Well I got a call to go on a 400 mile trip in the Gulf. I’m bringing Splendid into a slip and taking off on Sunday and will be out of touch for the most part of the week.
I broke down and bought myself a nice bike today. I found a used Schwin Mesa in really good condition in a bike shop for $100. My bike fell apart and just wasn’t worth fixing. I love the new bike though. It is full sized and durable.
I’ve been focusing on my new windvane lately. The whole thing is seized up and needs to be restored. Every allan bolt is horribly frozen and I needed to drill about 50% of them out, and yes, that is after I hit them with a torch. Stainless and aluminum just don’t get along. I’m determined to bring this old Aries back to it’s original glory, and I hope she (Gina) steers Splendid for many, many, many miles. The whole autopilot thing really has me down. I’m sick of installing and fixing my autopilots. I want to get this one to work (Autohelm 6000) and use it as little as possible. I’m also exploring the concept of attaching a small tiller pilot to my windvane.
I did get the wheel drum for the windvane mounted today and made a little video with my cool new flip.
/portals/0/videos/thewheel.wmv
Oh yeah, I was boarded by the coast guard yesterday. All the guys were cool except one Nazi guy who decided to poke all around my boat and act like a bad ass! He made me think of the captain in this funny video.
/portals/0/videos/uss_montana.wmv
Cheers everyone.
Peace, love, and Windvanes!
Alex
Published in Alex Dorsey
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