Phil's cat, Capt. Josh and Walden Pond

Here are a few random pictures of our New England trip.
The cat on the chair is Phil Bolger's recent adoptee. He likes to sleep on the chair, and doesn't move even if you spin the chair.
We also visited Walden Pond. We saw the replica cabin. The original was torn down shortly after Thoreau's stay. I used to think that it would have been difficult to live in so small a space but after a year on the boat his cabin looks positively spacious.
We also took a walk around the pond to the site of the original cabin. It is marked with stones and sits right next to a pile of rocks said to be from the original foundation.
On our way back from New Bedford (where Bev's son Matt lives) we stopped off at the "monument" commemorating Capt. Joshua Slocum's solo circumnavigation of the world in 1895. He was the first person ever to complete a solo circumnavigation. His feat inspired whole generations of sailors, your narrator included.

A day with the legend.

Yesterday, Bev and I drove our rental car up to Gloucester to meet with Phil Bolger. We expected to visit for an hour or two, but he and his wife spent the whole day with us.
We talked about boats in general and Bolger boats in particular. We talked abut our trip and the many ways we used the features of the AS-29. We showed them a slide show of our trip.
It was quite a thrill for me to actually meet the man who designed my boat. Phil's wife Susan spent a lot of the time talking about ways we could modify the boat to make it a real "world cruiser." I was really fascinating to hear her talk about how we could mold a second skin on the boat that would make the boat more impact resistant, more buoyant and more stable. She said we could use heavy duty construction foam (the blue stuff) on the outside of the hull to insulate and protect it, followed by a layer of 1/4" plywood and fiberglass to protect the foam. This process wouldn't add much weight, but it would add volume which increases displacement. We could carry more gear and supplies and still float higher in the water. Gluing the foam in the outside, combined with the extra layer of plywood would make the boat strong enough to cross oceans. She also suggested that we add a removable "V" to the bow if we intend to take the boat across the ocean.
I really liked her ideas. Not only would the changes make the boat safer, they would also make it more comfortable. It would be warmer inside when the weather is cool, and cooler when the weather is warm. I'm really going to have to give some thought to making these changes someday.
We also talked quite a bit about the boat's handling and trim. Phil and Susan suggested I try sailing without the mizzen to how if this would reduce some weather helm and make the boat behave better off the wind.
During the course of our chat, I discovered that I had made a mistake in building the boat. I left off what's called the "bottom plate" of the rudder. Somehow, as many times as I had looked at the plans, I didn't see the sketch of this plate. It's purposed is to channel the water pressure coming off the rudder to make the rudder more efficient. When I get back to the boat I'm going to have to pull the rudder off and add the plate. It should improve the steering of the boat, making it easier to handle when the wind picks up.
While we were there, Phil and Susan showed us the plans they are working on. One is a 34 foot version of the AS type. This is intended to be a real sturdy ocean cruiser. The other is a 50 something monster with a completely enclosed pilot house and a ramp for launching the rather large dingy. It has a cargo hold and special compartments for some serious photographic equipment the clients need to carry.
Phil is really quite an amazing character. He is now 80 years old and except for an occasional pain in his hip he is quite spry and his mind is as sharp as ever.
We all went out to lunch together at a good Chinese restaurant on the waterfront in Gloucester. During lunch Bev and Susan got into quite a heated discussion of politics. Phil and I just stayed out of it. Two highly opinionated women disagreeing about politics can be scary.
Phil and Susan now live in a house. This was a surprise to me as I had thought Phil lived on his boat "Resolution." He did live aboard for 14 years and the boat now sits in the front yard of his house. He and Susan were able to buy a "handyman special" at a really good price and have spent the last few years fixing it up. They put 12" insulation in the walls to keep their heating bills down and now there are two rooms in which they have no heat at all and claim they don't need it. Makes you wonder why all houses aren't built that way. A few extra bucks at building time translates into hundreds (if not thousands) saved every year for the life of the house. Home builders of America - take note: charge your clients a few extra bucks to build the house, then guarantee them lower fuel bills - you'll clean up. With the prices of oil, natural gas and electricity going through the roof, you'll gain an advantage over your competitors if you can honestly promise lower heating and cooling bills.
This same concept is what Susan was talking about when she told us about sheathing the boat with foam.
One of the topics we talked about was they way the boating magazines seem to ignore the common sense approach to boat design that is exemplified by Phil Bolger and Friends. Even magazines like "Practical Sailor" and "Good Old Boat" seem to ignore the home built market. Susan suggest that I write to the editors of these magazines (one of whom lives in Sarasota) and tell them of my experience with the AS-29. As she pointed out, my own experience proves that you do not have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to have a boat that is safe, stable and able to cruise anywhere. Too many people think they have to work at spirit-killing jobs to earn large amounts of money to afford boating. They go out and buy big expensive boats that sit in the marina 95% of the time.
We also talked a bit about how so many boats today are overpowered. Phil pointed out a lobster boat that he designed. The boat was tied up in Gloucester harbor, probably because the owner couldn't afford to feed the 150 hp engine he put in it. If he had powered it with the 35 hp engine Phil designed it for, he'd be out on the water earning money.
I've included a couple of pictures of Phil and Susan and "Resolution."

