Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 17-19 August 2017 - For most of each of these three days, I was occupied sanding woodwork and applying Cetol, a lacquer substitute, to the woodwork in the interior and cockpit of Island Time. Painting seems to drag on and on because most things need multiple coats and each has to dry for 24 hours before applying another layer; sometimes that isn't even enough time, things still feel tacky. That, and the fact that I haven't done all the sanding first and then all the painting. If I did that, I wouldn't be able to live on the boat because I wouldn't be able to touch anything. This way, I can avoid some things while using and living on the boat even though it takes considerably longer. Luckily, much of the interior wood won't need to be redone for several seasons. I wish that were true of all the exterior wood, too, however, now that I have a good three coats on almost all the exterior wood, even that will be much easier in the future. At least that's what they tell me! I hope it's true. About 11pm Saturday, the wind picked up to over 20 kt. so I went on deck and furled the foredeck sunshade so it wouldn't get damaged. I suspect the wind will die back down now that I've gone to the trouble to roll it up, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. It's a custom shade that I'm sure cost a pretty penny to have made, and I don't want to have to have it repaired or replaced.

Sunday, 20 August - I installed an "anchor sail" on the aft of the boat today to help keep the boat pointed into the wind better at anchor. It is small triangular sail, about 1/2 square yard, and mounts at the very back end of the boom, running parallel to the length of the boat. As the boat's bow is caught by the wind and turns away from it, the anchor sail is then turned off the wind and pushes the aft end of the boat in the same direction, hopefully faster than the bow is turning, thus straightening the boat back into the wind before it goes way off to one side. Since the anchor sail runs parallel to the length of the boat, either way the boat turns, the sail will straighten it out, then, as the boat faces directly into the wind, there is no drag caused by the small sail pointed directly into the wind. I guess I'll have to see how much noise it makes shifting back and forth tonight since it is rigged right over my sleeping quarters.

Monday, 21 August - The anchor sail seems to work pretty well, but it did rattle some of the hardware on the boom quite a bit, so this morning I rigged it a little differently and tightened it up some, too. I added another coat of Cetol to the woodwork on the binnacle, the lazerette cover frames, the boom crutch, and the forepeak berth gap board. Another coat for each of these items should be sufficient except for the compass base on the binnacle. It, like the foredeck prism base, has been ignored for way too long and will need more coats for sure. The wood on both was extremely dry, that of the prism base, to the point of cracking. Luckily, it hadn't started to leak water through the deck.
                  In the evening, Butch and Fran from the trawler Smartini came over with their dinghy and picked me up and we all went to the Hurricane for pizza and to listen to Fiddle Rock. There were so few people there that it almost seemed like a private concert.

Tuesday, 22 August - Last week, I had planed away some of the wood on the bottom of the door to the forward head, but it wasn't enough, so I planed some more off today, then added a coat of Cetol to it and the threshold it was rubbing on, plus added another coat to all eight of the items I painted yesterday. While I was in the forward head, I decided I might as well do the woodwork in there, too, so I did, plus, I got all the green and black corrosion off the lower, brass connector to the shower head and coated it with Cetol. Prior to cleaning, you wouldn't have known it was brass. Next, I painted the top of one of my steel tool boxes that's getting rusty, too. Of course, as soon as I got my paintbrush cleaned, I realized I'd forgotten a couple of spots in the aft cabin. Oh well! There's always tomorrow - I'm on Island Time.

Wednesday, 23 August - Rain kept me from getting any more painting done today, but I've collected about 25 gallons of water into the water tank and it hasn't stopped raining totally, yet. Of course, that's pretty anaerobic exercise, all I had to do was insert the tubing into the neck of the tank and let it rain. I, also, checked the chlorine in the water and added some Clorox to the tank. I'll check it again tomorrow to see how much of an effect it had. I'll let the wave action on the boat mix the chlorine in overnight. Since I couldn't get any more painting done, I did reinstall the frames on the lazerette covers and three of the pieces of wood trim on the binnacle and polished and waxed the stainless steel louvers on the binnacle.
                  This is an interesting thundercloud that is producing the rain here today. It didn't come from anywhere, it just formed right over the island and harbor and has been waxing and waining all day, but I'm glad to get the water. Unfortunately, there's so little wind with it that my wind charger isn't performing; in fact, the boat has simply been going in circles around the anchor. I think the boat's been pointed in every possible direction multiple times today. Every time I stick my head out, the boat's pointed in a different direction. It's like stepping out of your door at home and each time there's a different house in front of you. I have to reorient myself every time.I have to reorient myself every time. With the rain, of course the solar isn't producing much energy, either, but, luckily, the batteries were topped up by yesterday's sunshine and breezes, so I think the batteries will last through the night before needing a charge.
                  On Monday evening, Butch, Fran, and I had briefly discussed going back to the Hurricane to try the Hot Wings for dinner tonight, but I think that's going to get rained out.