More Humor

A married Irishman went into the confessional and said to his
priest, 'I almost had an affair with another woman.'
The priest said, 'What do you mean, almost?'
The Irishman said, 'Well, we got undressed and rubbed together, but
then I stopped.'
The priest said, 'Rubbing together is the same as putting it in.
You're not to see that woman again. For your penance, say five Hail
Mary's and put $50 in the poor box.'
The Irishman left the confessional, said his prayers, and then walked
over to the poor box.
He paused for a moment and then started to leave.
The priest, who was watching, quickly ran over to him saying, 'I saw
that. You didn't put any money in the poor box!'
The Irishman replied, 'Yeah, but I rubbed the $50 on the box, and
according to you, that's the same as putting it in!'  *********************************************************
Lemon Squeeze
  There once was a religious young woman who went to Confession. Upon
entering the confessional, she said, 'Forgive me, Father, for I have
sinned.'*
The priest said, 'Confess your sins and be forgiven.'
The young woman said, 'Last night my boyfriend made mad passionate
love to me seven times.'
The priest thought long and hard and then said, 'Squeeze seven lemons
into a glass and then drink the juice.'
The young woman asked, 'Will this cleanse me of my sins?'
The priest said, 'No, but it will wipe that smile off of your face.'

********************************************************** Catholic Dog
Muldoon lived alone in the Irish countryside with only a pet dog for
company.One day the dog died, and Muldoon went to the parish priest
and asked, 'Father, my dog is dead. Could ya' be saying' a mass for
the poor creature?'
Father Patrick replied, 'I'm afraid not; we cannot have services for
an animal in the church. But there are some Baptists down the lane,
and there's no tellin' what they believe. Maybe they'll do something
for the creature.'
Muldoon said, 'I'll go right away Father. Do ya' think $5,000 is
enough to donate to them for the service?'
Father Patrick exclaimed, 'Sweet Mary, Mother of Jesus! Why didn't ya
tell me the dog was Catholic?
 ********************************************************
Donation
 Father O'Malley answers the phone. 'Hello, is this Father O'Malley?'
'It is!'
'This is the IRS. Can you help us?'
'I can!'*
'Do you know a Ted Houlihan?'
'I do!'
'Is he a member of your congregation? '
'He is!'
'Did he donate $10,000 to the church?'
'He will.'

****************************************************
Confession

 An elderly man walks into a confessional. The following conversation
ensues:
Man: 'I am 92 years old, have a wonderful wife of 70 years, many
children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Yesterday, I picked
up two college girls, hitch-hiking. We went to a motel, where I had
sex with each of them three times.'
Priest: 'Are you sorry for your sins?'
Man: 'What sins?'
Priest: 'What kind of a Catholic are you?'
 Man: 'I'm Jewish.'
Priest: 'Why are you telling me all this?'
Man: 'I'm 92 years old. I'm telling everybody!' **********************************************************
Brothel Trip
 An elderly man goes into a brothel and tells the madam he would like
a young girl for the night. Surprised, she looks at the ancient man
and asks how old he is.

'I'm 90 years old,' he says. '90?' replies the woman. 'Don't you realize you've had it?'
'Oh, sorry,' says the old man. 'How much do I owe you?' **************************************************************
Senility An elderly man went to his doctor and said, 'Doc, I think I'm getting senile.Several times lately, I have forgotten to zip up.' 'That's not
senility,' replied the doctor. 'Senility is when you forget to zip
down.' **
*********************************************************
Pest Control
A woman was having a passionate affair with an Irish inspector from a
pest-control company. One afternoon they were carrying on in the
bedroom together when her husband arrived home unexpectedly. 'Quick,' said the woman to the lover, 'into the closet!' and she
pushed him in the closet, stark naked.
The husband, however, became suspicious and after a search of the
bedroom discovered the man in the closet.**'Who are you?' he asked him.
'I'm an inspector from Bugs-B-Gone, ' said the exterminator. *
* **'What are you doing in there?' the husband asked.
'I'm investigating a complaint about an infestation of moths,' the
man replied.
'And where are your clothes?' asked the husband.
The man looked down at himself and said, 'Those little buggers!
** ***********************************************
Marriage Humor _

 _Wife: _ 'What are you doing?' **
_Husband: _ Nothing.
Wife: _ 'Nothing? You've been reading our
marriage certificate for an hour.'
_************************************************
Husband: _'I was looking for the expiration date.' *
Wife _: 'Do you want dinner?'
Husband: _'Sure! What are my choices?' **
Wife: _ 'Yes or no.'


***********************************************************
Stress Reliever_Girl: _'When we get married, I want to share all your
worries, troubles and lighten your burden.'
_
Boy: _'It's very kind of you, darling, but I don't have any
worries or troubles.'
_
Girl: _'Well that's because we aren't married yet.'
*****************************************************

_Son:  'Mum, when I was on the bus with Dad this morning, he
told me to give up my seat to a lady.'
_Mom: _'Well, you have done the right thing.'
_Son: _ 'But mum, I was sitting on daddy's lap.'

