Is that still on the boat?

 As we are getting ready to pack up for a long weekend, I thought I would share our check list. (Actually I am procrastinating on working on the cushions).   We print this off if it has been awhile since we were last on the boat.  It is amazing how things travel on and off the boat without our remembering it.  We leave the list out on the kitchen counter and as we load something on or notice it is already on, we check it off the list.  We use the empty space on the right to add any notes to ourselves about this particular trip.  For instance, if we need to confirm reservations at a marina, we will jot ourselves a reminder.  

This system definitely isn't anything fancy or scientific, but it has saved us on several occasions.  No one wants to arrive at the ramp and then remember the rudder is in the garage.  Feel free to modify for your needs.

 Fair winds to you all over the 4th!

Brenda (grudgingly heading toward the sewing machine)

                            Sailboat Checklist

_____  insulated mugs

_____  ipod

_____  stereo

_____  registration info in boat

_____  garbage can

_____  spare tire

_____  rudder

_____  bug spray

_____  sun screen

_____  port-a-potty chemicals

_____  bottle opener

_____  flashlight

_____  netbook

_____  oil for truck

_____  tools - lug wrench

_____  keys to boat

_____  phone chargers

_____  netbook charger

_____  Kindle charger

_____  stereo charger

_____  Kindle

_____  long rope

_____  wet-ones

_____  washcloth in baggie

_____  snorkel gear

_____  MacGyver w/ corkscrew

_____  gloves

_____  towels - bath/beach

_____  towels - grubby boat

_____  sport camera

_____  digital camera

_____  long extension cord

_____  sheets & blanket

_____  toiletries

_____  tilley hat

_____  B’s cowboy hat

_____  journal

_____  lawn chairs

_____  bimini
_____  water - lots of extra when it is hot
_____  oars for Squint
_____  air freshener

Teak Refinishing Update

We've installed the newly refinished teak pieces on Wrinkles and she is looking so much better. As you can see in the first picture we still need to sand and varnish the two eyebrows.

This is one of those projects that isn't as bad as we think it will be. It doesn't take all that much time, money or effort to dress up our sailboats and protect the beautiful teak wood.

The bowsprit insert on Com-Pac sailboats comes out very easily for refinishing and looks so nice all shined up.

So now it is time to refinish the eyebrows, wash and wax the deck and non-skid areas, and complete the interior cushion recovering project. WHAT! Brenda isn't done with the cushions yet?

Mike

 

Snotter

Well this lovely term, at least in nautical usage, describes a line or tackle that tensions the sprit (or boom) on a sprit sail. Clear as mud right? Here is an "Etch-a-Sketch" of a basic sprit sail set up.

So now you are one of those rare people who can use Snotter in a sentence without being gross.

Sailing Lingo and Lore - Snotter

Now that is an attractive nautical term. Any guesses on what it means?

Maybe a line that is all snarled up?

A rich bratty kid on a megayacht?

Midwestern slang for "Its not her."

Small Projects

We have been working hard on Wrinkles to make her look the way we want her to. It is the small improvements that make a big impact. For example, we removed all six of the porthole screens and tried to make them a little more presentable. We tried soapy water and scrubbing, but the corrosion just wasn't going away. We ended up soaking them in muriatic acid and scrubbing them with a plastic bristled brush. Now that looks more like it! The screen at the top of the picture is after one quick cleaning in the acid.

Next we pulled off all the teak except for the eyebrows for a complete refinishing. The eyebrows on Com-Pacs don't come off very easily, so they are usually refinished in place. The rest of the pieces get a complete sanding and several coats of Spar Varnish. Everyone has their favorite materials and methods for teak renewal. I prefer the look of the Spar Varnish and it seems to stand up pretty well.

When I first looked at the teak on Wrinkles I was concerned that 24 years of Florida sun and salt had pretty much finished them off. As you can see in the first picture they were pretty rough.

Once I started sanding I was pleasantly surprised at how well they cleaned up.

