Larry Wilson's Blog (10)

Well, except for the forecast snow Monday, sailing season is pretty much here!! in the Middle Chesapeake. My sails are furled, ready to unfurl and hoist!!!!

Work continues on Mirage, a Columbia 8.7. Bulkheads cut and ready to install, soft decks under reconstruction. Hull ready to receive new paint. Engine rebuilt, new prop shaft. Might even splash her this year. (fingers crossed.

See you on the water!!!!!

Yeah, I did it. I took some of the cash from the sale of the Sabre, and bought another boat. A Columbia 8.7. Almost the same exact boat that I sail now. Just two years younger. The owner died, his son didn't have the wherewithal to maintain it. The sails blew off into the Poquoson River, and the boat broke free of her dock lines. She ended up across the creek, partially…

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  I've been working on my Columbia Sabre for the past six weeks, making her nice for her new owner. Most of the work was interior cabinetry and cosmetic. I had to replace bunks, cabinet faces, counter tops, and I painted all of the wood work save two bulkheads and trim, bright white. It really perked up the interior.

While I was at it, I built a new sliding hatch, new lazerette…

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If this is widespread knowledge, let me know and I'll delete it.

A great application for planning.

http://earthnc.com/chartviewer/

Since I had to be in Deltaville anyway, to secure my Columbia 8.7 for Hurricane Earl, I decided to take a couple of hours to take some measurements, and shovel out some trash, mostly delaminated plywood.About a 30 gallon trash bag full. Also managed to remove a short wall enclosing the head/shower. Earl, by the way, passed us by with no issues.

Group,

I was given a Columbia 8.3 earlier this month, and I want to keep a running commentary on the rebuilding process. I thought that here, in my blog would be a good place to do it.



August 7,2010

Just a quick note. Looked at and bought a running Atomic 4 today. May not need

it, but thought at the price, it would be foolish not to have it standing by

just in case.

Now to clean up the old… Continue

Wow , I Love My JOB



Hey y'all, thought you might get a kick out of this.



I Love My Job





Poor guy!!



This is even funnier when you realize it's real!

The next time you have a bad day at work... think of

this guy.



Rob is a commercial saturation diver for Global

Divers in Louisiana.

He performs underwater repairs on offshore drilling

rigs.



Below is an E-mail he sent to his sister.



She then… Continue

Those of you who know me, know that I'm sailboat addicted. I own 11 sailboats, not counting the Hobie 16 that I cut into pieces yesterday.

Sadly, I never have time to sail any of them except the Columbia 8.7, a heavy keel boat.

Well, today, that changed. I trailered the Aqua Cat 12.5 (12 1/2 foot catamaran) over to Swift Creek Resevoir, and a friend let me use a private ramp to launch.

I'm used to sailing in the big boat,… Continue

I'm going to attempt another planned cruise on the Chesapeake in September. Sheila (wife,Admiral) and I on our Columibia 8.7, and Martin Duffy on his CS27, possibly one other couple on their Hunter 46 (?). Any and all are welcome. No set agenda as yet, just attempting to sail as far north as possible in a couple of weeks. Our starting point will be Urbanna, Duffy will be Deltaville. Anyone to the south or east can meet up with us in Dville area, or along the northern route, probably on the… Continue

AllAboutMe (A Columbia Yacht)







As with so much in life, many of the experiences that I had hoped for in my twenties and thirties, had to be put aside, in order to raise a family, and earn a living.

The dreams just didn't fit in the space that was left. Then, in my middle forties, health issues seemed to bring any hope for early retirement to a screeching halt. So that now ,the dreams that had been put aside for later, had to be put back on the shelf,most likely to be… Continue