************************************************************

A newly married man asked his wife, 'Would you have married me if my
father hadn't left me a fortune?'
'Honey,' the woman replied sweetly, 'I'd have married you, NO MATTER
WHO LEFT YOU A FORTUNE!'
**********************************************************

A wife asked her husband: 'What do you like most in me, my pretty
face or my sexy body?'
He looked at her from head to toe and replied: 'I like your sense
of humor!'
*********************************************************

**_Husbands are husbands _**_
_ A man was sitting reading his papers when his wife hit him round the
head with a frying pan. 'What was that for?' the man asked. The wife
replied, 'That was for the piece of paper with the name Jenny on
it that I found in your pants pocket'. The man then said 'When I was
at the races last week, Jenny was the name of the horse I bet
on. The wife apologized and went on with the housework. Three
days later the man is watching TV when his wife bashes him on the
head with an even bigger frying pan, knocking him unconscious. Upon
re-gaining consciousness the man asked why she had hit again. Wife
replied. 'Your horse phoned' ***************************************************
*Let us pray........ ......... .....
Give me a sense of humor,
 Give me the grace to see a joke,
To get some humor out of life,
And pass it on to other folk


Sail safe

Some Humor

 OK I saw these  and had to post them,.

An older man walks into a bar wearing a stovepipe hat,
a waistcoat and a phony beard. He sits down at a bar
and orders a drink. As the bartender sets it down, he
asks, "Going to a party?" "Yeah, a costume party,"
the man answers, "I'm supposed to come dressed as my
love life.""But you look like Abe Lincoln," protests
the bartender. "That's right. My last four scores were
seven years ago."

A henpecked man got tired of his wife constantly
picking on him, so he started playing poker on friday
nights with his buddys just to get some relief. After
he came home she'd start right in on him again. After
several weeks went by, he came home early one friday
night about 9:30. His wife asked him how come he was
home early. He told her: "You need to pack your bags
and go to Herb's house, I lost you to him in the card
game tonight." His wife became furious and started
to give him hell. She said: "Just how could you do
such a thing!?" He replied: "It was the hardest thing
I ever done.... I had to fold with four aces."

One day, a blonde was shopping for some shoes. As she
picked up a nice pair, she saw the price… $100. She
called over the store clerk and demanded that the store
lower the price of shoes! The clerk rejected, and then
added "if you don't like our shoe price, then get
alligator shoes somewhere else! The blonde left,
furios! Later that day, as the store clerk was driving
home, he passed by a swamp and saw the blonde there.
He stopped his car and watched her. Amazingly, the
blonde saw an alligator, shot it perfectly in the
heart and dragged near 10 dead alligators. She
turned this alligator over and screamed, "Dang it!
This one doesn't have any shoes either

HELP! Part Missing!

HELP!

Have figured out what i wrong with the car. a part is missing. the web site that I got this pic from  (above) does not list part 20 so I have no idea what it is. can someone please ID this part and let me know? Its the one where you see the hole. Also if any one knows what kind and size of nuts go on the stems that would help.

Thanks


Sail safe but sail!

Finally! It's About The Boat!

I can finally honestly say for the past two days I have accomplished significant chores directly pertaining to getting the Venture ready to go. The Challenger is gone. I sold is cheap to get it gone. Needed the blocks under it for the V22.  The house is empty on the main part except for the washing machine and I am moved in to my son's old bedroom. It's small. Going from 1000 sq ft to less the 200 square feet is not for babes. I'm still sorting and figuring out where to put stuff but the hard part is done. The shed is near to busting full with stuff that has to be picked thru for  the final sort but for now I'm just not going to worry about it.  I'm sick to death of dealing with the house!  I'm focusing on getting things in here organized after dark and working on boat for as many hours as I can during the day.
 Still have not gotten around to finishing pulling off the deck hardware. I got to thinking about it.  I can do that later after she is on the water in a slip, if I have to. Right now it's about the hull. Someone mentioned the idea that a trailer sailor does not need barrier coat and that if it had bare spots scrubbing it off and  slapping a coat of bottom paint on it would do, especially since I'm not planing on keeping it long term.  This seemed like a fantastic idea. I got out the old trusty bucket and scrub brush and got a rather nasty surprise. 

My gel coat has holes in it!   I'm not talking about being pitted. I'm talking about spots that could to the best of my personal knowledge have  ONLY been made by someone sanding through the gel coat.  Yes, I at first thought it was me,  so I started paying extra close attention on how much pressure I was using.Then I saw it!  A hole in the gel coat that was still covered with a thin layer of bottom paint! GRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!

(*&#^%$*%()+_^) and GRRRR again!
It was a beautiful idea while it lasted, but bare fiberglass with just bottom paint on it is, in my book, a recipe for that horror of all horrors know as BLISTERS! I cannot do it! She is getting completely sanded down to the gel coat and I'm covering any and all spots it is missing on and to make extra sure I'm taking the plunge and putting barrier coat on her. 

Yes, maybe this is over kill but there is a serious reason behind my madness.  If you have been following this blog you know the van went kaput on me so using it as a tow vehicle is not happening.  Here I sit again with that situation.  A couple of times some one has mentioned finding someone who will pull me to water in exchange for the trailer.  If I do it and I'm seriously considering it, that means she is full time in the water. Put the two together and you have the final decision of the barrier coat. 

Since the dogs are gone and I've given  up on getting another for now, all the cinder block that my son drafted  for dog proofing the fence is going under the boat and I'm going to go full bore on getting the bottom at least sanded before I pull out. 
 I have a strip almost completely across the bottom sanded down to gel coat across behind the keel. Once  that is almost done I'm putting timbers under her to raise her.   I'm hoping to get the back raised tomorrow. 
Got another nasty surprise while I was under her. There is a large hole on the tail end of the keel;. It has to be where it was dragged along a hard surface . It looks like it was wore down  from not raising the keel soon enough going up a cement ramp. All I can say is it is a good thing I had already figured on dropping  the keel  and checking it out. Need to redo the lines and replace the bolt any way.

