2 Jun 16

It was clear, but cold this morning. After breakfast, I checked the port/aft toilet connections one last time to confirm that everything is tight. It all looked good, so I screwed the fiberglass panel back on in front of the holding tank; this head is now fully operational again. Then, I climbed up the mast to check out the various, non-operating mast lights. The deck light is burned out, 2 of the 4 little LEDs anyway. I had a spare bayonet-type LED for this one and replaced it while there. I got the anchor light working again just by fooling around with it; it is a festoon light held in place only by two spring leaf conductor tabs, which is a really stupid design for a masthead light, but it is working now anyway. I was unable to get the steaming light to work, even though I confirmed the LED bulb is good. There is power at the bottom of the mast and I started back up the mast again after lunch, but this marina is so rolly by mid-afternoon that I could not safely go back up, so that will have to wait until tomorrow.  

The radiator guy advised that he will not be able to get over here from Camden until next week, so I guess we will just have to make do with the radiator cap nozzle issue and hope it does not get any worse before the winter lay-up.  

I spent the rest of the afternoon getting the two folding bikes in more-or-less operable condition and putting on a coat of varnish on the port-side toe-rail. Also, I decided to turn the rental car in as I have hardly used it the last two days and it is costing $45/day; I have the bicycle now and can get everything I need within about half a mile anyway. Happy hour arrived and I knocked off for the day, to get ready for dinner aboard; chicken and a baked potato. It was so cold in the evening that I felt obliged to start up the heater before going to bed; fortunately, it worked first time and soon had the boat toasty warm.

3 Jun 16

The weather was cool and rainy in the morning, so I busied myself with a few chores in the cockpit. I pulled the binnacle tray out of the box (this is the teak tray I laboriously built over the winter and which got broken in two places during shipping to Rockland) and worked out a plan for repairing it using a fiber-glass repair kit I bought at the marine hardware store. Phase 1 consists of sticking the two broken parts back together using the two-part epoxy. After this cures I will need to reinforce the repair joints with a layer or two of fiber-glass. When the rain finished about 11:00, I went back up the mast again, this time with the multimeter, to get the steaming light working again. There was good voltage at the fitting, so I cleaned off the terminals with a bit of sandpaper and my pocket knife and now the light works fine.

After lunch, I finished emptying all of the chain and rode from the primary and secondary anchors out of the chain locker, mucked out the chain locker, inspected all chain, rode and shackles, renewed the scope markers and then flaked all of the rode and chain back into the locker. Then, I spent a couple of hours cleaning the deck.  

The first Friday of each month is Art Friday on Main Street in Rockland, when all of the art galleries open late and offer wine and canapes. I spent a pleasant hour roaming the galleries; lots of very interesting artwork, but most of it was beyond my pay-grade, sigh. Afterward, I strolled over to Waterworks Restaurant for dinner. 

4 Jun 16

I had a glorious sleep and did not wake up until 08:00. It was cool and overcast again, but the sun did come out for a while during the afternoon to warm things up, before the afternoon/evening fog set back in.  I applied some fiber-glass reinforcing to support the repairs I started yesterday to the binnacle tray. Then, it was back to culling redundant books, magazines and other detritus from the boat. I spent the afternoon trimming and fitting the binnacle tray to the binnacle and getting it firmly fastened in place. It turned out even better than I expected and it solid as a rock; a good day’s work. Dinner aboard: pork chops, baked potato, corn cob, and kale salad - livin’ healthy.

5 Jun 16

Another cool and foggy day, with rain forecast for later. I’m out of clean underwear, so after breakfast, it was time to do the laundry. After lunch, I put a coat of Le Tonkinois on the new binnacle tray and the starboard toe-rail and even got another coat on the port-side toe-rail before it started to rain. I spent a bit of time tidying up the salon and the cockpit. Dinner aboard: chicken, applesauce, and the rest of the kale salad. Early to bed.

6 Jun 16

The 72nd anniversary of the Normandy Landings - lest we forget. I went to bed early last night, but at about 22:15, the wind started to howl through the rigging and the seas got up in Rockland Harbor. Journey’s End Marina’s transient slips are unfortunately wide open to the E and with the wind gusting E20-25, it got rough in the marina. There was so much noise (griping dock lines, squealing fenders and the anchor rocking about in the bow roller) and so much motion that I could not get to sleep. I actually got up 3 times between 23:00 and 02:00 and ventured out in the rain and wind to adjust dock lines and fenders. Finally, at about 02:30, the wind calmed down enough that I fell asleep.

I finally crawled out of bed about 09:00. After breakfast, I rode the bike up to Tractor Supply and refilled the empty propane tank. Then, we changed the primary fuel filter on the generator and the secondary (i.e., on-engine) fuel filter on the main engine, then ran both engines for a bit. The generator needs a new fan belt, so we ordered one from NAPA. Then, I got another coat of Le Tonkinois on both toe-rails and the binnacle tray. Finally, I got the salon all tidied up and all the spare parts put away; i.e., ready for the arrival of and inspection by the Admiral.  

Happy hour and dinner aboard; chicken, corn on the cob, applesauce and kale salad.

7 Jun 16

A pleasant night (compared to last night anyway), and I was up and going by 07:30. After a quick breakfast, I picked up the rental car, stopped by NAPA (auto store) to get new fan belts for the generator, then drove to Portland. I stopped by West Marine to return my old binoculars (the lens on the left side had just fallen out), buy a new propane tank and a new fender cover for the one that got shredded against the dock on Sunday night’s blow. Then, I went to Guitar Center to buy a boat guitar; got a very nice 00 (a couple of inches smaller than a Dreadnought) Ibanez, along with capo, tuner, picks, gig bag, and spare strings. While waiting for the Admiral to land, I drove to a park and played guitar on a park bench (no spare change was offered, but I did get applauded by a passer-by) for an hour. Picked up the Admiral at PWM at 17:45 and we headed for Rockland. We stopped at Sarah’s Cafe in Wiscasset for an excellent dinner and got to the boat about 21:30. Good to have my chief bed-warmer back aboard again.  

8 Jun 16

We slept in until after 08:00, such decadence. After breakfast, I got the new fan belt on the generator, started her up and she ran well. Then, I cleaned up the cockpit and we drove off to get the new propane tank filled and stock up on a week’s worth of provisions. Back at the boat, we stowed away all the supplies, the Admiral settled in and I cleaned up the cockpit sole and seats. Then, we went to dinner at Rustica with Jonathan Francis and his wife, new sailors who I met on the dock last week.

9 Jun 16

We got up early and turned in the rental car, after a quick grocery shop. Then, we came back to the boat for coffee and lunch. After lunch, we hit the tourist trail in Rockland and visited Fiore (the local olive oil emporium), followed by a lengthy visit to the Farnsworth to top up our Wyeth quotient; all good. We had a quick pint at one of the local pubs and finished up with a bit of art shopping on Main Street. Dinner aboard.