Checking off the List

Brad loves my To Do Lists....or at least in my head he does. These lists keep us on track and make sure we get everything done to ensure our safety when we head out on long passages.

Today, I asked Brad to accomplish a larger task and he set to getting out all the materials he would need to finish this project. And then this is what usually happens when Brad sets out to complete a task - he gets completely sidetracked. This usually works out though - even though he will most assuredly NOT complete the task I gave him, he will get a bunch of smaller things done - things that are invariably not on the list but that he has been wanting to do for some time.

So, one minute he was starting to mount the wind generator switch (what I had asked him to do) and the next, he was downstairs pulling apart our instrument panel and working on wiring. (*sigh*)

Before I knew it, we were both involved in running wires from the stern to the instrument panel through the ceiling of the cabins. After a few hours time, we had successfully run the wires to mount the wind generator volt meter and the battery charger reader along with the new XM radio antennae at our navigation table station. This is done by attaching the end of the wire to a string and pulling it through the cabin ceiling. Very very tedious as there are many many things for it to get snagged upon on the way through!

Brad will have to wait another day to cut the holes to actually mount them, but they are all hooked up and working inside now, instead of in the stern battery comparment lazarette.

After we were through with that, Brad decided our cockpit needed a bit of a makeover, so he set about rearranging the instruments on our pedestal. Since our Radar hasn't worked in years and is obsolete and will need to be replaced, he ripped out the screen for that and moved the GPS over. This allows for us to use the top of the pedestal as a hand grip - which is what it is designed for but has not been able to be used due to us having too many instruments on the pedestal. It is still a work in progress but looks so much better!!

So, after today, we have still not completed any of the items (*huff*) on our checklist and have added to our list by only half-completing these other tasks (*sigh*). But, I will admit that he did a lot of work today and it has made a vast improvement to the boat!

Blue Jobs

Most of the big jobs on the boat were “blue jobs”, so Brad has been especially busy this week. Perhaps his biggest chore was changing our exhaust elbow, which has needed to be done for at least a year now. He has been putting it off because he wasn’t sure how involved it would be. He tackled that job yesterday and it turned out great! He is becoming such a handyman! He completely removed our old elbow (all rusted and corroded) and replaced it with this shiny new silver one! And when we turned on the engine, it didn’t even leak!
Old One:

Bright, Shiny New One:

He has also gotten very good with electrical work. Most 12V work is pretty straightforward (so he tells me!) and he has gotten great at dissecting things, figuring out the problem, fixing it up and putting it back together like new. He replaced our old 90s salon lights with new LED strip lighting (blue for party nights on the boat!). All the old bulbs have been switched over to LEDs and he has had to replac many of the wire connections that were starting to get corroded. He is a huge fan of heat shrink connectors!

Today he replaced the speakers in our cockpit – a must have for our upcoming travels!
Our wind generator and Honda generator are working so we are ready to unplug. And once we get our dinghy and outboard running, we will be ready to be back on the hook! A few more intense “blue jobs” and a little more provisioning and stowing on my part and we hope to pull out after Thanksgiving.

My parents have arranged to meet us down in Georgetown for Christmas and while we are very excited to share our world with them and to have them there for the holiday, that puts us on a schedule and we are starting to feel the strain. Hopefully it all works out!