Falcon's Log 14
June 27, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

Espin made it back yesterday. He said that in 40 years of cruising, this was the worst trip he'd ever had and he is DONE with
the Southern Cross 31. It hobby-horses too much. He never got to sail. The winds were either right on the nose or
non-existent. He even noticed that when sitting to anchor with a small fleet of other boats, when he and the other captains
were ashore enjoying drinks and conversation, they would notice that Ajax alone was rocking much more than the other
boats. Ahhh, the romance is over - Ajax is on the auction block. I hope Falcon doesn't display some unforgivable trait when I
get going, because I will sell her like a tight hat. I mean, that boat will vanish like a bad habit, a skinny crack ho, an ice cube
in the desert. Gone. Out'a here. I'll get a motorcycle and start touring Europe. I'm here, but I'm not 'stuck' here.
Drew's divorce is over, apparently, and his Ex moved back to Pennsylvania with their daughter, Samantha. Well, Samantha is
back for the summer and living with Drew on their boat, a fastidiously clean Bayliner powerboat. She has a new little
poodle-ish puppy named Luna, and I met them both at about sunset last night. I'd met Samantha before, but it was a long time
ago when she was little.

Ken and Sandy from the Schucker, 'Nemo', and I have been writing a lot and the conversation (between Ken and I) has
recently turned to motorcycles, something we both love and have extensive experience in. I discovered that one of my old
favorites, Triumph, has come a long way in the past few years and one of their latest models, the Thunderbird, a 1600cc
monster twin, is of real interest to me. It is a big, strong, long-legged cruiser. At almost 700 pounds, I find her a bit of a chunky
girl, but I'm willing to mbet I could pare off around 150 to 200 of those pounds, add the 1700cc kit and have one thundering
rocket sled. The other picture below is of a concept bike that Honda built that I truly hope might soon be offered, because that
is one aggressive, well-armed road warrior.
Still, you can't live in a motorcycle, insurance is crazy, there's no way to carry a good computer with adequate accessories,
though I'm actually OK with the one change of clothes. I'll keep the boat and hope for a day when I can afford both.

This should be a good day when I can get back to work on the boat and get something done. Yesterday I screwed the tops
down on all the local dock boxes - my own first, but when Paul saw me doing it, he had me do a number of others - so I really
need to get my dock box lids fixed so I can get in and out of them easier. To do that, I need to empty some stuff out the truck -
which is now stuffed full - so I can climb to the back and open the rear doors from the inside, since I fouled the remote line I've
been using to do it. Another day, another climb through a pile of crap.
June 28, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

The folks from Panama City are here and my dock is crowded. These are two of the boats that Espin has been cruising with
and all three boats will be heading up to Panama City soon. The two on my dock will leave first, then Espin will drive his car
up, take a bus back or something, then sail Ajax up. His family lives there and he will stay until October. I am bound and
determined to be out of here before he comes back. Come to think of it, Ken and Sandy also say they'll be back in October.
There is supposed to be a cook-out of sorts on the dock tonight and I will get pictures and post them later or tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I have to get my head around getting some real work done. I finally did my laundry this morning. It's summer in
Florida - laundry consists of shorts, T shirts, towels and skivvies. It might be hard to adjust to laundry up north again.
June 29, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

This was a great feed we had last night. Fish and pork and two kinds of sausage and all sorts of other noodles and salads
and lumpy dishes that I was too full to try. I took a bunch of pictures and now have to go through them and pick out a few for
the log. There are three of the gathering between Extasea and Naked Lady, the two boats from Panama City, and one of
Drew and Samantha. I'll also get in some shots of their boats and a sunset.
Naked Lady left early this morning and Extasea just left a few minutes ago. They are hoping to get to Panama City by the 4th
of July.

I now have dock work to do. Paul informed me first thing this morning that there are some issues Ham wants fixed on the
docks, so there you go - I'm off Falcon and working something else again. You have to know I will make quick work of it.

