Falcon's Log 26
January 16, 2010 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

In a little while I'm going to have to get out on the dock and cut up those old bladders so I can use them to cover the buckets
and things outside. We're expecting rain tonight and tomorrow, though it's still warm, and the old bladders have no other
possible use than to shed rain from small objects. Damn, that picture of me looks like something from Americas Most Wanted.
Although most criminals are a good deal younger than me. So, I look like the Father of someone on Americas most wanted.

I got up this morning with a headache and finally took some aspirin. The headache is going away but my stomach is not
happy. . . . . Okay, the stuff on the dock is taken care of and Randy just handed me a partially used can of "Great Stuff"
aerosol foam. I'm desperately searching for a place where I can use it - that I can actually get to right now - and it doesn't look
very good. . . . . . I just went and gave it to Eddie. He seems to have use for part of it. I told him to pass it on down the line
when he was through. The Brotherhood of the Traveling Foam.
A couple of shots of last nights sunset. It feels more like Florida now that the cold spell is passing. The weather outside this
morning is windy and heavily overcast, a prequel to the rain that's expected this evening and tomorrow. It doesn't matter. I'm
ready for it. I just wish the washing machine upstairs was fixed so I could do laundry. It's been broken now since Thursday
morning. The others in the marina are driving to other laundromats. I don't quite have that luxury, though I might need to
develop a system that gives it to me, like small loads and small containers for soap and bleach. Then I won't mind slinging a
sack over my shoulder and walking a mile or so.

Ken, from Ken and Sandy the Shucker folks, called me and we talked about them coming over here and anchoring out or
getting a slip. I voted for getting a slip because they just commissioned Nemo (if they're still going to name it that) and it has
been my experience that not all systems come back to life as nicely as you'd like them to and it's always easier to do boat
work at the dock than on the hook. Unless you're me. I sometimes get too many visitors on the dock. Anyway, they will be
coming here tomorrow - he said - and will get a dock for a while.
January 17, 2010 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

It's turning into a beautiful day here today, after a stormy, blustery night. It's sunny and warm and people are all out working
on their boats. It's already 12:30 so I'm having lunch. Beans and rice with chick peas. I heard if you eat enough chick peas,
the chicks dig ya. Yeah, that's what I'm about. But something seems to make me fart a lot. Oh well. You can't have everything.

I spent the better part of the morning watching instructional videos for Adobe InDesign. I used to know how to work in it, but
completely forgot and couldn't even get started. I also downloaded a new version of InDesign CS4 and had the same
problem. The problem being that I'm a knothead. Once the videos started, I remembered everything and now it's no problem.
The expensive Adobe programs are probably the best by far for preparing books, magazines, pamphlets and presentations
for printing by the big printing industry. It's what I'm using for getting my books ready to publish.

I also went to Tonya Harding's website and left a message. I always liked her. I wrote a letter to Bill Clinton and told him he'd
be a real weenie (exact words) if he singled her out for exclusion in the invite to the White House. I never much cared about
the Monica Lewinsky thing, but his excluding Tonya showed me he was a gutless weenie and I was disgusted. He wrote back
and said we'd have to disagree on that matter. What a weenie line. And yes, I know Lewinsky was much later - I'm just using
both incidents for comparison. Time to get on with something else. Be back later.

I went to Cuts Edge Marina with Sandy and Ken, then drove her car back here, stopping in to see George on the way. There
was a small 'boat crash' at Regatta Point Marina and Billy, who owns the old 80 foot military boat, was there with people who
were interested in buying it. Good Luck.
January 18, 2010 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

Ken and Sandy will be heading this way today and are scheduled to arrive at about 2 PM. I also invited George over for lunch
and to see the Wedding Chapel (he saw it on the news or something - they were trying to get a slip at Regatta Point Marina)
and to help tie up Ken and Sandy when they get here.

I did a bit more wrestling with the new Bimini bows this morning to see just how hard it's going to be to get them assembled in
a way I can live with. I don't think it's going to be too hard. Yesterday I carefully measured and cut the center sections out of
the two main bows, then started fitting one of the 7 foot aluminum pipes over the cut ends of the side sections - after grinding
the burrs off the cut - and that's when Ken and Sandy arrived to pick me up.
I actually cut the bows with them all still assembled as the old Bimini frame, then disassembled them and laid them on the
deck. I also removed the original forward deck fittings. For one thing, I know they will not be strong enough to support the two
solar panels for very long and the other thing is, I'm fairly certain I will need to do some 'height' adjustment for the entire affair
once it's assembled. I only hope I don't have to carpet the bottom of the panels with foam rubber to protect my head. I'm not
known for allowing much 'wiggle room' in my constructions.  I measure my height, add an inch or so and build the ceiling. It's
why Larry Bird and Micheal Jordan don't visit.

One of the daunting tasks was to get the 13 inches of curved stainless all the way into the aluminum. As you can see in the
second picture, I figured it out. I levered the long end of the stainless a little and used a section of Ipe 4 x 4 to tap the
stainless in. I will put one 3/16 inch rivet on the bottom, inside end of the stainless, to prevent twisting and warping during the
assembly of the panels. Once all the panel rivets are installed the entire structure should be very strong and rigid.

