'Dis an' 'dat...

This is my book report on our Saturday, Jan 19th. A fairly typical day, actually.

I have been putting an hour or so into sorting out the wiring mess on our boat, when I get the chance. I can only spend about an hour at a time on it, starting in a position that looks like this:



I guess this is my version of an inversion table. Or conversion fable... As I usually end up with both feet in the air jammed way up into the console to the point of claustrophobia. My old bald head is showing some scars from it, too.

Isn't it funny how easy it is to wriggle your way into a situation until you get to the point where you suddenly want OUT and it's not so easy to suddenly reverse all the moves you went through for the past 30 minutes?

The wiring, well, its actually getting better. I don't have a wide angle lens to get it all in one photo, but this is about a fourth of the mess:



If I put three more similar photos together into a mosaic, well, you might have an idea how we got this boat back. The black gummy stuff on the white wires is still tape residue. It's a real sore spot with me.

As for sorting it all out..you tell me which one is the float switch, the trim tabs, the jack plate, the lights, livewell, washdown, and bilge pumps....tilt motors, etc. There are no labels. No manuals. It's a real handy thing I had a career that prepared me for this life of leisure in the Land of Makedoo. I still need to learn how to weld aluminum and mild steel, though.

I never realized such a simple little boat could have so many wires in it. And the boatyard left them in an almost indescipherable tangle. But I am working my way through it, tracing circuits, untangling, unplugging, securing, bundling...all in all a really fun way to spend some quality time with one's boat. I think La Gringa calls it "bonding". It's actually starting to make some sense. But I can only bend this fat, old, crippled body in these contortions for a limited time. Then I need a break.

So after quitting on the boat for the day, we made a run out to the house site to see how much the crew got done on the driveway(s). Ten truckloads of fill have been ordered, and it looks like a fair amount of it has been delivered. The slope to the garage now looks like this:



That spot on the roof of the garage is where we are considering a Tiki Bar, by the way. There is some massive driftwood around, and I am starting to think of some creative joinery techniques to make a solid, whimsical but appropriate structure up there. Whatever we do, it will be very very visible. And it will have a killer view of the sunsets.

The crew typically knocks off at noon on Saturdays, so that's going to be it for progress until Monday. La Gringa is taking a friend out today to show her the house, so if there is anything new she will take some photos. About all I can think of would be if the cabinet man decided to put some time in. He actually delivered several of the base pieces already. They generally look like this:



Of course they still need to be installed, and a Corian-copy granite looking top attached.

We were quite happy to see that the huge pile of rubble and building materials blocking the driveway at the top have been hauled away. We are beginning to see what we will have to deal with after the preliminary construction phase is done:



The property line runs about another 20 to 30 feet to the right of that vertical cut. As you can see, the hill top is pretty much solid rock. I assume it will look a lot better once the portable toilet is gone, too.

On the other side of the garage, where the ten foot wide door is located:



Completing this driveway is a "Phase II" sort of deal, but we need enough fill at the doorway so that someone doesn't fall out of there and break their neck. Before the building inspector comes by, anyhow.

Eventually this will be a way to drive straight through the garage from either side. Wide enough on this end to pull a boat trailer inside, should someone somehow someday need to work on a boat trailer in their garage. Hey, stranger things have happened.

After my morning buried in a boat console, and a long dusty trip out to the house and back, La Gringa, her kid Curly, and I decided to check out what was happening at the Tiki Hut, since we knew there was a small wahoo fishing tournament on today. We timed a late lunch so that we would be there during the 3:00 weigh-in. The weather was rough, and the fishing has been slow lately. There still were about a dozen wahoo entered at the weigh-in:

It might have been more than that, as I can see five of them in this photo alone:

Actually, looking at the photo, the second one from the left on the ground is the dolphin.

A number of fishermen with catches walked up to look at what was already entered, and didn't bother bringing their fish up to be weighed since they knew they were not bigger than what was already there.

But there seemed to be a pretty happy bunch of contestants, win or lose. Some of the team boats ( Team Donzi, Fountain, etc.) were manned by some pretty cheerful people:



And they made it back to the Tiki Hut in plenty of time for happy hour:

(and NO the blurred photo is NOT due to the daily specials. It was the flash on the camera being turned off. Honest)

And if you think the Team Fountain guys were pretty colorful, you might appreciate some of the winning team members' photo. They did not have the bright matching t-shirts, but brought their own brand of color to the contest:

And the winning wahoo was this 55.7 pound entry. It's the one with the open mouth in the foreground:

He wasn't as long as some of the others, but was a very thick fish. I kept wondering.....If I picked him up and shook him, would some diving weights fall out?

I am joking, of course. They won fair and square. Second place was a little over 50 lbs. There did not appear to be any tuna caught, but there was one bull dolphin in the contest. That was good for a cash prize as well.