"Today is a Good Day to Drive!" .....Van-Go

We had ordered a holding tank for the head; the shipment didn't come because they didn't have the right size.  So after talking about that we were to get a larger tank for the same money, but when we went to pick that up the tank was too big to fit in the spot we have for it so we had to order a different on; it should come in on Tuesday.  The good news is that we have the area planned and just need to get the materials to complete the job. We hired Raymond to put in the holding tank.  Since we didn't get the materials in today we asked him to splice our rope chain.  Raymond was the rigger for the Ship Hector. Meanwhile Will put a bead of sealant around the hand rails of the pilot house. Raymond finished the splice and wrapped it in a black rope for strength. Finished splice; the problem, it is not flexable to go through the windless so he had to take it apart and do the black in only a few places that leaves some frayed ends.  We will have to think about this.....

This is lobster season here in Nova Scotia.  You can get a cooked market lobster for $9.99 a pound at the store and $7.99 at the local lobster pot.  They are the bigger ones.  We picked up a few and headed over to MacIntosh's where we had our fist taste of a whole lobster in several years; it was really good.  Dave was good at giving directions on how to crack, pull and twist the lobster apart.  He also said there is a poison sac in the head not to eat, but that you can eat just about everything else.  Kathy's was filled with eggs all cooked up; they tasted like dried caviar.  No one else liked them.   Dave got the dogs all riled up.  That is Ted in the back looking, Maya is the black one and the oldest is Ossie. One evening Dave made BBQ ribs and chicken with grilled potatoes.  After a hard day of work it was so nice to come "home" for a meal with friends. YUM. Kathy brought a lotus blossom tea over and we watched it open.  This is...

Oh no! We found two areas where the paint bubbled on the hull so we had to cut it out to repair it.   Each spot had a nail under it so we figured it was damp so the paint couldn't dry right. This is the other area where the paint just peeled up. Duck came to visit us. Raymond brought his new little puppy to visit. We certainly enjoyed puppy time!  We also talked to with Raymond about helping us out on a few projects. Kathy moved on to another painting project; this time painting the white on the gunwhale, the flat part you walk along around the boat. Will was checking out opportunities for putting the holding tank for the head and climbed down in there!!  He found it to be a tight fit and not much room for working. The colt's foot are all gone and the dandelions are blooming now.  The trees have shot out leaves and they are filling in nicely. We cleaned things off the boat and piled it all under the boat; looks like a gypsy camp! We are learning to deal with the rott...

Time to pick up more supplies; we ordered the holding tank and supplies for that and the rope chain combination we will need for the anchor too. Will washed down the hull in preparations for painting. Time to paint the hull. Kathy painted coat two on the front end of the v-berth. Then cleaned the bulk head around the cockpit deck. Will moved on to put a sealant around the entire boat where the blue meets the gunwhale, the flat walkway around the boat. Lunch was left over, thanks Dave and Darlene. Kathy has everything cleaned up and is taking a shade break before starting to paint. Painting the bulk head. Will used hull paint to paint around the white on the pilot house. Okay, time to paint that strip.  We tried freehand and that was not going to work so Kathy is taping off the top and bottom of the stipe. Time to paint. Speaking of paint we had our first paint spill.  Opps! Two coats of red and time to dry before we took off the tape. Exciting to see a nice crisp line! Looks g...