George came over and we ate like pigs in the Seafood Shack. Calamari appetizers and Shrimp Po'Boys. Can you say that?
Well, it was on the menu, but I'm sure there's an activist group somewhere lighting the torches and handing out the pitchforks.

The temperature has dropped about 25 degrees in a couple of hours. We stayed outside long enough to get Ken and Sandy
tied up. Then I walked George to his car and came back to Falcon to close it up and turn on the heat. Billy, of Ex-Navy boat
fame, slipped away out of Regatta Point Marina under cover of darkness last night. He owed them tons of back rent and
invented some story about them wanting to cheat him out of his boat to better justify his stiffing them for what he owed. They
were delighted to see the ugly, sinking hulk gone. In truth, the marina staff was VERY worried about Billy dying and leaving
the rotting wreck behind with no way for them to get papers on it so they could dispose of it. Funny how things look so
different from opposite sides of the street.

The small 'boat crash' in Regatta Point Marina yesterday was between a brand new and very expensive (maybe $450,000 to
$500,000) 40 foot Caliber, brand new and PACKED with new cruising equipment, and Kenny the 'maybe' cook, who owns the
ugliest and oldest schooner TRIMARAN anyone has ever had the misfortune to see. Now, the Caliber  hit Kenny's bowsprit
with their stainless steel solar panel rack mounted at the transom. The Caliber was trying (in a very poor fashion) to motor out
of the marina and Kenny's all wood toilet tank was securely tied to the dock. Kenny's bowsprit got 'twanged' and 'bowed'. It's
like this: Kenny made this pathetically lame bowsprit by laminating 4 or 5 common 2 x 4's together with Elmer's glue and deck
screws, then gave it a wrap of fiberglass and resin. The unit is so ridiculous that it 'curled' sideways and STAYED THAT
WAY! Good grief, Charlie Brown. The bowsprit on a wooden schooner is supposed to do something MANLY! Snap off with a
crack like a high-powered rifle! Screech like an elephant being run over by a tank! Or, best of all, tear the accessory arch off
the Caliber and leave it hanging on the bowsprit like a gored hog! Yes! But no. None of that. Instead, it curled around with a
wispy, slithering sigh and stayed bent over like the pink fender on Barbie's plastic car. Good grief, Kenny. Be ashamed!
Kenny estimates the damage at 10 to 20 thousand dollars. It cost him about $100 to build it. It was never fully installed, so all
it needs is a minor nose job and a dab of makeup. Nobody makes a bowsprit out of Home Depot wall studs.
January 19, 2010 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

Here we are again with the cold, though it's not bad. It should be a beautiful day today and I'm REALLY hoping to get more
done on the Bimini frame. I just remembered that I might have to fix that dock today, if Paul remembered to pick up the lags
and washers. It's a small job so I should be able to get it out of the way quickly. I probably wouldn't be interested in doing it at
all if I didn't have to wait for the water tank bladder, but since I have to do that anyway, I might as well get a little of my last
month's rent deducted.

I still have to send another form of identification to St. Brendan's Isle and make a decision about where to locate my LLC or
remove Blue Schooner Publishing from recipients on my mail list. 'List' is an interesting word to use for a column of two items.
I suppose I could scan my passport and send that. I'm trying that now. Okay, that's done. I should probably go back to making
lists. There will definitely be a need for them in the near future.

Another big wake is rocking the boat. I will not miss these when I'm gone, but they will be all too common on some parts of the
ICW.

I'm making good headway on the writing again, as far as once again becoming familiar with the Adobe programs. Someday
when I'm rich and can't figure out what in the world to do with $20,000, I'll buy a top-of-the-line Mac desktop and the new
Adobe Creative Suite. Right now, it's called CS4. By then it'll probably be CS71. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Another list I'm going to have to make soon is the list of prepublishing essentials I'll be needing to get and pay for. Of course
there's copyright registration, ISBN numbers, bar codes (which I might be able to make myself with common, even free,
software) and whatever else. I have to investigate to make sure I have everything prior to submitting the manuscripts for
printing estimates.

Time to go out and see if Paul brought hardware for the dock. Back. Dance of joy. Ham is having Eddie (the maintenance
man for the Shack, never before mentioned and not to be confused with all other previously named 'Eddie's') fix the dock
because he's already working around the building and does the work for a lot less than Ham pays me. Well, doesn't 'pay' so
much as 'takes off the rent'.
I have the modified bows about how I
want them and the frame is put back
together with the vertical and horizontal
braces adjusted to give me 65 inches
between the parallels. It's not quite right
as seen here because there is 10 inches
between the front bow and the boom and
only 7 1/2 inches at the rear bow. That
will average out to about 8 3/4 inches at
each end, meaning I have to raise the
entire frame about 6 inches. I can easily
put two new legs in the rear, even using
the sweetly curved pieces I cut from the
center of the old bows, but the center
blocks present another problem. I'll have
to think about them for a while. Oh! I've
got it! Tell you later, once I price it out.
For now, let me just say, "Dorade Boxes".
I've been meaning to figure out where I
would put the ventilation scoops on each
side - now I know. Be back later.
January 20, 2010 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I found some stuff for the Hardtop/vents on the Defender site and might order it today. I just have to call and be sure I'll be
getting what I need when I place the order.

