Boat Repairs in Brewerton, NY

It is Sunday, a day of rest. So we are resting in Brewerton, NY while we have some work done on High Spirits. We went to St. Agnes Church today, very small parish in Brewerton but very friendly people. Joy remarked on how everybody before Mass was talking to each other. Kind of church community that appeals to us.

Ethan, co owner of the Marina and head mechanic, came over this afternoon after lunch and helped us with our potential biggest problem. The damaged nut on the chain plate on the port side. Finally got the nut off, the threads on the bolt were damaged and that is why it was so hard for the nut to turn. Tomorrow he is going to run the bolt through a die which should straighten out the threads. Then we can rebed the chain plate and it will cure before we put the mast back on next week.

Tomorrow we are going to pull out the heat exchanger and pressure test it to see if there is a leak. We have to put in one to two cups of antifreeze every 8 hours of engine running time. Not sure how long it will take to fix it or the ability to get a new heat exchanger on short notice. Cross that bridge when we come to it.

Tonight we are having hot dogs and beans as we went to a nice restaurant for lunch after church and a 30 minute bike ride. We are trying to get some exercise in every day. Joy had a very nice crab cake sandwich, and I had coconut haddock. Very nice and the place was right on the Seneca River.

One of the things we have found out living in such close quarters and that we each need some alone time every day to do our own thing. Joy likes to read, especially Nora Robert's novels. I spend time on the computer reading political commentary from the NY Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post along with cnn.com.

I started to work on the navigation software. We had the E series installed which should allow us to navigate and plan our courses on the laptop as well as on the steering unit. Just tried it, but since the wind indicator is not connected, the software will not let me proceed. Have to wait until the mast is back up and all the instruments are set up.

One thing I am learning is to slow down. Things happen at their own pace. If you feel you have to be someplace at a certain time, that is when bad things happen.
As our friend Steve Franko is found of saying: I can do when, I can do where, but I can not do when and where. A good rule for everyone to follow, especially me.

So we are slowing down, going with the flow as we might have said back in the 60s.

Joe