The low pressure area in the Caribbean has come apart, so there is no longer a hurricane threat on the horizon. However,
we remain in this weird weather pattern that no meteorologist can explain (they are politically not allowed to mention Global
Warming or disrupted weather patterns) so they are left to shrug their shoulders and recount the 'first ever' records that seem
to be happening on an almost daily pattern. Still, this all-new stuff is 'normal' weather. Interesting. On the other hand, I could
be totally wrong and it is absolutely normal.
June 30, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I had to go into the Seafood Shack and fix a new leak in the same sink. The sink is about to fail completely and I don't know
what it will take, if anything, to fix it. It might have to be replaced. I did the dock and cleat yesterday. I should have moved the
big float around to Tarquin when I had the chance, but now theres a transient boat bin the slip I had to move it through.
Maybe later today. The transient boat shouldn't be here too long. They're making a run for the panhandle and it's a fast,
catamaran style powerboat with plenty of horsepower. It's just that the crew may have stayed a bit long at the bar last night
and they seem a bit slow off the mark this morning.

I can not wait to be cruising and free of the dock. For the past week, I have once again been pulled away from work on
Falcon and have been diverted to other things. If it's not one thing, it's another. Twice I've had to work to pull Randy's dinghy
away from the dock - for two completely different reasons. The rain is getting worse and not helping at all, and quite frankly, I
forget whatever the hell it was that I was going to do next.  . . . . . . . Oh, yeah, now I remember. I have to empty out part of the
truck to clear the rear doors. Well, not in the rain, so there you go.
July 1, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I didn't come back yesterday, so I went back in time and erased the last line in yesterdays log where I said that I'd be back
later. You can't do that unless you have something to create a rift in the space/time continuum, but luckily I just one left on the
floor in the boat. Good luck.

Yesterday was rain and more rain, then it rained some and finished up with a little rain. Below are some pictures of how it
was yesterday and how it is so far today.
The last shot with the flash is to show the leak that comes in over the water stop under the hatch slide. I just opened up the
drains in the slide to try to alleviate this annoyance, but to no avail. I will put a cure on it for good and all as soon as this wet
weather passes.

Unbelievably, just after another long siege of high winds and rain, when the weather backed off a bit, a brilliant band of
sunset gold broke through the clouds and lit up the sky. I took a few shots and will try to cob a couple together for a nice shot.
There, that's not too awful, though there is a nice, big, blurry raindrop on the lens. All in all, you get the picture. Ha ha ha - get
the picture - I crack me up. Okay, never mind. Gene Price called me up yesterday, sort of a follow-up to an email his son,
Scott, sent me, wondering if I'd be available to work on his boat for him when he gets back. Gene has been tied up in
Arkansas for the past few weeks and is hoping to make it back here, to his boat, on the 14th of July. I told him I could help
him a little, but I that's all. I am just not doing ANY boat work for others any more. I've REALLY got my own fish to fry and no
longer have to work to get the money to fry them, if you know what I mean. If you get the picture. (he he he he he) Sorry,
couldn't help it.

What do you call cheese that isn't yours? Nacho cheese. Ha ha he heee. Sorry, it just slipped out. Cabin fever. Too much
rain. Last night I had to go outside when the rain was only a drizzle, tie a 5 gallon pail to a line and bail about 6 inches of
water out of the dinghy. We got about 5 inches of rain yesterday alone. An all time record for the day. How about that? I just
thank God there's no Global Warming or this could get bad. On the lighter side, one of the news weather people said that we
should count our lucky stars it wasn't snow or we'd be in 4 feet of the stuff. I don't think there's any Global Shifting and that
this is still Florida, where it doesn't snow, but I could be wrong. I've been wrong before.
July 2, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

There is some spotty sun this morning, but it is accompanied by heavily overcast skies and the news promise of another day
like yesterday. Hopefully, not as bad, but who knows. That wasn't really a question, hence, the missing question mark.

