this now to enhance relationships between slip holders.)
On our agenda for the day is retracting the anchor chain with its newly painted markers, cleaning the barbecue grill and and installing the new grill cover. Nothing was very strenuous for the day.
For dinner we had the remaining leftovers of Maggie's lobster mac-n-cheese--it was delicious! We will be repeating that dish over and over again!
The sky was mostly overcast and the sun was mostly absent as the outside temperature cooled down quite a bit from the last couple days. It was actually pleasant outside.
This morning I pulled apart the instrument pod and tried to find the errant cabling that is preventing the AIS from sending signals to our primary chart plotter at the helm. (Along the way, I found and fixed a loose ground wire that was preventing our wind instrument from working!) One of the things I found was a questionable and unnecessary splice in a network cable--I ordered a duplicate cable on Amazon since I could get it here in one day. I also found a heavy cable from the chart plotter that was previously used for the NMEA 0183 interface for the previous AIS receiver--this was n e me feel optimistic about finding a solution.
The spider plant shown above was one of two that Maggie recently started from a bigger spider plant. One of the things I miss by living on a boat is playing in soil, planting things, etc. The spider plant brings a little of that need to have soil around us back. Growing up I was never one to spend much time around a garden but later in life I planted a lot of shrubbery and trees around our land-based home in Annapolis.
I have been thinking about other things that I have really liked that I no longer have and decided to get back. One of the things I have missed ever since I sold it was my Nikon 85mm f1.4 lens--it was the best camera lens I have ever owned. Today, I bought a used one (identical to my old one) on eBay. I hope my new one is as great as I remember my old one was.
Recently I sold a lot of things on eBay: a SIGMA 120-300mm f2.8 lens, a MONFROTTO camera tripod, a nice camera backpack, and my old AIS receiver. So, I had plenty of funds to buy back my favorite camera lens--it should arrive on Thursday! Now, you can expect an improvement in my photos in this blog!
On a whim I also purchased a used right-angle viewer for my Nikon D700 DSLR--it mounts on the camera so that the view in front of the camera is actually seen from above the camera. In a way this is reminiscent of older cameras that were viewed from the top. I hope to create some more interesting viewpoints using this right-angle viewer.
I was able to spend some time planning a fold-down table for Maggie's new sewing machine--it will be installed in the companionway area where the quarter berth can be used as a seat for the little table. When not in use, it will fold down against the teak bulkhead.
Today was an "easy" day but every once in a while I really need "easy" days.
Since it's Monday, we're driving to Annapolis. What a great way to spend a rainy day!
As I was driving to/from Annapolis today I was daydreaming about the photos I will create with my new/old camera lens. The aspect of this new lens that I like the most is the ability to have a very narrow focal range and render the remainder of the image out of focus (The creamy out of focus area is called "bokeh.") It will have to wait until Thursday.
Meanwhile, we got everything we needed in Annapolis, except a suitable (and reasonably priced) cockpit table to use as Maggie's new sewing table. However, we found a counter top (that was used with our old stove) in our storage unit--this will make a nice base for the new table (and it will look like it belongs on this boat since it matches other countertop surfaces).
I picked up an outlet enclosure box at Home Depot that will serve our needs well for the new outlet I'm adding near the new sewing table. What makes it so suitable is that it will mount from the outside of the panel and it's shallow (only 1-3/8" deep).
At Fawcetts, I picked up some teak outlet plates which I will be staining (to look like the rest of our teak) and varnishing over the remainder of the week. This entire project (the sewing table) was not one that I envisioned during the winter--it's a totally new project.
Of course, I intended to install the new outlet and replace the outlet in the head late this afternoon but that didn't happen because of an impromptu (well, not completely impromptu--it was just poorly advertised) social gathering in the boater's lounge at 5:30 PM. It was organized by the "Old Ladies Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club" but husbands were invited (and I needed a break).
At about 4:30 PM the rain stopped and the sun came out--it was very humid for a while. The rain was expected to start back up again later in the evening and into tomorrow morning. Our cats didn't get outside at all today--I'll make it up to them tomorrow.
It took approximately 3-1/2 hours to get to the point of an operational electrical outlet, less installation of the teak switch plate. (The switch plate is being varnished and not ready for installation.) Not bad for a boat project!