Disappointing performance by the Democratic candidate for Kennedy's empty seat. She was so sure she was going to win
that she really didn't campaign. The Republicans fielded a candidate that was a ringer for JFK Jr. and he worked his ass off.
Now the Republicans are delighted and the stock market soared because this means more money for the rich and less
access to health care for the poor. Funny, the things that make Republicans happy. I hope the Democrats find a way to get
the Health Care Reform through, though it doesn't affect me in any way. I have VA care and a disability pension. Well, don't
look at me - THEY tried to kill me and only wounded me. The VA. So they had to give me both. It's not my fault. Still, if I didn't
have it I'd be dead. Health care is important. And not just for the rich.

I am constantly adjusting and rearranging the resources for the hardtop in my head. I think I'll use the old bow center sections
for the horizontal braces on the sides. I did that on Joe Albright's Bimini and it made for nice hand-holds and a good look.
Then I can lengthen them and raise them back up to hand-hold height. I'll also have the old straight horizontal braces to use
to extend the rear struts. Or, vertical braces if you prefer. I'm sure there's an industry name for them somewhere. I need to go
forward on this and get those panels up and mounted, then move on to other things.

Once I get the hardware squared away on the hardtop, I'll need to move right to the canvas and get that behind me as well.
While I have the Sailrite out, I'm committed to doing a job for RJ and I'd like to get that behind me as well. As far as I'm
concerned, I am out of here on the first of March. Hey! That's a good day. Ten year anniversary of my quitting smoking.
Thank God. That was a hard fight. Fourteen years of trying before it stuck.

I'll need to get out to Island Lumber today and get an 8 foot Ipe plank that I can cut up into pieces to make the Dorade boxes.
Once they are made, I can finalize the installation of the hardtop and get busy on the finishing. I don't think the whole thing is
going to be too ugly, all and all.

I went with Ken and Sandy to Anna Maria Island Lumber and bought an 8 foot piece of Ipe and had them cut it into 8 pieces.
Tomorrow I'll do the drilling and careful assembly and then let the Dorade boxes cure before sanding them and putting some
varnish on them. I should also check for the size of the holes for the scoops. There will need to be 4 holes of approximately
3.5 to 4 inches bored through two pieces of Ipe and two spots on the deck. Those alone will be a handful of work. Ipe is not
called 'Ironwood' for nothing and it's a full inch thick. The Dorade boxes will be 6 1/2 inches high, lifting the hardtop frame
nicely.
January 21, 2010 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

Talk about weird, there is a COLD wave of air moving up from the south while another COLD wave comes down from the
north. They are supposed to meet overhead sometime late this afternoon or tonight and bring rain until tomorrow morning.
This has just been a very bad winter as far as getting work done on the boat.

I got a Facebook message from Judy, who was the receptionist/office manager at Royal Yacht Services in Naples, Florida,
when I worked there. She and her husband, Eddie - yes, yet another 'Eddie' - live somewhere up north of here, I think - I'll
have to check on Google Earth.
I got a few pictures of the sunset last evening. It didn't offer a lot of great views, but there was one bird who didn't mind my
being so close and afforded me an opportunity to try something I usually don't do much of - artistic shots. I usually just try to
frame shots properly and leave the viewing entirely to the reader. I think people who get caught up in their own 'expressive
interpretations' of camera fodder do an injustice to cruising or travel photos by deliberately inserting themselves between the
scene and the viewer. On the other hand, sprinkling some of that in with the other stuff is always enjoyable and I have had at
least one person tell me that they are now using one of my photos posted here as their desktop background. So there you go.
January 22, 2010 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I called Geoff last night and spoke to him for a while. He is outlasting every other Captain who shows up to fill the empty
positions. Some quit, some get fired, and Geoff ends up taking all the charters and never gets a day off. He spoke to Espin
just before I called him and Espin is presently hunkered down in Apalachicola waiting out this bad weather. Bad weather all
over the world right now. I know there are some knuckleheads that want to point at the cold waves and laugh at the 'Global
Warming' theorists, but that's what makes them knuckleheads. You can't dismiss 100 years of recorded warming with one
winter. Show me the polar ice caps restored and the glaciers back up to size and listen, but certainly not after a single 3
month bout of cold. That's just evidence of the cold air masses fleeing from the warming polar regions. Yeah, that's the ticket.
A scientifically valid counter argument. I'll post it online on a fraudulent "Official Looking" website to authenticate it's world
wide acceptance as fact. Science is so easy when you can say anything and not have to justify it with the truth.

