Another Day, Another Project

Life thus far on the Gloriamaris (GM) has been dedicated to projects in preparation for a sailing adventure in mid-October with one of the owners. We have made great strides in spite of weekly setbacks. The most frustrating facet is the lack of punctuality from contractors. When a contractor says, "I will be there at 9am", you cannot count on it. Time does not exist here and 9am means anytime and you just hope he means the same day. This behavior is further aggravated by the constant request to call them and remind them they are supposed to be coming to the GM. Add to that, the lack of supplies here in Progreso, and Mexico in general, and you have all the ingredients for a diet of constant frustration. 

In spite of the setbacks we have completed several projects. Here is a smattering of a few and not in any particular order.

Galley Projects

All the cabinets had aged contact shelf liner. This is horrible stuff to remove. 

After long tedious hours of scraping and cleaning in prep for painting.....

All the cabinets turned out as nice as this one

All the drawers show wear and tear and the inset wood handles had been painted over.

We sent the drawers out to be re- enforced and new laminate bottoms installed.

New coat of paint and newly varnished handles

There are several bottles of herbs and spices onboard and they were taking up valuable drawer space.

Our solution was to make drop down trays that fit inside the dead space under the upper cabinets.

Now you see 'um.......

Now you don't.

The galley sinks take a beating because salt water is used for washing dishes followed by a fresh water rinse. The salt water corroded the plumbing and has started eating away at the sinks leaving pinholes and therefore leaks under the sink.

We have been unsuccessful finding replacement sinks here, not because they are round, but because the quality of the sinks here would not withstand the marine environment.  Solution; try fiberglassing the bottom to get a few more years of life out of them and replace all the plumbing parts

Sink with fiberglass hat awaiting resin

Sinks after fiberglass has cured

Main Salon

We had some repairs to make to the main salon floor and the base of the refrigerator which meant the dreaded grinding of fiberglass. We sealed the hulls off from the main salon with large sheets of plastic so the itchy fiberglass dust would be contained. We will have to do this again when we prepare the floors for new faux Teak and Holly flooring.

Tomas the Fiberglass Contractor,  one who does show up when he says he will.

The settee in the main salon prepped for painting

Newly painted and currently awaiting new upholstered cushions

New varnish

Assorted projects

The two ladders in the forward hatch compartments needed stripping and varnishing

New varnish drying

Newly repaired compressor box awaiting its new top

A door jamb needed replacing

Newly installed and painted door jamb and door

New storage compartments made for all the little stuff. We call it the hardware store.

Organized all items into boxes and labeled. Compartment will have two doors.

Polishing brass making old hinges and door latches look almost new

Cleaning and oiling all the winches

The list goes on and on. 

Fabricate and install sump pumps for showers

Install and plumb new holding tank for toilet

Tracking hydraulic steering fluid leak and replace lines and repair leaking pump

Track down Battery charging problems and battery maintenance

Clean all cockpit storage and install new drains, as all have corroded over time, then organize contents

Sand and oil all exterior teak

Clean and polish all stainless - rigging, lifeline stanchions, fittings here and there

Clean and polish all portholes and take out old gaskets and replace with new.

Clean and organize some amount of "stuff" daily.

Track down the contractor of the day, that has not shown up with parts or services we have ordered

We spend a great deal of time moving stuff around from one area to another to create a workspace for the project of the day.

Manage our two man crew. They are very helpful and have been a joy to work with. We have had enough tasks to keep everyone busy for these past nine weeks.

Things ordered but not yet arrived

New radar set-up which we will install before the trip

New stove and gas grill

New main salon settee cushions

And, the next huge project is new flooring throughout the boat. The owners have decided to get rid of all the carpet and go with a teak and holly vinyl product called Harbor Island. This project will not start before the October trip. 

We do pull our heads out of the Gloriamaris early enough most days to see the sunset from our balcony at the hotel.

Our maid is getting creative with the towels. A wee elephant.

We have fairly decent wifi here at the hotel so we have been enjoying movies on netflix. 

However, we have to re-arrange the furniture lining it up between the foot of the bed and the wall to keep the bed from sliding across the tile floor while we sit leaning up against the headboard during movie time.

Next post will be about our outing with our Mayan friend and tour guide, Rousell to a cenote and Mayan Ruins. We took the day off to celebrate our 34th Wedding Anniversary.