On a positive note, I got the new AIS working with our primary chart plotter. When I replaced the spliced network spur line (between the chart plotter and the SeaTalk-to-SeaTalkNG converter) with a new cable, it worked fine. So for now, I have to conclude that the problem was a bad splice in the network spur cable.
So, I'm going to end this blogpost on the above positive note and a photo of the second coat of varnish on the teak switch plates. (They will be completely finished on Friday evening.)
Stay tuned for more summer boat projects...
Thanks for following our blog!
On our agenda for the day is retracting the anchor chain with its newly painted markers, cleaning the barbecue grill and and installing the new grill cover. Nothing was very strenuous for the day.
 |
| Maggie is adjusting the straps on the new grill cover she recently made. |
 |
| Maggie installed a plastic liner in the new grill cover so that grease from the grill does not stain the cover. |
For dinner we had the remaining leftovers of Maggie's lobster mac-n-cheese--it was delicious! We will be repeating that dish over and over again!
Sunday, June 9
The sky was mostly overcast and the sun was mostly absent as the outside temperature cooled down quite a bit from the last couple days. It was actually pleasant outside.
This morning I pulled apart the instrument pod and tried to find the errant cabling that is preventing the AIS from sending signals to our primary chart plotter at the helm. (Along the way, I found and fixed a loose ground wire that was preventing our wind instrument from working!) One of the things I found was a questionable and unnecessary splice in a network cable--I ordered a duplicate cable on Amazon since I could get it here in one day. I also found a heavy cable from the chart plotter that was previously used for the NMEA 0183 interface for the previous AIS receiver--this was n e me feel optimistic about finding a solution.
 |
| A new and vibrant spider plant is now growing near our companionway. |
The spider plant shown above was one of two that Maggie recently started from a bigger spider plant. One of the things I miss by living on a boat is playing in soil, planting things, etc. The spider plant brings a little of that need to have soil around us back. Growing up I was never one to spend much time around a garden but later in life I planted a lot of shrubbery and trees around our land-based home in Annapolis.
I have been thinking about other things that I have really liked that I no longer have and decided to get back. One of the things I have missed ever since I sold it was my Nikon 85mm f1.4 lens--it was the best camera lens I have ever owned. Today, I bought a used one (identical to my old one) on eBay. I hope my new one is as great as I remember my old one was.
 |
| The used NIKON 85mm f1.4 lens that I purchased on eBay this morning. |
Recently I sold a lot of things on eBay: a SIGMA 120-300mm f2.8 lens, a MONFROTTO camera tripod, a nice camera backpack, and my old AIS receiver. So, I had plenty of funds to buy back my favorite camera lens--it should arrive on Thursday! Now, you can expect an improvement in my photos in this blog!
On a whim I also purchased a used right-angle viewer for my Nikon D700 DSLR--it mounts on the camera so that the view in front of the camera is actually seen from above the camera. In a way this is reminiscent of older cameras that were viewed from the top. I hope to create some more interesting viewpoints using this right-angle viewer.
----------
I was able to spend some time planning a fold-down table for Maggie's new sewing machine--it will be installed in the companionway area where the quarter berth can be used as a seat for the little table. When not in use, it will fold down against the teak bulkhead.
----------
Today was an "easy" day but every once in a while I really need "easy" days.
Monday, June 10
Since it's Monday, we're driving to Annapolis. What a great way to spend a rainy day!
 |
A slightly skewed screen shot of today's agenda. If I fail to achieve any item, I move it to the next day. |
As I was driving to/from Annapolis today I was daydreaming about the photos I will create with my new/old camera lens. The aspect of this new lens that I like the most is the ability to have a very narrow focal range and render the remainder of the image out of focus (The creamy out of focus area is called "bokeh.") It will have to wait until Thursday.
----------
Meanwhile, we got everything we needed in Annapolis, except a suitable (and reasonably priced) cockpit table to use as Maggie's new sewing table. However, we found a counter top (that was used with our old stove) in our storage unit--this will make a nice base for the new table (and it will look like it belongs on this boat since it matches other countertop surfaces).