It's good to have the boat opened up and airing out. It's not so good to have it buttoned up during wet, muggy periods with
nothing but a fan to stir the stale air around. Living on a boat is much more like living outside and sleeping on a boat than it is
being cooped up in a small space all the time. Of course, there are people on large, air conditioned boats that really do stay
inside and out of sight most of the time. Those of us who really do live outside, however, are perhaps more like the Mountain
Men of old who used to range the high places like the Great Divide in search of new places and new adventures. I just can't
wait to be on my way. I used to love hiking the White Mountains in New Hampshire and was never more happy than when I
was alone. There is a peaceful solitude and communion that I love and miss dearly.
July 3, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I got some stuff done today, including getting to Walmart for an electric razor - I bought a Norelco cheapy to try it out and so
far, I like it a lot - and a couple of other things like Olive Oil. I also got the truck straightened out and cleared the rear doors,
then brought a few things back to the boat for the first projects I need to tackle. I should make a list. Ho Hum. Boring. Okay,
that's a weak complaint. I'll make the list.

Tonight everyone is making their plans to get to just the right spot and watch the fireworks. I usually wait until the last minute,
when the finale is busting off, to go out on the dock and go "ooo, yeah, aahhh, yeah, ohhh, cool" so I get the full experience
and can speak knowledgeably about it tomorrow. It's VERY difficult for anyone to tell if you really saw them or not, 'cause they
can hear your joyful 'ooohs, and aahhhs' still ringing in your head. Yeah, that's the ticket.

The weather is supposed to clear up some here and I'm hoping to start making serious progress again. If I have to start five
projects all at once, just to get it into gear, I will, because once I start something, it's much easier to keep going on it. I can
see right now I'm going to have to make a run to Home Depot for some tools and supplies. No problem - I can open the back
doors of the truck again to shovel stuff in.
July 4, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

Oh, happy day! Yeah, okay, I'm kidding, but only just a little. I actually went outside last night to stretch my legs and walk off
the last of the headache and the lingering effects of those awful pills, and ended up talking with Donny for a while, then sitting
with Heather and Frank and Angie and Richard and Ed Hooks, the guy on the Catalina who will be leaving on Monday, or so.
The fireworks started at about 8:10 and ended at 8:21. We all said yay and went inside. It's hard to be truly enthusiastic
about a weak version of something you already seen every 3rd and 4th of July and New Years Eve for the past 50 years - or
so. But we had fun and that was good.

Heathers chair broke and tried to dunk her in the drink, so I gave her the plastic recliner Donny gave me that was next to the
pool at the house he sold in Englewood. Since these items are no longer allowed on the docks for storage, it is one less thing
cluttering Falcon. Yay.

Weather word is that today will be hot and steamy - beats rainy and windy, the Butthead twins - and hot and steamy are twin
girls who wear bikini's, so I like it much better. They're Swedish. I'm going outside to get started.
July 5, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I usually do the logs first thing in the morning and come back to them again later in the day if there's anything worth adding.
Today, it is ten minutes to nine in the evening and I am just sitting down to the computer. I went out early and got a few more
supplies for both the dock box covers and the dinghy flotation. It was very hot today, I had 'the headache', and there was
plenty to watch on TV, so there you have it. First, the mens final at Wimbledon. Awesome - would have liked it better if
Roddick had won, but still great. Next, Indy cars at Watkins Glen - I like the track for motorcycles, but not for open-wheel
racing - you can't pass, it's too narrow, all passing happens during crashes and pit stops. Still, it was Indy car racing and
that's that. Next, Tiger Woods at the AT&T National was head to head with an outstanding Anthony Kim, but still won in great
style with excellent golf. Finally, the motorcycle Formula One, now called Moto GP, at Laguna Seca in California was on, and
above all other forms of racing, I love this best. So I watched TV all day. Well, most of the day. I also got my rebates ready to
mail and went out on the docks to talk to Geoff and George and Ed Hooks and Donny and Paul and blah blah blah, but that
needed to be done or I would have turned into a couch potato, and I don't even have a couch.

