Projects have been in full force this week. Or at least as full force as we can make them while we wait for suppliers who function on Caribbean Maybe Time. Monday was yet another holiday in Cartagena so no stores were open. Tuesday, Bill managed to borrow a jigsaw from another boater so he made a huge leap forward in the building of the benches. Our benches that we had made in the Dominican Republic were rusting through and I refused to paint the deck until all rusting items were replaced with nonrusting items. Earlier in the year, we obtained a quote from a local to rebuild the benches using aluminum. When the quote came in at just under $2000.00, we almost choked! Bill then put on his thinking cap and figured out we could reuse the galvanized grate from the current benches (does not rust) and build new frames for the bench out of teak which would outlast both of us. He located a lumber store and we purchased all the teak for just under $150.00! Next came the challenge of woodworking power tools. Bill called my dad, the wood worker, to bounce ideas of what would be the easiest way to build a bench with limited tools. Next step was to purchase a jigsaw from the Home Center. On the first cut of the teak, Bill realized the jigsaw we had purchased was not going to be powerful enough to get the job done. So, he resorted to using the Sawzall which is a tool with little to no finesse. The Sawzall is a killing machine. If you need something demolished, you choose the Sawzall. If you want to build a bench, you do not choose the Sawzall. Once again, boat life choices are based on necessity and what is available at the time. As I sat on the piece of wood to hold it as still as possible, ear plugs in place, Bill began whacking away with the Sawzall. I felt like I was in the fat burning shaking machine from the 1950s! I quit before the Sawzall did. The next day, we spotted the wood worker who had done our galley in the fall. We flagged him down and asked if he could cut the wood pieces for us. He generously took the pieces over night and brought back beautifully cut wood the next day…at no charge! Much easier than the Sawzall. Which leads us back to Tuesday when Bill borrowed a heavy duty jigsaw to finish the job. From that point on, the job went smoothly and one bench is completed! We forecast that the next bench will go much more smoothly and should be done in only a few days.
Our most exciting (to us!) project of the week is pulling down the rusted bimini/solar panel structure that covers the entire back deck. As I was removing screws, the posts were literally falling apart onto my head and black water poured onto the deck. I am not sure how it is still standing but we are replacing just in time! We are replacing the rotted posts with fiberglass posts so no more rust! Bill had them cut to size so it was time to assemble. He decided to tie the old bimini to the boom (holds the bottom of the sail) so we could just cut out the existing structure, install the new structure and secure the solar panels. Always sounds good on paper. As spaghetti arms Sally tried to hold the new crossbeam in place, Bill lifted the old structure and attempted to slide the crossbeam on to the top of the vertical post. Not an easy task when the old structure weighs 100 pounds and Bill could only use one arm to lift. And let’s face it, I was not exactly stellar help! After several tries, some Sally whining and a couple of blows with a hammer, section one was in place. When we started our project again the next day, things did not go well. For every piece we got installed, two pieces would come crashing down. In the end, Bill ended up using the trusty Sawzall to demo the old bimini. So, tomorrow, will be reconstruction with zero shade on the back deck…not going to be a fun day tomorrow! During our down time, we have been gathering a couple of quotes for painting the deck. In order to paint the deck, we will need to relocate to a working marina and move off the boat while the work is being done. I began looking for apartments in the area with air conditioning and a swimming pool which is the only way I am going to survive another summer in Cartegena! Month long rentals in Cartegena are difficult to find as most places are nightly rentals for the tourists. When our foreman who has been overseeing all our boat projects came to discuss the deck painting, the conversation was very interesting. First, he speaks no English and my Spanglish does not cover construction words. He is a madman on Google Translate. He pushes the microphone button and talks on and on into the phone for at least two minutes. Then, one or two sentences show up for me to read or listen to and they rarely make much sense. It took us ten minutes to convince him that we did not need the bottom of the boat painted. Just the deck. Then, he moved onto doing the teak and the deck. We don’t need teak, just the deck. Then, he moved onto doing the teak for “free”, doing the deck and painting the top of the boat from the waterline to the deck. I would like to say this type of negotiation was unusual for him but this is how all of our negotiations have gone. By the time we finished, we had settled on teak for “free”, strip old paint off deck, repair any damaged areas, prime, paint and marina slip cost included. He also said he was going to find us a place to live with a swimming pool. Can’t wait to see this quote. Whatever he comes up with, all I have to do is stare at him blankly and he immediately cuts it by 25% and then we usually settle at the 50% cut point. Another guy who we did not know also came to give us a quote. He was very quiet and reserved, spoke no English, nodded a lot and left. Since the boat currently looks like a bomb went off, I’ll be surprised if we hear from him again. Wish us luck this week with getting our shade restored! Happy Mother’s Day to all! ***No blog next two weeks....I'll be on a cruise with my daughter! Happy Mother's week to me!
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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