I never tire of critters

Sometimes I think I have an abnormal fascination with animals.  I seem to "connect" with them.  Pamela calls me Dr. Doolittle because of the quick rapport I develop with animals.   Well, most animals, anyway.   I talk to them, and while I know they don't understand what I'm saying, I think the tone in my voice conveys to them that I'm friendly.

The other day, I was outside and Canada Geese were once again frozen in the ice, as I've blogged about before.

A little later, when the ice melted, one was paddling by and I called him over to the boat.  He was more obedient than Ruby.   Of course, he most likely thought I was going to feed him, which I did not.   It's said that it's not good to feed waterfowl because it attracts them and then they poop in the water.  I wonder where they poop normally?

I've seen an Osprey hanging around lately.  The other day he was being chased off by flocks of Seagulls.   When I got home from work tonight, he was perched on the top of a mast of a Catalina 22 that showed up at the yacht club next to the marina.

He was motionless, and at first I thought he was one of those plastic owls people put around their boats to scare off birds (birds poop on boats when they don't feel like pooping in the water).  He's a big boy.   I set the digital camera on the stern rail to help stabilize it and zoomed in all the way, knowing that the low light would mean a fuzzy pic.   Out of the several I took, this one is the best.

 As soon as I turned the camera off, the Osprey spread his wings and flew off.   Rats.   THAT would have been a nice pic.   Maybe I can catch him in daylight someday and get a better photo by calling him over to the boat and asking him to pose.

I swear this is true

I know no one is going to believe this, but it happened.  Wait for it.

Today was a beautiful day for boat projects, sunny and 45 degrees or so.   The first one was the hatch on the foredeck.  This old boat has a few leaks and this was one of them. 

A phillips bit on my power drill and a hammer and pry bar and I had it off in ten minutes.  I used a good scraper to peel off the old silicone that I put on there last year when I did this same job.   Not good enough, I guess, because it still leaked.

This time, I was very liberal with the silicone.   When I screwed it back down, I didn't screw it down tightly.   I left a turn or two of each screw so that when the silicone set up, I could tighten it down without squeezing it all out.

Next up, the prism.   Basically, the same deal here.  Take out the screws, pry it up, and scrape off the silicone I put on there last year when I didn't fix it right.

Then apply a heavy dose of silicone, and lightly screw the prism back down.

I hear Pam holler that Chevy was off the boat and off the docks and standing on the rock wall.  How did he get past the locked gate at the head of the ramp??  It was low tide, and I'm thinking that maybe he jumped off the dock and climbed the rock wall.   The only other thing he could do would be to crawl under the gate, which has a space of about a foot, and Chevy is a 72 pound big headed pit bull.  Pam retrieved the dog, put him back on the boat, and decided to go grocery shopping.

Next up for me, the washer.   Our boat has a washer and dryer under the bench seat in the helm station.   They both worked (much to our surprise after sitting unused for 20 years or more), but the washer only had hot water, no cold, so Pam has been going to the laundromat.   I used to go with her to help her, but she decided that I was more in the way than a help.  

I emptied all the live aboard junk that accumulates on a large flat area like the bench and lifted the lid.  Yep, there they were.  The dryer (on the left under the charts), the washer, and to the right, the ice maker.

Looking behind the washer with a flashlight, I could just barely make out that there were two water hoses attached.  I could see no way of getting behind the washer without dismantling the bench seat, and that wasn't happening.   I decided to try to find the water lines that went to the washer, and the logical place to look was under the sink in the galley.   First, I had to spend ten minutes unloading all the stuff we store under the sink, and then crawl in there with a flashlight, looking for pipes or hoses.  I saw the hot water pipe running through the bulkhead, but where was the cold water?   Did it simply come up from the engine room to the washer?   Well, after poking around in there, I lifted a floor board  up and there it was, a copper cold water pipe AND a shut off.  Which was shut off.   Time for a victory beer!  

