Feb 24 - I thought I would go back just a bit and figured I would have to go way back for this update. If you've been following our website, you have probably gotten bored and left by now because we aren't cruising anymore and the updates come sporadically now. Regardless, I've been working from very early to very late each day. Let me catch you up on our adventures.

You might have seen we paid a contractor to put up the drywall once we received our inspections and approval to close up the house from the city inspectors. They were great by the way. One of the real fears when you have a chinese drywall house is, did I get it all and will there be any lasting effects. I knew I got it all since I'm the one who tore it all out. On top of that, the drywall in the ceiling was inspected and it was not chinese drywall since they didn't make the 5/8ths and all that was verified. After all the insulation was installed again, I gave the go-ahead to the drywallers and up it went. 2 days for the drywall to go up then the taping and mud. I carried the remains to the dump and it was time for the texture which gets sprayed on the walls.

We love the view out the back sliding door and today can't picture ourselves living anywhere but here with the boat just out the door on the canal.

Below you can see they came in with their sprayer and within 2 hours the texture was sprayed and wiped with their wipers creating the texture that was just perfect for our house. I think this was their 4th house of the day and they were professional accomplishing the project. The entire time, someone from Apex Drywall was on the site to supervise and ensure the work was as they promised me.

The next day was major clean-up for me and more drying for walls.

Once the day was completed with clean-up it was time to put the house on hold. I needed to get ready to teach my class in Killen, AL. I pulled out all my books and set up a temporary office in the living room. Deb and I just smiled about the house progress and I got things organized to leave on our 800 mile trip up to the class. We rented a car and on Thursday morning we were off and that is how we started February. On the road.

One last project needed to be done on our dock's poles before we were out of here and that was to have the poles wrapped. Down here the worms will eat up your poles even if they are highly treated. The answer that has been developed is to wrap them with a heavy plastic and the worms stay away. It is worth the extra bucks for this process. Very much like having insurance on your dock.

That isn't me in the water, it is the owner of the company that sunk our poles. Now that project is ready for me to put in the decking of the dock but that won't happen until I finish the house and get it punched out such that it is finished.

Our sponsor in Killen, AL was the Muscle Shoals Sailing Club. They had finished their new club house a year ago and it was a wonderful facility. The first thing we teach after getting to know everyone is plotting. Of course the Coast Guard approves the course material and has a big hand in what is included based on their questions. The database is 15-20,000 questions and they all had to be analyzed to create the program. We put it all together for the students and by the time the entire O.U.P.V. (Operator Uninspected Passenger Vessels) class is finished, the students have learned all the material necessary to pass the exam which then gives them the ability to apply for their O.U.P.V. or commonly called the 6-pack license.

This is a major accomplishment and most of them studied much beyond the time in class. Their efforts really came through when they all passed the exams. Below you can see the swearing in ceremony along with gifts for the instructor (Me.)

13 of the students finished the OUPV and passed the 4 exams. 6 then took the Auxiliary Sail and passed while 3 took the Towing and passed. Then 6 students took the Masters and, you guessed it, they passed too. All in all, it was a wonderful 3 weeks away from my home rebuilding project.

When I walked back in the door returning home all I could smell was new drywall and there was no hint of the past. Essentially, we now have a new home and the next part of the project is to paint the house, install the electric outlets, switches, and lights, install cabinets then finish the plumbing. Of course I then need to install the shelving for the closets along with new tile in the bedrooms. Of course I also need to tile the upper portion of the showers too. Sounds like a few weeks of work for a single worker.

First things first. Paint. Well that had to wait until after all my paperwork was finished. I needed to mail all the paperwork back to our administrator for the school so he could get together the certificates and send off the paperwork to the drug testing company. I also needed to pack up all the tests, extra books, and other resources and get those back to our printer and shipper. Details, details, details. Once all that was done, I was ready to start getting ready to get ready to restart on the house.

My first project was to calculate all of the square footage of the ceilings, walls, etc so I could buy paint. I know there is now a product that includes primer in the paint so your first coat covers once. However, I made the choice to go the traditional route spraying primer first. That was because I needed to prime up onto the ceiling where the wall spray was mixed into the ceiling's existing spray. They did a great job of that too I might add. You might not see all the buckets of paint. There are 13 buckets of 5 gallon paint pails. This should get me through priming, painting the ceilings, painting the bathrooms, painting most of the walls, and painting the garage. I didn't buy all the paint for the walls until I know exactly how well it is all covering. I didn't want lots left over.

The next trip to Home Depot I will pick up the rest of the paint for the walls along with paint for the trim. At this point I'm thinking I will buy the doors and spray them too so we will just have to see how everything goes.

I have a friend coming over on Friday so today (Thursday) will be spent touching up around windows, caulking, and getting my floor protection put down. Am I ever happy I was able to borrow a really good sprayer from my friend and real estate agent. That should make the job much faster and easier not to mention more professional. So much for now. I should be putting lots of fumes in the air starting Saturday about mid morning.