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No, not the emerging crocuses or the buds on the trees. Just an old Mercury wagon with buckets of tools and one large boat propeller. It didn’t look so big on Annabel Lee. But it sure as hell does in the back of the car, and the shaft goes clear up to the dashboard.
Monday I’m dropping everything off at the prop shop for inspection and balancing.
None of the above. Only this blog, updated in no particular regularity, and my modest little web site, used mostly for some random bits of info and lots of boat pics ,which I finally updated! (My laptop was going through a sassy period, and required some serious shock treatment. All the programs are re-install, up and running, and I’ve been catching up on some overdue loose ends.) As I understand it, each of the above mentioned social-networking applications, while hugely popular, are massively time-consuming. That’s two strikes. 1, I’m not a social creature, nor do I have the desire to become one. And 2, my time is a limited commodity. Between writing, the boat, and life in general, I don’t have time for much else. I have seen first-hand some people who spend vast amounts of their day updating others on every last detail of their lives, rather than just heading out and *living*. Do you, kind reader, really care if I’m warm or cold or hungry or whatever else at this very moment. On that note I will get back to being those very things and more, and you’ll all just have to wonder.
I love a good mystery.
1977 to 2009. 32 years of Annabel Lee’s maintenance log, transcribed to computer. Over three decades of oil changes, injectors drained, impellers changed, heat exchangers cleaned, zincs replaced, stuffing box repackings, countless filters, and other standard maintenance. Then the not so day-to-day, the Racor fuel filter installed (2/85), a new water heater (7/88), rebuilt alternator,(7/95), oil cooler replaced (6/97), and a new propeller (4/03). There’s the major changes and upgrades, like enlarging the rudder (4/85) new radar and gps (7/98) and a new windlass (8/98), just to name a few. And then there’s the curious, head-scratching, why-did-they-do-(or need to do)- that-stuff, like the replacement cutlass bearing caulked in place with 5200 (why?) (11/97) and the Morse dual lever (WHY??) helm controls (8/98).
The world may never know.
Busy busy busy. Yep, it’s that time of year again. Days are getting longer, the sun stays up just a bit more each day, and that means work begins again on Annabel Lee. I spent the last week entering 30 + years of logged maintenance, written in a little black book passed from owner to owner, into an excel spreadsheet. The records are invaluable, the only problem being each owner had a different system of logging, so trying to figure what was replaced when and why would jump from section to section. Sorted by date and engine hours, I can better determine what’s due (and overdue) for attention. Oh the work ahead!
On another happy note, the first crocuses have nudged their way through, just tips of green, but a start all the same.
