Falcon's Log 13
June 14, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

The mornings recently have been fabulous. A cool breeze, clear skies and bright sunshine. I've been getting a lot done on
these cooler times of the day. It is 11:34 AM and I am in for a bit of food and rest after getting some good stuff done this
morning. I got closer to what I want as far as rigging the dinghy hoist, but still a little ways to go.

Just got a call from Espin, who is back in the country and has had the worst trip to the Bahamas in his life. He apparently
NEVER got to sail once - not for a minute - in the entire time he was over there. He expects to be back here in a week or so.
Using the 4:1 foresail peak halyard and a 4:1 old boom vang system,
it almost worked good enough. A little more tinkering and the dinghy
hoist system will be sorted out. I also removed the anchors and extra
ground tackle from the davits and foredeck to facilitate prep and
painting of the rest of the deck and cabin. It should make for some
good pictures. Soon, I'll only have interior stuff to do.
June 15, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

Sunset on the evening of the 13th was one of those spectacular full sky colorama's - and I didn't have my camera. I made
sure to have my camera last night, so naturally the sunset was a barely acceptable non-glorious display of half-efforts and
missed lines. Like a bad play that only gets mild sympathy applause by the kindest members of the audience. Well, I had my
camera and it was looking right at me so I had to take a couple of pictures. Now you have to look at them too.
I will clean up and tape off around the bow and cabin as much as I can, as early as I can, and see if I can get a coat of Ice
Blue on today.
Well, there you go - first thing you know, the deck and cabin roof are painted, and non-skidded. New word, 'non-skidded'.
Just made it up. I still need a coat on the cabin sides and more on the side decks, and possibly some touch-up here and
there, but it's coming along fine. I'll probably take a little time to do some varnish on the companionway doors and main hatch
and battery switch hatch (it's ALL the varnish on the boat! - awesome, Huh?) Why not? I'm this close to a finished exterior,
might as well do the varnish and get a set of 'one-time' pictures so when it turns rat again I can show people what it used to
look like once upon a time.

Right now, it's steaming hot outside and I'm a little played out. But the boat looks good.
June 16, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I slept late today and didn't get up until 7 AM. The extra rest is nice, but it seems like a slow start to the day. The last thing I
did outside yesterday was to take a couple of pictures of the sunset and some of Falcon, bot with and without the flash.
Nothing special happened, but I did get a nice sunset shot and the freshly painted cabin top still looked good in a sunset glow.
Just prior to putting on supper and rushing outside to take a few shots, I spent an hour or so on the phone with Jammer, who
I've spoken of often in this log, but just in case you're new and don't know about him, here's the Readers Digest version.

I found his Westerly 22 Blog years ago when he was rebuilding an old Westerly sailboat with the intention of sailing it around
the world. I wrote to him and we became friends. The Westerly experiment proved less than satisfactory, so he sold the boat,
saved his money, then bought an Endeavor 32 that was a truly sweet boat. It needed work, so he brought it to Regatta Point
Marina and docked it right next to George Pappas and began fixing it up. Just about when it was ready to start cruising, his
mother became ill and he sold the boat, quit his job and moved to Albuquerque to take care of her. It is a long way from the
sea to the center of the high desert. Anyway, he has done well with his mother and she is feeling much better and has lost a
great deal of excess weight. Not one to fall behind, Jammer has also lost the extra weight he'd been carrying for years, and
he has now returned to his old love of photography and is developing a new career. Here is a shot of him now and a link to
his new Photography website, Digital Desert Photography.
I have another picture of him somewhere, you know,
a 'before' picture, but I just can't find it right now.
Maybe later.

Well, I need to get outside and get all my ducky's in a
row and get this last coat of Ice Blue on the deck and
fittings. Then will come the 'remove the glued-on
tape' adventure and the varnish fun. Varnish is easy
though. Gotta go. Later.