I'll post some pictures of the teak with the varnish on them as soon as they dry. I am done with everything except the bowsprit insert. A few more coats of varnish on that piece and I can check off another item on the To-Do list.

 

All Work and No Play

Why are we not on the water this weekend!!??  Oh that's right...sometimes you have to work in order to play.

Mike was on call this weekend, so we were grounded.  We decided that as long as we couldn't go sailing, we might as well make some money, so we had a garage sale.  We haven't thinned out the junk (treasures) since we built the house 16 years ago plus five years in the previous house.  There was lots that needed to go.  So, for the past several weeks, in our spare time,  we have been hauling stuff out to the garage. Remember the big garage Mike built for the boat?  It was full.  Golf clubs, water toys, kids toys, sporting equipment,  and tools... lots of tools. 

It was plenty of work, but it paid off.  Now all we  have to do is decide what to do with the money.  Perhaps we should buy a new cooler that fits the boat - one that will stay cold for more than a day.  We need new fenders.  Squint, the famous dinghy, needs rubrails.  We could use a screen for the hatch.  A new spinnaker would be nice......  Guess we need another garage sale.

Brass Monkey Lore?

I'm betting a lot of you did a search on the origins of this term. What you found is that there is some disagreement about the true origin, but isn't that true of so many of our sayings. The nautical version is the one that gets the most attention and is a family friendly version.

I found this same reference used online and credited to numerous sources, so I'll just say it isn't mine.

"Brass monkeys or brass monkey weather – Very cold weather, origin from the cannon balls being stored on a wheeled platform (monkey) made of brass. If the weather was so cold as to cause cannon balls to fall off the brass monkey due to different shrinkage rates of the dissimilar metals it was termed to be cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey."




I love this version of the term and as far as I am concerned it is the only true one out there.

Mike

Brass Monkey

We have all heard and used sayings with Brass Monkey in them. It is funny how we adopt these sayings without ever knowing their origins. So what are the roots of this goofy term?

She's a Hot 24 Year Old!

For her 24th birthday, Wrinkles got a make-over with a blue paint job, stripes, registration numbers and logo. She's beeeeauuuuutiful now. She's everything Brenda wanted. Putting the Wrinkles logo on brought a grin to both of our faces. She is really OUR boat now. When we are on the lakes, people will know who she is.

This is what she looked like when we first picked her up. Brenda's never been fond of the brown stripe, and you all know, she always told Mike he could buy any boat as long as it was blue. Thus a repaint was necessary.

 

Here she is in all her new finery.

 

 

We really like the new registration numbers with the gold shadow accent. It really makes them pop!

We are not too fond of the green registration sticker, but....oh well. (you would think that the DNR would allow for custom orders hehe).

So now our hot 24 year old gal is sporting a pretty new look and is anxious to hit the water so she can strut her stuff.

Family Time

We didn't get any sailing or boat repairs done this weekend. It was a weekend to spend time with all three of our kids, Brenda's sister from Alabama, Mom, and my oldest son's girlfriend. We traveled to Minneapolis so the gals could attend my daughter Tina's wedding shower and the boys could entertain her fiancé.

The gals had a great party and the boys went out to play some golf. It seems so rare to gather our small family in one place as we have spread out across the country. We have been blessed to raise such great, happy, friendly children. Tina and Tony will be getting married in August with the festivities taking place on a big riverboat.

 

Left to right: Brenda's sister Karen, John our oldest, John's girlfriend Brittnie, our beautiful daughter Tina, fiancé Tony, youngest son Matt, Mom

My oldest son John and his girlfriend drove all the way from Ohio to Wisconsin and then up to Minneapolis just to attend his sister's shower. Tells you a lot about the kind of people they are. John took Friday off to accomplish all that driving and it was his first day off in over a year. It was fun for me to spend time with the boys. Matt is a fun loving 19 year old gentleman and fiancé Tony is a really great guy to add to the family. Spending time with my oldest son John I realized that I no longer thought of him as my kid. He had become a man that I respected and loved.

