Another Sunset, Another Job Done.

We sat on the flybridge last night relaxing and watched another beautiful sunset, Sharon was knitting and I was just chilling out from my hard day of working on Queeny (actually I didn't do anything yesterday). I did get one job done today though. The doors leaked air really bad. Mostly from bad design not age. The door by the lower helm was the worst. There was a good half an inch gap that air and critters could enter through. I rode the scooter over to Key Largo this morning and bought a small piece of teak to make a filler for it. I had bought some weather stripping last weekend while we were in Homestead. I got it all installed today an it works beautifully. The doors are a little hard to open now though. But on the upside you don't feel a blast of cold air as you walk by the door on the outside now. Hopefully that will help the AC keep up now.

Another beautiful sunset from the flybridge.

Sharon knitting in a bit of wind on the flybridge.

See how much light comes in around the door.

With the door off you can see why it leaked so bad. The existing teak trim did not come straight down, thus it allowed air to come in around the recessed panel of the door.

New piece of teak installed.

Door reinstalled and weather stripping installed to seal the gap.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

I heard this song on the radio for the first time today. I guess it was on the radio when I was in high school, but I don't remember it. Anyway, I though it was a cool song.

What a Drag!

I had to wear shoes for 7 hours yesterday. I haven't worn shoes since last September. I attended a certification class for Texas Wind Insurance on Sunday. It was a four hour class to be certified to do TWIA claims so I had to get dressed up. Yuk. Oh well at least it was only a four hour class. As soon as class got out I changed back into my sandals. If I had my way I would never wear shoes again in my life. For the last  8 months it has been sandals and mostly swim trunks and T shirts. (the way God intended all men to live) I have to do another certification this week, but fortunately it is online.

We leave for Colorado next week for a family reunion. We will be away from the boat for about a week. We will fly out of Ft. Lauderdale. Should be a good time, but will miss being here.

Another Project Finished

I finished another project. It is one that has been bugging me for awhile now. The railing on the stern was broken and part of it missing. Probably from a past storm or something. It would have been very difficult for me to match the existing railing with the limited tools I have with me. So I was thinking of what I could do differently that would be easier and still look good. Then I got the idea to make a mount for our dingy motor while we are underway. I used to hang it on the stern rail of Morgan. I didn't have a place for it on Island Queen, so this seemed like the perfect plan. I bought the teak yesterday and started on it. Finished it up today and I think it turned out pretty nice.

Before

Broken and rotted corner

Finished motor mount

I like it.

Sun Shade

We got our sun shade today. The lady that made it has to make a few adjustments to take care of a few wrinkles, but it is 90% done. It turned out very nice. It makes such a difference in the way the boat feels. It also allows us to leave the window shades open most all day which gives the boat a more open feeling.

Sharon's New Ride

We bought Sharon a new ride today. When I go to Indiana to work I will need to take the HHR, but she will still have to get to work as well. I checked into renting her a car for while I was gone but that was going to be $600 for three weeks, and then if I get called out to a storm we would have to rent one again. After a lot of looking we found a Yamaha 125 scooter. It will run 65 mph. The speed limit down here is only 45 mph. She works about 10 miles from the marina. So it should be not only good but also fun transportation for her. We rode it around some tonight. It is actually fun to ride. It is a little bit of a step down from her last bike (a Yamaha V-star 1100) but as we get older we have to embrace humility.

Teak, Teak, Teak

I have been working on a few projects lately. I was finally able to get the acrylic to rework the instrument cover. I am happy with the way it turned out. Who knows how long it's been since it had one on it. I also got the rest on the handrails sanded down and cleaned. The teak is starting to get close to being done. I still have the rub raids and two doors to do, but that won't be to bad.

We had a couple of manatees visit the other day. They came right up to the  boat and waited like they wanted to be fed. We didn't give them anything though. They (echo freaks) go ballistic down here if you feed or water them. You would probably go to jail or be horse whipped or something. It was fun seeing then. Yesterday I was standing at the sink doing dishes when I saw a bunch of fish come by. I stopped and went out to watch then for awhile. They are amazing to watch in clear water. This was the most I had seen at one time. Had to have been a hundred of them. I do love seeing all the wildlife while living on the boat.

We leave for Colorado in a couple of weeks. We are going to fly out there for Sharon's family reunion. While there we are going to rent a car and drive over to Moab Utah and spend a couple of days there as well. Moab is one of our most favorite places on earth. When we return from out west Sharon will stay here and work and I will go back to Indiana and work for about 3 weeks. I am not really looking forward to being in Indiana in July, but I guess that is better than January. I read some interesting facts about the weather down here the other day. The all time highest recorded temp here is 99. The all time lowest temp on record is 35. It's not a hard climate to get used to.

Instrument panel before.

Instrument panel now.

Instrument panel now.

Teak handrail rough and weathered.

After a little work.



Two manatees who came to visit.



Pics of Island Queen

Here are a bunch of pics of IQ and the progress of work we are doing to her. Caution: may be boring if you aren't into working on boats.

https://picasaweb.google.com/113953312534110865203/IslandQueen#slideshow/5749107623122460002