Sunday, November 13, 2011

Dare I say progress?

Another work weekend on Kintala.  Every weekend is another work weekend on Kintala, so that isn't a surprise.  What is a bit of a surprise is how well it went, and how good I feel about how well it went.  For, truth be told, if I honestly thought that these last few weeks are the best that "living aboard" has to offer, I would be planning my escape back to the land of the sane and solvent.

The tranny is actually hanging off the back of the engine, installed.  All of the mount brackets are wire brushed, sanded, cleaned and painted with Ford red "ceramic enamel".  (Not sure what "ceramic enamel" is, actually.  But it sounds hard and looks good.  Sadly, 80 grit and a rattle can, and the brackets look tons better than my powder coated hatch frames.)  All of the exterior teak is scrubbed and has one last coat of winter protection.  Some plumbing has been replaced.  (I didn't like what I did the first time so I did it a second time.  You do that too, right?)  Both Kintala's and a friend's boat's holding tanks are empty.  We helped move a couple of boats to their winter slips.  Deb did a bunch of work in the clubhouse, getting ready for next weekend's before Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner here at the marina.  (She thought it would be nice to get the "hard core" few together for a Thanksgiving dinner, figuring most people would be busy with the holidays coming up.  So far 40 people have signed on, nearly half the club membership.)





Lastly, some trim that goes around the still missing aft hatches has been sanded and refinished.  While loading a fresh square of 220 on the palm sander and humming quietly to myself I was struck by just how much I had enjoyed this weekend.  I'm not much on mysticism; the limits of my spirits-uality is what proof is being poured into my glass.  But I got to thinking that there would be only two differences between heaven, (if there actually be such a place not filled with religious fanatics) and this day.  The first would be that every day in heaven would be as good as this day.  And the second would be that everyone would get the chance to enjoy their life as much as I am enjoying mine.

7 comments:

Sabrina and Tom said...

Your teak looks lovely!

~~_/)~~
Sabrina

Deb said...

Thanks Sabrina! We've been using Starbrite Teak Oil. It's super easy to apply but it doesn't seem to last more than about 6 weeks so I'm not sure I'm done looking for the best finish. I've been reading some good things about Cetol Natural Teak so I may try that but I just really hate to go back down the varnish road.

Anonymous said...

A hard day working on your boat sure beats a hard day at work!

S/V Veranda said...

Sounds like theres been some progress on your psyche as well. Glad to see things are progressing for you

OldSarg said...

Great work on the Teak!

TJ said...

Well...progress, yes...some. But there are still some serious issues with the V-drive itself. We are currently being held hostage by an argument between Walter machine, who continue to insist that our boat isn't factory, and everyone else in the sailboat world who insist that it is. I have no clue how this is going to be resolved, but until it is Kintala remains a big, expensive, dock ornament.

LittleCunningPlan.com said...

You have to love that bright red color. It all looks so nice, and it's good to hear that your spirits are looking up as well.
I love the look of that teak. Around here, Cetol is the treatment of choice and I have to say I don't like it much. Sacrilege, I know. Our Cal34 has several layers of the stuff on the deck handholds and the hatch cover and trim. It's pretty much a pain in the rear because it's flaking off now (due to many years of it having been re-coated without being stripped to wood first) and we've got quite a job ahead of us with all the scraping/sanding,etc. required before we can make it look pretty. I like the look and feel of the oiled teak so much better. Even weathered teak looks nice. If my wood looked as good as yours, I would be loathe to go back to varnishing myself.