Grandson Weekend

Ah yes, trying to make him into a future sailor. Being almost 5 now he is so much more fun to have around the boat as he is always wanting to help in what ever we do. Saturday morning was wash day for the boat and as usually he wanted to hose. He almost got our neighbor Bob wet as he got a little carried away in seeing how far the water could squirt. Friday we had to go up the White River in a dingy trip as he got to help run the motor and steer. Glad no one was in the way as there was no such thing as going in a straight line with Jay driving. We had a full day of swimming as he is now finding out that his new life jacket will hold him a float.

Saturday we ended up going out to Lake Michigan and anchoring and swimming. Water was 65 degrees , a bit on the chilly side. But we managed for a while then returned back to White Lake and anchored where it was 78 in the water. Both Jay and grandpa were tired after hours in the water.









Later that night there was a going away party for some friends Dean & Katie that use to have a boat on our dock as they are moving to follow Deans job. They will be surely missed on the dock by all. Sunday was a busy day as well as more swimming and dinging around White Lake as the winds were around 25 kts most of the day.
Sunday was also a day Grandma took him up to a local shopping place that everyone loves. He hit the jackpot with her as he came back with new toys and a new sweat shirt.

New shelf

We finally got the hardware made from a friend of ours that does stainless work who we had do it for the shelf. I am not so sure that it might be to high as Jeannie will need to see it yet. I do know it will help with storage and it is very solid as it will be something we all hang onto if weather is ruff.

The weather here in Whitehall has been very hot and humid 96 yesterday and 90 % humidity. Makes for a bad night of sleeping if no a/c. Hey but real sailors don't have a/c or do they? Carp are spawning also as they were thumping the boat all night and you can hear them splashing all over the place.
Next project will be wiring up the SSB as all the hardware is in but needs finished wiring.

More Power

As one knows that being on the hook will require more power. Hopefully we have done our home work as adding the Kiss wind generator and 3 - 80 watt solar panels that it will keep our batteries topped up with out to much of running the diesel. I was hoping to get the systems all installed this summer as it will give me a full summer to get things tweaked as I know they will need it.

One of the things that help the most is understanding how everything works on board and how to repair or trouble shoot the system if they develop trouble. It is not if but when as we all know over time it will happen. Right now I am spoiled by being in fresh water. Once into the salt air and water, things will change for sure.

Making Changes to MutualFun

Over the winter plans were made to make a few upgrades to MutualFun. Over a year ago we acquired a few pieces of corian from friends Jim and Jane. We took the pieces and redid our galley in given it a new look that we both love now. As you will see the work that was required to do the project was intense and interesting. Also we decided we needed a freezer space as well and incorporated a regular freezer now along with a frig side.

We use to just have a regular frig with a tiny space for a few frozen items that would have to be eaten soon within a week as it would never really freeze well enough. Now we store so much more and are glad we made the choice to do it.

Being on a boat one has to make do with what is around them and what they can find. Here is one picture you will see that weight was needed to hold down the galley sink while silicone dried over night. As well in a different picture, storage and space is hard to come bay as when working in a boat things get shoved from one place to the other or where ever you can put them. I was just glad we were not living on it yet.

We are almost done as the last picture shows the galley before our over the sink shelf will be installed. It looks so much better and cleaner.