Okay, I'm back. I got the last deck painting done,
completing the cabin sides, doing second coats and
touch-up wherever needed, and applying a second
coat with heavy non-skid to both side decks. Late in
the afternoon I was able to pull the tape, but there's
still some shards left to get off with the help of an
Exacto knife and a small scraper. All in all, I'm happy
with it and will now be careful of what I do on it. No
more room for abuse and 'take care of it later' crap.
June 17, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

For one of the first times in history, I am actually aware that this is my birthday. I'm aware because I just wrote the date in the
heading to this post. For most of my life, my birthday, other peoples birthdays, holidays, weekends, even Thanksgiving,
Christmas, New Years and the 4th of July have snuck up on me and passed with my notice. Apparently, 'snuck' is not a word
and the spell-checker just got schooled to make it one of 'my special words'. I went out last night to get a sunset shot because
the Eastern sky was getting red, but there wasn't that much going on in the West. I yelled, "Hey! Do something!" You know,
but, it didn't, so there you have it.
I've been cleaning up the dock and organizing this morning, getting ready to varnish everything I'm going to varnish. I'll also
do the four old wooden-cheeked snatch blocks I've saved forever. Some people eye them with a degree of envy. Someday I'll
quote a price and watch the envy flee from their eyes like a lawyer from an ethics question. Today will also be a laundry day.
Head down and full speed ahead, I am not a man enamoured of varnish work. I do not like it, and I do not pretend to. It is a
pain in the ass for an all too short result. Nevertheless, I have conceded to vanity of having a bit of prettied wood on the boat,
and the minute it gets to aggravating it will be stripped and painted like everything else. There is something about
over-varnished boats that makes them look like vulgar people wearing too much make-up or sporting too many shiny baubles.
Besides that, bright work is a pain in the ass. But then, I've said that.

I sanded and wiped down the pieces and applied the first coat of varnish. I don't know what happened to my brand new can
of good varnish - it'e either here somewhere or I gave it to someone, but all I have is an unopened quart of Interlux 100
HiSpeed varnish (not my first choice, really) with a lid so rusty that it crumbled when I took it off. So, after the first coat, I
actually slobbered on (too thick) two more coats in the blazing sun ( a no-no - causes curdling, which it did). When it dries
hard in another day or so, I'll give it a light hand sanding and apply one more spare coat for a nice bright shiny look.

Uh-oh. Thunder. I have to go put the hatch back on or cover the opening before it rains inside the boat. See you tomorrow.
I'm going out with Donny and Barb, who are bringing me out to eat for this, my birthday. I can't say how old I am because
numbers don't go that high. Okay, 62. But I hardly feel a day over 60.
June 18, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

We had a wild set of violent thunderstorms swing past last night, carrying on well past when I went to bed. The weird thing is,
not one of them hit the Seafood Shack Marina. All around us there were towering clouds with lightning flashing and thunder
rumbling, but not one of them spilled a single drop of rain on the marina.
These shots are about the four points of the compass with perfectly clear sky overhead. Go figure. All it did was foul TV
reception. Not a big loss.

I got a Contact from Steve, another Boston guy, who stopped in to visit a couple of times and will be sending me some
pictures of his Cape Dory and (maybe) some shots around the cruising grounds in New England. I do miss the area and can't
wait to be back up there in Falcon.

Well, no matter how long I stay down below and wait, none of the work that needs doing ever gets done without me. That's
why I have to do every single thing on this boat myself. Not because I won't let anyone else work, they just never take the
initiative, show up and do it to surprise me.

Donny and Barb took me out to the Rod And Reel on Anna Maria Island last night for Grouper and Key lime pie. Yummy, and
thanks again.
June 19, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I didn't get much done yesterday. The temperature got to 96 degrees and the 'feels like' temp was above 108. Just stifling.
The varnish was still a bit soft, so that needed at least one more day of baking in the sun, though I did slip the main hatch
back in position to help against the expected afternoon downpours that once again missed us.

While updating the log yesterday morning, my cellular Internet modem stopped working. Naturally, I tried this and that and
everything I'd tried before that had restored it. Then I called AT&T and a nice woman named Tammy, very patient and
knowledgeable, worked with me for about an hour before turning me over to the technology department, who were presently
overwhelmed with calls.       Hmmmm. Really? Overwhelmed?          Pause.      (That's what I write when something 'gives me
pause'.)  (I just recently discovered it was not 'paws', like a dog.)

Anyway, after trying the varnish again and talking idly with guys on the dock, I put the modem and my cell phone in my
pockets and headed off to the AT&T office. Much to my surprise, it was empty and had a large 'WE HAVE MOVED!' poster in
the window, but the new location was only another mile up the same street, so I went there. Inside, the new place was bigger,
better, and equipped with superior air conditioning. The manager quickly approached and asked how he could help me and I
replied that he could show me where to put my cot 'cause I was gonna move in. He faked laughter - I had it coming - and I
showed him my non-operational $200 modem and he instantly said the local network was down for upgrade and would be
back on line in three to five hours. I imagined that meant the 'entire down time' and not from that particular moment. Then I
asked about upgrading my old cell phone to something smaller, thinner, and with Bluetooth so I could have both hands free
while working on the help line and not have to keep telling Tammy, "Wait a minute, I have to put the phone down."

