Thursday, 16 July 2015 - After breakfast, I headed into Walmart under partly cloudy skies, but sunny skies, to check out Coast Guard approved fire extinguishers. Two of my three extinguishers are beyond their expiration dates and have less pressure than required. I'd been in the store about 10 minutes when I heard a strange low roar from everywhere above me. A few seconds went by before it dawned on me that it was raining - hard! Since it was sunny when I went to the store, I had left some of the windows open, and they are pretty large windows. I couldn't afford to ignore the rain. As usual, I was parked on the outer edge of the parking lot, so I was soaking wet by the time I got back to and into the motorhome. This was one of the longest lasting deluges we've had since I arrived. I gave up my hunt for extinguishers and headed back to my daytime parking spot near the marina. I set there inside the motorhome for about 2 hours as the parking area became a large pond. I spent most of the remaining part of the day figuring out how to get the front speakers in the boat's saloon to work. I couldn't find anything wrong with the wiring, or, in fact, anything else, but after trying the fader on the stereo about 20 times, it finally worked. They say that the definition of an idiot is a person that keeps trying the same thing over and over with the same unsuccessful result, but sometimes that really does work. My speakers are working fine now.
                  Once I was through with that, I tackled a job that I thought might be next to impossible. A mounting bracket for the main companionway ladder had broken three of the four screws that hold it on. I was afraid that extracting each one might be difficult, if not impossible, and I was right. I would have had to dig the wood out from around them (teak is way too pretty to be "digging out") and try to pull them out with clamping pliers or something similar. Yes, I do have screw extractors, but have you ever tried to center drill a stainless steel screw in order to get the extractor to work? I got lucky, there is just enough "slop" in the bracket that I was able to drill just to the side of the original screws, wax up the new ones and screw them in. Worked fine, and now I don't need to worry about falling into the galley face first as I head down the ladder.

Friday, 17 July - Today I was determined to figure out a way to play my iPod through the stereo, which is a nice Pioneer that is supposed to have the capability to play from an auxiliary source, but so far I hadn't had good luck at it. Tried changing all the settings. Even read the directions...several times. It took me awhile, but I realized that the 1/8" connector built into the stereo is slightly different than most I've seen, so I decided to try running the connection through the cassette tape compartment of the stereo. I got out my trusty cassette converter, the one I certainly shouldn't have brought with me because I gave away all my 300 or so cassettes and shouldn't ever need the adapter again, plugged the adapter into the stereo and plugged the connector into my iPod. Voilà! Music!!! See, it does pay to be a hoarder! You just never know what you're gonna need. I worked the rest of the afternoon in the sweet bliss of the best ***** (5 Star) '50s, '60s, and '70s Rock & Roll available to mankind. Yes!!!

Saturday, 18 July - Whoa! What happened to the week! Much of today spent checking out the storage space in under the sole in the saloon. One of the access boards has one corner under the foot of the dining table, so I spent considerable time trying to get that so that it opens easier. It's better, but may still need more work. It is so hard to open that, as it is, I probably won't use it much. I need the space though, so I really need to fix it so I can get into it easier.

Sunday, 19 July - I went into Walmart this morning and bought baskets and tubs of five different sizes and shapes in order to figure out which ones will work for my food storage, so much of this morning was, again, spent arranging and rearranging, actually trying to figuring out what size containers I can use to store canned goods. Almost every space is a different shape and size and all of the storage spaces under the sole of the saloon are shallow at the near end and deeper as they drop toward the keel. I really don't want to have cans rolling around down there, nor do I want to haul out ten cans one at a time just to get the one I'm after, so I'll be putting them in small baskets, allowing me to pull out 5 - 10 cans at a time and should keep them from rattling around as much.
                  In the afternoon, I started to take some measurements in one of the lazarettes in the cockpit in order to replace a shelf that had previously been made of plywood, which probably wasn't marine grade, and had totally delaminated and is in need of replacement. When I opened the lazarette, I saw one end of a hose we had replaced a couple of weeks ago, but not removed. Since one end was in this compartment and the other end in the engine room, I thought I'd better remove in before I forget what it is, so I removed the teak grids and sole of the port side of the cockpit, got down in the engine room and removed the tubing, then I closed it all back up again and continued my getting my measurements. After that, I closed everything up and called it a day.

Monday, 20 July - I took 4 of the 5 baskets that I had bought yesterday back to Walmart and bought 3 more like the small one I hadn't returned, then headed out to Lowe's hardware store to buy a sheet of Starboard, a new plastic replacement for plywood that is strong and can't possibly rot. They didn't have it, and referred me to Pro Builder's at the other end of town, almost where I started out. They didn't have it, but referred me to Marine Surplus. I called them. They had it!...but want $132.50 for a 4 X 5 foot sheet. Yikes!!! Especially since I only need a small piece. I decided to come back to the boat to rethink this repair job. Even marine plywood is cheap in comparison...and it's not cheap! 85$ for a 4 X 8 foot sheet (almost twice the size), the last time I bought some, compared to $20 for standard grade.

Tuesday, 21 July - I got most of the remainder of the canned goods stowed and, again, worked to make accessing the bilge storage lid that is under the dining table easier. I don't think it will necessitate any more work. I took a bigger saw to it...and you can't see anything's different. Perfect! After that, I cleaned up and wiped down some more 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" drive sockets.

Wednesday Morning, 22 July - I brought three moving boxes full of stuff, mainly Ship's Captain's decanters and other imbibing apparatus, bathing towels, and kitchen towels over from the trailer and got them stowed. Now what I need is someone to help me get rid of some of this excess liquor that I have. Any takers?

            Until next time,
                        I'm working really hard at trying not to die rich!

                                          Rick