Monday, 7 October 2019 - Tom Krueger came to my boat to take a look at and give me advise about the cap and toe rails on Island Time that need some work done on them. We also visited for awhile. When he left, I paid the coming year's fee to renew my Coast Guard Documentation for the boat online.

Tuesday, 8 October - ???????? Who knows what I did this day? I certainly don't.

Wednesday, 9 October - I was up early this morning to head over to Marathon Boat Yard to have them inspect my boat and give me estimates for several projects I'd like undertaken on it. The hull definitely needs a new below the waterline paint job, may need new chainplates, and several other things, large and small. I thought it would take several hours and that I would then return to my mooring ball in the harbor. Instead, they started work on it immediately and I'll probably be here in the boatyard for several weeks while the work is done. I had hoped that they'd put a swarm of workers, welders, woodworkers, painters, etc. on the boat and get it all done simultaneously, but they said that would cause problems with the workers all getting in each other's way, so now it will be strung out over a longer period than I'd hoped. We'll see how it goes. One advantage for me is that if the work doesn't seem to be going as I want, I can stop after each part of the project.

Thursday, 10 October - I was up early because I thought the woodworker might start at 7 o'clock, but he didn't show up until eight, although I could see that he'd already been to West Marine to purchase a can of wood preservative for the cap rails. I really don't understand these boatyards. They make it sound as if they'll get you in and work hard on your boat, taking care of everything to get you in and out quickly. One guy worked on my boat for two and a half hours today. At that rate, and since I want woodwork, cabinet work, pulpits removed and welded, the bottom painted, and chainplates removed, inspected, and, perhaps, removed, I'll be here for months.

Friday, 11 October - After complaining about the amount of work accomplished on the boat yesterday, two workers showed up this morning at seven thirty, one to work on the woodwork and the other to start removing chainplates and safety rails and they got small start tearing out the refrigeration cabinetry. They both worked off and on for most of the day. In two days I racked up a bill of $1700. Ouch!
                    Since I've moved a third of the way down the island west, I got to make a short trip to the only Mexican restaurant on Vaca Key here in Marathon. Luckily, I like their food and margaritas. I thought that they probably didn't have a full liquor license and when I told the waitress that I thought they had the best margaritas in town she confirmed my suspicion by telling me that the margaritas were a mixer with alcohol added and that the alcohol isn't a liquor, but a wine, actually agave wine. She showed me the bottle, said I can get it at the local liquor store ...and gave me a free margarita to boot. After having dinner, I walked next door to Barnacle Barney's and hand one more margarita while listening to Tye Thurman, who used to work an the marina before going full time pro as a guitarist and singer. Mike and Bev of the sailing vessel Queequeg were there. I knew that even before I arrived because I recognized Mike's laughter from quite a distance.

Saturday, 12 October - No work on the boat today and about half of the contents of the boat are pulled out of their designated spaces for the work. It's going to be a nuisance living on the boat during the work. There's only one space to sit in the saloon and I had to clear it off to have a seat. The deck and cockpit are in about the same condition.

Sunday, 13 October - The boatyard was closed today, so nothing really got done on the boat. I did a couple of minor fixes, but nothing of consequence.

Monday, 14 October - Quite a bit of work got done on the cap and toe rails today, then, over at the City Marina, we had a dinner and the Second Annual Blow-hard Regatta. I had a considerably better showing with my new entry than I did last year. The race was limited to hand crafted boats no longer than six inches in length and powered down a channel six inches wide by each "Captain" blowing through a straw. The competition was pretty tough and we had quite a few more entries this year than last. It was very popular and lots of fun. I think we had about 25 entries including just about every shape and design imaginable. They ranged from one that was simply folded cardboard that was pulled out of the trash upon arrival to catamarans and trimarans that had considerable time put into them, but, in the end, the winner looked more like a round bull boat or a flattened cupcake. Very ingenious since it overcame one of the primary obstacles, surface tension at the side of the channel. It simply rolled or rotated along while the captain blew against the "sails" that looked like an anemometer.

Tuesday, 15 October - Island Time came out of the water today, but other than a good power wash to knock off all the barnacles and sea growth, not much got done onboard. He did get some masking taping done in preparation for painting. I expect more to get done tomorrow now that the fellow working on the cap rail and toe rail has his scaffold set up. He'll be working about six feet off the ground, but that's easier than working hanging over the water over the side. While they had the boat on the slings of the lift, I finally found out what she really weighs. With a full diesel tank, but only 100 gallons of water in the 200 gallon tank, she weighs 46,000 pounds. The data sheets say 38,000 empty. One hundred gallons of diesel fuel weighs about 600 lb. and 100 gallons of water weighs about 800 lb. I guess I have even more "stuff" onboard than I realized.