Cape Cod

Well, folks, we're here. In Plymouth, MA actually. We're here for Bev's son Matt who graduates Sunday from UMASS Dartmouth.
We have a few little bits of news.
First, I think we've settled on a name for "that bird." Combining suggestions from some of our readers, my daughter included, we decided on "Barnacle Bill Buffett." That way we can call him Barney when he's behaving, or Mr. Buffett when he's not. And what's more "salty sailorish" that Barnacle Bill? (There's even a bit of double entendre with the "bill." Get it?)
Also, we sent a fax to Phil Bolger who lives in Gloucester, about 2 hours drive from here. He's the guy who designed my boat. He invited us up to his home to visit with him next Friday so we can talk about the boat, show him pictures of our trip, etc. Wow! How cool is that?

The bird, the play and other things

Here's a shot of the bird (still unnamed) perched on the computer, checking my spelling. (LOL). He still has no name, but I am leaning toward "Paintball" as he looks like someone popped him with a paintball gun. Bev is leaning toward "Speedbump." Please vote on what name you think is better.

The play had its last performance Sunday afternoon. It was sad to see the set taken down. That little town had been a second home for us for two months, now it's gone. It was a ton of fun doing the show. Even Bev managed to get her name into the program as the official "backstage" person. She really did a good job making sure all the actors had the appropriate props before they went on stage.

We had a cast party at the Producer's (Jim Tobin) condo. Rumor is he made his money as a financial advisor for a former US President. He won't say. But he does own the penthouse apartment in his complex and his walls are decorated with paintings done by Picaso's last living student.

I've spend the last two days repairing a small spot of delamination on the bow. I think some moisture had gotten in behind the patch I put on after the attack of the angle iron at Oswego Lock #3. As of now I've got the small patch of rot carved out, the hole filled, glassed and two coats of epoxy on. If I can get one more coat on this afternoon, I should be able to sand and paint tomorrow.

We're also packing for our trip north. We will be going up to Cape Cod for Bev's middle son's graduation for UMASS Dartmouth. After a graduation party and some visits with her family, we will head to NY so I can retrieve some stuff from my storage locker, renew the contract, visit folks, etc. We will be gone from the boat for 2 weeks. We've arranged with the crews of two other boats to watch over the bird while we're gone. It will be weird to live on land after living aboard for a whole year.

I've included a few pics of the cast party, and the scene backstage on the last day of the play.

A visit from my son, the play and other things

Last week my son, Mike and his girlfriend Kari came to visit. The saw the play on "Friends and Family" night. We tried to go out for a sail, but smoke from the fires in Georgia was so thick, there were marine warnings posted. Visibility was down to about a quarter mile. We had a nice visit anyway.
We spent a day at the beach, went to the farmer's market and the Dali museum and spent some time on the boat hanging out and talking. I hadn't seen him in nearly a year, so it was good to have a visit, even if it was too short.
The play officially opened on Thursday. We had shows on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Crowds have been thin so far, except for Saturday. The people who have seen it have all said they enjoyed it. We have one more week of shows. It has been a blast, and it will be sad to close the show next Sunday and strike the set. We will miss cast and crew.
After the show Sunday afternoon, the marina folks had another pot luck dinner. Some folks we met in Pensacola, Alan and Lynette, finally made it here. They've been trying to get a spot at this marina for several years and finally one opened up for them.