Anyway, I have everything I need in order to get some serious work done tomorrow, so it'll probably rain all day. We'll see.
July 6, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I've been sleeping in later in the mornings, because I've been staying up later in the evenings - sometimes well past midnight -
which I expect will end soon. I've been up for about an hour and am about to head outside and start making sawdust - and
stuff. Be back later.
It's almost 3 PM and I'm about ready to go back out. I have to get those rebates mailed off and get some more done on the
dinghy and clean the dock back off before dark to have actually completed a days work. The dock box lids are made and on,
though I still have to install the hinges, and the dinghy is apart and ready to have the mast step re-installed, the flotation
made, and the bilge pump installed. The bilge pump on the dinghy is a little thing I came up with to keep it dry while it's in the
water behind Falcon. I run the wire to Falcon's cockpit and use a cigarette socket to power it up when need be. It SO beats
getting into the dinghy and bailing by hand.

It's 4:30 PM and I'm done for the day. The dock is all clear and clean and most of the Styrofoam flotation is cut to 7 inch width
for installation beneath the seats. Fitting it, shaping it and finishing it will be a bit of a slow, tedious project. The front seat has
the mast going through it and the mast step below it, so I'll have to work around that. The middle seat has the centerboard
trunk attached to it's leading edge and I'm going to be mounting a bilge pump beneath it, so both of those situations will need
fiddling. I knew these things when I put the dinghy on the cabin roof months ago, but I needed to get on with other stuff then.
July 7, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

Got an early start this morning and got started on the foam flotation for the dinghy. I also pulled the chains out of the forward
anchor rode lockers (did the first one last night and the second a few minutes ago) and spliced the 5/8 inch rode to the 3/8
BBB chain for the Delta anchor. Will do the same for the Spade anchor later on. I also noticed that I still haven't secured the
Starboard line guides I made for the foremast halyards to the deck. That should be fairly quick and straightforward, so I'll do it
today. I also got started prepping the dinghy mast step and it's mount surface for re-installation.
After I finish splicing the rodes and before I stow them in the lockers again, I have to bore a drain hole inside the boat where
the two rode lockers come together in a little point. It will serve both as a drain, and a place to secure the bitter end of the
rodes so they can't fly overboard and disappear. Pleasant thought, huh?

The seat planks are not glued to the Styrofoam blocks - they are simply being used as weight and to evenly distribute the
lead weights clamping pressure over the entire surface. I may yet end up gluing the flotation in place beneath the seats, but I
haven't decided on that yet. Nice to have an almost unlimited number of lead lumps around to use for pressure, huh?
I went to Ace Hardware and West marine with Donny, mostly just to hang out and talk, but mostly to pick up stuff he needed,
as well as a new 28 foot extension ladder he'd ordered. The ladder is only to give up one of it's sections to serve as the
cross-truss between Donny's wind generator and radar poles on the back of the boat, that will hold his solar panels. It was a
suggestion I made a year or so ago, figuring that would be the least expensive, strongest and lightest way to get such a
structure. Most would definitely have to be custom made at a truly breath-taking price. He's not going to install it just now, as
he's trying to get out and do more cruising, but will install the system when they get back again next time.

We went to his storage and left the ladder there, then he stopped into 'Connie's Produce', a tiny hole in the wall shop run by
one woman - and I have found where I will be stocking up food. It is awesome. Neat, clean, traditional, and stocked with lots
of my favorite fresh things.

It was still blistering hot when we got back, but there was a breeze up, so I blasted a coat of the medium blue I mixed up for
the internals of Falcon, on the dock boxes. It almost looks like baby blue, but it's neat and looks much better. These dock
boxes are VERY near the end. The bulge in the top back panel of the closest box is rotten wood from thew old cover that I
need to scoop out of there so the new cover fits better.