I will now have to bring some scrap wood inside so I can start drilling and assembling the Dorade boxes. I still have to work
out the interior details. I was talking to Donny about them yesterday and he pointed out something I hadn't considered that
bring a great deal more flexibility to the mounting location on the deck. Variability in location makes it much easier to both get
it as 'out of the way' as possible and position the entire hardtop so it doesn't interfere with the main sheets or the jib sheets.

Oh, yeah, it's raining out, cloudy and cold, but the wind associated with the front that came through seems to have subsided.
Okay, I just went outside and it's not cold, for some reason. The north air is actually warmer than the south wind was
yesterday. Still, it is rainy and I have no desire to start plugging in electrical tools in the rain. Be back later. Hopefully, with
pictures of built Dorade boxes.
The rain has stopped, there's no wind and it's actually hot outside. I say 'actually' way too much. I wonder if I do it when I'm
speaking as well as writing. It's lame and I'll curb it.

I put the sides and tops together inside the boat before lunch and am now working outside. The ends are a bit more difficult.
I'm cutting them just a bit oversize, then sanding them to a near-perfect fit before drilling and screwing them in. Once I get
each box finished, I'll number each piece, take them completely apart, then wet the wood, apply the gorilla glue and assemble
them one at a time, waiting until all the screws are in before tightening any of them. Once it dries, I'll use the big grinder to
start trimming them, then finish with a palm sander and by hand.
Making and fitting the end pieces took more time than all the rest of the work combined. The glue up was every bit as weird
as I thought it would be, but it only took a short time for each one. Those 12 by 5 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch ironwood bricks are as
heavy as they sound. The upside is that Falcon couldn't care less and they are extremely strong. Considering their job as
holding onto the solar array, that's an important consideration.

It's good to be back to work and making progress. I always feel much better going forward than waiting out a weather problem.
January 23, 2010 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I'm heading over to the Red Barn Flea Market this morning with Ken and Sandy, then over to Marine Surplus and maybe pop
into Home Depot on the way back. I need some special 4 inch screws - about 30 of them - to mount the 110 volt outlets in the
boat. It's an interesting system I'm thinking about. Pictures will be coming when that work progresses. I still have to decide
what sort of connectors to mount for the 12 volt distribution. I'll think of something that doesn't include those ridiculous
cigarette lighter sockets.

The clothes washer is finally fixed upstairs so I'll have a minor marathon laundry session soon. I also have to get the Sailrite
out to do RJ's jib sacrificial strip. He has two Dorade scoops that sound perfect for my application and we're working a trade.
I'm also expecting George over here sometime this weekend with his exhaust elbow so I can help him clean it out. He
removed it and found it clogged solid. That's exactly what I told him he'd find. It's odd how years of experience help you
'guess' right so often. It's also odd how often we retire just when we finally know all we need to in a field.

I woke up early this morning - no surprise, I went to bed early - and spent some time on line researching the present
conditions and prices for getting my ISBN's, Bar Codes, and LLC in Florida, and just generally reading up on everything. I'm
not entirely comfortable with everything yet. I think I'm going to download all the information, print it out, and read it all over a
few times until I'm really clear on all the important steps and issues. The application for the LLC requires that I be ready with
certain information concerning the structure of the company and the rules by which it is to operate. Failure to accurately
document what I want will result in the State falling back to the General Rules already in place, and those might well
contradict how I really want to proceed in an important issue. So I need to have my head screwed on straight when I do this.
In Florida, and LLC costs $125 to set up. Ten ISBN's cost $275 for 10 and Bar Codes run $25 each in batches of 1 to 5, $23
each for 6 to 10, and $21 each for 11 to 100. I will definitely get one bar code to start. Copyright Registration with the Library
of Congress currently costs $35 for electronic submissions - my probable choice - and is not required for publication, but I
would do it anyway.

A quick appraisal of the costs of printing the first book would be: LLC, $125, ISBN's, $275, bar code, $25, and copyright
registration, $35. $460 - give or take a tad - gets all the ducks in a row and ready for printing. With the manuscript at the
printers - that'll take some serious 'doing' as far as the final edit - I'll only have to come up with the money for printing the first
500 books. I'm about to research my past estimates and take a wild guess at the cost. . . . . . No good. None of the 2 dozen
companies that returned estimates offered any quotes for less than 3000 books, though many included numbers for larger
orders. It's just too vague for me to take a stab at. I'll have to wait and see. I'll think of it as a 'surprise'.
I went with Ken and Sandy to the flea market - bought a
much needed wallet and tossed the sandwich bag I've
been using, and 2 pairs of new, unscratched reading
glasses - then to JC Penney where I took advantage of
a sale on Levi jeans to buy two pairs. Now, get this; the
sale was, buy one at full price and get the second for
half price. Regular price was $48. Grabbed two pair
and headed for the checkout without looking at the
price tags. The woman at the register shows me one of
the price tags and asks, "Did you see this?" The price
tag said $14.95. I hadn't, but I said it must be a mistake
- the pants are $48. "No," she tells us, "you struck gold. This is left over from a sale last year. That's a good price." She then
took 50% off, laughed and repeated, "You struck gold!" I did. I just got a brand new pair of Levi 501 button fly jeans for $7.47.
After we left there we went to Home Depot and I got the extra long screws I need to install the 110 AC outlets.

