Apr 24-30, 2011 - Cruising Log for S/V Freedom - a Gemini 105 - Jim and Deb Faughn

Previous Log - The most recent past log

All Logs - This takes you to the list of all of our logs

 May 4 - Deb and I made it back on Saturday at about 7:30 p.m. The road trip was good but we were all a bit disappointed that the engine wouldn't get running. As of this morning, there isn't word back from the mechanic about the engine and we are all waiting very curious about those compression readings along with the fact of how much money Bob's going to actually be out to get his boat moving again. All in all, we have until about the middle of the first week of June before we have to be up there in order to get the boat down for the summer. The longer we wait, the hotter the trip will be.

On the home front, things are progressing again. Spent Sunday getting unpacked and then off to Home Depot for a bunch of stuff we needed. One Fan for the bedroom that looks great and now we will be buying another like it for the living room along with 3 more for the other two bedrooms and the outside patio. We also picked up shelving that I installed in the closets. All of the bedroom closets are done and I only have left the hall closet and bathroom closet. I also got the glass wall/door for the shower mostly installed yesterday. I need some more rubber used between the glass and the metal - seems some of ours has shrunk. Otherwise, it is looking pretty good if you somewhat ignore the hard water buildup that is left over from years of neglect. Something Deb can't wait to take on.

Today we will be finishing those closets and putting some finishing touches on some of the electric. I have about 3 days of electric and one day of plumbing left then we should be on the home stretch. Trim and doors follows all of that.

On a more fun note, I'm "babysitting" my friend Paul's Honda Helix scooter. I've been having fun riding it although I do need a license. The license I'll take care of this weekend since I am now enrolled in a Motorcycle class that takes up both days. In Florida you are required to take the class so that's just what I will do. I like the bike so well and it is perfect for this area so I've been looking for one myself. I may have found just the right one and should see it today. We'll see if it is as advertised or not. Just think, two matching scooters until November. One of them will get jealous and I'll have to ride it then the other one will get jealous. What a circle. 

 May 14 - I think I told you that Paul and I came to an agreement on the trailer. Simple really. He brings it down after we took care of licensing it to him and he ended up with the trailer. Not bad for either one of us and I see it as part of my rent payment for the last 5 years of keeping it on his property. Of course it was really only worth what it cost him to bring it down so he didn't get much in the form of rent.

Good news was that when we opened it up for real and started unloading some of the boxes, it was like Christmas. You can see Deb to the right unloading some stuff and very happy about the dishes we kept. Also we found some clothes that mostly I kept because I had some nice shirts and as it ended up a bunch of them. The washing machine has been busy! On top of that I won't need any new clothes for about 5 years.

We didn't take too much care getting through the boxes and what we left inside the trailer - lower right - needs some arranging. I can't wait to get to that tool box!

 

I already mentioned my motorcycle course and to the left you can see the dozen bikes that were used in our class. Below are pictures of the other students in the class too. Everyone had a story and I enjoyed meeting everyone. I even came up with a guitar instructor out of the deal once we get back from the boat delivery with Bob.

The guy I found is a music major and one of his instruments is guitar. I told him what I wanted to learn and he said no problem. Finally a person that will teach me what I want verses what they want to teach. We'll see how it goes in the future.

As you can see, we have started bringing the trim back in. YEAH!!!! Looks like it will be a good although longer process. First, every board needs to be stripped of the old caulk and then I put them up in the reverse order that I took them off. All in all, it is going well and I should be completely done by the end of next week with the exception of the doors. I haven't bought them yet and probably won't until we get back from Norfolk. I'll update you on that in a a little bit.

All I have to do is make sure everything fits and sometimes I have to trim a bit. Then I use the caulk and make sure it all looks good. I'll have to go back a second time with the caulk but so far it's looking good.

What a difference trim and caulk make even though it isn't the right color yet. That's another thing I will have to do which is paint the trim.

The dock is coming right along too. Here you can see 2 of the 3 stringers along with the braces out to the pilings.

We moved our boat way forward to make way for the barge. Again, I traded money for time in order that I could get the house finished up. I needed that dock done before storm season gets here so everything will be very secure.

You can see in the lower pictures that the dock came out wonderfully and just like we planned it.

Many of you have been patient waiting on my updates and some even let me know when it has been WAY TOO LONG between the updates. I promised Steve I would get this done this afternoon so I only have 30 minutes before I break another promise about updating. I included a few pictures of the interior so you could see some of the garage sale furniture although they are store bought fans.

This is the view out the back of our house. Looking good! We sit out at the table each morning for breakfast and typically each evening after I get done working.

