2013 - June - Preparation for BLUE MAX refit

remember I said we were going to do a BIT of preparation ? NOT! we're doing major preparation (obviously, I never got the memo) Before the mast can be removed, the radar has to come off which means the cable that travels down the mast & into the boat has to be carefully disconnected. In addition, there are a multitude of wires that come down inside the mast for the spreader, anchor & running lights, the bullit antenna & the like. All these wires end in one of my galley closets. All food products were removed & now in a box on the floor.

Removing the monster mast & boom

Paravane booms

The mast, boom, paravanes, dinghy, grill, antennas all must be removed. I'm putting clothes in plastic bags, packing tons of books & other items in boxes for storage. Tools & tool boxes are everywhere. The rugs are rolled up & stored in the forward cabin. We got the large

Forward cabin

suitcases from the cottage for the trip & the only place to store them was in the forward cabin...have no idea where I'll put them when Kathryn comes to visit on June 20th - (she's taking Scupper & Jack back home with her.)

Removing the mast

We took the drapes down from our cabin & took them to the dry cleaners - they were so dirty & I was so embarrassed I used the shop vac to clean them before dropping them off. (kinda like cleaning before the cleaning person arrives )

Drapes removed

HELP! I'M LIVING IN SQUALLAR!!

Wayne removed the teak decks & the goop underneath - huge project especially in 80+ degree temps. Jack thinks this is great fun. He climbs all over Wayne as he's scraping then he (Jack, that is)gets into the back tarry mess & pieces of wood, drags it all over the boat including the teak floors inside, &  into his bed then tries to eat it. In the meantime, we're trying to potty train him to not pee & poop inside the boat using that green square that looks like grass - so that's in the way too. 

Almost stripped down



I'm trying to be nonchalant about this whole thing - can you tell???

Trying to live a normal life & think about the upcoming trip. Have I remembered to do everything? I reviewed my notes I wrote months ago. I set up a rental car to take us to Miami on 6/30 & will stay at a hotel by the airport. Oops! forgot to book a reservation for the train to Paris. (I knew I was forgetting things ) It was easy to do online & printed the tickets out.  How did we ever do without the Internet?

There's talk about having to remove the entire hard top because no one thinks the boat will fit into the paint shed. WHAT????? That's insane! (reminds me of a friend who build one of those huge TV dishes in his basement but didn't think about if he could get it out ) "So", I said,"let me get this straight...months of planning this project & no one thought of this"? This is an enormous project... all the 'stuff' on the top of the hard top travel down through the pipes holding it up which means they all have to be cut.

In the meantime, Jack & Scupper are having a ball & getting along just fine. Wayne was working outside & left a tool box open in the salon - Jack, the devil, (his new name) removed all sorts of stuff & was scattered all over when Wayne returned. I can't repeat what was said. 

Scupper grooms her paws while Jack sleeps

We've played several games of Dominoes with Russ & Elaine, had to do the dreaded shopping chore but was rewarded with dinner out a few times. (mostly because the boat was so trashed, I couldn't get near the galley)

Teak gone from the boat deck

Bow stripped

Sansebastian Winery

Kate arrived on the 20th - Laurel & I booked a room in St Augustine for the 21st - It was another girls night out. I really needed this
break. Our 1st stop was San Sebastian Winery for wine tasting. We ate, drank, ate again & drank again but who cares, we were on foot. We sorta conned a guy to drive us to the carousel about a mile from the hotel. It was great fun to be a kid again. We kicked a kid off the swings then had him take pictures of us - yes, we be bad. A short R&R at the hotel then back to town. We already had a meal at the Columbia restaurant but were begging for more. We were about 1/2 block from the restaurant when there was a down pour. We ran for cover at a yummy, all chocolate candy store - OMG! the temptation was awful.  The ever resourceful Laurel got big plastic trash bags so we could continue our journey to Columbia. We were a block away & got caught in a down pour & took refuge at a chocolate candy store OMG! but we were good-didn't buy anything. 

 We drove to Miami on Sunday, the 30th & I ran  out of time to finish the refit blog...SO, here it is be that as it may.. something screwed up in the blog & I can't fix it so sorry a sentence just ended without an ending.

We fly out in 5 1/2 hours. Am I nervous ??? Nah!!

See you all later