HAHAHAHA, like that’s new! I picked up a dinghy the other day for a fraction of the cost of a new one. With most ‘deals’ a little elbow grease is required to see the true benefit. So, today I washed,scrubbed and repeated until the thing was reasonably clean. Lots of work but it’s done. Now I just need a little outboard motor for it and I’m in business. 

For those wondering why a dinghy, there are some places that I plan to go (and keep it cheap!) that won’t have a dock for my sailboat. I’ll need the dinghy to get to land and back to the boat. Looking forward to the first of many of these kinds of trips! Here is the dinghy deal. 🙂 I think Rubio approves, that or he is giving me the ‘you are crazy’ look. Hahaha

Posting this from my phone. The pics are out of order. The bottom dinghy pick was how it looked before. I forgot to get a shot of the bottom after apparently. lol

Also replaced the dock lines today. New ropes make it look better and now I won’t have to worry about any of them breaking if we get more high winds. One thing at a time. 🙂 

One of these days I’ll post a sailing adventure! For now, there are a few things that I want to take care of before I start sailing. I know that when I start, I’ll get into it and the projects I have on my list will become more wish list items than actual projects, then they will eventually fall off altogether until I ‘have’ to fix it. I know me, I have been around me a long time… most of my life actually. HAHAHA!

Today I spent the day with a bucket of bleach and a sponge. Hands and knees mopping and keeping things ship-shape. Then I  washed the exterior. It literally took me the entire day but she’s shining like new money now! Well, not new money, good and used money…actually not money or shiny, shes’s just clean.

Rubio doesn’t really like it that much when I clean like that. He generally heads for the aft-berth and curls up on the blankets. I think that’s his safe place. I had to put him up in the cockpit for a bit while I cleaned that berth. He was liking it for most of the time but then I think the sun got too hot for him cause he laid down near the companionway with his head on the threshold and just looked at me almost like “hey man, uhhhmm..i know you are busy and all but can I come in now cause this kinda sucks.” Hahaha – he cracks me up.

Finished out the day with some brats on the grill and some good old bushes baked beans. I’m tired but feel really good that Latro is spic and span now. After dinner, I spent a little time researching some data for one of my next projects.

Upholstery…I called a couple of places in the area today asking for an estimate to re-upholster the cushions in the cabin. One of them wants me to bring all of them to the store before they will give an estimate, the other one asked me to send some pics then replied with their estimate. Ready…? They quoted me 3700 dollars!!!???? I laughed cause I thought they were joking, so I sent a couple of clarifying questions and they were not joking.

So, this means I have another DIY project. I did some digging, as I mentioned, after dinner and found that I can do it myself for less than 1/4 of that cost. WITH new fabric and a custom logo (which I now have courtesy of a good friend of mine) sewn on. Stay tuned for that little project. I’m sure I’ll need some churchin’ during and after…

The logo is below (there are actually two versions) if you are interested. Thanks Megan!!! You are a rockstar!

I finally located the part. I went to West Marine in Point Loma and found it in the fuel section. I’m not sure why but that gave me a pretty huge thrill. Pretty sure it’s because the other 180,000 places I called and/or visited turned up nothing. I may be exaggerating that number a little… it was actually more like 9 places. 😐

The fix is really easy once the part is in hand. Two bolts that hold the valve in place, 3 fittings that screw in, one for the pump, and one line per tank. I didn’t note this in the video and I probably should have, but it’s important to understand what position the lever needs to be in for the water to actually flow from one tank or the other. I made small marks on the lever indicating the position of the Aft and forward tanks so that I don’t have to try to remember later on. Not a big deal, just a convenience.

Also, it’s good to be 100% sure that the tanks are empty, cause if they aren’t and the fitting is unscrewed the water will just flow right out into the boat. Common sense right? Right, unless you are me. Somewhere along the line ‘common sense’ became less common that it probably should be! I didn’t get video of that incident… 🙂

Well, I am all moved on to the boat. I have all I need and nothing that I don’t, I think. 🙂 I am at a point now where I can start on some of the projects that need to be done. I figure I’ll tackle some of the easy stuff first. One thing that needs to be fixes is the valve that controls access to the onboard water tanks. It works but it is broken and leaking. Not a major thing but certainly something I should be able to handle!

The challenge is finding the part. I checked 9 different places today, from marine supply stores to plumbing supply. I haven’t checked the standard hardware store yet but I’ll swing through there tomorrow and see what I can find. So far, no luck with the exception of places that only sell wholesale to contractors. Since I’m not a licensed plumber or a contractor that kinda cuts those places out. Hahaha!

If nothing else, I think i have located the part I need on amazon. Once I verify its the right size then I’ll order it up and put it in. The good thing with this fix is that its a simple one, and nothing really DEPENDS on me fixing it. No pressure, the water still is contained in the tanks, and still flows out of the faucet when I need it. I do want to fix the leak though before it gets any worse. Once I have the part, I will document the replacement. Stay tuned…

Well, I have most of the things out of my apartment. Brought a few additional items to the boat and trying to make room for them. That is a challenge but it’s a fun one, for me at least. I have the apartment until the end of the month so I have the luxury of time on my side when it comes to moving things out. I should be all done by the end of the coming week, though.

Next area of focus is some of the projects that need to be done on Latro. I’ll need to get the navigation lights and the steaming light working, replace the running rigging (all the ropes for the sails), get a depth sounder and replace the compass. Beyond that, those are really all she needs. The compass will be around 100 bucks, the lines will probably be close to 500 based on the prices I am seeing online. I’m really not sure how much the depth sounder will be yet. I see lots of options so I’ll need to chat with a few seasoned sailors to get an idea of what is the most economical, yet reliable, way to go.

I mentioned a leak in the companion way in an earlier post. I think the fix for that is going to be a tarp or sunbrella canvas draped over the boom for the main sail. I’ve seen a few others in the marina doing this and it seems to be effective. I have a tarp already, so thats a free fix! 🙂

Also, doesn’t seem like I can feel good about doing a post without including my little buddy too. Thanks to Kevin Libby and his family for some nice ‘house warming’ gifts, including the sailor costume for Ruibo!