Let the countdown commence

No time to be schmoopy about the fact that we are STILL in refit mode when we had planned to have a year of cruising under our belt at this point in time. Its time to start getting excited because we are heading out in 17 months. 17 months might seem an arbitrary number to get excited about but it is less than a year and a half. As the heat creeps up and the progress slows a bit due to this, the fact that we are less than a year and half from heading out just gives me such a lift.

Mark installed the fore cabin reading lights and fans. I can tell you that while the CCF reading lamps are adequate if not spectacular, those Caframo fans put out some serious windage. This should make me happier when sleeping as I am like a golden retriever in that I like a breeze strong enough to make my face flap- even while sleeping.

Our generator was giving us fits. It was causing consternation by not firing up. Should be easy, right? Just grab the serial numbers off the thing and find the manual. Well since our Onan generator is about 100 years old, we could no longer discern the serial numbers. Mark started plugging in random numbers onto the part of the number we could actually make out and after a bit of time we had success. He was able to down load the manual and figure out that the problem was probably a clogged filter and it was- the second filter to be exact. Which is why our previous attempt at cleaning the first filter resulted in no change. A bit of elbow grease to remove, clean and reinstall and VOILA! The old Onan is running once again. Now we not only have a functional generator we know what to check first when it dies again- check the SECOND filter as well.

We are still in a very heated debate over the galley refit. I'm still firmly in the go with the easy, inexpensive, fast Origo stove option. Mark is still firmly in the meticulous, expensive, time consuming, space eating propane camp. We will have to reach a decision soon but its looking as if my dreams of just dropping in a Origo and calling it done are fading away. *sigh* I'd just like to have one thing on Ceol Mor be easy, fast, inexpensive and straight forward but alas, it seems it might not be meant to be. I'm choosing my battles though. In the end, I will cook badly on whatever we come up with so if going with a new propane system makes Mark happy I can't get excited about it.

We are planning on having the boat hauled next week to change out the zincs, check the bottom and service the prop. Not terribly exciting, but necessary none the less.

We went out for a sail on Sunday. We were just under genoa alone as this was all about me becoming more skilled and we didn't need the extra push from the main (and we got to avoid dealing with the less than adequate main set up). I'm still not able to dock the beast but I can solidly keep the wind at different points of sail, take a bearing to a fixed point and sail to it, trim the gen to a reasonable level, keep a course heading and I've gotten much better at tacking. I can say I've gotten better at tacking smoothly because there was only one way to go and that was up.

While we trudge along, continuing the work on the boat and improving our sailing skills, we get little bits of happy. On our way to the boat, we walk past crepe myrtles in bloom. The sun is shining, Kitty is singing and Maura, Mark and I smile when we think of what's to come- in only 17 months!