Right now I'm so tired I can't sleep. Stiff and sore does not begin to describe my muscles. It's a good day even with the nasty surprises. I'm going to make some herb tea and pass out.

Sail safe but sail!

Dogs, Housekeeping, Chores and THE BOAT

Dogs    

It's been a interesting couple of weeks. I got my heart broke on the dogs.  Sandy, who was up front known as as a little  escape artist, ran off. She was apparently on her way back to the  Previous owner, when she was found by a couple who adopted her. The previous owner happened to see them all out for a walk so we learned what happened to her. Sandy seems well cared for so I'm letting it go. An escape artist dog, no matter how cute and well behaved she is, won't work  on a cruising boat.

Abbey is back at her PO hopefully getting trained to go out side by her self to do her business.  I figure it's a 50/50 shot IMO if she is sucesfull or not. Abbey has gone out side pack fashion with the  other dogs since  she was little, it may be asking to much for her to go out side by her self.  Her previous owner says she is basically doing the same thing she did here. When you take her out side by her self, she will sniff around then sit there and look at either you or the door as if  to say  OK let's go, why are we still sitting here  and where are the other dogs.  After you let her back in she will go out with the other dogs and do her business or if she can't wait go find a corner in the house. Any one want to buy  some dog food and treats cheap?

Housekeeping

A while back my computer started going absolutely nuts. It did not surprise me. Having not done any serious computer cleaning for a while, it was over due.  Logic said a virus or something was the culprit but nothing showed up on the antivirus program I have used for years  ( AVG) so  I got serious and dug in to do an intense all day  style  computer cleaning and software searching marathon.
I found some new utility software that is making my  computer  housekeeping   job  automated on  some rather boring and mundane parts of computer ownership.

Love this!   Smart Defrag 2     It automatically defrags constantly in the back ground.  PLUS it has a boot defrag that does those pesky files regular defrag can't do while your computer is running. I love it! My page file, hibernation file,  MFT and system files are all lined up in a nice neat row and no more reports of 3.0% of my files that cannot be defragged.  The initial boot defrag may take a few minutes but after that its  quick and painless. The only "down" side on this program I can find is in the directory where you can watch your files get defragged like the original in windows,  shows  types of files but no option for fragmented or non fragmented files. This is sort of discerning at first since it is a defrag program.  Upon reflection, I decided the fact of less then .01 % as the average fragmented files amount is just not significant enough to worry about which files since it is always the same ones.
I've been getting reports of any where between 0.01 %   and .03% of fragmented files instead of 3.0% as a general rule as long as I leave it turned on at night to work while computer is idle.  Last night I turned it off and when I ran an analyze a few minutes ago it showed 0.99% fragmented files. Still less then 1.0% , so it's ALL good. I used the defrag and optimization feature and this system is running as good as new. Considering it's an  old P4- 486, with XP, that ain't bad!

Second runner up for defrag program  Defraggeler  Not a bad little program. Beats the defrag program that comes with  Windows by a mile. Love the layout and  the way it is setup . It shows fragmented files and even lets you focus on defragging one file at  a time if you wish. As  a supplement to Smart Defrag 2,  I highly recommend it.

Antivirus.

For years I've used AVG. Other then being pricey it's OK. My son has been using Avast free version and had decent service with it.  Since running AV dd not solve the performance problem,  I decided to install Avast free and see what it did. Not bad.  I took a look at other antivirus programs and found Advance Systems Care with antivirus. I'm running all three.  It works out OK since they now have them setup so you can have more then  one installed at a time. The only gliche is when more then  2 kick in at same time I have resource issues with the system locking up, then I disable the AVG and it works out OK. I like the root kit  scan on AVG so I think l  will keep them  all until I have a chance to look at them each more thoroughly to make a choice on which one do I scrap.

Chores

 I've been figuring out how do I solve some of life's mini dramas that have been put on my plate, while I keep working on the goal of living aboard . It's been interesting to say the least.  I've made progress on solving  some of the mess that I came back to.  Its been a headache but progress is being made.  I've had to make some harsh decisions. The Toy is being sold as is.  THAT ONE HURT! The boat I got for my son is being sold. Its just not practical to try to take them with me. It's about getting on the water.
The house is down to clean up and a bunch of small stuff.  I'm moving into my son's old room to get  used to living in a really small space and for more practical reasons.  Taking things one at a time, the current job other then working on The V222 and yard, as weather permits, is getting main part of house empty and everything essential for daily living moved into a small bed room with bath. It's time to get cut throat with all possessions and if I can't use it on the boat, it's getting donated, sold  or kicked to the curb with a curb alert on Craigslist for the stuff that is worth recycling.

THE BOAT

With occasional help, I'm getting the deck hard ware off for replacing bolts, installing back plates and resetting in butyl tape. Most of the spider cracks are all in the area of deck hardware that had no back plates. Other then some bolts that refuse to budge due to sever rust, we are making progress. I am seriously debating WD 40 or liquid Wrench versus cutting them off or drilling them out.  I've got portions of those areas sanded. The chain plates are removed and about 75% of the hardware. around the perimeter.  All  decals of the previous name are off completely all the way down to gel coat for de-naming ceremony.  As I feel motivated I've started sanding down the bottom to the gel coat. It's slow but it is progress.  As soon as I get a few of the above listed chores accomplished  I'll be able to focus more on the Venture.  I am hoping that is done this next week. Time will tell.

That' about all for now.
Sail safe but sail!

