Downsizing

The other thing I did today was to move more of my nautical hardware to the tent.  So my office is clean and with a few small exceptions, nearly perfectly in order.  My plan is to start selling all my surplus sailing gear and free up more space in the tent for working on projects.  I've already sold some automotive parts and plan to put at least one item on eBay every day.  Today I listed two items.  A fuel pump and and laptop sleeve.  I need to downsize and get rid of everything I can.

Books, CDs, and DVD's take up space.  I've been converting everything to digital form.  It came in handy we watched a movie on my laptop when power was out and later when power was restored but there was no cable or broadband, I had my home network up and watched three movies located on my desktop system but routed to my Apple TV hooked up to my TV upstairs.

I have been organizing my eBooks, but having some difficulty with that.  I have a duplicate library I just discovered, so I need to eliminate duplicates.  I have also had some issues with cover art, and author names.  These are tedious and something I can work on bit by bit so that when I take off sailing I will have a decent library of books to read, along with a huge library of movies, many of which I've never seen.

I have always been one to hoard paper.  I had a huge file system about 10 years ago with 9 file drawers.  Realizing that I never looked at much of this stuff, I threw out a two drawer file cabinet and got myself down to 7 file drawers.  That was still too much.  I threw out another two drawer cabinet and got myself down to 5.  Still to much.  I did it again and got down to 3 file drawers and I managed to hold it to about that until the last few years when things ballooned again.  Last month I purged my files again and today I have about 3.5 file drawers.  I'd like to scan some of these documents and store them on-line and on a memory stick and get down to 2 file drawers--which is about as small as I can reduce to.  In any event, I'm very happy tha.

I've been doing similar things with books.  Many paperbacks I have tossed out.  Some I save to re-read once and then toss.  Others I have discovered are worth a lot.  I have one series of books that I found is worth about $400--so these will get sold soon.  Everything else I'm selling except for some books I can't part with like my Patrick O'Brien series, and some computer reference books.  My goal is to have no more than one bookcase of books.

I tried setting up an account on Amazon.com and it was such a headache that I gave up.  I will sell everything on eBay.


While getting rid of things is nice.  I still need to store some things.  For example: I want to store my mainsail.  The best place for that is on ECHO.  But I'd rather not at the moment.  As much as I'd like to go sailing on ECHO, that involves putting the sail back on, which is an exhausting job, and then taking it off again for the winter.  I also plan to haul out ECHO soon, so I have to have the sail off the boat in any case.  Better to tie it up in a small bundle and store it.

My realization is I need a trailer just for dry storage of normal boat gear and also as a mobile work bench.  My Silverado, named Bruiser, can haul a large trailer.  My Volvo, Sea Dog, can haul at most 3000 lbs.  I have the mainsail in the bed of Bruiser, but not for too long.  I need to bring the Genoa home next.  For the near term, I have plenty of tarps.  I'll make a clean place to store these sails in the tent and keep them covered and clean.  That means reorganizing the tent to store two rather big sails.  See how it is two steps back and then three steps forward if I want to make forward progress?  It can be painfully slow for a boat this big.

I really don't want to buy a trailer right now, but it is something to think about.  I also lost my parking brake on the Volvo and in the process noticed my clutch is slipping.  Another two steps backwards.

Fiberglass and Paint Prep Work

A few years back, when I faired and painted ECHO, I built an outdoor, weather proof work bench to store materials and to mix epoxy.  I will have to post some of those pictures as the amount of work I did, with my brothers help was considerable.  In any event, today I moved this extremely heavy work bench into "The Tent".  "The Tent" is a 22' x 20 ' tent shelter I bought last year.  I am splitting the space with my brother who built the foundation.  I want to use it to do fiberglass repairs on my Sunfishes, and any custom molded pieces I might need for ECHO.  So it made sense to move it into "The Tent" and get it organized and set up to make stuff. 


When Hurricane Irene blasted through here, I took the tent down and recently put it back up.  I'd like to reinforce it some to make it stronger.  It would be nice to have a framed back wall.  In the mean time, the workbench is pretty cool.  It has inside and outside outlets and wire to connect two 20 Amp circuits.  Right now that is not hooked up, but I will add that to my list of things to do  I have a heavy  gauge extension cord going to the tent at the moment.  I will probably remove the other wire and wire in a connector for that input.