Just before sunset, I went over and spent some time with Sandy and Eddie. Once we got our cameras, Sandy and I started
trying to get good sunset shots, but we started with the two visitor boats from Tallahassee that have spent the past week or
so on my dock. They are great people and I have enjoyed spending time with them, so I decided to get all their pictures on
the site because I thought the kids might enjoy it.
The two best sunset shots are above and the shot of the visitors boats is below. Below right is Zack and Troy.
Above is Phillip, Ben, and in the last picture, Jerry, Mikey, and Marlo. All these people were on the two boats, and Jerry is
Mikey and Ben's dad and Zack is Ben's friend and they were on 'Anger Management', and Phillip, Marlo, and Troy  were on
the other boat. Anyway, they liked the area very much and have had a good trip. They will be heading back in the morning.
July 8, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

One thing about not having the sunshade up on the dock is that the back of my neck is fried after two long days working in
the sun. I believe I'm going to put it up today to try to save my life. I discovered yesterday that the medium blue single part
polyurethane paint DID NOT dissolve the Styrofoam I'm using for flotation. In fact, it seemed to seal it quite nicely. After
painting the dock boxes, I blasted a quick coat on one of the scrap pieces and it dried fine without melting the stuff at all. That
means that after I shape the blocks, I can coat them with the medium blue, then a coat or so of Volan - very thin fiberglass
cloth - and epoxy, then coat them with the same Ice Blue the interior of the dinghy is painted with.

I'm not sure what I'll be working on this morning, but I'll tell you later.

Okay, I set up the dock sunshade and added a third layer to all the dinghy under-seat flotation. I had to blast in a sorry
looking stitch on the sunshade to close it up without hauling out the Sailrite and all that goes with it. Then I opened a coconut
for Zack and the results were very good, so he went and got a couple more. They just left. I am now unloading the first dock
box because it is sopping wet inside and I just want to dry everything off. The new lids are tight and any internal moisture just
condenses on the FRP lids and rains back down inside. I also need to get rid of some of the stuff in these boxes. It is just too
much stuff. I'm in for lunch right now.

I sorted out more of the stuff in the dockbox and gave a bunch of stuff to Randy and a hand-held ranging compass to
Carolanne, a woman who brought a little 22 or 24 foot sloop in here and who works as a server in the Seafood Shack
Restaurant. I then packed everything back into the dockbox, took down the dock sunshade and put everything on the dock
away.

Later on, when it started to cool off, I got a dangerous-looking grappling hook from Eddie and started trying to snag the 1"
Bimini bows that fell off Eddie's dock. Donny needs one to salvage stock and fitting to support his new Radar mast. I
managed to get one and kept trying for the other - even when the skies opened and it poured so hard it was difficult to breath
without inhaling water (it felt good to be so cool for a change) - when I tossed the hook out and a kink in the line caused it to
get snatched out of my hand. Next came about 40 minutes of trolling for the line with fishing lures and, finally, a section of
really tough cord with a big, weighted treble hook out of my tackle box that I use for snagging bait fish in huge schools. That
got it.

Sandy made chicken sandwiches, then I went home and changed and watched TV.
July 9, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

First order of business this morning will be to get the Bimini bow over to Don and Barb's Dulcinea, and to empty the stuff and
rainwater out of the dinghy. I have to decide whatever system I'm going to use to secure the flotation to the bottom of the
seats and make it up. Today is probably the day that I'll be shaping the fragile foam and getting it ready to coat. Everything
seems to take forever. Someday it will all be done.

Got the Bimini bow over to Donny's boat and mostly straightened it. He needs to cut it down to the lengths he wants and I'll
finish the job if he wants. I don't do a lot of fancy jigging and calculating with this stainless tubing - I just find a spot on the
dock to lever against and quickly nudge it into shape, carefully, and good enough to do the job. The stuff costs around $80
for a 20 foot length and these pieces are well worth the time and effort to avoid having to get a whole section and paying
freight and waiting and blah blah.