-----------
I picked up an outlet enclosure box at Home Depot that will serve our needs well for the new outlet I'm adding near the new sewing table. What makes it so suitable is that it will mount from the outside of the panel and it's shallow (only 1-3/8" deep).
 |
| What makes this outlet enclosure so neat is that it mounts flush from the outside and is only 1-3/8" deep. |
At Fawcetts, I picked up some teak outlet plates which I will be staining (to look like the rest of our teak) and varnishing over the remainder of the week. This entire project (the sewing table) was not one that I envisioned during the winter--it's a totally new project.
----------
Of course, I intended to install the new outlet and replace the outlet in the head late this afternoon but that didn't happen because of an impromptu (well, not completely impromptu--it was just poorly advertised) social gathering in the boater's lounge at 5:30 PM. It was organized by the "Old Ladies Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club" but husbands were invited (and I needed a break).
----------
At about 4:30 PM the rain stopped and the sun came out--it was very humid for a while. The rain was expected to start back up again later in the evening and into tomorrow morning. Our cats didn't get outside at all today--I'll make it up to them tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 11
It rained lightly all through last night. The sound of the rain on our cabin top barely penetrated the white noise of a small fan that was running in our v-berth. (Of course, when our A/C kicked on it completely drowned out the sound of the rain on the cabin top.) The rain stopped by daybreak.
We recently discovered a small rainwater leak in the cabinet in the head—the small amount of rainwater could be coming from a loose cockpit drain hose or from one or more bolts that hold down the genoa track that could have loosened over time. I’ve just added finding and fixing this leak to my summer project list.
 |
| A stack of wet coffee filters that were stored in the cabinet in the head, evidence of the rainwater leak. |
I woke very early in the morning (3 AM) thinking about the neat plastic enclosure box (yes, I'm a little crazy) that I recently picked up for the new electrical outlet I’m about to install. There is another electrical outlet under the port settee where the wiring is exposed on the inside (we store canned goods in this area)—I have to get a similar enclosure box and correct this situation before someone (like me) gets accidentally shocked. All of the original electrical outlets (vintage 1983) have metal enclosure boxes—I really should change all of them (4 others, 5 in all) to the same type of shallow plastic enclosures as a safety improvement. This is the type of project that consumes a lot of my time and there is very little to show for it but I feel the need to do it.
It must be nice to be free of nagging little boat projects. I can’t imagine myself having a large wooden sailboat (or even a fiberglass boat with teak decks) where leakage is a normal everyday occurrence. I think I would go even crazier.
----------
By the way, I have recently found a vlog on YouTube called "Finding Simon" about a young Canadian guy (named Simon, obviously) who bought a 46-foot long plywood catamaran without seeing it first and is now restoring it while living aboard. Simon is very good at capturing his emotions while taking on this behemoth project. Watch a couple episodes--I'm sure you will like it too! You can find his introductory episode at this link.
----------
The following several photo's tell the story of my installation of the new electrical outlet just below the quarter berth for Maggie's sewing machine.
 |
| I drew the outline of the required cutout in pencil and then drilled the corner holes. |
 |
| I cut the hole by plunge cutting with my Fein vibrating saw. The panel was constructed from 1/2-inch marine plywood. |
 |
| I placed the enclosure box in position and drilled pilot holes for the mounting screws. |
 |
| I inserting the four flat head mounting screws. |
 |
| The enclosure box is now mounted. |
 |
| The electrical outlet installed and wired, ready for the teak switch plate. |
It took approximately 3-1/2 hours to get to the point of an operational electrical outlet, less installation of the teak switch plate. (The switch plate is being varnished and not ready for installation.) Not bad for a boat project!
----------
On a positive note, I got the new AIS working with our primary chart plotter. When I replaced the spliced network spur line (between the chart plotter and the SeaTalk-to-SeaTalkNG converter) with a new cable, it worked fine. So for now, I have to conclude that the problem was a bad splice in the network spur cable.
----------
So, I'm going to end this blogpost on the above positive note and a photo of the second coat of varnish on the teak switch plates. (They will be completely finished on Friday evening.)
 |
| Applying the second coat of varnish on the switch plates as the sun is setting. |
Stay tuned for more summer boat projects...
Thanks for following our blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment