A long overdue update! Part 1:
Merry Christmas guys & gals! As we sit here in the otherwise genteel south, where temps are moderate except for the last few days - we are freezing our tushies off! In fact we moved on shore for a few days as the winds have made life tied to the dock pretty sporty
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I have but one excuse for not posting an update for the last month (two months?). I have been absolutely buried neck deep in my newest project. More on that soon
. My remaining boat projects are on hold until spring since they consist of mainly work topsides, and I have not had consistent enough weather to a. motivate myself to start, and b. actually start the project, before the weather turns sour. that said, the boat is doing great, no problems other than a balky heating element that required galley disassemble to replace.
Now for plans moving forward. This might take a while so sit back, open your favorite adult beverage, and hang on:
As most of you know my long term goal was (and external conditions permitting) still is to take the boat to the central Pacific, headquartering in the Marshall Islands, for a leisurely extended session of boozing and croozing. Unfortunately short term priorities have shelved that plan indefinitely. Again, as most of you know, after my MIL died and we moved my FIL here, his condition has put a huge damper on our mobility. Any trip longer than a few days is out of the question so even local area cruising is off the table.
Ok, so deal with it - and deal with it I have. Knowing myself as well as I do, I do not handle idle time well. You guys have probably guessed that by now!
Now that the boat is mostly finished I have been finding myself with more and more free time and about a year ago I started formulating a plan on how to keep busy. When I first started the boat rebuild years ago I toyed with the idea of starting a Youtube channel, but nixed that because I was still working then. I couldn't guarantee consistent content - and my research on Youtube showed that inconsistency is a great way to kill a channel.
So I missed the first opportunity to start the channel with my boat, but why not try with a new boat? I asked around, talked the idea up with the marina folks here and got very positive responses. the idea was to find a derelict boat - you know the type, one that has sat for years, neglected, abandoned, the type that you should don a hazmat suit to enter! I would find it, fix it up, customize it, do my thing to it, all to generate a following on Youtube with the hopes of monetizing the channel. Kill two birds with one stone by keeping busy and financing the project through the channel.
The more I researched, the more it looked like it would work. I even found a few boats locally that would fit the bill perfectly. All seemed to be right on track, until, of course, the project got derailed! I had been negotiating with the powers that be at the marina, all were on board and it looked like a go until the island marina committee was notified. then a little known clause in the community covenants brought everything to a screeching halt
. I had to put all my eggs in this yards' basket since there is no place else within two hours where I could do what i needed, and that basket collapsed. Bummer
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Ok, now what? There is a Plan B, which I have been working feverously on for the past few months and it is a go! There will be a Youtube channel (coming soon, not quite ready to go live just yet) but it may not be what you expect.
Stay tuned for part 2 and I'll lay it all out!
Cheers,
Mark