I emptied the second dock box and got rid of more stuff and noticed another bunch of stuff in there that I will also be dumping
PDQ. Push has come to shove and it is time to make these decisions and act on them. It's stormy and violent outside today
but I'll be weaving between the thunder storms and getting done what I can without going backwards. It's time for lunch.

No luck after lunch - the sky has been opened up and POURING most of the afternoon, and sprinkling too hard to stay
outside in between. Better luck next time. I just hope this lousy weather pattern breaks soon. It's been awful.
July 10, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

Woke up wide awake and staring at 4 AM this morning, so I got up and cruised through cyberspace for a couple of hours,
checking out how either easy or difficult it is to find people on the Internet now. With the proliferation of social sites such as
My Space, Face Book, Twitter, and You Tube, it is becoming easier to track someone down if you wish to. Some searches I
tried proved to be quick and easy in locating old acquaintances (whether or not I contact them is another story altogether)
while other searches failed to reveal any concrete information. So, those searches are getting better, but not as good as they
could be, yet. I went back to bed at 6 AM and slept until 8:30. It's 10:40 now, was just raining, and I'm having my morning
coffee. I did spend some time out on the docks talking with Paul, Tom, Geoff and George, but only a half hour or so.

Yesterdays rain filled the dinghy twice - well, not FULL filled, but a few inches so I had to dump it over the side of the dock
before it got too heavy to tip and I'd have to bail it out some first. This weather pattern stinks.
July 11, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

Yesterday, in the evening, I came upon Richard and Angie pumping the rainwater out of their dinghy, so I asked if we couldn't
also empty Gene's dinghy, as it was also full of rainwater and I was unable to dump it by simply pulling up on the bowline.
Espin and Tom and Geoff - oh, yeah, Espin got back last night - were talking on the dock in the same spot, so we had a
pretty good time yakking and bailing out rainwater.

I got a good start this morning and did some sorting and straightening out in the dock boxes, as well as emptying mt tool
boxes that had gotten rained into - well, they leak, actually - so the rusty tools could dry out and be sorted and stored in some
other, non-rusting way.

Yesterday, I also trimmed up the foam flotation blocks a bit and cut soft cabinet plywood blocks, of 3/4 inch stock, to cut into
the foam and glue in place. These will be the attachment points for the flotation beneath the seats. Today, I sorted through all
things 'grinder' and came up with a way to easily and quickly shape the blocks to allow easy lay-up of the thin fiberglass cloth.
After a couple of tries, I got a system down and shaped the first block. I'm not going to try to make them look as though they
came out of a mold - the dinghy doesn't warrant it - they just need to be solid, secure, and not butt-ugly.
I'm doing this post while in for dinner right now, so I have to eat and get back outside and back to work.
July 12, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I ended up sorting through and picking up tools yesterday afternoon, as well as watching some golf and spending some time
talking with Donny, Espin and others on the dock. Then I had to pick the whole dock up again and have it clean for the night.

Carolanne came back on her boat last night and called me for help docking - something I told her to do at any time - she did
not enjoy her outing as much as she would have liked. It had nothing to do with the boat or boating, it was a personal
situation and it did make a mess out of the day.

I also got a call from Cristine yesterday - a very bad news call. Her ex, Brian, has been drinking and going nuts lately and he
is now in intensive care on life support and not expected to last much longer. Their son, Jake, is only ten or eleven and this is
all a very bad scene.

The first thing this morning, I set up the sun shade and table and chairs on the dock, then went and helped pull Espin's
dinghy out of the water, then went up Donny's mast and fixed the anchor light, re-strung the lazyjack halyards and pulled
down the bitter end of a flag halyard that went sky one day. It was particularly easy because Donny has a powered winch that
whisks you up the mast like an elevator. Short work and no problems.