FunBites and Other Dog Treat review and Sit

If you have been following this blog, you know I recently adopted two sweet girls named Sandy, a dachshund mix  and Abbey a Schnauzer mix. They are very good girl even with the serious need to get them trained for boat life.
I got the girls and went out to wally world to get the basics. You know the drill if you have pets; food, collars, treats etc. Found some decent prices on stuff so I can't complain. It was cheaper then I  thought that part would be. No great buyers shock or heart failure at the prices for what I bought.

One thing I will not be purchasing again is the FunBites raw hide strips! They are supposedly packed with calcium which is good. They come in a resealable red plastic bag. That's not why I bought them. I bought them becasue dogs need something to chew on besides furniture and this looked like a reasonable  cost effective solution for a month supply or a least a few week worth.  I get paid once a month like many folks. When I go to get supplies, I look at over all cost very seriously.  Getting enough of the regular style  raw hide chews was more then I wanted to spend what with all the other start up cost of shots  and flea and tick stuff.

The lady I got them from had thought she had found them a home but it didn't work out. They send Sandy back, then Abbey started chewing furniture so they sent her back. Logic said she was missing Sandy even though there were other dogs in house, so I got both girls.  Every thing was fine on that end until recently. Dogs and raw hide are, in my opinion. just like air and sunshine. The two go together. Hence the chew sticks.  Bottom line is they just do not last. Abbey is a very exploratory dog. If she does not have something appropriate to chew on she will find something to satisfy the craving. The FunBites just do not last. Long story short, I'm going to the butcher and get them some beef bones.

One of the items I bought to get the girls started was these Ol'Roy treats. 25 oz for less then 5.00 bucks is, IMO a good deal. I got beef and chicken and they absolutely love them. Poor Abbey, as much as she loves then especially the chicken ones, they don't like her so much, If I give her to many at one shot in a training session they come back up. It does not stop her from wanting them but, well you know how it is. Payday I get to go try something else to go with them.  Variety is good so its not a big deal. It's also a good reason or mare variety in treats. I don't want them to get spoilt to one thing for times I may not be able to get them.


Another item I bought that has mixed results is the Ol'Roy lamb and rice flavored bone shaped biscuits. Sandy will eat them. Abbey buries them in her blanket.  So much for saving money  on that one. The lady I got the girls from said they were used to milk bone brand so I guess that is what I'm going to be replacing these with.
 The good news is since I want to save the grilled strips for training and since they girls were spoilt into begging which is not something I put up with. I put a couple of the  chew strips and lamb biscuits out for them while I'm eating. They are happily busy and I dot have that "please feed me" look staring at me while I'm eating. Every one is happy.


My son  had a  good idea the training to sit part of things. He has his dog  get in his lap and tells him to sit. After the dog sits he gives him affection and every time the dog gets up he  repeats the process. Me, I add treats to this off and on. Then there is the idea I got from pet finders. com. Scroll down for link for sit.  Once you have their attention and they are standing in front of you,  slowly  take your hand with the treat in it backwards over their head until the butt is on the ground  then say yes, and praise them while your giving then a treat. On  Abbey that is starting to work!
 With Sandy  I have to take a different approach. She needs assistance getting into  position. Once she is there I say yes, praise her and give her the treat.

 Yesterday Sandy finally got the point which she displayed in a rather interesting way. I still have to help her into position but she finally gets it! The fumy part is once she is in position she will continue to sit with that look on her face that says OK I'm sitting , do I get another treat ? She will stay sitting until I tell her no more treat. At which time she is obviously not happy.


Looking at dog beds.
When I adopted the girls I knew beds were gong to have to wait but that's OK. I wanted to research this  plus at that time we thought Abbey might stil have grow left in her since we thought she was less the a year old. As it turns out she is a Sept dog so that is not an issue but still I wanted to look around. Reviews is something I pay attention to.  If I'm going to fork out 20.00 bucks or more per animal I want to know if the product is worth  it. Results were I was just not impressed with what I saw  on beds in my price range. I've beem playing around with the idea of pillows and pillow cases. Yes, primitive but it would work. 
Decision is made pillows are just not large enough so on to idea 2. Make something. I was at walmart looking for remnants in what passes  for a fabric department. Remnants no longer exist at our local walmart. I was walking by the pattern books and believe it or not  the simplicity book was opened to pet patterns. Yes, I never thought of that ideas but it was sitting there staring at me like Providence had opened the page just for me to see. You know I had to stop and look. I won't tease pet lovers with  the details but if your not impressed with pet stuff like clothes, toys, beds etc, go look at simplicity patterns.
Long story short, Simplicity has  patterns for a no sew pet bed.  It's cute. It's designed to work with polar fleece. Now if I can just  find fleece in a color that I not only like but that won't show the dirt so much we are good to go. I'm thinking about seeing if that fabric protector spray works on polar fleece If it does the problem is solved. In the mean time I think I'm going to cover a couple of old  over sized pillows with the  old flannel sheets  they are using now. It will work.
 A cool snap has set in so working out side is now an option while it last. That's good . Maybe I can get hat fiberglass done I've been thinking about 
Not a lot else going on.
Sail safe but sail!
 .

Boat Dogs, Kindle and Current Events

Well I started leash training the girls. Abbey is catching on to the idea that walking along side of me is easier then being steadily tugged along.  She is not responding to  treats so much as lots of affection. Sandy on the other hnad responds to affection but seems more interested in the treats.
Sandy seems to be familiar with the concept of walking on a leash or is just one extremly smart dog, I'm not sure which, probably both.  I'm guessing she was on a leash before the  peope I got her from had her.  Sandy is the one that when she hears the treat bag  responds  immediately. Abbey will look at you like she is just not sure if it is worth the effort until she is right next to you . 