Next thing you know, I'm forking over $245 and leaving the store with a new phone (sweet item), a nice little Bluetooth unit,
the appropriate accessories and rebates for $100 - and a new 2 year contract. Some people avoid the contracts like the
plague, but I haven't ever had a problem with them. I prefer to have service and never be concerned about my 'minutes' and
never have to tell people there are 'rules' if they want to call me, especially my kids and family. Call me anytime, day or night,
talk as long as you like, it's all covered. I also happen to like the unlimited cellular Internet access I use to do this site.

My problem right now is that I have to read this huge manual and learn how to use all the functions on this new phone.

I also have to get to Ace hardware this morning and get some special epoxy to fix a pinhole in one of the sinks in the
restaurant. Nick the bartender asked me yesterday if I could come up with something and after searching through all my stuff,
I couldn't, so I told him I'd take care of it this morning. It shouldn't take long.
June 20, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

It is Saturday morning and already oppressively hot and muggy. I got the varnish sanded and re-coated yesterday and will be
installing it all today. I'm also engaged in re-lacing and re-connecting all the lines I removed to facilitate the deck painting and
have already done the main halyards and mainsheets. Push has come to shove on two other small pieces of deck hardware
that have been waiting for me to design and build them. They are line guides for the four foremast halyards that are intended
to keep the lines off the deck in the long run from the forward direction changing sheaves to the four-gang line clutch at the
rear edge of the cabin top. Lines that lie on the deck get notoriously dirty and quickly develop mold. I'll be making them today
out of white Starboard.

Below are some shots of the varnish in as good a condition as it gets to be this time around. It is at a level of acceptance that
I like to refer to in the highly technical term of 'good enough' and I am braced for having it annoy me a little until I can get
around to doing it really nice.

There is also a shot of four sailboats who came in together yesterday and have left together this morning. They are a source
of wonderment to me. How can you go off for fun and adventure in a sailboat if you are tethered to three other boats? Have
these people never gone on a family vacation? Do they not know the meaning of 'getting away from it all'? Do they not realize
that a big, annoying part of 'IT' is populating those nasty vessels attached to their hip? Oh, well. To each his own.

Yes, I know. I have a little clean-up to do around the threshold. Thank you. Thank you very much. (I might not do it when you
stop looking.)
I managed to get some stuff done this morning - polishing the shafts and lubricating the sheave and mechanisms in the old
wooden-cheeked snatch blocks, plus assembling them. They are ready for installation. I also got the hardware all back on the
companionway doors and I removed the hatch once more and relieved the drain holes, then lubed the tracks and re-installed
the sliding/lifting hatch. Then the headache started running me down. I had to take Wal-dryl and Excedrin and lie down as the
temperature outside soared and the boat became a stuffy sweat-box. Another high-temp record-making day with 'feels like'
temperatures over 110. This sucks.
June 21, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

Once again we are hearing the heat wave warnings on the morning news. 'Feels like' temperatures 110 or more, new
records, blah, blah, blah. You know, not for nothin', for a state that is supposed to have the BEST weather anywhere, Florida
is usually up to it's single wide eyebrow in crappy weather. I know, I know, people with single wide eyebrows from Michigan,
Maine and Montana all say we're lucky to have such nice, warm weather, but it's so humid here you have to swim through the
air to get anywhere.

Anyway, I got a couple of shots of the sunset last night. Red rubber ball sunset. Pretty nice.
The headache is gone this morning so I'll get done whatever I can before it either comes back or the heat dehydrates me and
brings it back. The companionway doors are ready to put on and adjust, and I'm pretty much all set to get the deck line
guides done and installed. I might put the sun shades back up on the boat to cool it off inside some. They go a long way
toward making the boat comfortable.
June 22, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I did get some things done on Falcon yesterday besides transcribing all my phone numbers from the old phone to the
computer - something I've wanted to do forever. Now I have to go through them and see which are out of date and which
belong to people I don't know anymore.

