Pittsboro, NC

The paving crew is at the neighbors house!

That asphalt really is hot!

It looks great!

Looking forward to Monday when they return to do our driveway if the weather permits. 

 

Pittsboro, NC

 The paving crew arrived at our neighbors to do a smaller project for them.....looks like due to scheduling they will pave at the neighbor's tomorrow.....then will be at our house on Monday for our project.

We've tackled another thing that has been bothering me for years.  The concrete cut lines on the ramp outside of our hangar tend to collect dirt and then grow little clumps of grass when left to their own devices.  So we cleaned out all the crevasse's and used the leaf blower to get them extra clean.

Ready for application of a special self-leveling concrete sealant.

This took hours and hours.....the ramp is about 60x40' so not small!

 

Almost done - my knees and feet are achy!  Good to cross this one off the to-do list.

Pittsboro, NC

 I know, not the most exciting of activities....

Well, Lowe's remains in the not-great category of fullfilment venues.  Yesterday, I got texts informing me of the delivery time, etc. for the dishwasher, which was fine.

But then a few hours later I got a phone call from the warehouse telling me "sorry, we don't have stock of the dishwasher".  Told me that nearby Chapel Hill store had 4 actually in stock and I could go there to purchase.   So that's what we did.   It's about a 45 minute drive - traffic was backed up on the main thoroughfare so we drove thru downtown Chapel Hill just to be moving.  Was a bit fun just to see if anything had changed in the few years since we'd been downtown.  (Nothing had changed!)

Uneventful purchase of the last one of the dishwashers (remember, the warehouse guy said they had 4).  I think they have an inventory control problem!

Since we'd passed a Chinese restaurant we had frequented in the past, we decided to go back that way and stop in for a late lunch.  My sis will remember this one as we met there for lunch sometimes "back in the day".....and it hasn't changed one bit either.

 Back at the house, Duane did his magic and installed the dishwasher with me mostly holding a flashlight for him.....nothing is ever easy and a new hole was required in the cabinet due to a difference in the drain hose design.  No worries as it's all hidden from view.  Glad to have a working dishwasher again. 

Pittsboro, NC

 In keeping with the line of things we’ve had to replace at the house….the dishwasher decided to finally misbehave so badly it warranted replacement. It occasionally leaked for no apparent or traceable reason.  It would leak one day, then refuse to leak for several weeks.  But the final straw was that the upper tier spray jets stopped working. Just time to replace - it’s 16 yrs old so I guess it’s been an OK (not spectacular) run. Off to Lowe’s to look at a few in person. Settled on an LG brand that has a nifty little 3rd rack at the top for utensils-  they will deliver it tomorrow since they don’t apparently stock any appliances actually at the store anymore.  Duane removed the old one and will install the new one.  That’s all the excitement for today!

Pittsboro, NC

 In the homestretch!  We decided to experiment with using clips for closure to make putting the cover on easier.  If it doesn't work out it will be pretty simple to remove all the webbing/clips and install standard DOT twist lock fasteners like the original.

All done!  Just a whole bunch of long, straight seems.  Will be fun to put it on the boat and see how good my planning turned out!  

Pittsboro,NC

More sewing....

The fore and aft sections of the original sail cover had a tough liner to prevent chafe.  I decided to use some heavy dacron sailcloth that I have in the "stash".  If it doesn't wear well, I can easily stitch a patch of something more durable at a later date since it's hidden inside the cover.

Did I tell you how much I'm loving these little clips vs. pins or basting tape?  They're not applicable in all situations, but when there is an easily accessible edge, they're great.

One side almost assembled.

Both sides assembled and almost ready for final assembly.  It's a big, hunk of fabric.  (Nothing compared to the weight of the fabric on Meshugga, of course!)

Then, of course - attaching the zipper and the closure straps for the bottom of the cover.  That will be tomorrow!

Pittsboro, NC

Time to get started on the jib cover project....I first have to get some paper wide enough to make the pattern.  I got a roll of car-paint masking paper that we had in the hangar.  Just taped it together to make it wide enough.

 

 

Laid out the old cover and got to work making the pattern.  Left notes about where to allow seams, etc.

Continued the process.  I'll have to cut pieces both of Sunbrella and of sailcloth for the reinforcements on the ends.  We're also extending the length a bit because the existing cover allows the end of the jib to be exposed to sunlight more than I'd like.  (The whole point is to eliminate UV damage while the sail is stored.)

Next was just to add the seam allowances and cut out the pieces using my hot knife to prevent fraying.

Major pieces all cut out.

The only sewing I did was these long strips that will be used as a finished 2"  binding at the base of the sail cover.  I know it doesn't look like much progress but it was enough for one day!