Part of the reason the  workbench is so heavy, is I primed it, and painted it, and then as I worked on fairing ECHO's hull, I used up any surplus smoothing out the plywood.  Later I painted it with epoxy primer, and then coat after coat of epoxy paint.  So it really is pretty water proof.

So this all goes to show that for every step forward there are a few steps backwards.  The amount of prep work involved with boats is amazing. 

Next up, I have a new hose for the boat, and I plan to fill up one of the water tanks and start cleaning the other tanks.  I need some stainless steel covers and bolts and tap and dies to attach the new covers.  It will be very nice to have all three water tanks working.

I am planning on purchasing a Techma Silence Plus tall model for the forward head.  It will be using fresh water for flushing. So it will have a solenoid to control the water pump circuit.  So this will be a very clean smelling head, quite and easy to use.  For local sailing this will be the head people will use. 

The aft head will probably use sea water and perhaps be manual just to conserve power.  I do not plan to install an aft head in the immediate future.  I want to haul the boat out and move a couple of sea-cocks to make it easier to operation.  Or in the case of the forward head, I'll be removing the raw water inlet thru-hull and sea-cock.



 

Cleaning the Mainsail

In preparation for Hurricane Irene, I pulled the mainsail off the boom and brought it home.  It needed a cleaning.  That is a two man job, but I managed to do it myself.  I used a pressure washer to wash the driveway first, then I started with the top of the sail and sprayed one side and then the other as I rolled it up.  It is not perfect.  I could probably do it again, pretreating it with a little diluted bleach.  It looks ok.  Better than before and the sail does not need any repairs except for some mono-filament on the Dutchman sail flaking system.  I have some spare mono-filament--enough for one.  I'm wondering if I should replace the other two at the same time.  It is also clear to me that I need a couple of mast steps to help install and remove the sail cover.  I can do it because I'm tall, but it is not easy.

The second picture shows some of the accumulated dirt with the cleaned portion rolled up.

ECHO was originally a US Navy Training boat named at the time, Intrepid, and run out of a maritime academy in Maine.  Hence the sail number NSY 14.  Naval Sailing Yacht 14.  Intrepid is a good name for it because it has designs features, like the keel similar to the America's Cup yacht Intrepid.  I changed the name because people could never remember the name. I also like the simplicity of a boat named after a code flag letter--E, Phonetically, ECHO, so it is very clear what the name of the boat is when talking on the radio. I also like the story of ECHO in Greek Mythology.

The Story of ECHO.

Echo was a beautiful nymph, fond of the woods and hills, where she devoted herself to woodland sports. She was a favorite of Diana, and attended her in the chase. But Echo had one failing; she was fond of talking, and whether in chat or argument would have the last word. One day Juno was seeking her husband, who, she had reason to fear, was amusing himself among the nymphs.   Echo by her talk contrived to detain the goddess till the nymphs made their escape. When Juno discovered it, she passed sentence upon Echo in these words: "You shall forfeit the use of that tongue with which you have cheated me, except for that one purpose you are so fond of REPLY. You shall still have the last word, but no power to speak first."

This nymph saw Narcissus, a beautiful youth, as he pursued the chase upon the mountains. She loved him, and followed his footsteps. Oh, how she longed to address him in the softest accents, and win him to converse, but it was not in her power. She waited with impatience for him to speak first, and had her answer ready. One day the youth, being separated from his companions, shouted aloud, "Who's here?" Echo replied, "Here." Narcissus looked around, but seeing no one, called out, "Come." Echo answered, "Come." As no one came, Narcissus called again, "Why do you shun me?" Echo asked the same question. "Let us join one another," said the youth. The maid answered with all her heart in the same words, and hastened to the spot, ready to throw her arms about his neck. He started back, exclaiming, "Hands off! I would rather die than you should have me." "Have me," said she; but it was all in vain. He left her, and she went to hide her blushes in the recesses of the woods. From that time forth she lived in caves and among mountain cliffs. Her form faded with grief, till at last all her flesh shrank away. Her bones were changed into rocks, and there was nothing left of her but her voice. With that she is still ready to reply to any one who calls her, and keeps up her old habit of having the last word.