I got the rest of the lines laced through the deck organizers and turning blocks, so now I can measure for the two new line
guides and make them up. I also finished installing the companionway doors and both additional sun shades. When the tide
was full high there was only about a foot from the docks to the surface, so I slid the dinghy in and rowed it around for a while.
It feels quite stable and rows easily. Now I have to get some flotation installed so I dare to put up the mast and try sailing it.
Here are a few pictures I took this morning.
I'm rethinking naming the dinghy 'Kestral'. It seems pretentious. One of my pet peeves about boat names. Maybe I shouldn't
name it at all. 'Toad' fits better, but that seems too far the other way. 'Tender To Falcon' is appropriate, but that also seems a
tad pretentious and it's A LOT of letters. It would run the whole side of the boat. Hmmm. I'm starting to like Toad.

On my way to Marine Surplus this morning with Geoff and Ed, the new guy on the Catalina - I'll get a picture. He's a teacher
from Baltimore or something. Geoff needs 1/4" Starboard, I need 1" Starboard to make my Compass table, and Ed just needs
to look around and see the place.

Geoff was just here with Sam and we talked a bit on the dock while Sam chased off pelicans and barked at waves. I told him
about the dinghy-naming dilema and he suggested 'Eddie', as in 'Falcon Eddie', the old character in 'Rich Man Poor Man'.
Cool. Good idea. And I told him how I got that name in Boston and eventually named my Yacht Service 'Falcon Eddie'. He
also suggested a picture of a Toad on the side of the dinghy and the name 'Towed' on the back. I think I like 'Eddie' better.
June 23, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

We went to Marine Surplus yesterday and Ed had a good look around. Geoff and I settled for a couple of pieces of Starboard
where one, the 1/4" sheet, was all his and the other, a 3/4" gray piece, we split. I will use a piece of that to make my little
Compass table for the cockpit. Now I have to round out that design and assemble the tools and materials. The device will
hold the compass, the GPS, and have at least one 12v socket for accessories, probably two. The accessory sockets are for a
million CP spotlight and cellphone charger. I also still need to get the VHF radio mounted and the autopilot control mounted.

I got some cleaning up done on the dock and still have more to go, The report from the State officials has finally come
through and they are somewhat disappointed in my  flagrant display of personal property scattered around the dock. In truth, I
think they may just be jealous of some of my cool stuff. Still, I have to clean it up and make the docks meet State safety
standards for the hurricane season. They frown on leaving out stuff that will inevitably land in the water during a blow. Sorry.
It's a little embarrassing when a State report identifies you by name.

In the peak of the heat in the afternoon I went to Walmart and got coffee supplies for two months and instant potato's. The
wall of icy air conditioning when we walked in - I met Richard and Angie in the parking lot - was so awesome I wanted to buy
a cot and set it up in the lobby so I could live there. You really could. They've got everything: food, clothes, bathrooms, and
TV - what else do you need?

We started off today with another record high temperature. The overnight low was the highest ever on record. That's nice.
Always good to be a part of record-breaking news.

Last night at just about 7 PM a mechanic backed into Espin's new car (it's actually and old Toyota, but in excellent shape)
and took off. I tried to get contact information for the driver who had hit the car from the owners/builders of the brand new
Donzi 73 footer tied up at the end of the dock, but the got snotty with me and refused - not bright: I then gave the jerk a face
full of 'go f*** yourself, you'll tell the cop when he gets here', and all three of the 'big wigs' practically RAN out of the marina.
Five minutes later, the four blue-collar laborers did the same. A half hour after that, the guy who hit Espin's car came back,
apparently having been called by the snotty guy. Five minutes after he arrived, the State Police showed up and we did our
'report' procedure. It took a long time and I was sorry for the guy driving the truck that hit Espin's car, but there wouldn't have
been a problem if he had just stopped and given me contact information. There wouldn't have had to be a Police presence.
The big snot on the $5 million dollar Donzi made sure we had to call the police. You should have seen that jerk buckle. He
threw his hands in the air and said, "I've got bigger problems than that!" (His brand new boat had serious engine problems.)
Then he asked, in a sneering, condescending way, "What kind of car is it?" Like, if it's not a brand new Bentley, what the hell
are you worried about? I like to bit his head off telling him it didn't f***ing matter what kind of car it was, and he started
sniveling that it wasn't him who hit the car, don't yell at him. But he WAS the guy who refused to give up the guys phone
number. So he got the guy a nice fat ticket for hitting a parked car. Good job, jerk. On the up side, it was good to talk to Espin
for a while.

