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Thursday, May 19, 2016

Figuring out the Rigging.

Day 2, boat rigging.  Well we definitely made some progress.  We spent three hours in the beautiful bright sun diligently working on rigging the boat. This time we were able to complete everything.  Fixed the line that broke yesterday, raised the mast, installed the boom, bend on the sails (okay Mike gave me that last one to say). Then we tried to figure out the bimini and discovered there seemed to be no visible means of support so that will need a little to do a little renovating.  I sorted through the remainder of items down below and organized everything so we could make our way through the cabin.

It was a very busy 3 hours and at the end of those 3 hours we were exhausted.  It's amazing how in 5 years your stamina can change.  So we decided to end the day and make our way back home besides Miss Millie needed to be let out.  Tomorrow we will get an early start, that is after one more trip to West Marine and then get her in the water.  In case you are wondering we still have not come up with a name for our little Catalina.

Time to reposition the mast for raising

I steadied the mast while Mike was positioning the mast.

I rigged up a pole and used the hook from a bungie cord so that Mike could reach one of the lines




A few more adjustments
One beautiful sail


Now work on the jib

Tools of the job

Love those legs

Laying down on the job

She's in her spot and waiting to hit the water Friday.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Moving the boat!

Well today we attempted and notice I say "attempted" to put the boat together and get it in the water.  Well we went to the Kerns to pick up the boat.  It was a beautiful morning and it was so great to see Julie and her beautiful flowers.








After a quick visit with Julie I joined Mike back at the boat to help him load everything back on the boat so we could get on the road.


The boom and sail bags needed loaded.
Mike secures the mast for transport.


Once everything was loaded we were on the road.  We did though stop for lunch at Tony's Coneys so that we didn't get the "hangries".  I must say I thought about our dear friends Susie and Roger when we stopped here for lunch since the last time we were here we were with them.


After lunch we headed up to Alum Creek.  We intend to leave the boat up there until we leave for New Bern. This way we can get some time on the water and figure out how the new boat works.  We made it up to Alum Creek with no trouble.  Since we have only put the sailing gear up once last year after we bought it we knew it was going to take us a little time to get this accomplished.  
We arrived to the storage lot to work on the rigging.
Positioning the mast 

The First Mate hanging on to the Jib Roller to keep it from falling to the side

Both of us up top



We spent a good 2 hours working on getting all the rigging up and put together, when everything was up and stable we tugged on one of the lines on the mast and it completely snapped off.  UGH!!!!! so way up at the top of the mast is this small white rope dangling while the other part is lying on the ground in front of me.  Mike and I both looked at each other and said "oh that can't be good".  So since neither of us were going to shimmy up the mast, it had to come back down.  So down it came and we realized that the line was a simple clothes line and it had rotted being out in the sun all the time. So the Captain made the decision that we would put the boat in it's parking place and head home. Since we had been gone since 9:00 a.m. and it was now going on 4:00 p.m.  As they say "tomorrow is another day".  So tomorrow morning we will head out to West Marine to get a new line and then head over to the boat and try it again.  Hopefully tomorrow we will get it in the water.  






Thursday, May 5, 2016

Anything Can Happen Thursday

 Woke up this morning thinking I was going to work on packing a few things up in the condo.  You see the VA appraisal came in and everything is good to go with our move. OH DEAR just realized I don't think I have said anything about the fact that we found a house, made an offer on it and it has been accepted, we have just been waiting to hear how the VA appraisal turned out, which as I said above was great.

Well my niece Faith, texted me at 8:30 a.m. and said she would be over with her Dad shortly to drop off some boxes. About 9:00 a.m. they were walking in the door with armfuls of boxes and packing materials.  It was drizzling outside and they were originally on their way to go kayaking, but instead invited us to join them for the day of adventure.  So since we are always up for an adventure we were out the door by 9:30 a.m.

Our plan was to head up to Mansfield, to check out the Historic Ohio State Reformatory.  Below are some photos I took there.  It's definitely worth the time to tour the facility. Wear your walking shoes since the tour is a bit long and there are a great deal of stairs to climb but really worth seeing everything.

The Historic Ohio State Reformatory was the location where the Shawshank Redemption was filmed along with parts of Air Force One. 











My awesome brother and that silly niece Faith











After our tour of the reformatory we stopped for a bite to eat at the Coney Island Diner at 98 N Main Street.  It was a great little place and the food was really good.


After lunch we walked across the street to the Richland Carrousel Park.  We all rode the carrousel once and then Faith and I rode it again.  It was so much fun, just like when we were kids.









After the Carrousel ride we took a ride over to the Jones Potato Chip Factory that has been around since 1945.  We each picked out some different bags of chips, sad though no dip in site.


We then took a ride over to Kingwood Center, where the gardens are just breathtaking. You are able to tour the mansion but it was not open today.  The grounds are just gorgeous and the flowers are just wonderful.





Such succulents 

Looks soft and fuzzy actually hard and prickly.

The hot house




I had never seen a black petunia

















This tree was interesting, the roots were coming through the ground like groundhogs

Tree roots

Just a cutie by the pond


It was such a wonderful day filled with so much adventure.  So glad that Gary and Faith stopped by.  Anything can happen Thursday turned out to be an AWESOME ADVENTURE!