First Sit-Down Dinner

When Bryna and John came for a visit we had our first sit down dinner in Leaps' main salon. (Bryna is taking picture).
We used our new wood fired Keppers Pottery plates. We also celebrated receiving our new Toughbook lap top, a Christmas Gift from Bryna, John and Burklin. I used it today to make all the posts to the blog. John spent a great deal of time loading in charts and GPS info as well as some other useful programs. Their gift and work is greatly appreciated. We now need to spend some time coordinating the Toughbook with our navigation station.

Bryna's Favorite Outfit

A champ at fiberglass work, Bryna works on the rudder

Her favorite outfit until such time as she can join us in the Carribean wearing her bathing suit!

A Good Time With The Mast

In preparation for stepping the mast we decided to paint it. That meant removing some parts and a great deal of masking off other parts for protection from overspray. Lots of sanding and prep and then new paint. When the mast was finished and looking all shiny and new we then decided we really should do the boom as it was laying there looking rather forlorn. Another round of masking, sanding and prep before Charlie could paint.

Our daughter Bryna, and boyfriend John, came down to help with the stepping of the mast, a very exciting day even though it was 34 degrees and overcast.

Bryna on the left holding the lifting straps and wishing it was sunny and warm. Charlie on the right  with an employee from the crane company watching for the hook.

Up, Up..... Charlie in camo vest.

Bryna on deck waiting to guide mast down through deck where
Charlie and I are waiting in the main salon. The mast and all its wiring needs to be guided into the mast step in the bilge. This required the calling out of directions from us to Bryna , John and crane operator.

This is one of our favorite pictures. Left to right: Bryna, John and  Charlie all with hands in pockets looking at the rigging and thinking, "Sheesh, it looked a lot more organized on the ground!"

It's in, Hooray! Note, the yellow lifting strap by the ladder -  more on that later.

Bryna starts the rigging process

Bryna and Charlie installing roller furling

Remember the yellow lifting strap? It would not release from the mast so, we had to hoist Charlie up the mast to retrieve it. He is being watched over by our mascot, the dragon kite, which is yet to be named. Charlie says a viking ship is not complete without a dragon.



The morning of Bryna and Johns' departure. Still cold and overcast. We are so happy they could come down and spend some time with us.



On Friday 3/29 we hanked on the sails. A good day indeed.

Non-Skid Project

A portion of the deck on the starboard side needed new non-skid. We used a product called Gibco, which is a mat with the non-skid pattern embedded into it. You then take the pattern pieces and lay them into the wet gelcoat material and squeegee the mat into it until every piece is laying down smoothly and flush to the existing non-skid. 

Deck Prep

Cutting the pieces

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January 2013 Demopolis Yacht Basin Flood

Marina view of floating foot bridge. The bridge is usually flat or on an incline down to the marina. The angle from which this picture was taken does not do justice to how high the peak is off the water. The buildings in the background are the restaurant and fuel dock.

Debris collected around the restaurant and fuel dock.

View of RV park. Notice picnic tables to the left. Several RV's have pulled out for a few days as the river continues to rise.

View of RV Park from the stern of Leap

Marina clean up begins

In a burst of southern industriousness, just build a "rake" out of 2x4s and hang it on the front of your john boat. Put one person in the stern to drive and another in the bow for ballast to hold the rake down and you're off.

Lots of raking to do.

Progress Report

Yesterday was a wonderment. We received a number of calls requesting an update for the blog. We have not been posting much, since the work we are doing, while important and some critical for our success, may be mind-numbingly boring for those that do not enjoy yacht work. We keep a daily log and for those who have asked, this is what has been accomplished to date:

Pumped out and cleaned fuel tank
Changed the oil and installed a quick connect fitting so future changes will be easier
New thermostat
Discovered our heat exchanger was faulty and put in a new core
New impeller in the raw water pump
Reconnected the hot water heater
Rebuilt the Nav station console and remounted radios
Put up a shelf in the quarter berth
Upholstered and installed new hull liner throughout the boat
Varnished all the teak on deck
In the process of varnishing the interior of the boat
Confirmed all fresh and waste water systems are functioning
Move the bilge pump lower in the bilge and clean the bilge
Polished all the stainless fittings
Reinstalled the Bimini
Re-bedded all portholes and deck hardware, we are shooting for 100% dry
Painted spreaders. Thinking about painting the mast
Figuring out best technique to replace missing deck texture non-skid, a work in progress
Pop riveted loose mast steps
In the process of replacing running lights

What is left to complete before we can launch:
Finish deck texture procedure
Install new bow pulpit, anchor bracket, chocks, and cleats
New bulkhead at anchor locker since it was removed to facilitate pulpit installation
Upholster V-berth hull liners and reinstall upholstery and shelves
Medicine cabinet in Head
Sand and paint bottom. Researching new eco-friendly bottom paints.
Make a cradle for the mast for the trip down river.

We are getting close to splashing and if the weather cooperates, the first part of March should see us in a wet slip.

Puzzle Joints, Covering Boards and Rub Rails

We needed to replace the teak on Leap. Charlie created a puzzle joint for the covering boards which enabled us to lock them together for a continuous smooth finish and they look beautiful.
The rub rail we made in the shop and brought with us with the exception of the bow pieces. Charlie laminated together thin strips of teak and built a mold to bend them and then laid them up with epoxy. Once dry he scribed the pieces to fit the bow. We have been varnishing when weather allows and we have one more coat to apply before we can put on the rigging parts and the stainless rub rail.
Hopefully tomorrow will bring us a break in the weather for varnishing.