When we got back here, RJ showed up with the two Dorade scoops. They're a mite cattywhumpus from living at the bottom
of a storage box with a ton of stuff on top of them, but I can warm them up with a heat gun and coax them back into happy
shape. I sanded the Dorade boxes, cut the holes with a sabre saw and touched them up with a rotary rasp. I cut the excess
glue out of the grooves and gave them a quick coat of Rachel's varnish. When I post this, I'll go back outside and apply the
second coat. Tomorrow I'll know if I can install them or have to sand and add more varnish. I only need enough coverage to
protect then for a while. There will be time later on to fuss over appearance - right now I have to keep moving forward. The
picture to the right is a Dorade scoop on Eddie's boat next door showing the right shape. If I have to, I'll make two discs from
scrap plywood to fit into the openings perfectly and just let them sit there like that in the sun. HEY! I COULD make two plastic
rings like that and attach screening to them to keep bugs out and all over town people would remark about how clever I am.
Or not. Time to go apply the second coat.
January 24, 2010 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

Time flies when you're having fun. I woke up at 4 AM and have been at it ever since. I started laundry long before the sun
came up and am all done with that. I went to breakfast with Eddie and shot two weeks of beans and rice right in the ass by
having bacon and eggs and buttered toast. The Dorade boxes are almost ready to go on. I'll go get a picture of them.
The wonky bells on the scoops are slowly returning to the right shape. One of them still has the CD pack jambed into its face.
I lashed the Bimini frame to the boom to suspend it, using 2 2 1/4 inch blocks to give me an approximate location. Setting the
Dorade boxes on the deck and lashing the lower fittings of the frame to the rails, I now have a pretty clear look at the whole
thing. As an illustration of the tragedy of a lifetime of various excesses, I untied the boom from the gallows to swing it out over
the ends of the Bimini frame to be sure the mainsheet bridle would clear the aft outside corners of the frame. You can imagine
my surprise to discover that you can't swing the boom out when it is fastened securely to the Bimini frame. Don't tell anyone.
Instead, I took a piece of steel cable with a loop on one end and attached it to the gooseneck and swung IT out instead,
confirming that the bridle has about 3 inches of clearance.

The wind is now howling outside and the seas around us are getting choppy and sloppy, jolting Falcon and the other boats
around until they are all lunging at their docklines. It's 12:40 PM and the front isn't supposed to go through until tomorrow. At
this rate, I think we're in for another bout of nasty weather. Maybe the weather folks are just too tired to tell us, but I thought
they loved active reporting after spend many long, boring years saying the same old, "Sunny, warm and mild," stuff day after
day. I could be wrong. I was wrong before. Like when I put the main boom so low and thought, "I won't hit my head on this
every day for the next 25 years." I was wrong. Okay, not EVERY day. But I AM going to put foam on it.
January 25, 2010 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

The front went through with high winds that lasted for the better part of 12 hours and some rain. Not a lot of rain, but some.
I'm going to cut the Dorade box drains this morning and do some serious measuring and checking before mounting them to
the deck. Once they are mounted, they will have to be very strong and secure or rough treatment from the hardtop will shake
them loose or tear them off. I do have a couple of options in my head, but I have to think about them first.

Okay, I'm back and I thought. I also bored the drain holes and discovered that I can't  shift the Dorade boxes aft because they
will interfere with the jib winch's if I do. I also heated up one of the wonky scoops with the heat gun and it almost worked. It
just has to be held in the right position until it cools. I think. We'll see how much guff I take from them before administering an
alternate cure.

I called Defender and ordered the two 45 degree rail mounts. They say they'll be here in about 3 days and they cost me $37
for the pair. I don't think I should ever add up all the money I've spent on Falcon because no good can come of it. Maybe it'll
be much lower than it feels like, or much higher. What if I could have bought a great house instead, or a Japanese Asimo
Robot who could have build the boat for me while I read books in the shade? Or 2 shares of Berkshire Hathaway stock.
Yeah, okay, I'm good with the boat. Meanwhile, I'm not sure if I dare to mount the Dorade's before I get the fittings and see
exactly how they are going to work.
January 26, 2010 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I was sitting inside watching TV yesterday after changing all the piping on the hardtop frame and sanding the Dorade boxes,
when Sandy called me to see if I wanted to take a ride with them to a half dozen stops. Let's see, we went to Jo-Ann fabrics,
TJ Maxx, Walgreens, Micheals, West Marine, the Dollar Store, Crowder brothers, Starbucks, Walmart, Radio Shack, and at
least 1 or 2 other places.