Now it is time to get back to work on Wrinkles!

Mike

 

Painting Sucks

Wrinkles looks better with her new Royal Blue hull, but the results are somewhere between mediocre and OK. The Interlux Perfection two part paint I used is better suited to roll and tip application than spraying. Still I wanted to spray the hull after trying the roll and tip method on the top stripe with mixed results. I struggled to get the right viscosity to produce a good finish, but all in all I think she will look pretty good.

First Coat

The color looks awesome and B finally has that blue boat I promised her. Painting a boat outside isn't ideal, but sometimes it is our only option. So even though she won't have a showroom finish she will still be a pretty sight sailing across the water. I have heard people call their boats a "10". If you stand 10 feet away she is beautiful. So when you see Wrinkles, please stay back a few feet.

Second Coat

What a pretty bow!

I have started to put the gold striping and logos on and that really dresses things up. We need to get the Wrinkles graphic ordered and the registration numbers installed. The final step will be to clean off the ugly reddish bottom paint and put some nice white bottom paint on her.

Striping and logo go on

Primer Coat Done

The winds have finally taken a couple of days off at the same time that the temperatures are good enough for painting. I was able to prep the hull a few weeks ago, but it has been a long wait for a weather window to finish the job. I covered the boat with tarps, plastic, paper and tape to the point you can't tell there is a boat underneath.

I used the roll-and-tip method on the top stripes and transom with less than stellar results. OK, but not the kind of work I like to do. So I broke out the spray gun and put 2 coats of two-part Interlux primer on the hull. I used some 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out and it is ready for some royal blue Interlux Perfection paint. If the weather continues to cooperate I will be putting a coat or two on her tomorrow.

I have some 1/2" gold striping to apply where the blue meets the top white stripe. Additionally I ordered and received some gold Com-Pac logos from Hutchins Sailboats to dress her up. We just recently received the title and registration from the state, but they still haven't mailed out our registration sticker.

This is what we are working on for the new artwork on the sides of the hull. What do you think?

Anxious to finally see Wrinkles with her blue hull. Brenda will certainly be happy with this improvement. I promised her a blue hulled boat 2 boats ago.

We'll have to decide which version of the boat renaming ceremonies we want to perform. Have to keep those sea gods happy.

Son of a Gun

So, I'll bet not too many of you knew about the supposed nautical origins of this saying. It is said that during the period of time that the Royal Navy allowed women to travel on their ships that a child born of questionable parentage was born as a son of a gun. A child reared on the gun deck was also referred to in this manner. An early quote seems to support this theory.

Admiral William Henry Smyth wrote in 1867, Son of a gun, an epithet conveying contempt in a slight degree, and originally applied to boys born afloat, when women were permitted to accompany their husbands to sea; one admiral declared he literally was thus cradled, under the breast of a gun-carriage.

You have to love nautical lingo and lore.

New Mainsail Ordered

We sent out for quotes to several sail lofts and ended up ordering a spanking new main for Wrinkles. It is a white 6 oz. Challenge High Modulus Dacron sail with 2 reefs, reef lines, leech cord, standard battens, telltales, sail bag and a loose foot. They will be putting the logo on it and our hull/sail number 448 in black material.




Just 4 weeks from now we will be able to sheet in the main and actually see a sail that doesn't look like a sideways parachute. Thanks to the fine folks at FX Sails for making this purchase an easy task.




Mike and B

 

Sailor's Lingo you son of a gun

Ok, I'll bet most of the sailors knew what Loose Footed meant. It describes a sail that runs fore and aft which isn't secured along the foot (bottom) to a boom.

That was too easy for the sailors, so here is something a little more obscure to mull over.

What is the maritime origin of the term "son of a gun". Hint: Think Royal Navy

Mike and Brenda

Loose Footed - Sailor's Lingo

So what would a sailor call Loose Footed?

A pirate with a poorly fitted peg leg?

What Mike looks like on the dance floor?

Guess away.