Control (Self, Motor, Animal), The Cramming Of Crap And The Attempted Resurrection of Enthusiasm.

I know that folks think that this dream fulfillment crap is serious business. I may be sacrilegious in my shabby treatment of the sacrosanct, but it is not some sort of holy grail. It's just a boat. We put great import on such things as freedom and lifestyle. I learned a long time that it's all a comedy of errors and ridiculous so I make fun of all I do. "Life is but a joke"- Bob Dylan. We bumble along doing the best we can hoping not to do damage to others during the process. I am the same guy I was. I might as well have fun doing what I'm doing. Life is a joke therefor you must laugh. I know God is............. I hope you are.

So, on my way to work Tuesday, I rounded the corner and heard "KA-FLUBB" and the power steering in the car was gone. Also all the uh-oh lights came on. I shut the car off and opened the hood. The engine compartment was full of hair and the serpentine belt was off the pulleys.  I looked back and saw a cat a half block away staggering. I was giving a friend a ride and he called the animal control folks.  An hour waiting at a local repair repair facility and a five minute job resulted in a car  repaired. I wish I could say the same about the cat. ​Bow your heads for a moment of silence and reflection on unfortunate animals that choose the wrong place to spend the night and the inadvertent harm we do to God's creatures. .

I keep pushing on. It's more plodding along. I am getting closer and closer to that moment when I cast off with a song in my heart and a lump in my stomach. Everybody else is happier than I. I hate to be a positive role model luring hapless souls into the pursuit of their dreams that they think they have. 

​So....................the blog.

Ya see? all this crap has to either fit on the boat or be discarded.

OK, for now, all nuts, bolts and screws will go here under the cockpit seat.......for now.

And, for now, all the tools will go in the starboard forward cabin...............for now.

For now, I just flat out just gave up on this stuff. There's bottom paint to paint, rope  to use or stow, and all those bits and pieces that you pick up, carry around, then set back down, befuddled.

So I did easy, no think stuff. I bolted the plates on the motor wells to hold them in place. Insert motors here.

Except that the motors have issues. Issue one Getting the controls to work. I needed cables to shift and control the speed. Everyone I talk to says "it's easy" then they walk away as if I know what they're thinking.

​ I had them get some cables, but they had trouble because....

Those two arms in the center have to attach to the cables and most stuff that attaches to it is too fat and cannot clear each other. So Jim and Mike worked it out involving red nylon ends, clevis pins(?), wire and......Pixie Dust! The other ends attach to the motors using the same......

So I spent an hour staring at the motors trying to resolve the issues. Issue number two: The motors need to lock in the forward position and not swing side to side. I asked everyone and they flat out didn't know. So I stared some more. There is this bolt..........

Right there! I stared at it. I called Adam, certified mechanic over and asked him "what's that for"? He said "I dunno". I took a 12 mm wrench and turned it. The back and forth action got stiffer. I turned it more. It got harder to turn. I turned it some more. The motor stayed in place. Issue two: probably solved.

​These motors will be down there way below the deck and not reachable. This bar flips down and locks the motor at an angle tilting upward so it can run in shallow water. Issue three: how to release it. I looked at the other motor and it didn't have one, so now both motors don't have one. Problem? What problem?

Issue four: the lock in the tilted up position automatically sets, necessitating  releasing it in some fashion. Now I'm not sure it will even tilt up this far when we actually get it on the boat so.........

hold it open with wire and see if that is all I need. Issue five: I gotta start it and stop it and do that from the cockpit.

I made a board to fit by the steering wheel to hold start/stop controls, Now I just need a couple cables, a couple momentary switches, a couple toggle switches and a cuppa pixie dust. 

With all those problems facing me, I skipped out for a day and a half and went to the Port Aransas wooden ply boat show. This was cancelled last year because of the hurricane. I needed to see folks happy and proud of their boats. I know now how to be happy: build small boats.

Dang! Now I'll have to finish the boat.

The music♫ : Kuttanadan Punjayile "Kerala Boat Song"

Now, you know that I have already played this song. It was Agam's version.​