ERIKA

This was the first hurricane threat since I've been in Key West. Saturday morning we pulled the 19' skiff out and put her on the trailer. The water lever was too high for the sandy spot around the corner, so I had to take the trailer and meet Chuck at a real concrete ramp. We put away the coolers and light weight stuff so we wouldn't be fishing it out of canal later. Around noon, we heard that Erika had broken up over the mountains of Cuba. That was a relief. We do still have some wind and rain to deal with though. The winds are 20 -22, that's not bad. Right now, most of the worse rain is to the east and west of us. I hope it stays over there.

Some people say, "I would never live there, what about hurricanes?" When I list all the pros and cons on living in Key West, the pros far out weigh the cons.

MY SUMMER VACATION

Remember when you had to write a "What I did on my summer vacation" report? Well, I haven't had to write one of those in many years, but I thought I would write one tonight.

Eons ago, Chuck water skied at Cypress Gardens. He skied the shows and was a competitive skier. The ski club he belonged to in Philadelphia, called him a few months ago and asked him to come be a part of the show they were planning this month. He agreed, and I was able to be there for the show.

Getting ready to take off from the dock.

It was a great day at the river, and I met some really nice people. I learned to water ski when I was very young, four or five years old, but I haven't been on skis for about forty years. My cousin, Keith, asks me every time I see him, "Do you think you could still ski?"  I guess we will find out when Chuck gets his ski boat running again.

Neither Chuck or I had been to the Grand Ole Opry, until this past week. On our way home, we went to Nashville. We toured the Ryman Auditorium. I didn't know it had such a great history. The Grand Ole Opry performed there until 1974. The Ryman was getting old, so the show was moved to a new location.

The night we were there, we heard Vince Gill, Phil Vassar, Bill Anderson, A Thousand Horses, and a few more artists. Each artist sang three songs, but I would have liked to hear more from Vince Gill. It was a wonderful evening, and another thing checked off the bucket list.

WEEKEND PROGRESS...

Progress was made this weekend. The decks are cut, two out of three storage compartments are painted, and the seat braces are all installed and fillets done.

If you notice, under the port seat brace, there is a PVC fitting going through the bulkhead. I am using PVC as my conduit for my wiring. I will install it after I paint the cockpit. I'm almost certain I will get caught out after dark, so I am installing lights.

It's been so hot lately. Instead of going to work on the boat after I get off work, I whine about the heat and just go home. But, it build is getting more exciting, so it will go faster now.

UPDATE... It's been a while

I haven't posted anything in over a month, so I thought it was time I did an update.

The leeboard is shaped and ready to weight.

The seats are cut out and one side has two coats of epoxy. I want to install running lights. In order to ensure that the storage compartments stay dry, I am using PVC as a conduit for the wiring under the port seat.

Besides the beautifully clear water with it's colorful coral and fish, the thing I love about Key West is it's tropical plants. I have never seen so much beautiful foliage.

I had never seen a pineapple before it was harvested. I tried to start a pineapple plant last year, but the iguanas ate it. Iguanas are interesting to the tourist, but they are a pest, eating your ornamental plants.

The poinciana trees are blooming. Last year, my parents flew into Key West about this time of year. My mother asked me what all those red trees were. From above, you can see hundreds of red spots on our little island. Those are our poinciana trees.

RIGHT SIDE UP

All of the snowbirds have gone back to their homes up north, and the Key West Community Sailing Club is like a ghost town. Since there were no strong abled bodies there, I had to recruit help from outside to turn the boat back right-side up. My boyfriend Chuck, and three of his friends came over to  do the deed.

The outside of the hull has been fiberglassed, and since I had plenty of fiberglass left, I fiberglassed the bottom of the cockpit and the storage compartments also.

Today I got most of the fillets done. I have read of many different ways to make pretty fillets that require very little sanding to make them smooth. I have tried several of them, but have not had the success that they claimed. Today, I couldn't find a jig that I had made (that really didn't work very well), and since I was doing the fillets in the storage compartment, I grabbed a piece of cardboard from the box of gloves that was on the bench. If they aren't pretty it doesn't matter because no one will ever see them after the deck is on. I was amazed at how they looked. They are almost perfect.

PAINT

 The bottom has primer.

And then it was blue. She will get about three coats of paint and the bottom will be finished.

The weather is beautiful, so I went to the beach with my daughter and two of the grandkids (Aiden was in school). They had fun in the sand. Chuck took a break from the office and joined me for a little time snorkeling. We saw pretty fish and one stingray. A good time was had by all. Rinse and repeat.

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"If you don't turn your life into a story, you just become a part of someone else's story."    ~ Terry Pratchett

FIBERGLASS

If one layer is good, then two is better! I put down two layers of 18 oz woven roving on the bottom.

The stiffener is made from two scarfed 1x4s. 

The chine logs and hull sides have one layer of 6 oz glass. I now have the stiffener glued down, but didn't get a picture of it. Use your imagination until the next post. :-)

One more layer of epoxy, and her bottom will be ready for paint. Can't wait to turn her over. But, it will take more guys to turn her upright, than it did to get her upside down. That fiberglass and epoxy is not light.

I did mention that I wanted a figurehead, and the popular vote was for a naked lady. Today, I was thumbing through a catalog at work. At first, I thought I could make one of these work... but then I looked at the price. Holy Crap! Over $100, I'm doubtful that any of these will make it as my figurehead. We'll see if a naked lady makes it on the bow.

Here is a mermaid, that's one option.

A dragon came in second place in the figurehead survey.

Or, how about this guy...

Or maybe a stoic face....I've been called that!

Enough of all this, I'm going to go have a nice steak dinner with my boyfriend. He's a CPA, tax season is over, and I want to celebrate! I hate tax season, for many reasons, but the first on my list is that I don't get to see Chuck much because he's always working!!! 

Next week, we are taking a vacation! And we both need it!