NautaBytes

 The electrical situation aboard Dulcinea was pretty sad.  it was one of those things that gradually got added to over the course 37 years. Very much like a house that gets modified over the course of many years.  It started out bad, then just got worse.  The FIRST problem was the location of the electrical panels....  This is the aft bulkhead, right next to the galley.  there weren't enough switches, so you had about 4 or 5 items on one switch in some cases. The Fuel gauge and engine hour meter?  see those round dials WAAAAAY to the right in this picture?  That's them!  the only way to read them was to get on your toes, bend over the top of the stove and use a flashlight.... Oh! and the AC breakers?  well, make that singular - Breaker!  all of the outlets, including the refrigerator were on the same breaker.... not good.  But I digress, I was talking about the location.... Why is it bad?  well, that is because of wha...

 My forward port side port (the Nautical word for window) leaked like a sieve when it rained. And this is Washington State.... it rains a LOT here, so this was a BAD thing.   Here is what I collected after a couple of days of rain... And that was just the water that leaked into the cabin.... heaven only knows how much was leaking within the bulkhead (that's Nautical for wall).... So Saturday was one of the nicest days we have had on record here this year, and instead of going out for a sail, I figured it was the best time to tackle the leaky port issue.  I was really worried (as usual) about doing this, wondering if I was going to bite off more than I can chew, and (as usual) it turned out to not be as big a deal as I was making it out to be. After removing the screws holding on the interior trim ring and removing it, I had to cut through the (Gallons) of 4200 and clear Silicone sealant that was holding it in.  Fortunately, I had a paint scraper atta...

 When I redesigned the Navigation Station it reduced the storage available under the desktop.  Now I found that the Items I kept under there before just didn't fit now.  Besides, I always hated lifting the desktop to rummage around and find the chart I wanted.  I needed a way to keep my charts outside of the desk, easily accessible, but not in the way. Enter Office Depot.  They had these wall pockets (a set of 3) on sale for less that $20, and I figured they would fill the bill.  I mean, the Nav station is my office in the boat... right? These are REALLY easy to install.... first, figure out where you want it to hang... Mark and drill the 2 holes needed, then take some stainless steel screws the right length and screw them in, until they are about 1/8 inch out. After hanging the first set, I found that they rattled a bit, because the bottoms are not screwed in.  No problem though.  I just use my favorite all purpose stuff fo...

I left as early as I could from James Island, but I had to wait for the Fog to clear enough that it would be safe. I was finally able to leave about 10:30 or so. Just about week out... time to get more Ice!  I did have a mission to accomplish along the way... remember when I paid for that Ice in La Conner, but forgot to get it from the machine?  Well I was getting low on Ice and I knew what I had wouldn't last a week, no matter how nice this cooler is (the Ice I started with lasted for 6 days, and I still had about a quarter to half of that left... not too bad!).  So I had to make a stop along the way to Blakely Island general Store and Marina to get some more.  It wasn't too far out of the way to Clark Island which was the next stop on the tour...It was a really nice store, and the dock made it easy to get to...  I was a little shocked when someone on the power boat ahead of me on the dock said they were impressed that I could Dock Dulcinea so smoothl...