Charles W. Moore

Slowly, ever so slowly

Slowly, ever so slowly we are settling into our new routine. This boat has been disruptive in reality and we entered into it with rose colored glasses. The process of buying the boat took on a life of its own. I have to give the broker credit for helping us out with the later stages of the process but he definitely represented the seller. Do not use the surveyor we used. Somehow we always get the ones that are more of insurance surveyors than detailed surveyors representing the buyer.

Now we have a boat that needs a lot of work we are attacking the project and may never get out of port in the next three years. I guess that is ok as long as we are enjoying ourselves. We are in the RV right now as Inspiration II is in Holland Marine shipyard where we have spent multiple thousands of dollars for deck work, new prop shaft, reconditioned prop and dripless seal. Most of this was done to improve value and reliability. What other hammers will fall remains to be seen but as the wife says “Its a boat”. We did work on the deck rigging and got the Whisker Pole to function properly so it was one sucess for today – yea!

We had sweet potatoes and beef for dinner tonight and fixed it in the clubhouse. Pretty good food thanks to SAM. It has been unseasonably cold here with frost or freezing temperatures almost every night. Our little electric heater in the RV tries valiantly to stave off the night time temperatures but to no avail. It gets cold inside by 0700 hrs – the time of maximum coldness.

Moore later.

Florida & The Boat

We are in Florida now and working constantly on the boat. Everything we touch seems to need work. It is sort of discouraging and definitely postponing our launch. At present rate it will be January before we hit the water. I am so glad we have the RV here to live in and do not have to be in a motel!

I have been suffering from allergies or something that causes chest congestion. I have been taking benedryl morning, noon and night but it helps only marginally. I went to a doctor the other day and he had me get a chest xray but I have not heard the results yet. I will call tomorrow.

A Day on the Road

I awoke at 0400 to the howl of Coyotes: One was the long howl like a wolf and there were many yipe of happy Coyotes. The only issue is they were immediately behind the house just down the hill. Almost the same spot as Abby goes morning, noon and night. This means I can no longer put her out after dark for fear of Coyotes. This is the very first time they have come so close to the house.

We puttered around the house but got on the road at about 0715 and arrived in Knoxville at 1730. There was an hour delay as two lanes merged into one on I-75 in Kentucky. I would use I-65, as bumpy as it is, and then join I-75 just North of Dalton, GA. We are now trying to decide whether to go via I-75 to Atlanta or I-40S to I-26S but I am favoring I-75 to I-10E. It is a little shorter and at least 30-40 minutes faster.

As I write, we are in the Quality Inn in North Knoxville. The internet is good, Price is $53 plus tax and the breakfast is good too. Pets are $10 a night. It is not the cleanest place but good value. Anyway, we are on the way to the boat and found a house guest so guard our place. Moore later.

Thanksgiving 2014

We started festivities the evening before with a good meal at my sisters house. My brothers and sisters were there as well as a nephew and his children plus niece with her boyfriend. The played cards and I tried to stay far away from that but had a good time talking with family not playing cards. The food was good and lots of it so everything was great.

Today, at our house, we hosted the dinner and just before that Jess called in and we all took turns chatting. While doing that Brandon called in too. While all the talking was going on I said the prayer and feeding frenzy began which last for an hour or so. Abruptly the party was over about 1330 and the guests melted away. There was snow and slipery roads coming so everyone wanted to get to their next destination before dark and the roads became worse. It was pretty silent for a while but SIL cut our hair so that added a little noise to the house. Later we took out the voluminous garbage and tried to make the house shipshape.

Now I even have time to write in this diary that I am not too faithful in maintaining. I have had this blog for over a decade and it seems a shame to let it go even though I have two more that I write in fairly often. These two are of a nautical bend and so I get to those almost every day. Night everyone & Moore Later.

Numbing Cold

This morning as I was getting ready for the hotel distribution I looked at the thermometer 9°F @ 15.4MPH winds = -8°F wind chill. I believe it as it was cold, cold cold. South Buffalo is getting 4-6″ per hour of snow with projected amount of 72″ over a 36 hour period. The Florida area we keep the boat is expecting a 23°F temperature for a period exceeding 5 hours. This sounds like a repeat of last winter only worse.

Bitter Cold in NE Indiana

Current temperature is 12°F and winds exceeding 11.4 MPH brings us to a wind chill of -2°F. There is about 1″ of snow on the ground and country roads are slick and hazardous. We had to go out to a meeting tonight but it was not the best night to go out.

I worked with Fred B today on his computers doing as Fred calls it a “tune up” . That is a pretty apt description. Still it took over 6 hours to get a handle on things.

AAOG 50th Anniversary

Today was the 50th anniversary of the founding of Angola Assembly of God. The celebration broght many people we have not seen for years or decades. We enjoyed it immensely. All the former senior pastors were present and had a chance to participate and all this was followed by a luncheon. We left about 1430 hrs and there were still people in attendance. The church WiFi system did not handle all the traffic too well. It was trunked out most of the time. I noticed a little behavior that was sort of strange but when everyone left everything returned to normal; however, I will keep my eye on this behavior when the crowds get large. Our church brother Dusty Alloway passed in his sleep last Friday night and it has saddened the whole congregation. Everyone takes comfort in the fact that we know where Dusty is right now. Condolences to the family.

