I promised

Kerm here,

Today is Saturday and I promised Chris yesterday that I would not work on the boat today.  We'll see how that all works out.  So, we do Chris stuff.  Take a walk, eat breakfast out, the flea market, etc, etc.  I promised.  I'll give you an update later if there is anything earth shattering happens but I doubt it.

We pretty much finished the caulking and some touch up yesterday.  Now we wait a couple of days for it to dry and then sand it.  I'm sure that as we go there will be other areas that we will notice that will need some further touch up but all in all the pressure is off.  I did notice that one section of board will probably need replacing but I'll need to find a piece that is worn similar to the rest.  In the one piece that I already replaced it doesn't look very good because it's just too nice of piece.  At Linda's, I have the old teak board covered hatch cover from the fly bridge and I'll take a look at that as far as the matching goes.  Right now Linda is using the cover for a step by her back door until her new patio is put in. Perhaps me taking the step will hustle that project along.

We got measured up yesterday for a new Bimini top for the fly bridge cockpit.  The old one was a bit long in the tooth.  It wasn't the greatest when we bought the boat and was torn up but fixed on the cheap when we were in the tornado a couple of years ago.  Then the windstorms Chris and Linda were in towards the end of the Bahamas adventure this year pretty much killed it.  Repairs probably could have been made to keep it going but the UV protection of the material was shot.  You could just feel the UV frying you even under the top.  Mother Nature just hastened the total replacement.  The new top will also have attachment points for doing a total enclosure for the helm area.  Enclosures are now pretty much the norm on the trawlers today.  At this point, an enclosure is not on our short list but I guess never say never.  The upholstery guys will also be repairing the fly bridge cover and window covers that are coming apart.  While the tarp and window cover material still looks good the UV has killed the thread but will be replaced with a new UV resistant type.

Dan is doing well and we are looking forward to visiting him in Cleveland later in June.  He's having a great time flying jets and carrying cattle (passengers).  For years Dan avoided the whole passenger/scheduled airline type of flying but now is having a great time.  Maybe it's just part of getting older.  Right now his wants are to have a permanent station and to buy a house.  He says with a big garage or pole barn.  A chip off the old block he is.  Car, boat, airplane?  I smell project.

Nuff for now.  Chris is up, breakfast, flea market... Oh, boy.