Last night I went to eat something that Sid had given me off 'Magnolia', some Ramen Pride stuff, and there were bugs in it. I
tossed out everything he gave me. I'm not a fan of eating bugs. I suppose if I were starving and they were toasted and
covered with chocolate I could wolf a few down, but certainly not when I have a full larder on board. I don't care what
nutritionists say about them.

It was good to get out and jog my head into thinking. I can finish installing the hardtop to the boat and go straight at installing
the solar panels to the hardtop. Oh, yes, that's right - I should have started with installing the Dorade boxes. I also have to
add more Alex Seal to the forward hull penetration where the foremast wiring enters the cabin. There's a tiny leak there I keep
forgetting about until it rains. It's tiny, but still, can't have that.

I picked up a 4 foot by 1/2 inch by 1/16 inch strap of flat aluminum at Crowder Brothers to make the screen frames for insect
screening in the Dorade scoops. All told, I think that is probably the best solution for curing the wonky shapes and holding the
screening. I'm also going to paint the inside of the scoops that 'medium blue' color I use inside the bilges and holds in the
boat. I will temporarily use the old hinge mounts at the bottom of the hardtop feet to hold it in place while I wait for the
Defender Taco mounts to arrive. 'Taco', as a company is apparently pronounced just like the Mexican food. I've always
pronounced it Tay-co, as if it wasn't Mexican food. Who knew?

I just got a visit from two guys. One of them was the owner of the 40 foot sailboat that bent over the bowsprit on Ken's
wooden trimaran schooner. They had seen my posting concerning the incident and wanted to come over a talk to me. I guess
the first surveyor who appraised the damage - based on having a professional boatyard do the job with REAL materials that
Ken had done himself with scrap crap - and came up with a judgement of about $8000. Sounds way too high to me. If I
couldn't duplicate Ken's job in 3 days with (todays prices) $400 in wood, fiberglass and epoxy, I'd be ashamed. So, let's
double that: 6 days, or 48 hours @ $85 = $4080, plus $800 (doubled for good measure, though there is no possibility Ken
spent anything like that for materials) and you get $4880. Round up to $5K for Ken's crying towels and that's more than
enough, knowing full well Ken will NEVER spend anything above $10 an hour for people to work on his boat. My guess on
his cost of repairs, $300 to $350 on materials and $400 on labor. $750.

Two other people showed up after. A couple named Mike and Sue who used to have a 45 foot Morgan here and knew Geoff
and Roger and Sandy and Eddie and Lon and Betsy. I didn't remember them, but they have now sold their boat and have a
36 foot Motorhome that they land cruise in.
After adjusting the hardtop frame again and taking some careful measurements, I cut the rear struts and finished them and
installed them. Then I REALLY took some time and squared up everything, locating the Dorades where they would have to
be and noticing that one side of the hardtop feet was still bent to the outboard by about two inches. I did a little bit of thinking
- should have done more - and separated the two bows from each other, then tied a good line to the bottom of each leg, one
at a time, and bent them inboard, bracing the opposite, upper curved end against my chest. This is where I should have done
more thinking. Just as I had full pressure on, the nicely polished curved section slid off my chest and down over the ends of
my ribs and into my spleen. Thank God I was pulling about as hard as I could or I wouldn't have heard my ribs snap like a
magic twanger, and I might not have thought I broke one. False alarm, but still enough to get a big laugh out of RJ. It's a little
sore, but not bad. Not like a mule kick in the nads.

After a bit of figuring and noticing, I came up with an idea of how to hold the panels in place where I wanted them to begin
mounting them to the frame. First thing you know, Ken came over and we placed one panel in place and I started drilling and
popping rivets. Well, rivet. The ones I had were too short. RJ gave me a ride down to Ace Hardware and I picked up two
boxes of the longest they had - 1/2 inch - and back to the boat and on with the popping. I have to drill one panel loose and
end-for-end it to match the cabling and correct a minor misalignment issue. One of the pictures I took from up on the ratlines.
See if you can guess which one. It looks pretty awesome. I can't think of a reason I shouldn't go straight ahead and finish this
up. As soon as I do, I can sew the new Bimini edges, sew RJ's jib, and maybe even sew up my own jib.
January 27, 2010 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

It's fairly cool this morning with temps in the high 30's and low 40's, but promises to warm up fast and be even better than
yesterday, which was fantastic. Hey! Guess who wondered AGAIN if he had a broken rib last night! Yep, me. It's a little
difficult to breath right now, and rolling over or sitting up brings a nice baseball-sized circle of pain, not where the stainless
was - on the front of my rib cage - but well over on the side, directly below my arm about halfway to my waist. The thing is, I
can't feel any evidence of a break. I think it might just be stretched ligaments between the ribs and it's due more to stiff old
ligaments than a real injury. If I was younger, or more active, the rib cage would have flexed easier and the pain wouldn't
have traveled so far. I have to expect stuff like this at my age. I'm 62, and contrary to popular belief, it's not the new 49 - it's
the same old 62 with tendencies to hair loss, cholesterol and stiffness after foolishness.