I got the beer and sat on the foredeck with Ruby and...  where's Chevy?  He was outside just a few minutes ago.  I walk around the deck.  No dog.   I walk out on the dock.  No dog.   I go up on shore and call his name several times.  No dog.   I walk around some boats on the hard where he likes to play.  No dog.   I go up to the parking lot.  No dog.   Then, I see him, at the opposite end of the marina, running towards me like crazy.  Apparently, he decided I might be angry, which I was, and he thought he should beat feet.  

Now, here comes the unbelievable part.  Pam comes home and we decide to sit on the foredeck and enjoy a beer and sunshine while waiting for silicone to set up, and we notice a Canada Goose fight.   Apparently, two males are fighting over a female.  One large male is definitely kicking the smaller one's butt and the smaller one is trying desperately to get away, but the larger one is all over him.   Suddenly, the small one dives underwater, just like a Merganser!   Completely, totally underwater, and he's gone.  The large one is flapping his wings and squawking his head off as the smaller one pops back up.  The large one is right on him and the small one dives again!   This time, he gives the large goose the slip and pops up by shore where he scampers up into the rocks to hide.   The large goose paddles off towards the city marina, looking for the small goose.   Meanwhile, the female decides to head over to shore and is right up close to the small goose.   The small goose has his opportunity now that the large goose is not nearby, but after the whooping he took, decided to stay in the rocks.

I ran inside and got my camera, hoping for a repeat ass whooping, diving performance, but it didn't happen.  You can see the female standing on a rock in the middle of the photo, and if you look carefully to the right and up a little, you can see the little male peeking up from his hiding place.

I told Pam that no one is going to believe that we saw a plump, feathery Canada Goose dive underwater, but I swear, we did.  Really.

As live aboards, we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sunshine and the waterfowl.   We saw dozens of seagulls chasing an Osprey away from their territory and other interesting things.  We stayed out until the sun dropped and we were in shadows.    I was the designated cook and fixed up some Jamaican Jerk Chicken, with horseradish laced mashed potatoes and peas.   Mmmmmmm...

All in all, a productive day.

And that Canada Goose dove underwater.   He did.

Go Ahead, Chuckle

I know Spring is supposed to be here.   According to the calendar, it's already Spring, and this morning on TV I see that the cherry trees are in bloom in Washington DC.  Here in Connecticut, there are tiny buds on the trees and I've seen Robins.   It's cold here though, only 35 degrees as I write this.  Looking out the windows, I see ice on the water, a sure sign that it was in the mid-twenties last night.

As a 40 year lake sailor, I'm still fascinated by tides, which run seven or eight feet here.   The water goes up and down twice a day, covering and uncovering whatever is on the bottom.   When a skim of ice forms and the water drops, the ice covers everything like a layer of cake frosting.

The forecast today is to get up to around 40 degrees.   So all you loopers and cruisers in Florida, the Bahamas, and Caribbean... stay put,  or take your time wandering back north.  It's still hat and gloves weather here.

Go ahead, laugh!

Yesterday, I wrote about the light snow we got here in Connecticut.  Well, this is what greeted me this morning.

Yep, it's snow.  All over everything.   So, for you Loopers and Cruisers down in Florida, the Bahamas, the Windward Islands, and other warm climes, these photos are for you.   Go ahead, laugh.  

You wait... someday soon, Pam and I will be down there, and you'll be up here.   And I fully expect you to post photos.

Go Ahead, Smile

I've been posting about how nice the Spring weather has been here in Connecticut, which no doubt annoyed all our friends back in upstate New York where the weather has been nasty.   This is for you, taken this morning...

I know it's hard to see in the pic, but it's lightly snowing.  It's also only 35 degrees.  In New Jersey, just west of here, some places have gotten several inches already, and it's heading this way.  I know it doesn't sound like much to our NY friends, where they measure snow in feet, but here in the metro NY area, a mere six inches can be paralyzing.  Businesses close, and all the Caribbean immigrants drive 5 MPH on the interstates.