Scapino dress rehearsal

Here are a few pics from the full-dress rehearsal on Sunday.

Gulfport Community Players

Here's the link to the official website for the Gulfport Community Players

Check it to see some more photos of the cast in costume.

Scapino!

OK, dear readers, here are the first few shots of Scapino, taken on stage at the theater at a non-dress rehearsal.

The set is not quite finished, but major construction and painting are done. We've started using props, but we don't have our first full dress rehearsal until tonight.

Please note that these pics are in reverse order, the end of the play is first. I'll try to post some of the dress rehearsal tomorrow.

Parade, Jim Morris and a bird.

Well, yesterday was certainly an eventful day.
We went with our friends Julie and Tim to a parade in Clearwater. It seems that every year they have a "Fun in the Sun" parade to kick off the summer season and the end of "Snowbird" season. The floats were quite elaborate and the marchers all threw strings of beads to the spectators in the fashion of Mardi Gras.
After the parade we hitched a ride with one of the marchers over to a new club that had its grand opening. Jim Morris and Sunny Jim were there performing. I've been a fan of Jim Morris for a while, but hadn't really followed Sunny Jim. I liked the songs they both did, and bought a CD from each. They autographed them and we had pictures taken with them.
It seems that "trop rock" appeals to folks of all ages. This 86 years-young lady was dancing up a storm all night with Bev and our new friend Sandi.
On the way to the parade our friend Tim spotted a cockatiel struggling to get out of the way of an SUV. He didn't make it and was hit by the car. Tim stopped and picked up the bird. It was shaken up, and had a scratch on the side of his head, but was otherwise not seriously hurt. Bev and I had been talking about getting a bird, so we decided to adopt him. He sat on my shoulder for a long time and ate chex mix (all we had at the time) out of my hand.
Now we have to give him (her?) a name. So we decided to leave it up to you, dear reader, to suggest some names. We will be taking him (her) to the vet this week for a check up and hopefully get the gender right. In the mean time, start thinking of a name.

So what have we been up to?

Well, we've been busy.
We had another visit by the local osprey, who seems to like to rest at the top of Tom's mast.
Bev's been going to school to get her certificate as a phlebotomist. She finished her classroom studies on Tuesday and started her clinical externship at the VA hospital today.
After class on Tuesday, two of her classmates came by the boat for a cookout.
Last weekend, the Pasadena Marina crowd had another of our famous dock parties. Over beer, pork shoulder, rice, eggplant, etc, etc, etc. we discussed plans for a fleet passage to the Keys in November. So far, 3 boats are tentatively planning the trip, including us.
We also had a couple of visits from some manatees. They like to come into the marina to drink from a fresh water spring at the shore side end of the dock.
Rehearsals for "Scapino" are going well. It's really starting to shape up. This week all of the actors went "off book," meaning we can't carry our scripts on stage during rehearsal. We're still at the stage where we can't quite remember all our lines, so the assistant direct will call them out to us when we forget. By next week, it will all come together. We move the set from the rehearsal hall to the theater next Thursday, and then start dress rehearsals the following weekend. May 10 is opening night. Wow, it's not that far away.

Easter sailing and Daniel

Bev's youngest son Daniel has been visiting with us this week. We took him out sailing with us on Easter Sunday.
We also got a visit from the Marina cat - Spooky. She came aboard and did a complete inspection on the boat including the head. (LOL)
The weather has been exceptionally cool the last few days, highs only around 68. It's supposed to warm back up to the 80's by this weekend.
I finished installing the new watermaker and I'm very pleased with its performance. The water comes out very clean and actually tastes pretty good, far better than I thought R/O water would taste. I'm also pleased with the quality of the engineering, it seems to be built like a Swiss watch.

Some housekeeping details

The Blogger folks have developed a new version of the software that maintains this site. I have upgraded to the new software and this changes the formatting of the site slightly. The link to the Yahoo group is still down near the bottom of the page along with the site counter and a new link to my "other" blog on politics. This blog will continue to be devoted to our sailing adventures.
This week Bev's son Daniel is visiting and we are planning (weather permitting) and overnight excursion for Thursday & Friday. We try to avoid going out on weekends due to the insane power boat traffic. Saturday, we are planning a visit to downtown St. Pete to show Daniel the sights.