Tahiti

I didn’t find a single minute to write stories on my unplanned trip back to the States for Barry’s memorial. I’m sooooooooooo glad I was there, thanks Dad for the Frequent Flyer ticket! …Just back to Tahiti, where I’m waiting to hop a cargo ship tomorrow that is headed for… Read the rest

Now that I have my galley back, with fresh countertops and a new sink drain, I’m spending a bit more time trying to properly nourish myself. I’d been getting by eating cabbage salads and heavily buttered baguettes for way too long. Sadly, 85-90 percent of food eaten in Tahiti is… Read the rest

With the tube on the way and an expert installer ready to help, I fell into an easier rhythm in the V.I.P. yard. Between work on my book and other Swell ‘life-enhancement’ projects, I tried not to resist my situation and enjoy the good around me. I greased winches, worked… Read the rest

“Leeeeeeez!!” I heard from behind me as I wandered back toward Swell at the end of a long day in the yard. Little Henoa came running over with an icy cold pineapple juice in hand. Dirt was smeared across his left arm and sweat dribbled down his cheek. I imagined… Read the rest

With the tube removed, there was no more time to waste. I had… Read the rest to find someone to help me do the fiberglass work. I’d conceded to the realization that it was NOT going to be Laurent. It was beyond me why he didn’t want to do the job, but that

Adrian, the cheery 6’ 2” Canadian, was low on cash but full of spirit. He had been borrowing my bike for the prior week to ride to town for parts and pieces to fix up his newly acquired steel sloop. He dropped by just as Mike’s overtime charges were about… Read the rest

I woke in the middle of the night to a pounding on Swell’s hull. I shook myself from a dream and looked up at the clock. It was 3 am. “Who the heck drops by for a visit at this hour?” I thought.
I peered over the side and saw… Read the rest

For a week after Poe died, it felt strange when I’d return to Swell–no more chirping, no more fishy stink, and no more fuzzy head popping up? Instead I found only piles of progress-less projects staring at me. Despite grinding off the recent epoxy job and making a more precisely-fitting… Read the rest

So…I carried the broken parts back across the yard. Everyone looked over at me curiously.
“Extracteur!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I yelled. They just wrinkled their foreheads and went back to whatever they were doing…I’m like a bad rash around …impossible to get rid of…
So next,

1. Make the washer out of a thick

… Read the rest

FML

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I pulled up the email fromCal 40 owner, Fin Beven.
It read:
“First, we disconnected the propeller shaft from the V-drive and removed shaft and the propeller.”
Okay, I already did that…
“Next, Doug Grant made up a “slide hammer”.  It was a 1/2″ stainless rod, approximately 6′ long,