Well, after 3 weeks, we finally saw a little progress on the boat. Very little, but at least some activity. The bottom of the boat was scrapped, sanded and the worst spots primered today getting ready for her new bottom paint.

They also scrapped, sanded and painted the shaft and prop. Doesn't it look pretty????

We met with an upholsterer today who assures us he can get the salon cushions done for us within two weeks. So, we left the cushions and fabric and said "go to it"!! Hope he completes the job in time because once they get the rudder in and back on and get us back in the water, I'm not sure how long I'll be willing to hang around the Savannah area. It's been fun and it's been real, but it ain't be real fun!!!!

We were told it takes a "specialist" to patch the holes in our dinghy so I called one. He said he could fix the 2, approximately 1/4" tears for $250.00. We stopped at West marine and bought a patch kit, a tube of glue and 4 or 5 patches for $70.00. I still feel we got screwed but now I'm a "specialist"!!!! I just want the dinghy to hold air.

Of course, Hinckley's doesn't work on outboards, so if the Seaform I added to the gas doesn't solve the carberation problem, that will mean finding an outboard repairman and probably having the carb rebuilt.

Since the dinghy was out of commission , it was a pretty miserable 4 day weekend. We did go into Savannah on Friday evening and Nancy found us a really nice restaurant just off the waterfront. It wasn't to crowded and the owner said he did get a lot of tourists. But, the food was excellent and moderately priced and they had a young couple playing guitar, bass and singing. They were pretty good as well. It was just too bad the acoustics weren't that good in the restaurant. If you're ever in Savannah, check out The Rose.

Saturday, we did a little running around, thanks to Dustin (Hinckley GM)  loaning us the service truck. I had picked up some shrimp, potato salad and corn on the cob. So, we set out to find a little park to picnic in and picked up a small watermelon. After eating all but the watermelon in a city park, we drove out toward the ICW we have come through before Savannah and enjoyed the watermelon. Not too bad an afternoon and evening.

Yesterday, we ended up sitting on the dock, munching on a little sushi and left over shrimp and enjoyed the cool breeze while watching the last of the weekend boaters go by.

We hope everyone had a good holiday weekend.

Oldie

A slow day on the hard, so here's an oldie but goodie. Let's all just sit back, relax and have a cold beer. It's good for your brain cells as proven by Cliff:

One night at Cheers, Cliff Clavin said to his buddy, Norm Peterson:

"Well, ya see, Norm, it's like this.. A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members! ; In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine! That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers.

Today

I've been a little lax in posting on the blog lately. It just seems that I've run out of things to post. We're still on the hard in Savannah waiting for the new rudder. We were told today that it should ship in about a week. That means at least 2 more weeks here. The manger of the facility had a nice lunch for his crew from a local Bar-B-Que place and we were invited to join them. It was really great ribs, pulled pork and chicken with all the trimmings.

A marina that's not too far from here is supposed to have a fireworks display tonight so I guess we'll load into the dinghy and motor down that way later today. There will probably be a lot of other boat traffic so, thankfully, we can hang close to shore and stay out of the bigger boat's way.

Nancy and I are putting some finishing touches on the cosmetic work we wanted to do while here. I'll try to replace the sink over the weekend and finish cleaning the cockpit. Nancy has just a little more wood to redo. We should also get our repaired Mack Pack back on the sail.

Nancy has still been trying to find someone to redo the salon upholstery in a time frame that is workable for us. Seems everyone is from 4 weeks to 4 months out.

We hope everyone has a great July 4th weekend and remember all who are in service to this country and their families.

Nancy and I got tired of throwing good money after bad on the Tumbleweed Too so went into Savannah today and picked up our new one. Be sure and read the spec's on her.

 



 



We decided to name her "In Our Wildest Dreams", just because!! Can you believe 155 feet long with a mast height 195 feet? If I were the owner, I'd want everyone to know and probably wouldn't try to keep it a secret. Nope, I believe we'll stick with our 34 foot Tumbleweed Two, even though lately she's become a mystery ship. Yesterday I was working on putting a panel cover back on and I took out 2 screws, laid them down and still haven't found them. The other day, we came back to he and the windlass had drawn the anchor chain up tight. I loosened it and while sitting here this morning, I heard the winch running and went out and the chain was tight again. Maybe this has something to do with our battery problem.

The carpenter here at Hinckley's was going to make us a new hatch cover that was broken one day. It's about a 12 inch square piece of acrylic. Maybe an hour to take it out and re-install. The quoted us a price of $750.00 and said we wouldn't even get kissed!!!

A few days ago, we learned we needed a new exhaust pipe and Hinckley's was going to have one made from stainless steel here in Savannah. They came by and said, by the way, it'll be $850.00. WE went onto the Catalina Direct web site and found the same stainless steel exhaust pipe for $250.00.

The running joke around the boatyard is no matter what needs to be done, it's a $1,000 bill. Unfortunately, I beginning to believe it's no joke.

Oh well, enough bitching for now. I guess it you can't afford it, don't do it!!

We did have a nice afternoon strolling the riverfront in Savannah. We rode the bus into town so we also saw some of the outlying area. Many beautiful old homes and several squares where they have created small parks for the neighborhoods.

Ah, cooler weather seems to be in the forecast for the weekend with possible rain. Maybe we can get out and enjoy the surrounding area a little more.

Nancy has put the first couple of coats on the teak I sanded and it is really looking nice. She has posted a few pictures on her blog and I'll try to get some on mine a little later today.

I think that next week things should start to come together and the boat will be in good working order and also will be looking good.

We hope everyone has a great weekend.

93 degrees, 90% humidity, 105 heat index!!!!!

Another day in "paradise" (Savannah, GA) begins!!! Trying to refinish the teak on the outside of the boat and they're predicting 50% chance of rain for the next several days.