Pensacola FL Sailing Blog - sailingnightwatch

  Our first yard job after buying the boat had one big surprise that almost gave me buyer’s remorse.  After the boat was out of the water for a couple days blisters started showing up.  Not a few, but millions…, billions.  Like in stars.  They were almost all surface blisters with the largest, numbering less than 100, that were the size of a quarter.   Blisters scare me.  Especially when you have fuel and water tanks that are part of the hull.  This was also the same time I was going through the survey fun and games.  I had 2 surveyors and the local blister expert look at the worst of them and as a group they thought the many were nothing more than surface blisters and after grinding out 2 or 3 of the worst, found they were about a ¼” deep and not very wide before hitting dry glass.  They were right, the surface blisters sanded away and have not been seen since.  I had my contractors do $500 worth of bad blister repair every time we were pulled from the water.  3 bottom jobs later and no more large blisters.  During hurricane repairs we were out of the water for over 6 months.  We had about a dozen of the quarter size show up as the boat dried out and we took care of them.   Again, having a 1”+ hull is not a bad thing.

 I have been chastised by several who know us for not showing our  Christmas decorations on the blog.  Here they are; the saloon, the aft stateroom.  These are not all the same year, but our decorations change little from year to year.  This is all my wife’s work and I only have the pleasure of living in this festive atmosphere.    

 For the outside we string lights from the mizzen boom to the top of the mizzen mast up to the top of the main mast and down to the front of the bow pulpit.  We used to also string icicle lights around the hand rails.  Where we are moored now does not have the amperage to carry those lights without tripping the circuit breaker.  

 70 degrees, wind north at 15 knots, bluest blue, etc.  That was Saturday.  Sunday forecast the same.  There is always a lesson to be learned about the weather.  I believe it is “when nice, go now”.  Groceries got bought, laundry got done, some minor varnish work on the inside.  Some sitting out on the swing on the dock, enjoying the day.  No sailing.

 Sunday comes, we do good and go to early service, get home to maybe 5 knots at best and decide to have a brunch before going out.  We clear the canals about 11:30 and there are cat paws, period.  Not good, but what can you do. 

 I had bought a new TV antenna for our HDTV we got a few months back.  We have cable at the pier, but wanted to get good reception when anchored out.  At the pier with the antenna, the TV can find about 16 HD or Digital off air channels.  We can only see about 1/3 of them because of buildings etc being in the way.  Since we were going to play trawler, we motored across the sound and stopped and played with the TV.  We could pick up all channels super good.  I shifted the antenna from digital to UHF/VHF to try to pick up the local Fox channel off air.  It’s transmitter is about 50 miles away and is the weakest of the networks.  Could not pick it up.  Now to me this is not a problem, but the wife is a political junkie big time.  Thank goodness we are having a new granddaughter late spring beecause after the election, after 2 years of campaigns, my poor wife will suffer from major withdrawal.  Maybe Doctor Drew will start up a new reality show for political junkies like the one he has for druggies.  We then motored about 10 miles west towards what is called “Antenna Hill”, which is the transmitter site for all the TV stations between Pensacola and Mobile.  No additional stations, but clear and sharp even as we drifted around.  We got something done.  We motored back.  The engine needed to be ran and a thorough warmed up.