Ray Stevens

Sharon and I have been trying to get some medical things taken care of while we still have medical insurance, so I had a colonoscomy this week. If you have ever had one you know the stuff they make you drink is the nastiest stuff you will ever drink, and there is a gallon of it. All the time I was drinking the stuff I kept thinking of the Ray Stevens song Doctor Doctor. So I had to look it up. Here it is.

IT IS FINISHED (well almost)

I finished up the teak rails a couple of days ago, and they look fantastic. Two coats of pigmented varnish and five coats of clear. Now all I have to do are the doors and windows. I will wait until we get to Boot Key Harbor at the end of the month before starting on those. Since we will be on a mooring we will have the doors open anyway so it won't matter if I take them off to refinish them. That wouldn't work here in the marina. I have lots of small projects to do. I don't know if Queeny will ever be finished. I guess it really doesn't matter in the long run. It gives me something to do to stay out of trouble and besides what would I do with all that money if I wasn't giving it to West Marine and Defender?

We got our new inflatable dinghy. We like it so far. Much more stable than Rosie was and a larger carrying capacity.

Our new dinghy

Hard to Believe

It is hard to believe but I have not had a single person claim their free vacation to the fabulous Florida Keys. Well if you were about to reply and say "yes, I am on my way" change that sand paper to foam brushes. All the sanding is done and the first coat of varnish is on. It looks beautiful. Second coat tomorrow, and then five coats of clear. If all goes well I should be done in about a week or week and a half. Just in time for us to move back to Boot Key Harbor on the 1rst of November. We are looking forward to being back on a mooring again. We sold Rosie our hard dingy and have bought an inflatable one. Now I have to find a new motor.

I borrowed a float from the marina to make the job easier.

Sanded and ready to varnish.

First coat going on.

First coat going on.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU WON!!!

If you are reading this you have won a free vacation in the Florida Keys. On you way to the airport please stop by the hardware store and buy some sand paper. By the way it is only a coincidence that I started refinishing the teak yesterday and that you won this free vacation. This vacation promises lots of sunshine and exercise so please act quickly to claim your free week before they are all gone.

I started refinishing all the teak railings yesterday. The first cleaning yesterday, second cleaning today, sanding starts tomorrow. Hopefully the first of seven coats of varnish will go on Saturday. I forget just how much exterior teak there is on Island Queen until I start working on it. I usually just clean it and rub it with teak oil and it is beautiful. The problem is that that only lasts about six weeks and then it is time to start all over again. This time I decided to do a more long lasting job. It is a lot more work up front, but should last for years with a little maintenance every year.

Lots of teak.

Anchors and related hardware removed, cleaned and ready to be sanded.

More teak.

More teak.

Teak, teak and more teak.

Nice Weekend

We anchored out last weekend and had a great time. It is so nice to be out on the hook and away from the marina. We can't wait until it is time to leave the Keys and be on our way. It feels so good to be on the hook and feel the boat swing with the wind and to have all the windows and doors open. While at a marina you pretty well have to run the AC as you just don't get much of a breeze. On Saturday night we went for a swim and the water was full of bioluminescence. Our camera would not capture it so I am putting a couple of photos off of google images to show what it looked like. Every movement  in the water resulted in the water lighting up all around you. Very cool.

The solar panels worked out really well. We did not need to start the generator over the weekend at all and came back with fully charged batteries.

Still lots of small projects going on. I painted Rosie this week and have her on Craigs List and eBay. If she sells we will buy an inflatable dingy to replace her. I also replaced all the engine gauges this week. I plan on starting on the teak rails again next week.



Google pic of bioluminescence.

Sharon enjoying the ride.

Beautiful day to be on the water.