Tip on treats, The ones I got are about an inch to two inches long. I broke up a bunch and put them in a zip bag. Its easier then breaking them up as needed when you have dogs clamoring for them,


A while back I was introduced to Christine Kling books .This woman can write a real page turner. As a result I stated following the blog  " Write on Water". Now many are not interested in writing as a means to make a living. For those who are,  I highly suggest following this blog. The recent post have been about the economics of writing. Two separate post,  both saying  the same thing, gets my attention. If your going to self publish Kindle is apparently the way to go. The specific links to this topic are here.  Christine's Original blog on Principles versus Income.             Mike's response

Not a lot else going on . Have been working on getting this house finished  so I can sell it to buy THE boat. I'm down to the piddling little stuff that takes time more then money so that's good.  The good news is it looks like we have a way to solve what has turned into a night mare over the deed. It has to go to court. The evidence I have is solid. Its a matter of seeing if an attorney I can afford will take it.  I spoke with an attorney the 4th of Sept. I'm waiting on an answer. If your a praying person , praying that this is resolved expeditiously so I can sell the house would be appreciated. The way it is now I can't even legally rent it out . The idea was rent it out and get on the water at one of the area lakes if all else fails, while I'm waiting for this other deal comes through. So far it's a catch 22, I'm between a rock and a hard place. 
That's about all for now.
Sail safe but sail!

Boat Dogs

Well after a couple of month of something feeling just "not right" around here I figured out what it is. My son took his dogs with him and its just to danged quiet. We have had dogs ever since I can remember with only short periods of no dogs usually associated with grieving the lose of an animal.  So with no further adue here's the girls. 

This one is called Abbie. She's a Schnauzer mix. Very playful and a good candidate for using future boat facilities. She really prefers carpet to going out side. LOL

Sandy, Dachshund mix. quiet. who ever had her did not play apparently but she is coming around.

I got blessed. Got on walmart.com and looked up dog stuff. Big 25 ounce bags of treats for about 5.00  online. At the local store the were about the same or less. The chicken rawhide strips were a joke. They crumble in your hand if you put any pressure on them so not sure how long the bag of 60 will last but what the heck, Live and learn NOT to do that one again! Went to vet to get anti flea and tick stuff. I about had a heart attack at the price. Need to contact manufacture and see if pet smart sells same stuff as vet. I do NOT do walmart for flea and tick drops.  it is just not worth the money.

Was looking at petfinder.com.  GREAT selection of training videos so thats now part of life.  Bought a lot of treats for training.
Why did I do this? It was time.
So what does all his have to do with boats? Its called BOAT DOGS!

Sail safe but sail!

Boat Quotes

 This is so good I had to post it. Boat Quotes

It's About Boats and Money

As some of you know, we left the area for what was supposed to be a job for a while. The job turned out to be a nightmare. The good news out of all of that is, the baby boy got his on place and is doing very well. I got back in June I think it was. Came home to a disaster and have been working on getting it all squared away. Moral of that story is when your gut says DO NOT DO SOMETHING, DO NOT DO IT!

 I came back to a massive roach infestation. Fogged the house twice. The second time I used 2x the recommended amount of bombs, did the attic and under the house in the crawl space. You could not tell it was done a week later.  We have a honey suckle bush out side. I found out that roaches make their nest in the roots. Guess what is going to get tore out?

We came to the conclusion that they were getting under the wood work and behind the cabinets and going out side when we sprayed and bombed. In pure retaliation,  I've spent the last month  going through the  entire house and caulking each and every nook and cranny that exist.  All  of the wood work and trim is getting caulked. If  I can slip a paper into it, it gets caulked. If I think any form of life, including a germ,  can squeeze it's way into the slightest crack, it is getting caulked.  I am seeing a dramatic improvement. A large reduction in the number of  beasties is now the daily norm. I'm still seeing a few and on some days more them others . The over all numbers are dropping.  I called the place I used to get my concentrated bug killer from. They don't sell it any more. Seems the feds have decided that regular people can't possibly use a product safe enough to be trusted with it. That really stinks as it was some really good stuff. That's OK, where there is a will there is a way and I found a different supplier. It's a different brand and a lot more expensive but it should work.

Have been working on the little boat off and on. I finally broke down and bought another sander. The plan  is to order repair kits, extra brushes etc, this month.  Have the bottom and one side done on the first rough sanding.  It's looking pretty good.  I Need to order more disk but that's just part of it.

Mainly the "boat orientated work" has been exploring how I'm going to earn a living while living on board full time. I've come to the conclusion none of my ideas is going to make me rich. If however, I put a bunch of small things together, they could add up to a useable amount of cash.  They say if your going to write, write what you know about. I know about honey do's on the cheap, raising a multiply challenged son as a single mom and living on subsistence income level.   This is marketable, especially in the present economy. There are a few other aspects I'm reasonably well versed in that ties into  the  part of raising a multiply challenged son, so that will fit in as well. It won't make me rich but it will all help.

One thing I have had to admit. Social networking for the self publisher is a have to. Face book I was already on. Today I did what I thought I would never do. I  joined Twitter, as well as a writing hub.
There are some very interesting post on the hub. I looked up to see what I could find on sailing and was very pleasantly surprised. Add that to doing the Amazon Kindle thing, the Nook Book thing on B&N, the affiliate thing and who knows I could actually make a dollar or two.  The hard part is learning how to use all these resources and keeping them straight  in my mind.  Just looking at all that makes me feel like I'm back in school cramming for finals!