Several people who follow this blog are "loopers" or are simply cruising on their boats in warmer climes.  This is also for you.    Yeah, go ahead.   Smile.   You earned it.

Ruby's Happy Dance

I've posted quite a bit about our two dogs, Ruby and Chevy.   Both are pit bull mixes, and both are wonderful, happy, friendly dogs.   Ruby can be a little too happy.

Last night, Pam took both dogs off the boat to do their business.  Getting back on the boat, I heard Pam laughing hysterically.  Finally catching her breath, she told me the story.  Coming down the ramp, Chevy high-tailed it to the boat, but Ruby decided it was time to do her "happy dance".   Ruby's happy dance consists of bouncing up and down, prancing and wagging not only her tail but her whole butt.  Well, she started the happy dance, and got happier and happier.   She bounced backwards and forwards, backwards and backwards, and forward, and backwards and backwards and backwards until she was out of dock.   SPLASH! 

Ruby loves to swim, but I don't believe she likes to do it without warning.   She seemed none the worse for it, though.  Perhaps just a bit chagrined.

Today, I was looking forward to the second coat of paint on the windlass.   I need 50 degrees to paint according to the directions on the can and it was 45.  Close enough! 

Considering how bad it looked, I think it came out alright.   The paint on the gypsy and capstan was from a previous paint job.

Since it was so rusty, I painted it with Rustoleum.  Amazing stuff.   when I paint the inside of the gunnell with Interlux Perfection, I'll paint the windlass too so it matches.   I, of course, celebrated finishing that project with a special work-project-finished beer. 

I went to the Ideal Windlass website.  A replacement for that windlass is $7,700.  YIKES!   I then had a second I-just-saved-myself-big-bucks beer.   I would have done a happy dance, but thought better of it.

Painting the Windlass

I love Spring and warm sunny days, especially on the weekend.  Of course, that also means boat projects and the "honey do" list.   I imagine that honey do lists are a bit different for live  aboards than for dirt dwellers. 

I'll bet that "get rid of Whaler" and "paint windlass" aren't on most lists.

I fixed the hot water handle on the galley faucet.  It was squeaking.  This was a very exhausting project and involved removing a set screw, removing the handle, and cleaning the gunk out of the valve, and then putting the handle back on.   There's five minutes of my life that I'll never get back. 

I took the dogs to the dog park.  The dogs were very disappointed.  All the dogs there were of the little lap variety, and no one to wrestle with.   So, we did two laps around the twenty acre park, and then Dexter the six month old American Bulldog showed up, so all was good again.   Later, back at the boat, I decided to attack the windlass project.  I know, you're thinking "how does he find the energy to do this, especially after the faucet project?"   Well, all I can say is that you have to do what you have to do.  

Amazingly, the windlass works, but it looks nasty.

I guess if I sat outdoors for thirty years, I'd look pretty nasty too. 

I spent about an hour with a scraper and a wire brush getting all the rust off, and then masked it with blue tape.   I managed to get one coat of Rustoleum on it, and I'll do another coat tomorrow.  

I used a satin finish white.  One of my upcoming projects is to finish painting the boat, including the inside of the gunnell.  When I do that, I'll hit the windlass again so it matches the boat and has a nice glossy finish.

I celebrated completing one boat project (the faucet) and beginning another with a work beer.  

By the way, have you ever noticed that when you wear old clothes to paint in, you don't spill a drop?  But wear good clothes and the paint seems to jump right out of the can on you.

Pam went to the store, and when she returned she had bought a bag of mussels.   $2.99 for a HUGE bag.   It was good eating!

We ate out on the foredeck where the mussel shells could be tossed overboard.  The sun and warm 50 plus degree weather was delightful.   The dogs watched us eat with great interest so we fed them a few mussells.  They actually ate them.  Dogs will eat anything.  As soon as the sun dipped behind the office building next to the marina, it got very chilly so we beat feet inside.

Life on the boat continues to be good.  Very, very good.