BeBop Gets A Facelift Part II

Welcome once again to the wild world of sailboat refitting where yes, you the reader gets to see pictures of me working my butt off. It's not so bad really, sometimes it's even enjoyable. It would be more so if I wasn't under some pressure to get her done by late summer.

This weekend on Saturday I put anti-skid on the decks. Sounds fancy eh? Not really. In researching the cheapest method of doing this, I discovered James Baldwin just painted his decks and sprinkled sand on them. Shear genius I say. It's ultra cheap, easy to apply and heh, trust me you will *not* be slipping on my deck. You might even be able to discard your nail file and just rub whatever body part that needs attention on the deck.


I did some easy prep work by sanding the areas with 220 where anti-skid will be applied and then ran one inch piece of painters tape to mark the borders between where non and anti-skid will be placed. I then painted about a two foot section at a time with Interlux Brightsides White and Richard then sprinkled the sand on using a salt shaker. Move on to the next section, rinse and repeat. Figure we used about five pounds of sand in total. I'm also adding some anti-skid in strategic areas around the cockpit to make getting on and off BeBop a bit safer while at the dock or underway. Later on after all this dries I will paint the entire topsides again. This helps keep the sand on the decks and cuts down on the sharper edges of sand. Depending on how it turns out, I may have to use a 3rd coat of paint if the sand turns out to work too good as a anti-skid agent.

Here is a close up of a area we just painted and put the sand on.


This is after about a hour and a half after completion and I just removed the painters tape. You have to look close but you can see it. After another coat of paint it will look like a factory finish.


Now for some not so great news. For the past two weeks my neck has been hurting more and more each day. I've been doing streching exercises and taking advil for the pain but it's not helping all that much. After working on the deck Saturday it caught up with me that evening and I was ready to visit a hospital to get some decent pain medication. (Or perhaps the vet and get them to put me out of my misery) Then I remembered that doctors don't believe that people really do have severe pain anymore for fear of getting sued. I know some of you will still say go see the doctor, get *something* to help you out. Let's face it...they are a scam. You spend 2 hours in a lobby..after 2 weeks to just get a appointment.....to spend on national average 7 mins with the doctor....who more often than not doesn't give you any of the good medication because you can't feel that bad according to them. Oh, that will be $35 dollars for 7mins work thank you. Well I used to be a medic in the Air Force so I don't need them to tell me how bad I feel and or what I need to do.

How did I end up like this at the age of 32? In a single word, motorcycles. They are the most fun you can have with your pants on right til you wreck one and you end up like me. Messed up knee, pins in both my wrists, back pain and (severe!!!) neck pain. Now I'm not telling you not to ride....I did after I wrecked 3 times...but understand how bad you WILL hurt when you go down assuming your unlucky enough to live. Sooner or later everybody who rides....wrecks. Understand the price for this level of excitement. The titanium pins, I always know they are there, especially in cold weather. I wear a brace on my right wrist at work all the time now to help with the pain. I've learned to mostly live with reduced range of motion with my right wrist. My neck has degenerative arthritis and I've messed up the muscles pretty bad there too. My manager at work thought I was trying to pull a fast one on him until I showed him my X-rays one day. He doesn't make fun of me anymore.

So what do you do? Take it one day at a time and use the time honored remedies to help you get by. Here is what I do since I can't get decent medication. Oh, for the record, Celebrex is really nice stuff but it's not on my drug formulary at work so I can't afford it. Nice huh? Anyway this is what I'm doing right now trying to alleviate the pain.

Chris' Solution for Neck Pain:

Exercise if you can, it streches out tight muscles groups which help to temporarily relieve pain
Rest if I can't or don't feel like exercise, such as lying down to relieve the pressure on my neck
ICE for half a hour then a hour off for inflammation as needed
Tylenol Arthritis 1,200mg's twice a day
Take Kava Kava in large doses to promote sleep/rest
Take Glucosamine, Chondrotin and MSM, some studies indicate it's better than celebrex for ostoarthritis.
(I'm discovering herbal medicine does make a difference and it's not witch doctor stuff)
If it's under 75 degrees drink Jim Beam on the rocks. Over 75, Gin and Tonic in liberal doses for pain.
I'd love to have my favorite comfort food (M&M's) but I eat low carb these days. :-(

In the meantime, if any of you have a shitload of Percocet you don't need, email me and I'll pay for the overnight shipping.

I really wanted to get more done on Sunday but I spent most the day in bed with a ice pack on my neck trying to ease the pain of merely existing. I'm sitting right now with a ice pack on my neck writing this up.

All in all I'm mostly satisfied with the progress that's being made. I think I'm on track to launch BeBop in late August. Next weekend assuming my neck doesn't get any worse I'll be working on BeBop gets a Facelift Part III. If bad weather arrives I'll be doing more finishing work on Notes. Until then...Fair Winds...