 Then there is the HAM thing. I have had getting my Ham license on my mind for years. Sailing and Ham, in my opinion just go together. Can you imagine the distance you can get on the water? I know Hams talking all over the planet to each other is no big thing. It is done all the time. It is still awe inspiring to me just thinking about it. Then there is the part about being able to send emails over HAM, not to mention the other aspects of being in touch with others while out in the middle of the big blue.

Put it all together;  Yes, I have been working on my goal of living aboard and sailing all week. The part that really BITES IS I have not gotten one silly thing one on any of the boats except for a bit of sanding.

It's all good.  One day at a time and when that gets to weird one thing at a time. It will all get done.
Sail safe but sail!

test

Deck Hardware

Well it was a good run while it lasted. My helper went home, so I'm on my own again. The good news is the largest percentage of the deck bolts  I need to remove so I can get the spider cracks repaired are out of the way and safely tucked in their baggies waiting for reinstall or replacement.   Just to  make sure I  get every thing put back in place correctly,  I took PLENTY of pictures.  Reason for so many shots of same areas is so I have multiple perspective when it is time to put it all back together.



In no particular order  here  they are.


                                                 Bow

                       

         Port starting with  Stern.   Rub rail is off most of it.

                                Last but never least starboard

More good news is I found brushes  and repair parts so my sanders are not dying all the time. I will be able to get back to work on that aspect soon.

That's about all for now. Sail, safe but sail.

Today is a good day

Today started out kind of slow. I have been wanting to get out to the Venture and  fool around but life happens. I finally decided damned the temps full speed ahead! Mostly it  has been moving things around.We have  been using the boat to store some stuff in light of all the drama that was happening. Since I'm stuck here, with a house I cant sell yet, for a while any way, the decision , as painful as it is , to move the stuff back inside and stick it in a corner some where and get back to what's important to me! If I cant sell this place for a while I'm darned sure going to get this boat ready and take it ANY PLACE that will sustain sailing even if it is Lake Texhoma for the duration!

Having said that! Well its still a good day. I'm out side in the boat. Its about 82 degrees F according to weather bug at 3:16 AM. . The good thing about the houses immediately around me being empty is the misc noises I make fooling around late at night are not a problem as if my neighbors were really close. Now I cant exactly start up a drill or a power saw but  little noises like dropping a hammer or climbing in and out of the boat are not going to give any one a sleepless night. Decided to  pull the chain plates off. Not happening with only one person.Have to have someone man a screw driver on the out side while I pull off nuts on the  inside. Did get the measurements for backing plates. I figure to get some  3: x 1.8 inch .  I;m figuring 6 feet should be enough to get that part done. Am going to get new  bolts k, nuts etc so all the metals match .

Have been playing around with the idea of going ahead and saving up for the solar panel to get the wiring started. Have to get a wiring plan figured out.  Its only a 22 ft boat so I'm figuring rough eye balling it , the longest run I should have is maybe 16 ft.

Work Progresses On Venture

Well it's slow but steady. Finally we have  the  chain plates out! It took two of us. One on the outside holding the slotted bolt head  still with a screw driver while I was on the inside taking off the nuts with an adjustable wrench. Had planned on using a socket but my 3/8 " drive came up missing. Can you say HOT! Even several hours after sunset it was 90 something degrees out side.  I think maybe it had to be over 100 in the cabin. Sweat was literally pouring off of me after about 20 minutes, It took a lot of cool down breaks but we got her done.

After we pulled the chain plate off of the port side we noticed the deck plate that goes on the out side holding it in place was not comg loose. As it turns out  a previous owner riveted the silly thing to the deck. It took some doing and I 'm still going to have to drill what is left of the rivet out,but its off.

Last night was about pulling off more of the rub rail to get the bolts that hold the deck to hull out.  It is the only way to  repair the spider cracks. It's not just skin deep. After I sanded out the parts already done it became very evident  the cracks go into the glass, not just the gel coat. THIS BITES!

We keep finding more dirt dabber nest. I THOUGHT I had all of them out but it just  goes to show you these things make nest in the most hidden places they can find. After I climbed in under the cockpit  I found two huge ones hanging from the wiring to the stern light,. Tore out the smaller of the two but the large one was not going to come out with out a fight so while I sent  my helper in to go get a hammer to smash it with I took pictures.
This is AFTER I had already knocked a good chunk off with the socket wrench. 

Just to give you size perspective of what was left after I had whacked it a few times.

                    The thing was a big as my fist and ROCK HARD!

 Some where along the lne the previous owner had either one doozy of a sense of humor or was a geniume lame brain. I'm not sure which. How did I arrive at this conclusion? Did you notice the "back plates" under the stern light above?  The only other "back plate" on this entire boat is  the one above and this next shot of the other wiring connection to a deck fitting. I suppose it is better then nothing.

 


 I just do NOT want to trust my life  to it! That does not include how incredibly uncomfortable I am with that set up considering the odds of it malfunctioning right when the lake patrol is in  my area. Yes, we have a cop who does nothing  but go run around  the lakes to make sure we are all behaving our self and have our safety equipment in place. LOL!  Seriously He is a pretty decent sort of guy.  I'm reasonably sure if it was not for guys like him there are a lot of folks in this area  who would ignore safety completely and we would have more accidents from it, so its not necessarily a bad thing. I have spoke with him on the phone a time or two with questions about area lakes As it  turns out for the lakes immediate surrounding my area only one can be sailed in,  and then only during the day! Is it any wonder I want OUT OF HERE!!!!!!


Life goes on.

That's all for now, Sail safe but sail!