First thing this morning I'm going to correct the mounting of the port side panel, then complete the riveting and get serious
about mounting the Dorade boxes. I will still have some issues to sort out concerning running the wiring for the panels and
mounting the Outback controller, but I'm pretty sure I'll sort them out as I get to them. Meanwhile, the end of the month is
looming and I still have a lot to get accomplished in the 4 1/2 weeks that remain until THIS estimated departure date on the
first of March.

I'm back already. I started this around 5:30 AM and now it's 7:30. After a month, I can finally see out my portholes again. They
are no longer being blocked by giant solar panels on the deck. It will be good to have the morning sun come into the boat.

The panel is turned around remounted and 1 end of 1 panel is completely drilled and riveted. It took 17 rivets, but it seems
good and strong. It's hard work, drilling over my head. Especially the ones that go through the inner stainless tube as well.
There are 5 of them on each end. The installation is getting a lot of compliments. Though, in truth, if someone thought it
looked like the Elephant Man's face, I don't think they say so.

The boat is filled with the garlic and olive oil smells of cooking pinto beans and chick peas. I'm hungry and getting impatient. I
might have to go into the Seafood Shack and grab a sandwich. The beans won't be ready until supper time.
The solar panels are coming together. I have the front ends of both of them drilled and riveted. I'll do the other end tomorrow
and do some loooong cuts in the aluminum angle stock to  convert it from 2 x 2 inch to 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 inch. It is not an easy
task, but it shouldn't take too long and it will make installing the cloth around the solar panels much easier and less expensive
than anything else I've considered.

My ribs seemed to get much better today as I worked, but when I had supper and laid down, it got even stiffer than it was last
night. At least now I'm certain it's just a stretch or strain injury and not a cracked or broken rib. Stretch injuries seem to
diminish when they are warmed up and loosened, then get stiff again when the activity stops. I hope the Taco bases show up
tomorrow. I will install the rest of the rivets and the Dorade boxes and get the aluminum ready to install or partially installed.
January 28, 2010 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

It's been a long and productive day, and painful. I have to hold my side and hunch over to cough. I guess I cracked a rib. It'll
take a few days for it to start easing up. It hurts more now than when I first did it, or any time since for that matter. It didn't
slow me down though. I got the aluminum angle cut. It worked just fine. I made a quick jig to clamp the angles into and just
ran the skill saw down each side in one sweet cut. Then I sanded the sharp edges and was done.

Sandi and Eddie and Sandy and Ken all sat in for a little 'Solar Electric' seminar and we went over all the ins and outs of
getting solar going on a boat. They are all also going cruising and the solar option is the best right now, and getting better. I
got another old bow and cut two more aft struts for the hardtop, rather than build up 3 inches of blocks on top of the Dorade
boxes. The legs will need to be about 4 to 4 1/2 inches longer than the old ones.

I also got the computer up and running again without too awful much trouble. I actually made most of the trouble myself by
eliminating the 'Administrator' option during the Windows setup. Who knew Corel demanded it to allow the X4 Suite to load - if
that is the real problem. I'm not sure. I emailed them and we'll see what they say back. Well, I'm just getting stuff done on it
right now and still have a stack of email waiting.
January 29, 2010 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I got the Taco rail bases yesterday and now have to get these Dorade boxes secured and put some kind of fix on the aft legs
of the hardtop. When I went to bed I was committed to replacing the entire leg on each side, but the more I think about the
slight 'flattening' of the curved section on BOTH of the new legs, the less I like them. They simply do not feel nearly as stiff as
the ones that are on there now.
The morning began sunny and calm and has slowly
become cloudy with winds picking up. We expect rain
tomorrow.

I went outside just to see if the 7/8 inch stainless rail I
have would fit inside the 1 inch stock the hardtop frame is
made of. With a little deburring it slid right in, so I cut 2
sections of 7/8 inch a foot long and two sections of 1 inch
4 1/2 inches long and discovered the bottom ends of the
existing legs were nicely shrunk by an overenthusiastic
man with a pipe cutter (me). It took about 15 minutes on
each leg to open them up enough to hammer the 7/8 inch
stock up inside.

Dave Pamorski, presently working on Roy's boat, mixed
up a small batch of the wrong epoxy and offered it to me. I
used it to seal all the lower surfaces and glue seams
inside the Dorade boxes, so I won't be able to touch them
until they dry. Right now, the feet are hanging exactly 6 1/2 inches off the deck and the Dorade boxes are exactly 6 1/2
inches high, so something is bound to pop up to make that wrong. I won't know what it is until later.

