{"id":4455,"date":"2015-05-02T11:47:52","date_gmt":"2015-05-02T11:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=4455"},"modified":"2023-09-05T19:28:44","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T00:28:44","slug":"departure-soon-but-first-a-few-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=4455","title":{"rendered":"Departure, soon. But first, a few projects…"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s Saturday morning and we have officially owned our new boat, Pandora for two days.\u00a0 Yesterday, I took her from the dock for the first time.\u00a0 I have to say that I was nervous and wasn\u2019t very confident about how she would react to the helm and propeller and being alone didn’t make me feel any more certain. Fortunately, the instruments and software on the plotter are nearly identical to our last boat, which made it easier.<\/span><\/p>\n

I did have someone cast my lines off from the dock and I was also thankful that there was only a slight breeze and current.\u00a0 Oh yeah, I used the bow thruster.\u00a0 Pretty neat.\u00a0 Actually, a lot of problems can be cured with that little baby.\u00a0\u00a0 I am sure that I\u2019ll learn to work it fairly quickly but for now I am unsure, at best.<\/p>\n

I was moving over to another yard, a \u201cworking\u201d yard nearby with \u201cworking\u201d being code for pretty rough.\u00a0 However, Joe the welder, perhaps the owner, not sure, at the yard does very good work and seems reasonably priced.\u00a0 The plan is to have him put on a new set of custom stainless davits so I can pull the dink up and also have a spot to mount some additional solar.\u00a0 It was a very tight squeeze to get the boat into the slip stern in.\u00a0 However, Joe and some others met me and helped guide me in.<\/p>\n

With the thruster it was pretty easy.\u00a0 I can see why \u201ctraditionalists\u201d scoff at thrusters.\u00a0 However, I was in no mood to put a scratch on my new boat.\u00a0 Mission accomplished.\u00a0 To be clear, that\u2019s on a successful docking, not scratching.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Pandora in her temporary home.\u00a0 Tight?\u00a0 Yup.\u00a0 Davits to come.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>Yes, the cockpit is trashed. \u00a0In order to weld onto the arch we had to remove all the wiring, lest it melt from the heat of the welding. Let me tell you, removing all the wires from the arch and replacing them with wire messengers was no simple task. \u00a0However, by the end of the day, all was ready. \u00a0Now, they have to build the davits. \u00a0I am told that they will have everything done by this evening. \u00a0 I sure hope so as my crew arrives tomorrow morning. \u00a0 What a mess. \u00a0Well, at least I now have nice clean stern lockers. \u00a0There must be a half mile of spare lines in the starboard locker. \u00a0And, four fuel cans and plenty of other stuff in the port one. \u00a0Unfortunately, some of that “stuff” leaked out in the starboard locker so there was a nasty oily mess to clean up. \u00a0Good news, it’s clean now.<\/p>\n

As is the case at most shops that I have seen in FL, the fabrication area is outside here. \u00a0It looks chaotic but they do very nice work here. \u00a0Note the welder’s clothing. \u00a0The locals that work outside take sun exposure very seriously and cover up every part of their body. \u00a0Tourists could learn a thing or two from them. \u00a0 They say that “there’s no such thing as a good tan”. \u00a0 With my yearly derm visit, I have to agree.
\n\"\"<\/a>A show of another “local” a young manatee napping near Pandora. \u00a0Cute in a sort of nasty way.\"\"<\/a>For such a populated area, there is indeed a lot of wildlife. \u00a0This heron was looking for a hand out. \u00a0“Did someone say bait? \u00a0I’ll take a dozen.”<\/span>\"\"<\/a>My friend Carl, an ex SAGA 43 owner, who lives nearby, stopped to see the new boat a few days ago and took me out to run errands. \u00a0Along the way we stopped at a marine consignment shop. \u00a0Actually, this was the marine consignment shop to end all marine consignment shops. \u00a0While most shops I have visited have a lot of used equipment (reads junk), this one had mostly new “extra” stuff from boat builders and suppliers, left over from changed models or perhaps places that have gone out of business.<\/p>\n

Anyway, imagine “used” marine equipment that would fill a small Walmart. \u00a0A ton of stuff. \u00a0The first thing you see as you enter the parking lot is hundreds of bimini frames, center console stations and dozens of huge fuel tanks all stacked up in rows. \u00a0 And, they are all unused and look brand new. \u00a0I would expect that it would be a lot less expensive to have something modified to fit a boat from one of these as opposed to building one from scratch. \u00a0Take your pick.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>Need some instruments to put in that nice, shiny, and new center console boats<\/span><\/a>? \u00a0 Take your pick…from hundreds, all new.\"\"<\/a>Don’t want to drill all those holes? \u00a0How about a full panel system? \u00a0Yeah, they have em.\"\"<\/a>How about a propeller to round things out?\"\"<\/a>Electrical panels? \u00a0Hmm… so hard to choose.\"\"<\/a>I wish that I had known about this before I bought my new muffler the other day. Alas, they didn’t have one that would have fit. I checked, of course, while I was there just to torture myself. \u00a0\"\"<\/a>Of course, you need shade. \u00a0Bimini anyone? \u00a0Water tanks? \u00a0The list goes on and on… \u00a0That’s my friend Carl. \u00a0He was hard at work choosing and he doesn’t even own a boat. \u00a0But, perhaps he can make one from spare parts. \u00a0So many choices. \u00a0 \u00a0\"\"<\/a>I have no idea what was on this row. \u00a0However, I am sure that it would all come in handy. \u00a0 \u00a0\"\"<\/a>Anyway, you get the picture. \u00a0This place is sort of the guy version of a shoe outlet. \u00a0“Oh honey, wouldn’t this pair of speedos look perfect aboard?” \u00a0“Whatever… “<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, I guess that’s enough for now. \u00a0I think I have made my point.<\/p>\n

Let’s hope that all goes well as there is a LOT that has to go well today to keep everything on schedule.<\/p>\n

Oh yeah, the title “Departure soon…” \u00a0I put that in to remind myself that time’s short and crew arrives tomorrow. \u00a0Yikes…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s Saturday morning and we have officially owned our new boat, Pandora for two days.\u00a0 Yesterday, I took her from the dock for the first time.\u00a0 I have to say that I was nervous and wasn\u2019t very confident about how she would react to the helm and propeller and being alone didn’t make me feel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4455"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13491,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4455\/revisions\/13491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}