It's cloudy and windy today and I hope it seriously cools off. Meanwhile, I have to make some headway somewhere today.
The 73 foot Donzi getting engine and running gear work so it can head off to Ft Lauderdale for finishing. 250 gallons of fuel
per hour, I'm told, though it can move at 10 knots on only 20 gallons per hour. Two 2000 HP MTU Detroits. Oh, yeah.
June 24, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

A cold front came crashing through last night from midnight to about 1 AM. Now, we're all the way down to the low 80's at
dawn and headed back into the 90's by noon. Sounds cooler, huh? Weather people are retarded.

I have to get this dock cleaned up and get the insulation cut down and maybe pushed into position to finally not have two 4 x
8 foot sheets of crap to keep moving from spot to spot. Now that it's nice and cool outside, I expect to get tons of stuff done.
I'll be back later.
I was greeted by Paul this morning and he told me I had to clean up the dock and how mad Ham was about the situation. He
tried to stick up for me a bit, but I think we all know I've been pushing it and have already gotten away with much more than I
should have. So, I cleaned up the dock and it's coming along fine. There is the table with just the stuff I'll be working on today,
the sheets of insulation and fiberglass that I'll be working on today, and the last of the odd crap that I have to put in the truck
is on top of the dock boxes. I also put the mast on the dinghy and will put the rest of the dinghy stuff in it. I put the anchors
and rode up on the foredeck and will have a few hours of work up there splicing the rode to the chains and stuffing it all into
the rode lockers, but at least it's off the dock. I'm soaked through with sweat. I hope it's lowering my cholesterol.
I got a call from George Pappas as well this morning. He's feeling
much better after two Wednesdays without Chemo, but he has to go
in tomorrow for a routine stint replacement in his pancreas. Not a bad
time, but not an Ice Cream Sunday either.

Oh, yeah, I made a hose hanger as well and hung the garden hose
down the dock.
June 25, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

Just as I was finishing yesterdays post, a string of violent thunderstorms erupted just off the coast and we got hit by wild
winds and gale force gusts directly off the Gulf. My new blue dock sun cover shredded, the seas became so wild IN THE
MARINA that my dinghy broke loose (my fault obviously, not tying it better) and before I could grab it, the mast step broke
loose from the keel. Oh, well. Have to fix that. At least it wasn't something I did - it was something I assumed was okay when I
put the boat together. It will be just fine when I install it in the tried and approved 'Ben' method.

It took ten or fifteen minutes to get the dinghy under control and pull the mast without falling in the water. I still puttered
around some trying to do something, but there wasn't much left I could do. The bad weather was absolutely not even noticed
by any of the weather stations or regular broadcast stations until it was well past and reports of damage and trees down
came in from everywhere. It was pathetic. I'm searching through the stations as it's occurring and all I can find is: "It's hot,
calm, and humid today, so beware of heat stroke blah blah blah, and there may be some minor light showers later in the
afternoon." Look out a freakin' window, moron.

I ended up talking with Paul and Henry for a while. At least sitting out in the cooler wind was fairly comfortable. Then I went in
and watched the news, then went back outside and ended up sitting with Eddie and Sandy for a while, getting some sunset
shots and having some chips and salsa.
June 26, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

Finished cleaning up the dock yesterday and got some other stuff done as well. Cut the sheets of insulation into strips that
will fit between the cabinroof beams, or carlings or whatever they are. I also cut new lids for the rotting dock boxes from the
sheet of fiberglass that I was going to use in the head. The stuff is only $16 a sheet or so at Home depot, so it was easier to
use it now and get more later than alternative plans for the lids. I have a couple of shots of the dock cleaned and I found
some old shots of how it looked typically, though not as messy as it was earlier this week.
Above: clean docks today. - - - - Below: Ben building Falcon workshop. (fairly neat version)
The sunshade is still a possibility, but I have to do a little work to it to make it easier to put up and take down. We'll see. I'm
getting so close to leaving on so many fronts that it's hard to want to work on things like sunshades and dock boxes that are
not efforts in that particular direction. Boat work is what counts now. Just boat work.

There was an interesting sunset last night and I got some good cloud pictures. It's a stormy, rainy morning right now.