Distractions

Things are coming together slowly. There is a focus on Silent Maid but there are distractions, good distractions but none the less... One is a proposal to set up an after school boat building program. We're looking to build traditional boats with area high school kids then setup a boat rental business with the same kids running that business.  Another much bigger one is to build a floating classroom in the shape of a revolutionary war sloop. A class room with muzzle loading cannons, what could be better than that?  I have two career goals. One is to never build a 6 hour canoe, that is safe for the moment. The other is to never show up for work under a tri corner hat or above shoes with large buckles. That one is in some jeopardy.  Aside from these big plans there is the A cat Torch at the other end of the shop clamoring for attention and a whole flotilla of smaller boats, all hungry for attention.
But reinforcements are on the way. Carolyn started on paint and varnish yesterday. Mark will join the crew next week.  Jeff Uddell showed up today to help with electronics, backing up Jeff's efforts on things electrical.  And as always there are volunteers everywhere in the shop making the whole show possible. It is the time of year when a tinge of panic comes with the spring breezes and multiple tasks kick into overdrive. We will focus where we need to, we will accomplish what we must.

Hiding Things

      There is progress to report on all fronts. Thanks to Erik Carlsen the new 24 volt altenator bracket is mounted on the engine. The problem solved there was the bracket that came with the engine would require an engine box that was much to wide. we didn't mind a little extra length though so a new bracket was designed and fabricated. Next season we can charge the house batteries with the engine as well as shorepower thus gaining a bit more independence.

      Accommodating all the electronic stuff has been a challenge, but I think we're through that as well.  We made a false bulkhead to go in the head compartment 4 inches aft of the actual bulkhead. The space between them provides room for a raft of stuff, Okam processor for the wind instruments, wire chases for the laptop and GPS. space for the 24 volt battery charger and for a 24 volt to 12 volt converter. We'll need good ventilation between those bulkheads.  The laptop table is nearly done, when folded up against the bulkhead it becomes a picture frame. Another frame above it hides the GPS screen.  The head got a little smaller but the boat has preserved her character. Apparently we have a lot to hide. Is this how people preserve their character?
    

Bow Ties

      Yes, yes I need to post more pictures but in the meantime a little prose will have to do. Silent Maid is the focus of all the professional crew and a few volunteers. We're pushing along on the cabinet work; a desk for a laptop, a set of shelves over the centerboard case just inside the companionway for all the stuff that wound up in the galley sink last season. Binoculars, bow ties, tide book, dividers and so forth. God that bugged me. but design must follow human behavior, not strive to alter it, so we're providing a place for that stuff in hopes that the galley sink can be the galley sink.
     Yes bow ties, Peter has decided they should be a part of the crew uniform and they are. I hadn't worn a bow tie since the age of seven and that was a clip on.  The arts of the marlinspike sailor are expanding a bit.
     The refrigerator box is nearly done but the task of providing the cockpit seats with gutters and gaskets still remains. The house bank of batteries fit in there new home under the forward bunks. They need to be chocked in and provision made to vent the hydrogen away from them. We don't want to be doing a maritime version of the Hindenburg disaster after all. We're refining things but the time is rapidly approaching when more people will be required to get everything done.

There's a Lot To Do

     Silent Maid was launched last June and sailed all last season visiting points along the Delaware River, the New Jersey Coast,  and the upper Chesapeake Bay.  None of this is to say work was done or even close to the hiatus between construction and maintenance that we grace with the term "done." On her first trip the cabin was packed with tool boxes as we continued with construction while taking on trouble shooting and sailing. That was a cruise from convenience store to convenience store as the galley was not complete. Last summer's goal was to sail with only the tools that fit one very small locker.  By and large we succeeded, on our final cruise of the season from Philadelphia to Chestertown, Md. and back we could even cook a proper meal.
      Next June we set out with a more ambitious schedule, planning to range as far north as Brooklin, Maine, attending every regatta, show and classic yacht race we can find between here, Philadelphia, and there. So now is our chance to build in all the amenities we did without last season. At this moment we are building a refrigerator into one of the cockpit seats and constructing a sophisticated but compact navigation station in the cabin. When we set out we want our electric winches and our out door shower. We want radar and depth sounding. We , well we want everything we have grown accustomed to leaving at home when setting out on a voyage. Big plans.