Swim platform V1

Good after noon to all, things or looking up here on the Carrie Michelle. The welder got the swim platform all welded up and the braces or in place.

Swim platform top side

Swim platform with braces in place

Well the swim platform is just about history. I need to remove the bolts and fill the holes with 52oo and reinstall the bolts. Now that is all done I need to find some 3/8 stainless plate so we can build the motor brackets and then it will be completed and ready to go. So that is it for the swim platform.

The next big thing is to get the gusset installed and fiber glassed in place. That will be a job doing that cause of where you have to work, very tight place to get into. Other then that all is going very well and ahead of the time frame.

Until next posting have a great evening,
Harold

Count down til arirval

Well it is getting closer for Shirley to get here . She should arrive around lunch time on the 6th of February. Wow it's been a long time waiting ,it seems like forever in a day. We both or so excited to be back together and do some of those things we were doing together. The best part she will see things here she has never seen before. So stay tuned to the blog and see where we will be going on the land cruise.

Well today was a fairly good day here at the Carrie Michelle. I got the decals order and it should take about two week to get here. So they say. Also today I got some of the backing done on the swim platform done . The welder call and said he would be here in the morning at seven, we will see. I also measured for a hard top to go on the fly bridge too. That way I will not have worry about the wind tearing up the fabric top and we will also stay dry under it.

Well that is about it for today. I hope y'all have a great evening,
Harold

Dreams do come TRUE

Hello to all that keeps up with this blog.

Is the earth on fire

 Well this is what it looked this morning. It makes you think that the earth is on fire. Well it might be somewhere the way things or going. But leaving all aside that is a beautiful sun rise this morning. Not many mornings like this.

Full moon

This time of the cycle and we were blessed with this shot of the full moon last night. Wow what a picture this has made. Well I guess that is enough of that so lets move on.

Wide open space

 Do you ever wonder how it was way back when. Well I catch myself sitting up on the fly bridge just wonder and day dreaming about what it was like back then. As the picture tell it ,you can see for miles around. Just like on the fly bridge I can see for miles out in the Gulf of Mexico. I sit there wonder how they ever made it across the ocean. You know it was not like today with the gps's, chart plotters, depth sounders, and radar. All they had was the wind and the stars to guide them to the parts of the unknown. If they went down nobody ever found them. So I sit there and just wonder.

Old one room house

As I look at this old house I wonder how they raised five or six kids and still survived in them old days. Most of the old families had a few acres and raised all they ate and traded for the flour and sugar. Hell now days the younger generation can open a can ,put it in the micro wave , or something else they would starve to death. The one thing my mother did was to make sure all her kids could COOK. So for that is a blessing to me, and the same for my kids there mother made sure they could cook too. Just stop and think (as look at the old house while you think about this question ) how did they survive ? They had no running water, electricity, air condensing. nor gas. So how would make it if you were in them shoes today ? So today most of us would starve case we do not know the basic things to survive. That is really sad too.

Fresh water

Fresh water is a must. In my travels I have seen a many of an old house built real close to a creek or river. They have used creeks to keep there food cool and not to spoil.

So it is really amazing how our minds can wonder about different things. I always wish I could have lived back in Daniel Boone days, oh how much better it would have been and not like all the BS that is going on today. So I guess I will keep dreaming about the trip that Shirley and I or about to take on the Carrie Michelle.

Hope y'all all have a blessed evening,
Harold

What a day

Well today was a bad day for me here at the Carrie Michelle. It started out good thru lunch and then here came the problem. I had been working on the galley and the head , going in and out all day and then bam it happen.

Down to the bottom I go

I had been going around this all morning and had no problem with it. then this afternoon I was not watching where I was going and stepped on the plywood and down into the basement of the boat I went. The worst thing about it is I am here by myself and no one to help me out. Well the best thing is I am not hurt except I tore up my little finger on my left hand up.

Little finger

Well the is all that happened to me except I will be real sore for the next few days or so. Other then that all is well and I can still work on her and keep rite on going.

Other then that little episode I am ok and still able to work. Also the welder came by this afternoon and said he would be here Monday morning to start welding on the swim platform. That is wonderful too, that way I know it will be ready when Shirley gets here and it will so easy for her to get into the boat.

Well that is about it for today, y'all have a great eveing and a wonderful weekend,
Harold

Flag Pole Wireing

Good morning to all, what a winter storm we are having across the country. Yesterday we had a cold front blow in with gust from 40 to 50 mph. Wow what the wind has made too. There things scattered all across the boat yard down the street. All is well here thank goodness.

Flag Pole

Well yester day was a all right day I guess. Even I did not get done what all I wanted to, almost did. I almost got the flag pole wired up but I did not, I got six pairs of eight of the wire ran then the front blew in and no more ladder work. So that will be it for a day or two on the flag pole.

Well today I guess I will start working on the gussets and see what I can get done today. I have got one installed and one made up and ready to be installed with two still need to be made. So that will be a days work there and if I have more time then I will start the fiber glassing them.

Until next post have a great day,
Harold

Swimplatform lv

Good morning to all,
Sorry for no post these last few days, but I have been so busy that at the end of the day I come in take my shower, call my Shirley and then go to bed. So that is why there has been no new post.

Another beautiful sun rise

What a sun rise. This is almost an everyday thing here. This is a shot out across gulf. That makes for a great day when you wake up to something this pretty. The only thing that is missing are the birds a singing. Most of the birds here or Sea Gulls and Pelicans.

Not a ripple on the water

Flag Pole

 Well the flag pole is up and in place. I have the anchor light, running light, two spot lights, and the VHF antenna mounted on it. Then the flags will be next. We will fly a flag from each state we stop end.

Transom painted

 Well the swim platform is and transom or finished. The transom has three coats of anti fouling paint on it at $220.00 dollars a gallon. But with the paint, it's like the Fram commercial pay me now or pay me later. The cheaper bottom will wash off and then it's time for a bottom job at a lot more then $200.00 dollars, more like a thousand dollars. So that's why I chose the better paint.

I also got one gusset built and installed in it's place, just three more to go and then fiber glassed in place. So that is about it for this post.

Have a great day,
Harold

Good Day Here

Well good afternoon to all that is keeping up with the Carrie Michelle. Well yesterday and today have been very good days here. When we have day like yesterday and today it makes for a real good week. also it makes me feel good too.

Good Morning

What a Sun Rise

 This is what I woke up to this morning. Wow a picture it made and what a sun rise it was. Sun rises like this makes for a great day. This is the only way to start your day. There is not many day that you see this type of sun raise. This sun rise had about six or seven shades of the pinkish orange to it. What a pisture.

Swim platform

 Well I have got all six braces cut and ground to fit tight. now all I need is for the welder to come and get them welded in place.

You talk about some hard metal that stainless steel is some hard. I have used a hand full of grinding wheels, I think sixteen all together.

Grinding off the old

After getting all the braces done I started grinding off the old bottom paint. It looks like there is four or five coats on the bottom. All the old has to be ground off before it can be recoated with new bottom paint. I am going back with black up to the bottom of the boot stripe. To make it last it will be coated with three coats. The bottom paint is a very costly paint but you need it.

Well that is it for today, I hope all of you have a great evening. Until next posting have a great one,
Harold