Wasps, Brothers, and Gas

My older and decidedly less attractive brother is in town from New Zealand for a few days on his way to a meeting of important academic people (contradiction in terms, I know). As Hayden and I are busily preparing to fly off to Kenya for a few weeks (see our infantile blog on the trip here: http://haydenandgreginkenya.blogspot.com/) we don't really have much time to get anything done on the boat until later this summer.

Still, since Older Brother is only on the right side of the planet 3 or 4 times a year, I thought it might be important to at least lay eyes on him. So I saddled up the motorcycle and went over to the boat yard for the day.

The newly remodeled Hood Canal Bridge is spiffy. There are actual shoulders now (which means my running routes while visiting the boat yard have expanded considerably) and the lanes are actually straight. Nice work there.

The boat is right where we left it, and the stairway Dad built is doing its job nicely.

Little known fact: the lower stairs are removable to make it easier to get in and out of the garage. Nice touch. Sheesh.

The wasps are back. I participated in some chemical warfare, but this is clearly not a short-term battle. They love the dorade vent and a few casualties ain't going to stop them. There will be some injuries on our side before this war is decided, I'm pretty sure.

I did some measuring and estimating today, and I think the propane/electrical system is the first project to tackle. We plan to put a propane locker in the lazarette aft of the cockpit and run hose to the yet-to-be-acquired propane fireplace and 2 burner stove.

I think we can wait until we get back from Africa to make any purchases for this project, but it's good to know what to start working on.

More when we get back.

Make sure to follow us on our Africa adventure! http://haydenandgreginkenya.blogspot.com/

-g

Decisions, Decisions

Once upon a time there was this boat. It was a well-found boat with nice lines and a seaworthy shape. She was solidly built and had a lot of potential.

Along came her new owners. They were an ambitious young couple with dreams of long summer nights at anchor in the San Juan islands and relaxing evenings sailing on the lake near their house.

But the ambitious young owners needed to get the boat back into sailing condition, and she was in desperate need of a remodel.

The ambitious young owners looked around and waited for a reality-based television crew from "Pimp My Boat" to show up, but that never happened. So they were faced with the prospect of refitting their princess on their own, with their own labor and their own hard-earned dollars.

Sigh.

With so much to do, where to start? What is the first project our heroes should undertake? The most satisfying jobs are best saved for last. Painting, staining, and sanding should be reserved for the months AFTER the mechanical destruction takes place. Our heroes needed a project that would be satisfying and reasonable. Something that would require a commitment and a plan, but that would yield tangible results in a short time span. It also needed to be affordable, as the boat coffers have not yet been magically filled by the Boat Dollar Fairies..

Electrical. That seems reasonable. Add some batteries, run some wire...

Propane. Sure. Build the system, buy the new appliances...

Carpentry. Before we know where to run the wire and hose, maybe we should make sure the galley is configured how we like it?

Where to start? Help free our heroes from their impasse!