Save-A-Boat - The Forum for Plastic Classic Rebuilds!

I swear, I stared at this for a full minute thinking "hmmm, that's an interesting looking turnbuckle". I'm friggin losing it.


Tim, I feel your pain. The time is short and the list is endless. Something one of my better teachers once told me has been ringing in my ears all week: Attend to the most important, not to the most urgent.

Project burnout. We should all collectively write a thing on project burnout and see if any of the boat mags would dare to publish it.

Figment wrote:Project burnout. We should all collectively write a thing on project burnout and see if any of the boat mags would dare to publish it.

Ha! Their advertisers would never allow it!

It happens in any project of large scale (and some of smaller scale). The problem is that suddenly everything needs to be done at once, or else nothing's done at all. My punch list has greatly diminished over the past 2 weeks.

Plus, at the end of a project it's all the time-consuming, finicky, detail work that takes even longer and requires more care and finesse to boot.

The end is in sight. I know I made my own bed and therefore must sleep in it, but frankly, the whole weeks' work was much less painful than getting the latest update posted yesterday morning. I just haven't had time to keep up with the writing during the week--no one to blame but me. (Well, I could blame Britton, just for kicks, but he's not here to defend himself.)

All this being said, I'm thrilled to see the final details coming together. I just wish I had been at this stage 2 months ago.

A nice, long, relaxing cruise on Glissando is only 2 weeks away. I live for it.

So Tim, how's your health holding up?

I've fallen to pieces over the last week. Lack of sleep and general dehydration (like never stopping to take photos, I never stop to drink till it's too late) set in pretty early. Then some flu symptoms. Now a big swollen knee that won't bend.

So much for my "final push".
The bottom's painted.
There's a shaft in the stern tube, so she won't sink right away.
The battery has a fresh charge so the bilge pump can keep up with the rainwater.

Everything else (final coats of paint. Deadlight, trim, and companionway reinstallation, etc) can happen while she floats. My body just has nothing left to give this week.

Mike, I saw your boat a couple of months ago and seeing your recent photos confirms that you are an absolute hero. I must admit I had my doubts...

How you guys get so much done so quickly is beyond my comprehension. My boat is launched and I am still hauling out 2x4's, glue, hardware and other last minute parts. My entire V-berth is a tool and parts room for the project that simply moved onto the water. It sure made a mess when the whole kit and kaboodle got sloshed around the first time I dipped the rail in the water.

(Well, I could blame Britton, just for kicks, but he's not here to defend himself.)

Well, I am not completely gone (hopefully VERY soon) and I might add I lost an entire day to idle chatter myself.

-Britton

Figment wrote:I've fallen to pieces over the last week. Lack of sleep and general dehydration (like never stopping to take photos, I never stop to drink till it's too late) set in pretty early. Then some flu symptoms. Now a big swollen knee that won't bend.

No amount of Naproxen was helping the knee, and the flu symptoms had drained my energy to the point that nothing was getting done anyway, so I quit at noon tuesday and went to the emergency room.

It's called "cellulitis". The infection in the leg had the knee tissue swollen to the point that it felt like a torn ligament, all the while assaulting my immune system giving me a wicked fever. Some IV antibiotics made me a new man, though, so I got a TON of work done the next day before returning to the clinic (hobbling and feverish) for the followup visit.

Now I ask you.... If after many months of labor, your boat is to be launched (or wait several more weeks) the next day, would YOU listen to some doctor tell you that you really should be chained to a hospital bed on an IV for the next few days??? I DON'T THINK SO.

We haggled back and forth for a while and eventually settled on a compromise consisting of two more rounds of IV antibiotics, supplemented by a lovely cocktail of pills, and my Word On My Honor that I'd lay myself up after the boat was floating.

Well, she's floating, and I'm laid up. It's going to be tough to stay away from the boat all weekend, but I genuinely think that Julia will slash my tires if I make a move for the door. C'est la vie.

Wow...you weren't kidding about falling apart. Laying low is one of my least favorite things to do, so I'd be going nuts in your shoes. IV? I don't think so.

Glad to hear you're on the mend and that Figment is floating again. I won't even bug you for pictures!

Tim wrote:I won't even bug you for pictures!

Belay that. I posted here before I found the launching photos further down.

Yeah, so anyway, the moral of my story goes back to that whole "attend to the most important, not the most urgent" thing. Don't push yourself too hard. Your approaching cruise on Glissando will be a time of mental, spiritual, and psychiatric recovery, but don't do anything to make it a time of PHYSICAL recovery, eh?

I think the IV of Mt. Gay will solve any physical ailments...