Summertime on Kent Island: 7/16 - 7/18

—Blogpost written by Bob 

Friday, July 16  

Slightly overcast and partly sunny was the order of the morning.  The expected high temperature for the day was 91 degrees and there was virtually no chance of rain (4%), according to WeatherUnderground.

Lola laying on her little
bed on the port side
of the main salon.

I hoped to get a call from Fawcetts this morning that my five new lights and the three teak corners (I already have one teak corner) are in the store ready for my pick-up.  (I would gladly fight the weekend beach traffic to go pick them up so that I can complete our main salon refurbishment.)

Kali at 9-1/2 weeks, still in the cattery.  
Her eye color has recently changed
from blue to greenish gold.

About 10:30 AM I got tired of waiting and I called Fawcetts—both orders had arrived and were ready for pickup!  So, battling the Route 50 beach traffic, we were off to Annapolis by car at 11:15 AM.  (Actually the eastbound beach traffic was much worse on our return trip.) 

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In the late afternoon, we had a WhatsApp conference call with Beto, a friend of our potential landlord, in San Miguel de Allende, viewing the apartment we are currently considering for 6 months.  Beto spoke very good English and was very helpful.  The one-bedroom pet-friendly apartment was very basic.  The owner is American and is currently in the United States. 

The high season for rentals in San Miguel de Allende is October thru March, the exact time we are trying to rent.  We have been pursuing several different rental properties, missing out on some that were more luxurious and in greater demand.  Consequently, I feel somewhat trigger happy on this one, even though it may be a little more primitive than we planned.  The monthly rent is only $550, all inclusive.  While the rent is very reasonable, we will still have significant ongoing costs (mostly storage costs for our boat and our so-called “permanent belongings”) here in Maryland.

Arranging a rental in Mexico has been more difficult than I had imagined, mostly because it is so far away (and there is a language and culture barrier).

Saturday, July 17

An 8-knot southerly breeze kept the day bearable, despite the high temperature (91 degrees in the afternoon).

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We spent two hours of our morning installing two of the new reading lights in the main salon, only to discover that they appeared too yellow--the frequency of the light was about 3000 Kelvin and I think that 6000 Kelvin would be better.   So, I searched for "cool white" LED bulbs to make the change--I ordered some on eBay that might work.

The original LED light bulb had a 7/8" diameter
disc and a 1-3/8 inches overall length.  
(I think it was rated at 200
lumens or 2W.)

It was simply too hot outside to work on my teak frame for around the camera cabinet.  I spent some time planning the project and I now feel that I have to trim the straight ends of the corner pieces.  Tomorrow was expected to be cooler and a nicer day to work outside--so, I will start this project tomorrow.

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In the early evening we took down our forepeak tent because of an approaching thunderstorm.  The limit of our forepeak tent is about 15 knots of wind and we were expecting up to 19 knots.

Sunday, July 18

True to expectation, today was cooler outside.  A nice cool 12-knot breeze (gusting to nearly 17 knots) was blowing out of the west as I put up our forepeak tent.  The humidity was very low which made being outside even more pleasant.

I watched Lola during her outside time in the morning and several times she rolled around on the cabin top, wanting attention.  Of course, the minute I was distracted by my teak frame project, she went on a walkabout on the dock but she promptly returned (well, not exactly promptly, more like “meandered” back) to the boat when I clapped my hands.

In the morning, I labored over the decision whether or not to cut the teak corners (of the teak frame I was making) to as close to a 90-degree arc as possible.  One minute I decided to try cut them with a manual miter box saw and the next minute I decided to just keep them as they are and deal with the possibility of joints that may be slightly off square.  In the end I decided to try the corners as they are—I could always revert back the other way but not visa versa.  (If I had decided to cut the corners, I could have screwed them up royally because I simply didn’t have the means at hand to do it correctly.)

Rounded teak corners sitting
loosely in frame jig.

When Maggie returned from her morning walk, I still hadn’t made any progress on my teak frame but it was time to “get cracking” and cut some of the straight sections to length.

Maggie fixed our "Lazy KETO" breakfast this
morning--the cantaloupe is not exactly
per KETO guidelines.  We are no
longer logging our meals.

I started out by cutting the five foot piece of straight teak molding in half so it was easier to handle.  Then I cut one piece at a time, after measuring very carefully.  I glued one pice at a time using West System G/5 5-minute epoxy and the assembly in the frame jig.  The glued joints looked terrible—I realized at this point that a lot of sanding would be required after the epoxy was fully cured.

The last piece of straight molding was
epoxied in place at this point.

I sanded the teak frame, first with my orbital sander using 100-grit sanding pads to make it even and smooth.  There were still some joints that needed to be filled—so, I applied thickened epoxy to the few spots where crevices existed.  I rubbed the epoxied surfaces with a paper towel before curing to keep them as smooth as possible.

By 5 PM the thickened epoxy was completely dry and I again sanded—this time with a vibratory sander and 220-grit sandpaper.   Next, I sanded by hand for a couple hours with progressively finer sandpaper until I had a very smooth surface.  Then I applied two coats of (WATCO cherry) stain, wiping the excess off after 15 minutes after each coat.  (Staining is necessary to make all the various pieces of teak look similar and to match the other teak used in our boat.  I can’t apply varnish for 72 hours.)

Until our next blogpost, stay tuned…

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