I've been fighting the headache all day today and it just keeps getting worse. The legs are on the Dorades and will need a
little wedge to fit right, but I'll make the wedges out of Ipe as soon as this headache passes and I can work.
January 30, 2010 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I awoke early this morning - probably because I had to lay down so early yesterday with the killer headache. Woke up this
morning with no trace of the headache - knock on wood. No trace of rain yet, but the Weather Underground map shows some
on the way. I'll clean up on the boat and the dock this morning and just wait out the day. There may be one thing I might be
able to do inside. I might be able to make those aluminum hoops for the Dorade scoops.
January 31, 2010 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

I never did try to get going on hoops for the Dorades yesterday, though I did a little online research and found the origin of the
name, which I was only vaguely aware of. Here it is.
When only 20 years old, Olin Stephens dropped out of
Harvard and teamed up with another man to form the
very famous "Sparkman & Stephens" yacht building
company. Olin's father had recently sold his coal supply
business and ordered a yacht, based on his confidence
in young Olin's promise. What resulted was a 52 foot
yawl named after the dolphin that is correctly spelled
'Dorado'. Not at all shy about innovation, Olin Stephen's
'Dorade' quickly set the yachting world on it's collective
ear with sparkling performance and wins that remain
legendary to this day. The boat was launched in 1931
and the 'Dorade' boxes are only one of the many
changes that Olin brought to the craft. The most
progressive was the external ballast in the form of an
Iron or Lead keel, bolted to the bottom of a rounded hull.
He also replaced heavy sawn ribs with much lighter
steam-bent items, and narrowed the hull considerably.
He won his first Trans-Atlantic race by an adjusted 4
days and was a full 2 days ahead of the next boat to
cross the line. Dorade is now owned by Edgar Cato and
is based in Newport, Rhode Island. In 2006, at the age of
98, Olin Stephen's took a sail on the famous yacht that
made him famous with her new owner. He died on
September 13, 2008, at the age of 100.

It is 7:15 AM and still dark and cold. I have the heat on
and am comfortable and enjoying the peace and coffee,
but there is still a mountain of work awaiting my attention.

It is now 9:08 AM and I am eating a bowl of the new
crockpot stew. It's excellent. I'm getting better at this.
Some people don't understand it, but it absolutely works
for me. It is not about the very best thing I can put on my
tongue - it is about food that keeps me healthy, happy
and active, and is not demanding of my time, attention
and scarce funds, and this is doing the job well. I still
don't like the occasional webs I find in packages of rice.
I've never found any worms or moths, but I don't like the idea of little bug footprints on my food. And there's no doubt that the
critters were in the bag with the rice, so I MUST be eating them. Yummy. It gives me the creeps. I did find little worms in the
noodles and tossed them out. No need for that.

After cleaning up the dock and the boat, I spent time talking with Paul and RJ and Randy and Joe, then spent most of the day
watching sports on TV, including the Torrey Pines golf match. I'll watch the end of that today, though it just isn't the same
without Tiger. But it is a good match with a lot of top players crowding the leader board and still about a dozen or more guys
capable of winning and within striking distance.

I'm still sorting out too many files on the computer. I need to have a secure, reliable backup system that can't result in some to
the near tragic losses I've experienced in the past. I'm now entering a zone where I could lose a finished novel, and THAT is
simply not an option. With each days work, I have to provide triple backups on 3 different hard drives, plus a burned CD.
That's about the only way I'll feel safe.
Olin J. Stephens
1908 - 2008
February 1, 2010 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida

Okay! Now, THIS TIME, I'm on the last month! Or so. I like to put my foot down, but not paint myself into a corner. I would
have had MUCH more done if this had not been an all-time historically BAD winter. This is not Florida any more, it is
Pennsylvania, and winter is cold, windy, and rainy, with long periods of icy stuff. In technical terms. You know, it can be
covered with 'sucks'.

It is perhaps odd that after 25 full years of working toward a particular goal, I should begin now to get impatient and frustrated
with delays caused by both weather and finances. That is because it is not the finish line in sight that drives me - it is the
constant, unending need for patience that I am shedding. If I said that 'a thousand times I have shrugged off a setback and
simply pressed forward', it would be a gross understatement. There were times that I had to do that five times in a single day.
You have to adjust your head to exist in a zone that has no beginning and no end. At least, none worthy of identification.
Each step is just one more in a journey of a million steps, ten million steps, and the only relevance one has to another is that
they either are, or are not, heading in the right direction.

But, sooner or later, there's light at the end of the tunnel. There seems to be an identifiable 'end' and the mantle of trudging
doggedly onward feels heavy and oppressive and more than anything else in the world, you want to shrug IT off, sit down
with your feet up, get a cold drink and say, "Thank God that's over!" And that's the name of that tune.

Once I take off the docklines for the last time and head out, that will mark THAT day. I will consider the boat building to be
over and the cruising to have begun. Yes, I know. You guys are at least as anxious as me. I will still have work to do, but I'll
attend to those issues a little at a time while on the way.

Espin just called and said they (he and Barbara) are at Madeira Beach in St Petersburg and will be here some time in the
afternoon. It's still sprinkling out from time to time, but nothing heavy.

It's 3:45 and Espin just called me and said he missed the Anna Maria Bridge opening, so He wouldn't be here until about
4:20. I went outside and it's warmer than it has been for a few days. I took a couple of quick measurements and cut the two
wedges for the hardtop feet and put them in place. Only had to cut 3 to get 2 perfect ones for the job. I SO hope we get a
weather window so I can get some stuff done.