Bob's boat. Here is the latest. We left this story at the fact that I couldn't get the thing started and didn't have a compression gauge to find out more. Of course the mechanic couldn't get it running either but he did have the right fitting in storage that would connect to a compression gauge to test the engine. Here are the results - 125 pounds on number 1, 400 pounds on number 2, and 125 pounds on number 3. No wonder it won't start! It is supposed to have 394 pounds on all three cylinders. The head was taken off and verified that the leak was in the valves to valve seats. Head then went to a head shop. Head shop guy said yes, that is bad but also ALL of the valves are bent. Say what? Nobody gets it but new valves are on order and that is all we are waiting for to get the head completely finished. Of course if he needs new guides then Bob told them to put them in! After all nobody wants to do it again. So what are your opinions about the valves being bent? We really don't know and there are no signs of the valve hitting the pistons. Manufacturing problem? Water? Gremlin? Aliens?

Let me know.

 May 26 - Waiting - I'm waiting for 3 inspectors to show up today. Fence, Dock, and Final on the House. To say I've been busy is true. I'm not done but the bottom line is at least we can breath a bit if everything passes. Otherwise, it is work this weekend and get the final on Tuesday.

On the move the boat front, the news is we aren't going this spring/early summer. They put the rebuilt head on and the problem still remains. Low compression on number 1 and 3. Therefore the rings must have been bad too. What catastrophic thing happened in that engine???? Bob is looking at a new engine or long block but boy will he have a bunch of new parts to sell.

 

 May 26 - Now for the longer version.....

The trim was taken off in a very methodical manner room by room after I had labeled each board. The system was designed so every board was accounted for and it would be a virtual no-brainer to put back together. However, there were a couple of issues. We didn't clean up the trim from the old caulk and second was that drywallers use different amounts of mud when they fill. So, we had two jobs to accomplish - First was to get all that caulk off so it could be shot back up with the air nailer and then recaulked. Second, trim up the trim a bit where it didn't fit properly anymore.

All of this takes time and I had the "fun" job of putting it all back up. Deb had the brain numbing job of taking off the old caulk. She "whined" or should I say "wine'd" enough that Bob came over and helped out a bunch. At this stage we have about half of the trim up and about half left.

Bottom left you can see the methodology is working. Bottom right you can see all the caulk in the mini dumpster.

 

Deb convinced me that we needed to hang a few of our garage sale pictures. You can see we put up a few in the dining area and above the couch.

Also, I found out that to get my final permit approval that I had to have the interior doors up. So that meant a trip to Home Depot to purchase the 6 doors that were stolen from the house along with the door knobs. Again, who would want them..... but now, who cares - we are so close so out goes another 450 bucks. You can see we also picked up another case of caulk too along with the shims for the doors.

The stack is getting smaller

 

More caulk being stripped

 

And the stack gets even more smaller

And at the end of the stack there is only one room left.

At this point, we are getting close and we also had some more news. Deb had what appeared to be a medical issue but then found out it was an issue with the lifting she had done. So I cut her off all physical work after the second opinion had confirmed she was fine and good thing we are almost done. Teamwork is only good when both of us are doing fine mentally and physically. Time for Deb to take some time off and just be a cheerleader. Something she is good at.... Another thing she is good at is now is time to start the punch list for when we do get the permits signed off. We have no intention of absolutely finishing the house before calling in for a final inspection. So there will be 2-3 weeks of work left at about half pace when we finish. She created a form and everything. What I was amazed at is that she is getting more picky than me..... Who would believe it! I have lost the title of perfectionist - Deb has earned the title today!

Doors went up too and more knee time for shooting and caulking.

 

The day came, which was today, for all of my final inspections. I finally put the gate in the front of the fence so it could be inspected, the dock permit was changed to drop the electrical so it could be inspected, and the house was done enough in my opinion so we would see if it makes it through.

This is our final house inspector and he was very happy. He had been here before and liked my work then so since he remembered me and the house this was a simple process.

Deb and I have celebrated this afternoon after everything was signed and even checked on-line to verify all permits are closed. Now we only have to finish.....

I have to finish caulking the bottom of the trim, sand a bit, paint the trim, take off doors and paint the doors, and, and, and .......... oh by the way - we are going to take a nap too from time to time and just simply have a good time.

Thanks to everyone for following the worst updated site for the last 5 months after 4 and 1/2 years of many updates. Thanks to Lee County Inspectors for their wonderful professionalism and help when I needed to call with questions. And of course I also have to thank Deb and everyone who has helped with kind words or even by not pushing to stop by and visit. The door is now OPEN even though we aren't done. My intensity on the house will drop dramatically and transfer to getting our boat back into shape, finding more deals at garage sales, along with starting another book/course for True Course - you see I have a license prep book to write for the Marine Radio Operator's Permit.

Don't forget - Deb and I are 'retired."

   
   
   
   
 Previous Log - The most recent past log
 All Logs - This takes you to the list of all of our logs

Web Page by Jim Faughn

Jim and Deb's Adventures