This Good Old Boat.....

Now this is really neat. I just received the current edition of "Good Old Boat" magazine that I subscribe to and in the editorial section on page 84 is a letter to the editor my friend Rich wrote with a link to my site! Hey, it's not the cover but it's a start. Besides, who can say they have been mentioned by name in a nationally distributed magazine? It's a first for me and something I'm really happy about. Here is a picture of this month's cover so you know which magazine to buy. I just know you want to read the little part at the end about BeBop hehehe. ^_^ (I'm famous!!...Ok knot really.)

Something else worth mention is I've been doing some research into the smallest twin keel sailboat to ever go around the world. The record is held by a 18 footer best I can tell but that wasn't singlehanded. That was done...once again best I can tell from my research....by a 26 foot Westerly Centaur. So with this in mind I sent off a email application to the Guinness Book of World Records. It works by putting in a preliminary application where they look it over to see if what you want to attempt has merrit. They accept that then you can officially apply for it and they will do the serious research into the record and let you know if it can indeed be set or broken. So to wrap it up, I could possibly set a world record for sailing solo around the world on the smallest twin keel sailboat. It will take 4 to 6 weeks to get a reply back from them either way and somebody could probably beat me easy if they want to. But just the idea that so few have done such a thing is really cool in my mind.

I'm still working on the pre launch list in hopes I might get BeBop into the water in early August, September at the very latest. T.S. Alberto didn't cause any damage to BeBop nor was there any water leakage in the interior- something I'm very please about. Still need to fabricate the new lexan washboards though. If the wind was from the other direction and pushed water up under the boards it could of been nasty.

I've had a local shop sew in new zippers to my dodger last week and I have mixed feelings about the results. I had full plans to give credit to the shop by name etc (the guy was nice enough) but after I zipped the dodger back onto the frame and started cleaning it, it ripped right around the new stitching of the front zipper. Not cool. I knew the material was quite old but the shop didn’t think I needed to have a new one made (at a cost of $700) and changed me $100 to have new zippers sewn in and the front skirt reattached. In a way I feel like the shop took advantage of the situation to make a buck because they knew I wouldn'’t pay $700 for a new one. So I'’m stuck with it now, ripped, and I'm probably going to just use canvas tape to patch up the seams I feel are in question until I can figure out how to either make a new one myself or take the entire thing off and do without.

Anyway this is a picture of it before I had the zippers replaced and since then I'’ve cleaned up the vinyl windows. I'’m not happy with how this has turned out but I'’m stuck with it for now and I'’m going to have to make due best I can.


Last weekend I finished up the quarter berth headliner in the hard to reach areas and it really gives it a finished look now. This is the before of the port area, I forgot to grab the starboard side but it looks pretty much the same anyhow.

And this is after I finished, You really can't see under there unless you're sitting or lying down and then it makes a big difference. Doesn't look like much but my neck and back paid a heavy price for working in that tight area.


I've also purchased a rear flag kit and put it on the stern railing. I still need to get the spreader halyard kit for flying quarantine and courtesy flags. I've also picked up the bottom paint. I decided to use Interlux Ultra with Biolux because it seems to have the highest rating year to year with Practical Sailor magazine. Not cheap stuff at $200 a gallon plus tax but it sure beats scrubbing the bottom once a week.

My entry here after reading it may sound mentally tired or stressed if you will, save the first bit about Good Old Boat that I learned about today. Well, I am. It seems the closer the time comes to launch BeBop the more things are happening to keep me in the oppressive system of slave wage labor coupled with continued consumerism and materialism. My manager is up to his old tricks and threatened to fire me without good reason, (my performance ratings is always 100%? how's that?) my car wouldn't start on Sunday and I spent 2 hours jury rigging the starter disable switch on the clutch, and what little relationship I had left with my family has been destroyed (probably for good) over the past 2 weeks. I don'’t want to go into the details but as you can probably imagine, that would all be quite stressful to anyone.

I didn'’t cause or ask for anything of this, I really prefer to be left alone to my own devices most of the time, it's just my personality. These sorts of things just happen and are beyond my control. You have to adapt and not be overcome by the problems, stressfull as they may be. Just to make a short rant to the world....I will not quit, with or without money or gear, I will not give in, you cannot stop me and I will take BeBop Around the World.

Until next time Fair Winds.....

Here Comes Tropical Storm Alberto (Updated 6/12)

06/12/06 11:45am EST

It looks like she is going to pass well north of the Tampa Bay area now and we will just get lots of rain and a little wind perhaps. Unless she turns due east this will be the last update about the storm. I'll be back to a regular update next weekend with pictures of what I've been working on.

Jammer

Well how bout this eh? 9 days into the hurricane season and we have a storm that's forecasted to pass within 50 miles of where I live.

A Tropical Storm of this level should pose no danger to BeBop while on the hard, but I just thought I'd put up a quick post saying as much for the readers who have never experienced such a thing. (Bebop has survived a hurricane while in Georgia before I bought her.) Here is the forecasted track and I put a arrow indicating where I am in Florida. (Saint Petersburg if you want to pull it up on a map.) We are under a flood watch atm according to the NOAA and it's expected to be upgraded to a Tropical Storm Watch this afternoon.


I'm not worried about destruction or anything, but I really would of liked to have the new washboards made to keep water out better. That's the only place it could leak in if the wind is coming from the right direction. Anyway that's it for now, need to get back to work on BeBop. I'll update this post as required and next weekend I'll have more pictures of what I'm working on now. Until next time......Fair Winds (T.S. Alberto Go Away!!) ^_^

Countdown To Launch....

Ok, have a few minutes here to make up a post so here goes.....

From your point of view I suspect this will be a boring entry as most of what's going on is lots of telephone calls about sail quotes, dodger quotes, finishing up the to do lists and so on with less hands on work now required. I do have a couple of pictures of the newly installed rear boarding ladder. I've put my 25 year old 6hp 2 stroke Evinrude (old but runs good) back on as well as the dodger frame and cockpit lifelines.

Here are two pictures of the stern with the engine mounted and the rear boarding latter in the up position. The newly fabricated engine mount works better than the original. Kudos to Rich on that project.

This is with the boarding ladder deployed. The bottom two step will be below the waterline so it should make getting back onboard a snap when I go for a swim.

Here are two pictures of the new cockpit locker covers. They look real simple to make but it took two weeks to finish them up and install the hardware. I made them with a U channel that the bottom sits in and hold them in by friction. The brass hook is just a little extra security so they don't come off. The stainless bits you see in the pictures is for the tiller pilot. They are not waterproof by any means, nor did I design them to be that way. I just wanted a cover there because the holes looked like crap, this keeps the bugs from making nests and in the event I ever take a wave over the stern, I figure this will keep 90 percent of the water from entering the lockers which is a big deal. Ignore the blue cockpit locker cover and the tile flooring, they will be replaced shortly.


Still lots to do before she goes in the water even though I am about 60 days from launching her now. The list includes purchasing a new main sail, have a new dodger built, finish the quarterberth headliner underneath, bottom paint, need a new fiddle block for the boom vang, clovis pins and the list continues with many other smaller tasks that all need my attention.

I know this post is a bit shorter than usual but it's been a very long week for me. Job, car and personal issues have all been crawling on my back like a bad monkey. Sometimes the world just does that to you. I admit though if BeBop was floating with the week I just had, I would be writing this from some exotic beach in Mexico right now. The job, car and personal issues just ain't worth the stress level they cause. Just a few more months and I'll be in the position that I want to be. Until next time...Fair Winds....