And the work goes on...

We've been very busy working on Sea Turtle. Jordan has built the solar arch and dinghy davit (stainless steel welder Kevin Simpson helped with the welding). This is where our 2 solar panels will be mounted and where our dinghy will hang - sailors hang their dinghy up at night to discourage theft in some foreign countries. Of course during ocean passages, it will be deflated and stored below.

New solar arch and davit

Next to the solar arch is our Air Breeze wind generator on the support poles that Jordan fabricated, installed, and wired. The yellow box on the pole is the circuit breaker. So between 2 solar panels, the wind generator, and the boat engine, we should have plenty of power - plus we have converted most of the lights to LEDs.

Our 2 teak dorade boxes sat at an angle so Jordan built them up so they would be level. I refinished them, the new bronze cowls were put in place, and now Jordan just needs to make cowl guards to prevent lines from catching on them. I have now finished ALL the brightwork and only touch-ups will be needed for the next few years. Brightwork is a terrible job but it sure looks good when done. Some prefer to let it go natural but, so far, our preference is to use Cetol on it. That decision may change over the years if it becomes too much trouble to keep up!

Well, there is 1 item that I have not done with Cetol, but it should be okay for 1 or 2 years. Jordan made a box to cover the storage area beneath the solar arch and varnished the sides before we realized that varnish does not stand up to the UV rays. The box is now installed and will be left as it is until it needs to be refinished.


Jordan has built and installed a beautiful new forward hatch. He also re-bedded the aft hatch that was leaking right above our bed - very unpleasant! He will probably build a new aft hatch in a couple of years to match the forward hatch.

First-class carpentry work

And Jordan now has the Lewmar windlass attached to the deck and just needs to connect the wires - no more hauling the anchor up by hand.