Boats and 100 degee weather

Yesterday started out kind of slow. I have been wanting to get out to the Venture and  fool around but life happens. I finally decided damned the temps full speed ahead! Mostly it  has been moving things around.We have  been using the boat to store some stuff in light of all the drama that was happening. Since I'm stuck here, with a house I can't sell, for a while any way, the decision has been made, as painful as it is, to move the stuff back inside and stick it in a corner some where and get back to what's important to me! If I can't sell this place for a while I'm darned sure going to get this boat ready and take it ANY PLACE that will sustain sailing even if it is Lake Texhoma or one of the area lakes  for the duration!

Having said that! Well it was  still a good day. I got outside and in the boat. I started out right after sunset. When I finally looked at the clock, it was about 82 degrees F according to weatherbug at 3:16 AM. . The good thing about the houses immediately around me being empty is the misc noises I make fooling around late at night are not a problem as if my neighbors were really close. Now I can't exactly start up a drill or a power saw but  little noises like dropping a hammer or climbing in and out of the boat are not going to give any one a sleepless night.  Not having to worry about my trouble light shining into any ones bedroom window makes it nice. It's how I plan to beat the heat for the not so noisy parts any way.

Tried to  pull the chain plates off. It's not happening with only one person. Have to have someone man a screw driver on  the out side while I pull off nuts on the inside. Did get the measurements for backing plates. I figure to get some  3: x 3/16 inch .  I'm figuring 6 feet should be enough to get that part done. Throw another 2 ft of 1/4 inch for new chain plates and I should be good. Am going to get new  bolts, nuts etc so all the metals match . That and some bytal tape (spelling) and I'm good to go.  I have been toying with how to do this. The voc tech school here has a class that operates a hug computer operated  metal cutting machine . You see where that is going, right? Have to wait til it opens but what the heck I'm here any way may as well make the best of it. If that don't work I'll get the Dremel out and do it my self. I looked up sources for the metal . WOW can you say EXPENSIVE! If any one has a source for 316 Stainless  3/ 16"  x 2" or 3/ 16 x 4",at a decent price PLEASE post it or send me an email!

Have been playing around with the idea of going ahead and saving up for the solar panel to get the wiring started, Have to get a wiring plan figured out.  Its only a 22 ft boat so I'm figuring rough eye balling it , the longest run I should have is maybe 16 ft, not counting mast of course. I've got enough block to raise this gal up and drop the keel, so that is on the agenda s a definite.

Where is all this going?
The baby boy has LEFT THE BUILDING! Now that the set back is almost over, once again I am free at last! Momma's days of being Momma on a full time in house basis are OVER! We had a minor setback this last three weeks but things are getting back on track! I honestly cannot decide who this pushing your fledgling out of the nest is harder on. Yeah, at 28, since the medical issues are resolved, its time for him to be on his own. NO DOUBT about that.

What I do not get is why, once they are  "on their own",  when your child steps into the "goo" and ask for your help, do they seem to think that this willingness to help them sort it out, as in think it through to THEM finding a conclusion and or solution THEY CAN DO,  means in THEIR OPINION, you and your assets are on call 24/ 7 all of a sudden, as if they were three again? OK, I get that it takes time for them to adjust to a new life of living on their own.. That's just a case of they have to get experience and there is only one way to get that. What I do not understand is why it suddenly becomes (in their opinion) your crisis?  Can you say OY!
Parents teach your children  how to plan! Make sure they have coping skills for really bad days! Teach them that THEIR LACK OF PLANNING IS NOT YOUR CRISIS! My son understands what caused the problem. He was taught the skills to cope with adversity. Some things only come with getting knocked down and pulling your self back up. This was one of those. Time will tell how long it takes for all that stuff  we tell our children that they  did not want to hear takes root and gets solid. The good news is at 28 he only has about a year and a half before that second coming of age that seems to kick in at 30 starts to take effect.

 The good news is he has a really good distraction so now mother won't be the single most important women in his life. He found Ms. Right! I got to spend sometime getting to know her.  She is a trooper! She will definitely do to ride the river with . She in not a wimp by any means.  We have been talking about what I'm planing on doing with my life . At first all kinds of bad experiences were really making her anti boats. Now you KNOW that aint going to work very long around me, right? We had some talks .She seems to be slowly coming around,. Last night she informed me that being afraid of boats, sailing etc over what happened in her childhood was not sometime she was going to allow to continue,. The girl has MOXY There are very few things that make me want to climb up into someones face but, oh by howdy! I'll not go into the details as it is not my story to tell, but I would so love to keel haul or at least,put a extraordinarily large knot on someones head after hearing  about the DUMB STUNT that some  so called adults played on some children!.
The GREAT news is  this gal is the one that has him inspired to do all that stuff men are supposed to do. Who would have thunk it! LOL
 I must have done sometime right. My other son informs me he also has started a relationship with his Ms. Right. She also sounds like a trooper and a basically well grounded gal.  RELIEF!  Who knows maybe grand children are on the horizon? Time will tell.

well I guess that's it for now. Think I'm going to go get my tools out and ready for later when the sun goes down. I have  some hardware to pull off a boat.

Sail safe but sail!
 

