March 2018 - The Sea Shanti

Q: High Hopes for Hurricane Season

All work on the boat was stopped for the last 6 weeks owing to me nearly cutting off my thumb with the table saw. It's nearly better now, and work is resuming. The delay got us well into better weather so we're turning our attention back to the topside. There's hardware to re-bed, teak to repair, and more sanding, priming, and painting. The mizzen mast has to be painted, repaired, and installed (hopefully with new WiFi and VHF antenna). And if all that goes well, the 40hp Perkins Diesel needs more than a little love to get it going. As far as we know, it hasn't run in at least 6 years. Also, there's the small detail of needing a propeller. The timeline to have all the above done (and many other smaller projects) is June 1st, which is the start of hurricane season. After two hurricanes barely missed us and another weaker hurricane caused a lot of (undue) stress aboard the Shanti last year, we have no interest in pressing our luck. We're going to try and motor over to Mobile Bay and then up the Tombigbee River to the Tennessee River towards Chattanooga, TN, where we plan to hide out and continue working on the boat through the end of hurricane season. It's a beautiful area, and we have family up there to visit. There's a lot to do, and we intend to be very busy, so that means lots of pictures and lots of updates. Eventually.