 

Pittsboro, NC

 So the forecast for the next few days is rain....unfortunately our driveway paving project was scheduled for tomorrow.  It will likely be next week now.  Oh well, we certainly want the surface dry and perfect since we don't want to ever have to do this again!!!

I have started the other project - the jib sail cover.  Just getting things organized and a large zipper ordered.   I've wound a bunch of bobbins.  I absolutely hate the chore for some reason!  That's it...will get into cutting and sewing over the next few days.

 

 

 

Pittsboro, NC

 Jumped right into a chore that has been needed for a while now.  With the nice clean floor finish cured for a couple of weeks, it's time to start putting some items back that we had stored in the garden shed.

This nice metal cabinet is about 30 years old and in good shape structurally, but has a few rusty spots.  Got out the orbital sander and gave it a one-over.  (Protected the new floor with paper.) 

 

Just primed the bare spots with rusty-metal primer.

And used a low-nap roller to give it a fresh look.  Not perfect but much better!

C

Oriental, NC

 Time is winding down here at the boat.....I plan to make a new jib cover because the old one is very weak and easily torn.  It's from circa 2015 so time for a replacement.  We removed the old one and covered the jib haphazardly with a tarp and some Sunbrella.  Good enough until we return with a new one.  I'll use the old one as a pattern at the house - much easier to work in air-conditioned comfort in the wide open basement space at home!

And lastly, Duane had some maintenance to do up the mast.....

Other than that, we just packed everything up for the drive home.  

Oriental, NC

Our gas grill is in need of some TLC….it was on the boat when we purchased it 8 years ago and it’s been great to have. But it’s looking a bit tired on the outside. (Most of the interior parts have been replaced over the years).  

So I just started scrubbing with the magic sauce - a paste of Barkeeper’s Friend and water.

Lots of elbow grease.

Not perfect but much nicer.

These little grills cost over $300 to replace so it’s worth a little trouble.

And I did finish up a couple of coats of white paint on the helm seat pedestal.  Looks OK from a distance, better than bare metal but not as nice as the powder coating….

Oriental, NC

 Jerry invited us to go sailing with him to check out the performance of some sail rigging changes he had made on Bluejacket. 

His changes worked out well and we enjoyed a perfect sailing day with mild temperatures for a few hours. A lovely breeze allowed him to sail almost all the way back to his dock.

  

Later, neighbors Joe and Colleen invited us to go to the Silos for Tuesday 2-Fer pizza night.  Can it be Tuesday already again???  Time sure flies!

On the way to the restaurant we checked out yesterday’s progress on Joe & Colleen’s house addition.   All the pilings in place. 

Will be fun to follow their progress. 

Oriental, NC

I always enjoy waving to the crab fishermen - they usually place a pot in our little bay right beside our dock.  Looks like the crab fishing is pretty good since they dumped quite a few crab out of the pot.

 We're just doing some random chores, taking it pretty easy.  Disassembled the gas grill, cleaned it and found Duane needs to fabricate a little metal tab that has corroded away.  He'll take that home for some precision work.....

 Another small chore was for Duane to route the new SSB antenna wire - requiring that he drill a hole in the boat! (He absolutely hates to have to drill holes in the boat).  We had the new antenna installed with the new rigging but we never had gotten around to routing the wire.....neatly done outside with a special flange to make it really waterproof..

 

And the other end of the wire inside the boat. 

 Another chore - the aluminum pedestal that supports the helm seat has gotten some corrosion over the years at the base that needed attention.

 

 I removed all the corrosion I could with the Dremel.
 

 

 Wiped it down good with acetone.

 

And gave it a good coating of primer.  Will do a couple of coats of white tomorrow after this dries.   It won't be a perfect match to the white original powder coating but it will be much better!

  

Oriental, NC

Donna and Jerry invited us over for an afternoon of cards....good fun as we haven't played cards in a while.   We joined them for a bite to eat at M&M's - always a treat.

On the way home - a little deer family on Fork Point Road!  So nice to have the cooler weather but the mosquitos are back with a vengeance!

Oriental, NC

 The wind is finally cool....but it's blowing a lot of water into our creek.  The water is lapping at the dock - and the climb onto the boat is high!!

 

 

Duane has been doing some maintenance on the dinghy - replacing an engine part, replacing a rusty mounted fire extinguisher. In addition, we emptied the dry bag that has all of our supplies, spare parts, emergency beacon, flashlights, etc.  Replaced all the batteries and a new flashlight.    Out on the creek for a test drive.

Just a fun little joy ride into the marshy areas.  Easy since we have 2' extra water in the creek right now!

Back to the boat, all is well.