I still have a lot of Fall chores that need to be done but I am not sure they will be performed due to the cold weather. I cannot change oil too well when it is so cold unless I use the torpedo heater to warm up the engines. However, if it gets above 40°F then I will try to start the machines that are too warm blooded to warm the oil and change filters and disconnect batteries. Finally add the fuel stabilizer and that one task is done.

We did get the new 100A power added to the new ham shack and I cannot wait until Spring to do the inside framing and electrical wiring. A lot of my remaining time will be spent tuning up computers for people and I have several requests pending. ONe can only do so much in any given day. Bye for now.

Cold weather is here

Cold winter weather has hit Pleasant Lake. It is currently 23°F and it was snowing all afternoon and into the evening. The snow is lake effect snow and in this case it is spotty and light. There was enough snow to lightly cover the ground and all of the floor of the woods. This is supposed to continue throughout the night. The rest of the week looks like deep winter temperatures too. I am sure glad we did the leaves Tuesday. So far this is 13 loads of the compacted mulched leaves that were sort of wet. Now I know I should have drained the oil in both machines but who knew then? I sure hope it gets warmer so I can start the tractor and the vacuum to warm them up so I can drain the oil.

Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching and a couple of days later ends our Fall season IN PL. We are hopeful that the family shows up and keeps up the traditions started by our Grandfather Lyons and perpetuated by Mom & Aunts through to us kids. This is a nice legacy we can leave our kids as to family and traditions. In these topsy-turvy days, special interest groups to which we USA people belong seem to be taking priority over family and this is too bad.

I attended the KANQ Aviation Board meeting on Tuesday. This one was well attended and now I know for sure that when a meeting is well attended there will be some kind of fire. This meeting was no exception. One group wants the terminal building restrooms and one meeting room open to them. The other group uses every thread of an excuse to keep it a closed building. All so childish I think. It certainy does the community or the airport any good to perpetuate such behavior by not finding a compromise.

Oh well, that is enough grousing for tonight.

Florida & Return Summary

After getting the truck fixed we sort of gingerly made our way to Jacksonville & the boat. Upon arrive we tookup post at the site where our boat used to be and camped all night. In the morning we went to the Dockmaster and told him what we had done and that we liked the spot so he told us to stay there until a decision could be made. The next 12 days rapidly passed and each day was filled with restacking the storage facility, loading the boat, cleaning the boat and checking things out about our new home. Everwhere we touched we found things that needed repair and nothing was really as presented to us. We sold the dingy for $50 sans title and anything else and we were glad to get rid of it. The dingy was way to heavy for the davits and was an accident waiting to happen at sea. On the day of departure we arose at 0430 and purposefully prepared to wrap up the camping, stow the water and power lines, lower to top and put the truck in its designated parking place. After that we went to the clubhouse about 0600 for breakfast and left the marina at 0645 northward bound via I-10 and I-75 towards Knoxville.

One of the things we learned was that a dingy without a title cannot be registered and if it is not registered you cannot use any kind of a motor on it – period. So if the 2HP outboard is to be activated we need to find a dingy with a title. I will have to ask Jerry if his has a title. I will try to do this soon. Another thing we learned is that “The Works” toilet bowl cleaner does indeed clean off rust spots on the hull. SAM did the whole waterline and it is beautiful. Another thing we learned is that we are not as adverse to Cetol and varnish as we thought we were and immediately made plans to strip remaining varnish/Cetorl that is on the under siide of the rub rail.

My eye was bothering me so today I went to the doctor’s office to have him look at it. He thought it would be an easy fix and gave me some steroid drops to be used 4x per day for a week and then only twice per day for the remainder of three weeks. When I got back home I ate some lunch and took a brief nod of the head and went outside to do the leaves. About 1700 we had picked up 5 mulched loads of heavy damp leaves from the lower land and 5 loads of partially mulched leaves fro the top: Everything looks good now and we are ready for the coming rain and snow.

We are slowly accumulating things for the next trip and it too will be a full overload again.

Truck w Camper fail

We were pulling the car dolly behind the Camper and experienced a brake failure. Fortunately the vehicle was stopped and we were at our hotel in Knoxville. After dismounting the car, we took off the car dolly in preparation for the truck being towed about a mile away to a repair shop. A call a few hours later said we could pick up the truck. When we arrived the service deskman said the brake lines were so rusty that the fix came with no warranty. Well, the brakes have worked well every since but is something waiting around the corner? Probably but since it is in its resting spot it should not matter too much.

I just looked up the Latitude of Boca del Toro, Panama and it is about 9°20’±. I was talking with another sailor who said he may go down there this winter season and stay there to avoid the hurricane season a bit farther to the north. What fun that would be – perhaps winter of 2016 for us.

We have been very busy and need to write more.