Getting the dinghy ready to go!

We've had the dinghy rolled up, stored in one of the spare berths.  No need for a dinghy when it's cold and blustery!

But we had ordered the nice, new NC registration number placards.  (It was never registered, so we needed to add the numbers per the NC Wildlife rules).

I did the work in the clubhouse....since the fancy glue required "between 65 and 77 degrees" for proper curing.  No chance of those temps this weekend!!


Ready to inflate.

 Halfway inflated.  I just needed the front inflated for that application of the number placard.  The dinghy has several "compartments" to fill with air.

Masking the area for the placard.

One placard for each side.

The area had to be abraded with sandpaper and acetone to make sure a good "bond" was accomplished.

And there you have it - a NC legal dinghy!

A little "tweak" to the transom steps

I don't know if you noticed, but there were little white areas visible on the "Fountaine Pajot" emblem on the transom steps.

The first time I noticed it, I thought maybe the French were just being a little "artistic".....but really - it was just that some of the rubbery emblem had peeled off.

To correct that problem,  I thought I would just get some yellow paint and fix it.

I was so happy that the Village Hardware in Oriental had just the right thing - a cool little tiny bottle of  oil-based paint!

All done! A pretty good match....all yellow now!

Transom Steps Paint with No-Skid

Our transom steps were ugly.  The "no-skid" was worn and peeling.

Can't have that, can we???

All masked and here is the first coat of "Skid No-More" rubberized anti-skid.  The can said it was grey colored.  I was not pleased at all with the color.  

The can also said you could tint it by mixing in a portion of  paint to reach  the desired color.  So, back to town to the hardware store for a small can of black paint.  Mixed enough black paint in to make it a much more appealing dark grey.

Very happy with the results!

This will be very good when we put out the swim ladder and need to get back aboard all drippy-wet!

Lovely day sailing on the Pamlico

We had a lovely day to go sailing....warm temps and about 15 knots of wind.  We also needed to calibrate our auto-pilot, so we did some "circles" to accomplish that.

Back at the dock, I tidied the lines.  

And I got a boo-boo when I pulled up a large fender from the side of the boat.  Somehow, as I bounced it up on deck, it hit my thump straight-on the nail.  Ouchie!!  This was just after the incident....it's even more purple and ugly now.  I'm sure that the end of the nail there will pull away eventually because it already feels "disconnected".  Oh well, I'll be more careful!

And after all that, I got down to business to make some vegan spaghetti!  All I had to add fresh was the veggies.  Everything else I had stored on the boat.  It was very good! 

Garbage Talk!!! Custom Trash Can

The "trash chute" on this boat is built into the countertop.

Unfortunately, the area below the "lid" was not well-suited to a trash can. Neither a round nor a rectangular can would fit there.

We decided a "custom" trash can would be in order!

Here is the cabinet below the chute opening.  I've used cardboard to start the design for the custom trash can.

After measuring the height, I continued to piece together the "mock-up" of the trash can.

This shape will fill the entire space below the "chute"...

Here you can see the bottom of the chute, emptying into the "mock-up".

Fast forward a few weeks.....Duane made one out of aluminum!

With his usual attention to detail - pretty rivets!

From the bottom.

And he added a nice handle for me so I could easily get it in/out of the cabinet.

Making sure a kitchen-garbage bag fit nicely....

Yes, yes, it fit nicely - and works as advertised!!  Betcha weren't expecting to see actual GARBAGE, were ya???  Ha!!