Wednesday, 16 October - I left the boat about 5:45 am to catch the shuttle to the Miami VA Hospital for a consultation with a surgeon about having a hernia sewn up before it gets any bigger. I did the same thing about a year and a half ago, but it's bigger now, so it may be time to get it repaired before I need a mesh sewn in. I've heard a lot of problems can occur with those, however, the surgeon assures me that the problems with them have been blown out of proportion by the media and that the problems were primarily with one brand of the mesh and how doctors were installing them. He also indicated that virtually all procedures are using them regardless of the size of the rupture with a very low rate of problems.
                    Later, I went to the movie at the library and then to Havana Jacks Restaurant and Bar to listen to Fiddle Rock, my favorite local band here in Marathon. They broke up as a duo when the guitar player's boat was destroyed during hurricane Irma, but are back together again for this week while the guitar player, Steve, is here for just a few days.

Thursday, 17 October - Travis Blaine, owner of Mack Sails finally made it to the boat today by leaving Stuart, Florida this morning at 4:30 to drive down and measure the boat for new sails. It took him about 30 minutes. He may still have the sails finished before I get the boat back in the harbor. The boat needs to be in the water to raise the sails so the boat will stay pointed into the wind while they are up to make sure everything works right and the sails fit properly. Late in the afternoon I contacted Ray, the owner of Bobcat Welding about manufacturing some new chainplates for the boat. Chainplates are attached to the hull and the shrouds and stays attach to them to hold the mast vertical and stable.

Friday, 18 October - Ray from Bobcat Welding came by the boat to make sure my sketch of the chainplates is good enough to work from. He seemed pleased. Replacing them isn't going to be a quick and easy experience. There are six of them and they can't all be removed at once without removing the mast, so it is going to take some time. Not only that, but they are all buried inside the hull under cabinetry and in very hard to reach locations and on the outside, the bolt heads are buried under the rub rail.
                    Fiddle Rock was playing at the Hurricane Bar last night, so I went there for dinner with Tom Krueger and stayed until the band quit at 12:30 am.

Saturday, 19 October - I did a little work on the boat today and fixed a flat on the front tire of my bicycle, then, later, since it will be the last chance to hear Fiddle Rock play in quite awhile, I caught a taxi to Havana Jack's in Key Colony Beach.

Sunday, 20 October - I scraped and polished the propeller shaft and replaced the sacrificial zincs on it today, then headed out to the city marina to return my access cards and get my deposit back. I didn't get very far however. About one rotation of the wheels let me know that I had another flat tire; this time on the rear wheel. I didn't have time to fix it because the marina closes at 5:30, so I merely pumped the tire back up and rode fast to get there and back before it went flat again.

Monday, 21 October - All the sanding has been done on the toe and cap rails and a coat of epoxy was brushed on the wood, then, after it had set up, it was sanded lightly again.

Tuesday, 22 October - Work continues on the toe and cap rails. A coat of sealer was added over the epoxy resin, then, since the masking tape had been on the boat several days, he removed it to keep it from getting too sticky.
                    I had an appointment with an optometrist today. I mounted the bike to go and got about 3 feet before I realized that I had another flat tire, this time on the rear. I aired it up, rode to the appointment, had lunch, and returned successfully without having to pump it up again. This evening the tire was flat again, so I pumped it up and headed out again. This time I pushed my luck too far, but at dinner a fellow sailor had an electric pump in his car and helped me out.

Wednesday, 23 October - Sanding of the hull got done today along with grinding out some imperfections, then filling and sealing those with an epoxy paste.
                    I fixed the flat on the bike today and went to the Hurricane for open mic night entertainment and dinner, then, with a slight tail wind, virtually flew home on the bike.

Thursday, 24 October - The rough spots on the hull created by the addition of the patches were sanded and faired. Chris, the fellow doing most of the work on the boat, also added a thick layer of fiberglass onto the bottom of the keel where it had worn away over the years through grounding. The repair was pretty rough, so he then trimmed off excess and reformed it.
                    The highly anticipated solid tubes for the bicycle that I ordered arrived today, so I installed them immediately. They promise absolutely no more flat tires. Yea! They feel, with my hand, just as if I had about 50 psi of air in the tires. That's great! But wait...I jump on the bike and pedal about 20 feet and realize there's quite a difference in the ride. It's much harder to pedal. I can feel lots of resistance in the tires as they roll. Reviewers on the website suggested getting a slightly oversized tube for my tire size to insure that the tube filled out the tire completely, and I did, but it still feels like I'm riding with about 15 pounds of pressure in the wheels instead of 50. I'm not talking a little different. I'm talking a LOT different. It's MUCH harder to make these tires roll. What a disappointment. I rode to the marina on the bike to Suanne's birthday party, but boy was it work getting there and back.

Friday, 25 October - Chris did some more shaping on the keel today and taped, masked, and put one coat of primer on the boot top line on the boat. The boot top on a vessel is a broad painted line on the boat that marks the difference between where the waterlines should be when the boat is fully loaded and unloaded.

Saturday, 26 October - Again, Chris did a bit more grinding, sanding, and fairing of the boot top line and hull today, but not much.

Sunday, 27 October - Surprisingly, Chris showed up to work on the boat this morning, however, he only did a little bit of grinding or sanding, pulled the masking tape off the boat and left after about an hour.

Monday, 28 October - No work done on the boat today by the boatyard.

Tuesday, 29 October - No work done on the boat today by the boatyard.

