Second day off

I was planning on grinding and patching the last deck hole today and patching the few remaining screw holes, but it's just a bit too hot, so I decided to take the day off. It's only the second day I've taken off since I moved onto the boat on 30 April, so I don't feel too bad about it. Of course, there's no such thing as a day off when you're singlehanding.

Anyway, I'll probably do the touch-ups to the bottom paint this evening, and may still grind out the hole and fill some of the holes once it cools off, but it's over 100 on deck right now (that's under the cover -- think it's actually only 85 or so in the shade, but it's 90 in the cabin where I'm typing this.) and that's just too hot. I tried to work in that before and got sick from it a few weeks ago, so I'm not even going to try today.

I've only got a few days of work left, and there's really no hurry. I'd like to get in before the 4th of July, but may have to wait. I'll talk to the guys at Coneys next week and see when they can put me in. All I plan to do is fill the remaining holes, paint the deck, then remount everything. I may also try to replace the partitions in the cockpit lockers, but we'll see how it goes. I'm anxious to get out of here. The biggest problem will be trying to remount some of the hardware. I'll probably end up having to hire one of the guys in the yard for a hour of two -- at only about $100 an hour, ouch...

Btw, I think I'd like to get my 6-pack Captain's license, Charter Boat Captain - OUPV (Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels), but will need 360 days of underway experience before I qualify. I think I also need to either take a course or pass the deck exam (still looking into it, but have started studying the deck exam material anyway -- mainly the "rules of the road" section since I'll need to know that anyway). That's what I'm doing to stay busy today, aside from this post, while I'm waiting for it to cool off.

The exam shouldn't be a problem, but the 360 days will be the tough part. Each "day" must include at least 8 hours underway, i.e., not moored, at anchor, tied up at the dock, or grounded. So a day sail of less that 8 hours doesn't count. However, if you stand 12 watches, you can get 1 1/2 days per day, so as a singlehander, I should be able to do that when I'm out overnight.

You also need to have 90 days in the last year in a particular category, i.e., coastal in my case. But coastal only goes out to 100 miles. That means that on a trip to Bermuda, I could only count the first and last days of each crossing, but hopefully, that's only for the coastal part. I think I can still count the other days toward the 360. The rules are a little fuzzy, so I may need to ask someone once I get close. Right now, I just want to make sure I know how to stay out of trouble.

Zoe update:

Seems that almost everyone is more interested in what Zoe's been up to, so I'll try to include a Zoe update in all my postings from now on. Zoe's hanging out in the shade under the boat today. That's where she stays most of the time during the day when I'm working. She likes to dig a little hole and sleep in it. Guess she stays cooler that way.

I gave her another trim last week and ended up throwing away a ball of hair about 8 inches in diameter. Her hair seems to be the thickest around her neck, so once I'd finished trimming her, she looked a lot different and 10 years younger (in dog years). I may trim her again, but she doesn't like it much and it's not too much fun for me either.

She still loves to go to the local bar/restaurant down the street, so we dropped by for a little while on Friday night. Didn't want to stay too long, since it gets a little dangerous for her when it gets crowded, but everyone likes her and she loves the attention -- she loves the treats too.

I normally bring her up on deck once it's cooled off enough and she's had her walk. The boat's covered, but there's an opening at the peak of the bow where she can stick her head out and keep watch. She'd stay there all night if I'd let her. She got really excited a few days ago when a raccoon wondered into the yard. Not sure what attracts them, but we get something every night and Zoe starts paying attention around sundown. There's a family of rabbits about 50 in front of the boat, so she's always watching for them.

Still not sure what she was chasing the other night when she got out, but it might have been the raccoon -- they normally try to entice pursuers to follow them into the water, but they probably didn't realize Zoe was such a good swimmer. I'll save her swimming story for next time.