Every boat needs a Captain...

We have been remiss to stock the boat with a proper spirit. We decided after over a year of sitting alone out of her natural habitat, Epilogue deserves a full time Captain. Both to protect her when we're gone and welcome us when we return. Alas, we now have the good Captain Morgan on board for those cold, lonley and sometimes stormy nights.

This was Memorial Day Weekend and I had big plans for Epilogue. It rained almost the whole three days we worked. BUT, we did get a ton accomplished and made some key decisions on how we'll finish the decks and house off.

All in a day's work...

Today Dan and I removed and dismantled one of the 8 small deck hatches aboard Epilogue. I decided we should find out how much time it took to remove, dismantle, clean and re-install one. If it took too long, it'd be cheaper to just buy 8 new ones. Well, after 5 minutes and 27 seconds we had it removed and dismantled. So, it's clear it will be much, much cheaper for us to rebuild/refurbish these on our own. In fact, we may go for the giant foredeck hatch which is probably 30"x30" and would cost a fortune to replace.

We'll get Goldfinch Bros. to cut us brand new plexiglass for the 8 small hatches for maybe $20 each and they'll look brand new when we get done cleaning them up.

There is probably 15-20 hours of sanding needed on the decks to take down the high-build epoxy sealer we put down in the fall. Once that's done they'll be just about ready to apply the non-skid paint.

Things are starting to roll, but the more we roll, the more little details we discover have to be taken care of. All in a day's work I guess.

don't swallow fiberglass...

We are in the process of fine tuning the prep work for the final treatment of the house and non-skid deck. This means working out every blemish, gouge, crack and bubble or her decks, hatches and house. While it may look like an enourmous undertaking, it's really just down to the nitty-gritty right now. We've all but selected a non-skid product that will be a very durable, effective, and hopefully attractive alternative to the outrageously expensive cost of laying teak decks down. Not to mention the maintenance, and discomfort of walking on teak decks on a hot day in the Tropics.

This is the part of the process where it pays to leave no stone unturned. As my old painting boss used to say, "A paint job is only as good as the prep work". So here we go. I'll probably hire some folks to help with the sanding down of the epoxy primer coat we have down. That stuff will eat a piece of sandpaper in about 5 seconds. We are also debating using a synthetic teak material to cover the cockpits and foredeck. This stuff, called FlexiTeak, is quite attractive and far less expensive than real teak.

Los versos del Capitan

Laugh at the night, at the day, at the moon, laugh at the twisted streets of the island, laugh at this clumsy boy who loves you, but when I open my eyes and close them, when my steps go, when my steps return, deny me bread, air, light, spring, but never your laughter for I would die

The Barista at my little haunt of a coffee shop said to me one day that he had just picked up a copy of "The Captian's Verses" by Pablo Neruda. It's been months but that title has been hanging around in my head so I went to Powells.com to order me a copy. I've been intrigued with the title for what it may contain about boats, the sea, a life at sea, the beauty and often raw ugliness of life at sea - but certainly not about love, which is really what the book is about.

It even has a hauntingly beautiful picture of a dark and stormy seascape on the cover. Pablo Neruda is widely known for his poems about love, beauty, deisre and suffering. But I really don't know his work at all.

This work, while not at all what I had expected, is beautiful and bittersweet. There are moments when I simply just can't continue to read it because it only expands an already gaping hole(largely of my own making) and causes me to wonder at his subject - which was actually his wife Matilde Urrutia, whom he married in 1955.

Forgive. This has nothing really at all to do with Epilogue, but very much, I suppose, to do with Mercurial Dreams.