Wednesday, 30 October - No work done on the boat today by the boatyard. In the evening, I went to the Hurricane Bar & Grill to celebrate my birthday, listen to some music, see the Halloween costumes, and have dinner.

Thursday, 31 October - No work done on the boat today by the boatyard. I dropped the Bruce anchor to the ground, sanded most of the rust off of it and put a coat of galvanizing paint on it. That certainly isn't as good as having it regalvanized, but its better than nothing. There's no place in the Keys that could re-galvanize it. In the evening, I went to the Overseas Restaurant for their Halloween party. They had a DJ for the evening and I was surprised that with the mostly younger crowd, the DJ started the evening off with great rock and roll from the '60s. Unfortunately, it devolved to hip-hop later in the evening. I stayed through the costume contest, which actually turned out to be a popularity contest, since some of the "winners" were clearly not the best of class. Oh! Well. Everybody seemed to have fun anyway.

Friday, 1 November - No work done on the boat today by the boatyard. I cleaned up the propeller using vinegar today, but it wasn't very effective in cleaning off the barnacle residue. It will take a stronger acid than that, I think. Muriatic acid is what is typically used, but that's really potent and I'm not sure I want to deal with that. Vinegar is 5% acetic acid and muriatic acid is 35% hydrochloric acid. The welder that I'm having replace the feet on my stern rail was supposed to come by with the rail today, but he didn't show up either.

Saturday, 2 November - No work done on the boat today by the boatyard. In the evening, I headed over to the city park for their 20th anniversary party for the city. They had some pretty good live music, free hot dogs, hamburgers, cookies, pie, cake, and pop, plus voter registration, which I took advantage of, and lots of other displays and booths. One of the most interesting was a fellow with a 200X astronomical telescope to look through. When I got there he had it pointed at Saturn and I could see two sets of the rings and five of Saturn's moons through it. I hadn't seen such a high tech telescope like that before. He demonstrated how he could simply program it to turn to any of thousands of stars, constellations, or planets by simply pushing a few buttons and it would rotate and change its declination to the new coordinates. Pretty cool! When he pointed it at our moon, the magnification was so great that I think I could see the American flag and maybe a few footprints up there. ;-} They finished off the celebration with fireworks.
                    Since the park is right next to che City Marina, I rode my bike over there to see if there were any sailors to visit with. There were about five people there and after about a half an hour, Tomas, from the S/V Sputnik came to shore and invite me to join him in his dinghy out in the harbor for the dinghy drift that was happening this evening. A dinghy drift as merely a bunch of sailors that tie their dinghies together and float through the harbor while partying in the cool of the evening. The moon was pretty slender this evening so it was dark and pretty hard to see who you were talking to, but it was good to be back in the harbor, if only for a few minutes. I met the owner of another CSY 44 and he invited me to come see how his chainplates have been replaced, so I think I'll take him up on that.
                    Well, it's midnight. I think I'll set my watch back an hour to go off of daylight savings time and go to bed.

Sunday, 3 November - Tom Krueger and I headed to Key West early this morning to see the sights. We recently learned that, on the first Sunday of each month, locals, that is, those of us with addressed in the Keys, get to tour several of the museums and ride a couple of the guided tours for free. Taking advantage of that, we took two guided tours around the city, visited the art museum, and the Wreckers Museum, which is about salvage operations of ships that ran aground in the Keys which made Key West the richest city per capita in America in the 1830s. We also toured the Little White House made famous by President Truman, and the Key West Aquarium. There were other items on our list, but we ran out of time. We had a very enlightening day, learned a lot about Key West's history, and had a great time in the process. There's still more to see, so I'm sure I'll return yet again.

Monday, 4 November - Chris is back on the job today and I told him that since no work had been done in his absence, I just want projects that have been started, finished, and then just put me back in the water. We'll not be replacing the cabinetry and insulation for the refrigeration, nor will we be replacing the chainplates. I've decided to do those myself, with the help of Tom Krueger. Several coats of paint on the boot top line were added today. I also made a trip to Home Depot for a couple of spray cans of galvanizing paint for the anchor and other projects and butyl tape for sealing the stanchions to the deck after they are repaired. I used up one can on the anchor, then headed over to wash a couple of loads of clothes.

Tuesday, 5 November - Finally, I feel as if they'll make some progress on the boat this week. Pock marks in the old paint job were sealed with barrier coat and one coat of paint was applied to the complete hull and the propeller was buffed, primed and painted.

Wednesday, 6 November - I got up early to go to the Home Depot for a couple of rolls of masking tape so I can tape and add another coat of sealant to the woodwork that Chris epoxied and put one coat of sealer on. I cooked breakfast, but before I could eat it, the welder showed up to finish welding the feet on the stern rail and add four cleats on the stern rail and swim platform. He'll still have to return to do the end caps for the davits. They are too high off the ground to reach when the boat is out of the water and on stands. Since he is working on the stern and that's where the ladder is, I can't exit the boat at the moment, but I smell the stink of fresh paint with copper in it, so I'm sure another coat of paint is being added to the hull as I type. This paint smells, at least to me, just like the exhaust from a propane driven fork lift, not good.

            Until next time.

                        "Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S. Thompson

                                          Rick