Some time ago I sold Randy my Air-X wind generator and two solar panels. He eventually decided not to use the Air-X, but
rather than give it back, kept the deal and said he'd just sell it on Ebay. It sold yesterday for $91 more than our original total
price, which means he got the solar panels for minus $91 - sweet deal. I'm still happy with what I got and didn't have all the
bother of listing the item and shipping it out. Apparently, he's shipping it to Chile, for a staggering $499 UPS ground fare - if
the buyer agrees to the shipping fee. He knew it was coming, so he should.

Espin left this morning for Tarpon Springs with Geoff Halliday (?) aboard, eventually heading all the way to Panama City,
where he typically spends hurricane season.

I took a run to Home Depot and Donny came along. I picked up two more tubes of that foam gluing goop and Donny got some
stainless steel 'U' bolts to help secure his wind generator and radar masts. Succumbing to the high temperatures and the
great monster that is fast food, I stopped in and got a large chocolate shake at McDonald's because 'why not' anyway - I
never do it so it shouldn't kill me. It was gooooooood.

There was an Indy car race in Toronto, the German Grand Prix, the USGA Womans Open, and a PGA tournament, all on TV
during the hottest part of the day. I cleaned up the dock, but haven't done much of anything else. I WILL, however, cut and
glue up some more foam on the dinghy flotation project.
July 13, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I did go back to work last night and cut the rest of the foam and glue it to the three main blocks. One of the shifted a tiny bit,
but it doesn't really matter - I'll just trim it into shape. That will be my job today - to trim these flotation blocks into final shape
and fit them into the dinghy. I should also varnish the seats and stern panel where the tiller mounts one more time, since I
accidentally splashed medium blue paint on them when I went over the dock boxes and had to sand it off (very carefully, with
220 grit paper. I also need to add more screws to the seats so they can better handle the strain of holding onto the boat when
it's full of water and they are all that's keeping it afloat.
Be back later. I want to get an early start before it gets really hot.

I went straight at fitting the flotation to the seats and shaping it to fit into the boat without rubbing or touching. Some of the
sculpting was a bit tedious, but not difficult. I ground the foam to shape with a high-speed 4 inch grinder with coarse paper
discs and it SNOWED all over me and the dock. It was so heavy I had to vacuum it out of the cracks on the dock twice.
Meanwhile, David and Becky from the Trojan, 'Southern Style' docked right opposite me, showed up with another couple,
Suzanne and Ed, not to party, but to clean and work on the boat all day. I got a picture of Becky, Suzanne and Dave in the
cockpit, then just Suzanne and Becky, who took a moment to pose.
July 14, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I slept in a bit this morning and didn't get up until 7:30 or so. Mostly because I stayed up late last night. It's been real hot at
night lately. I did get a good and fast start this morning, however, and have been making good progress on the dinghy
flotation. I hope I can get it fiberglassed today and be into the final stages of work on this little boat, which, by the way, is to
be named 'Eddie', and not 'Falcon Eddie' as I mentioned last time. I already have a boat named 'Falcon', so there you go.
Falcon and Eddie make Falcon Eddie. Cool.

Carolanne (I hope I'm spelling her name right) gave me a bag of shirts, long-sleeved dress shirts, that are real nice and I'll be
making good use of them. As of right now, they are the best clothes I have.

I'm heading back outside to get more done on the forever dinghy project. I still have to get the little bilge pump mounted
somewhere where I don't smash it every time I get on or off the boat.
I wanted to be sure that the fragile foam wouldn't dissolve away to a puss-like goo when I applied the West Epoxy, so I mixed
up a small batch and attached 3 various fiberglass cloth samples to a scrap block of foam. I used 1708 Biaxial Fabmat, 10
ounce cloth, and Volan, a very thin and fine cloth. It worked excellent. so even though I'm not quite sure what I'll be doing with
the bilge pump just yet, I went ahead and epoxied a 6 inch wide 1708 Fabmat tape to the top of each block, and while it was
still wet, applied a wrap of the Volan over it and down the sides. The pictures and the rest of todays post are on the next
page.