working away

Getting lots done, but not much to photograph. We put 3000 gal. of diesel fuel in the tanks and the boat sits better in the water-but still could use some weight. John has been in the engine room hooking up the keel coolers and day tanks and the 20k gen set. We've been using the Miller welding gen set daily and it's sweet. The last few days I've been putting together two huge 20,000 lb winches that John ( Meg's John ) send down from R.I. They are 60 yrs old and weigh 500 lbs each and do not come with instructions- but I think I've got them figured out. They will allow us to deploy two anchors from Hell, one from the bow and one from the stern, and ride out any storms we can see coming. I'm talking to electricians and hydraulics people and all that should happen soon. Joyce just finished painting the master stateroom in the bow and it looks great. She's having lots of fun doing art with her kids. All this stuff is going on and it's fun and maybe someday we'll get out of here.
OM PADI PADI

Huge friggin' exhaust pipe

The latest in high tech exhaust systems, 21 ft of 6 in steel pipe, straight from the manifolds to the sky. I asked this tug captain if it was going to be noisy and he just laughed and said " Hell, you'll never hear it, unless the echo bounces off an island somewhere."

St. Patrick's parade

So we made a quick run up to New Orleans to have dinner with Chili Bill and had a great time, had some oysters and barbecue and did some shopping. NO was crowded and noisy as ever (in the middle of celebrating St. Patrick's Day)- but life in New Iberia is quiet and rural and we're sort of getting used to that. The boat is coming along nicely. We painted the hold and moved the generator and compressor and a lot of other stuff down there so we could clear the main deck as a work space. The guy who owns the two tugboats next to mine is hooking me up with mechanics and advice, which is really helpful and we will start on the engine Monday. Still tons of things to do, but it all seems to be under control and pretty straightforward and it's all like playing with a huge erector set. I'm trying to keep all the systems as simple as possible so I can build them myself and fix them when they fall apart. The plumbing about half set up, I filled up my water tanks with 1500 gls and now the stern is sitting low and the bow is way up, so soon I'll have to fill the fuel tanks to level her off. It will still be months before we push off, but it's all calming down and easy going now that I'm out of that boatyard and John and I just go to work every day and do whatever we feel like that day.

work,work,work

Joyce, John, and I are wailing away chipping, scraping, painting, and welding. Not much to show for it in the way of pictures, but we are getting a lot done and we can see the progress. It's starting to warm up down here and it's nice down at the marina. I just wish we were somewhere where we could jump into the ocean 6 or 7 times a day. I may rig up an outdoor shower on the boat so we can cool off.