Time is Flying; But My Head is in the Clouds

Or am I flying and that’s why my head is in the clouds?

Such weighty questions, so little time.

What else is new, as my friends would say?

I did make a list of all the things that still need to be done between now and the next few weeks.  It’s a long list.  Most of the small things I will do, as few big things are being done by the painter Gary and the Boat Yard.  So, what’s still to be done:

• Electrical
  1. Run new VHF cable to the two radios
  2. Replace plugs for Navigation lights
  3. Add Name Board lights
  4. Install new Driving lights
  5. Add USB ports in salon and second cabin
  6. Add new switch and breaker panel for fridge/freezer in pilot house
  7. Add switch panel for solar panels
• Forward Bilge
  1. Complete hookup of New Vetus holding tank, with new fittings and electrical
  2. Install new bilge pump (old one becomes spare) with new check valve
  3. Make additional fresh water hookup and run hose to forward compartment for Raritan Purisan
  4. Check connections for salt water pump (new, hasn’t worked since installed)
  5. We found a bare wall bulkhead in front of old holding tank. Gary sealed it and put Gelcoat on it.
  6. Check all clamps for the multitude of thru hulls in this area
• Anchor Locker
  1. Pull all the chain and rode out for both anchors
  2. Vacuum the bottom of chain locker
  3. Replace two deck fittings for fresh & salt water connections
  4. Re-mark and reverse anchor chain
  5. Add 90 feet polypropylene to end of chain rode (this is because it floats, making it easier to find should I have to abandon anchor with no time for anything else)
  6. Paint anchors
  7. Find third anchor for stern
  8. Make up a new, longer chain snubber
• Paravanes
  1. Restring birds to new line, 3/16” Amsteel, so that I can modify the depth of the birds.
  2. Boat Yard is making rocker stoppers for me to use while at anchor
• Wood Trim
  1. Teak “eyebrow” around pilot house has been scrapped and sanded thanks to Leonie & Martin. I will put Tung Oil on it and see how that works.
  2. Oil all the benches that have been sanded
• New Ross Boat Yard and Gary are completing:
  1. Port fuel tank sealant and new inspection ports
  2. New bottom job, with two coats of epoxy and one of a tie-coat
  3. New anti-foul by International, a semi-hard coating that is made for slow boats like Dauntless and should last at least a few years.
  4. Painting of the hull from the cap rails down, including the bow pulpit
  5. Fixing on of the side doors that while latched open this past winter the winds ripped if off the hook and broke the entire frame. (winds this winter were higher than 100 knots or 110 mph.
  6. New Bow thruster blades

That’s pretty much it for me!  I figure realistically, this list will be complete my 2018, though I will strive to get most of it done sooner.

Just goes to show that one thing I do well is plan; not so well, do.

I need a real doer in my life.

Author: Richard on Dauntless

I’m an eclectic person, who grew up in New York, lived overseas for many years and have a boat, Dauntless, a 42 foot Kadey Krogen trawler yacht. Dauntless enables me to not only live in many different parts of the world, but to do it in a way that is interesting, affordable, with the added spice of a challenge. Dauntless also allows me to be in touch with nature. As the boat glides through the ocean, you have a sense of being part of a living organism. When dolphins come to frolic, they stay longer if you are out there talking to them, watching them. Birds come by, sometimes looking for a handout; sometimes grateful to find a respite from their long journey. I grew up on the New York waterfront, in the West Village, when everything west of Hudson St. was related to shipping and cargo from around the world. For a kid, it was an exciting place of warehouses, trucks, and working boats of all kinds: tugs and the barges and ships, cargo and passenger, they were pushing around. My father was an electrical engineer, my mother an intellectual, I fell in between. I have always been attracted to Earth’s natural processes, the physical sciences. I was in 8th grade when I decided to be a Meteorologist. After my career in meteorology, my natural interest in earth sciences: geology, astronomy, geography, earth history, made it a natural for me to become a science teacher in New York City, when I moved back to the Big Apple. Teaching led to becoming a high school principal to have the power to truly help kids learn and to be successful not only in school but in life. Dauntless is in western Europe now. In May and June, I will be wrapping up the last two years in northern Europe, heading south to spend the rest of the year in Spain & Portugal. Long term, I’m planning on returning to North American in the fall of 2017 and from there continuing to head west until we’re in Northeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, where we will settle for a bit. But now, my future lies not in NY or even Europe, but back to the water, where at night, when the winds die down, there is no noise, only the silence of the universe. I feel like I am at home, finally. View all posts by Richard on Dauntless