"Get A Little Bit Done Every Day"

That's always been a philosophy of Carter's.  So while we're at anchor, and it's too cold to work outside, we decided it's time to tackle the navigation station.  We have purchased a new Kenwood stereo that we want to install, and we'll see what else we want to put in here.  Right now we need the shelving and we are going to put the nav station table back in here for use as a small dinette for us.  We'll get a couple of small stools that will fit underneath. 

And here we go...

Kicking out previous inhabitants!

Mud Daubers

Progress so far...

We put the nav station table back in and decided it's too big so Carter will make a smaller one when we get back to the oxbow.

Yesterday, we worked in the engine room.  We cleared off the starboard side storage shelves in order to clean the walls.  It's all temporarily stored on the top bunk for now. 

It warmed up a bit and we decided to take a whaler ride to the beach.

Some well deserved time off!

January 2, 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2012

The holidays are over and all family visitors have returned home.  Carter and I have decided to stay anchored in Fort Myers Beach...do some work on-board AND

mix in a little vacation time for ourselves! 

We worked very hard for 3 weeks straight getting the boat ready to go cruising with the family.

Carter worked steadily and got 4 of the total of 12 solar panels installed and secured before we left.  Once they were installed, he wired 2 of the panels to run the tv and refrigeration so we wouldn't have to run the generator all day and night.

He is changing out the support system from the wood canopy to aluminum but the wood is still in place until the aluminum is complete. 

We took the boat out just past this bridge into the Gulf where Carter was able to scuba dive to inspect the cutlass bearing and the prop.  The cutlass bearing is not in as good of condition as we hoped thus our decision to return to home base.  It will be necessary to haul the boat out to repair the cutlass bearing and we will paint the entire boat at the same time.

Unfortunately, there just happened to be a red tide going on causing fish to die.  We spotted many, many dead fish along the way.  This was a huge jew fish.  It was the size of a small manatee.

Since we originally had planned to continue on down to 10,000 Islands for a day or two ourselves, I set to work on the mosquito netting which is a necessity down there.  We have enough netting to completely surround the cockpit. I will only have to make slight modifications to get it to fit the new cockpit dimensions.

It rolls up and out of the way when not in use. I plan to sew nice ties with the black sunbrella but the rope will have to do for now with our tight timeframe to get underway.   I also still have to install the section around the front and rear of the cockpit.  I may work on that today if it's not too windy.

Carter did a great job with the Christmas lights to go on parade!

The final detail was the installation of the GPS chart plotter and we are ready to head for the Gulf.

We plan to anchor out for a couple days as we lazily make our way back to the oxbow.

Mantanzas Pass Anchorage, Fort Myers Beach

December 23rd

It seems that all the problems with our MiFi, with blogspot, and with my new camera have been worked out so posting is not quite as labor intensive as it has been.  So...I'm going to try to catch up on a couple things that we have been working on other than the solar panel project.

We have always talked about removing the double queen size beds from the salon area.  As it is now, there are only two bucket seats for the entertainment area.  We want...no need...more room than that so we will be able to entertain family and friends comfortably when they come to visit.  Since we have moved the main sleeping quarters into the dinette area, we are free to take out the existing beds.  Step one was to take down the headboards and to remove the mattresses.  As you can imagine, moving the mattresses out of the small hatch was an exhausting endeavor, but again, we won the battle in the end.

Off came the headboard on the upper bunk and yes, the ant spray was used to remove the inhabitants we uncovered.  We are definately getting the ant situation under control. 

Look at all that space!  This is the bottom bunk all cleared out and the headboard removed.  Can't you just see the new wrap around sofa and coffee table in this space?  We will design it so that it will convert into a spare bed for overnight guests.

Everything that had been stored on the lower bunk is now being stored under the current bed.  It worked out to be a perfect size to store the Avon inflatable boat.

I will look for suitable material and sew a skirt to cover this.  The carpeting in this area is a definate improvement.

And just to tie up all loose end projects, here is the wheel cover that I completed a couple days ago.  Let me just say, this looks like such a simple project but my friends, that was not the case.  This project almost kicked my butt.  I had to redo it a couple times to get it to a point that was acceptable to me.  I have to keep in mind that I am working with Sunbrella fabric, which is canvas, and is not as simple as with working with regular fabric.  But..my new Sailrite sewing machine works great!  I love it.

I know you have to be wondering what was so hard about this cover...there is a split in the rear that had to have a hem around it.  Going around the top curve of the hem was very difficult, but again...I won the battle!

This will probably be my last post until after the Christmas holidays as we are expecting family to visit so...

MERRY CHRISTMAS

To All Our Family and Friends

Carter and Diane

December 22nd

We've been working fast and furious trying to get things to a good stopping point before more company arrives for the holidays.  Carter made significant progress today by getting the I beam backbone up on the boat and even got one panel screwed in before darkness brought all work to a halt.  It took a little bit of fine tuning and then some convincing with a sledge hammer to get it into place.  But...we won in the end!  :-P

Just beginning!  The I beam is carried up on the boat and put into position.

This is so you can see the big picture.  Carter walks a "tight rope" up there. 

Carter had to fine tune by trimming some aluminum to get it to fit.

Then some gentle persuasion with a sledge hammer...

Inch by inch it moved into place.

Finally, it's in positon.

Shew!

With the backbone in place, Carter couldn't wait to start putting the solar panels in place.

With this panel in place it was time to remove the plywood scaffolding out of the way. 

This was completed right at dusk so we were forced to quit and retreat inside away from the mosquitos.  We will continue tomorrow.

December 18th

We continue to work on our projects.  Carter has been working, off and on, on changing out the wood canopy for an aluminum I beam and support system.

Here Carter has it set up to get the hinges lined up to hit the panels in the correct place.

 I have gotten the Sailrite sewing machine out and begun to finish my work on all the different covers.  I completed one seat cover last summer and I finished the other one yesterday. 

 

These are the chairs located at the stern of the boat.

The chairs are very comfy as we have recently realized!

For sitting while BBQing...

Or just enjoying the cruise.

Beginning the wheel cover.

I believe I mentioned in an earlier post that we purchased a new TV.  It has been so nice to actually get to watch the news in the morning with our coffee and to watch good movies on blue ray!  We get a total of 5 channels.  ABC and NBC are included but we don't get CBS which is unfortunate as it is the channel that has all of our favorite tv shows.  Oh well, we are enjoying the TV.

We have a spaghetti mess of wires right now but I'll get in there and straighten that out soon.

December 8th

Carter immediately got started on a project that he has been wanting to get done for quite a while now.  The flooring in the cockpit has been increasingly getting worse and is in dire need of replacement for safety sake. 

Out comes the old rotting flooring.

Obviously, this will make accessing the engine room much easier when the time comes to install the electric motor.  Here Carter takes time to clean this space while it's open.

Here is the final product.  Very nice.

At the same time, Carter worked on replacing the faucet in the galley and the bathroom.  These are upgrades that really make a difference!

Looking good...for a bathroom...excuse me....head!

Out with the old and in with the new.