07/09/2012
Changing the description at the head of the page has been on my mind a lot this last week. This blog started out as a DIY on The Toy. It has morphed into a DIY about home repair,  other projects and life. The Toy is still on the bucket list. I need to order the fiberglass cloth and epoxy to get hull #1 ready to float. For now the plan is fibeglass it, get at least 1 boat seat, preferably 2 on it,  put the rudder  and lee board on on and figure out the sail. High aspect or low is the question on the ail;. Also I'm putting a net between the main hull and the out rigger. Have the out rigger set up and waiting to attach already. The over all plan on The Toy  has gone back and forth between shortening it up, keeping it as is and using it as a banana boat until I do the other hull.
Basically things have morphed into what we call life. It happens. It's all good. There is a reason for eery thing. How things will turn out is any ones guess. That is what makes life such an experience. Things are settling down now that my son has gotten his own place. He is getting set up and doing all the  "newly on his own" things. He has done  amazingly well on some areas that have very happily surprised me. He went from being my son to this full grown man over night. LOL  It makes sense. We are all a lot different when we are not around our parents.
It is rather nice being able to turn on my music  full blast and not worry about interfering with any one else's activities.  Jimmy Buffet is my current favorite vocalist. In between that and working on the boats a bit at a time sanity is maintained. LOL
Have the paper work to get the Challenger registered. Planning on sending that  off this next payday, if not sooner.

Have been working on a way to increase the budget.  Off and on over the  years I've had some ideas that I have jotted down  in various places and have decided the only way to do this is rearrange the order I THOUGHT I was going to get  things done in  and jump ahead to the writing aspect. Have what is basically a childrens book I'm working on to publish on Kindle, once I get it fleshed out. It's a teaching thing but I believe it will fit into the world of boats quite well especially for children who are blssed with a cruising life style.
Will see how it turns out. Once it is done, I believe I will follow in the wake of  one of my newly favorite sailing fiction authors and offer it free for a day or 2  when it is first released.
It's all good. I'm not on the water yet, but I'm slowly making progress.  Decided to check out the Adsense thing I keep seeing. I got the basic placement set up yesterday and already I see ads. That was really fast. I do not know how much it will help but it can't hurt so there it is.  I HATE the need to go commercial but a gal has to do what a gal has to do. My son moving into his own place means he is not paying his share of the bills any more and has cut my disposable income in half. OH well, it's not like I did not know this day had to arrive. It's all good. I've been in tougher spots.
That's abot al for now.

Sail safe but SAIL!

Options, Revenues and Providers

In the course of being part of several sailing and boat forums I've picked up a lot of learning these past couple of years.  A lot of insurance info has been on the boards lately.  Since eventually this is something I am gong to check out for my self I decided to put a page dedicated to just marine insurance. It occurred to me to open this up for others to post providers they know for all to have handy in one place by using comments.   As I was posting that page it occurred to me adding a page for other products those who have already been there and done that have used satisfactorily. I decided to open up the page of products I have used to others to post their favorite BOAT RELATED items, using the comments section.


Revenues. We all need to eat. I am opening this site up to advertising. If this offends please forgive. I figure it is not going to put a huge amount of money  into the sailing kitty, but every little bit helps.


PLEASE DO NOT just start clicking thu thinking your helping me if you have no interest in a product. It hurts the site marketability.  If however you are interested  in a particular product, please do so. The site only pays if you actually buy something  from a link. Also please be advised that google does collect information when you click thru.

FINALLY!!!! It's About BOATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

While I am doing the hopefully FINAL sorting of the stuff in the house, I'm working on the Challenger as my sanity keeper. The Venture is still in the drive way but she is full of stuff I have yet to sort through before I put her up on blocks to drop the keel.  This is how I'm keeping my sanity in the mean while. Yeah I'm getting flack from some of the guys over the method and materials I'm using. By their standards and expectations,  I'm cheating like an erring husband on how I am doing this.  For this reason I make an open and honest offer to those who feel very strongly about how I should be using the two part epoxy on these little  fixes. Please feel free to shop and order the materials you think I should be  using and ship them to me. I will be more then happy to use them and even give you a blurp as donator.  Email me for my shipping address.

Having said that, on to the boat.  If you remember I picked this up last summer with the idea of fixing it up for  my son.  Well he is on his  own, several states away and I'm not about to carry it THAT far on the top of my car. I now have another toy to play with . You can tell I'm just heart broken over that development, right? :)~

Finally got her up on blocks to work on.

Sorry about he angle but had us use my cell phone and that aint gonna take a close shot  straight on.


Initial work to be done.

There are some gouges and dings along the keel. This one is the worse with out actually being a full fledged breach.

            Then there is this one which is a                     full blown hull breach.

                         A close up of breach.

Then there is the transom. The story that goes with boat is it got hit by a string lawn mower TWICE.

    Been busy sanding her down. Wouldn't  you know the sander went kapluie. I have go to learn how to replace bushings in these sanders! I do however have a LOW COST idea on how I am going to temporarily solve that  little problem. All I have to do is go digging in the shed which is another spot every thing is stashed in for now. GRRRRR  I'll let you know how it turns out AFTER I try it.If it is successful. This idea is so nutty, I'm not telling in advance.

Now some of you guys are going to hate this but I've been using JB weld products for years quite successfully. I've saved TONS of money using their line. They make water weld and I got some.  So far  I have  2 1/2  tubes invested.  Beats what epoxy cost. Yes, I thought about getting some filler and using the polyester epoxy.  It cost 18.00 plus a can and I have ZERO experience using that kind of set up. Before I do it on a boat I actually hope to be in the water with THIS SUMMER or what is left of it, I went with the water weld.  It's about SAILING remember?


In no particular order here are the current pics.

This is where the sander died . GRRRRR

Almost partially done with the first sanding .

Remember that really nasty hull breach?

That's all for now.
Sail safe but SAIL!!!!!!!!

Publish Post