WHAT?

Let Me Clear This Up.

You won't get to see this done for awhile now, because we will be heading off for the wild black pavement and gas stations for a two week break from the house on the hill. You all know most stained glass is but a caricature of something, right? This is a boat pulled up on the wet sand of a dune covered beach, with a very oversized sand dollar at the waters edge. Knowing my lovely wife Bic, when we are in the vacinity of her old glass buying store in New Hampshire she WILL go in and look at glass. If she sees a blue glass that might give more feel of crashing waves, she'll get it and change the piece. She's picky like that, with her glass work. Love it!!

We will miss our neighbors when were gone, oh deer!

Nephew Is Now In Tahiti.....and HAPPY

Update below:

click on this pic, and see why he is so happy. Their anchored right out there.
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Update: nephew is getting off the boat in Tahiti and looking for another boat to Tonga or more of French Polynesia. The other kid is leaving too, so this might mean the captain has problems keeping crew, or he expects them to hang around for the next month or two waiting for it to start warming up in NZ. He is not paying them and they pay for their own food, thats a lousy deal in my book because boats are always work. As normal, with switching boats, they get to stay on board till they find something else or he finds other crew to take their place.

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....Love To Watch It All Come Together....

Getting Closer

This stained glass is getting closer to being done. This deer is getting closer to our faces than normal.
This one has nothing to do with getting closer at all.
Although we are getting closer to having the whole driveway seal coated, all 22 thousand square feet.

Soaking Rain and Gutters

Sure has been a good summer for rain this year. With all the lawn I planted this year, it's worked out pretty good. A good soaking rain almost every week, perfect for getting those roots to run deep.

I was waiting to put up gutters till they were all painted. I figured easier to do down on some sawhorses than on a ladder. Screw that I finally said and just started getting them up. The back patio is all done and now all I have to do is the front. Maybe some today, the shoulder seems to be holding up OK. As long as I don't do something really stupid with it and get myself past our journey north, I should be OK this fall getting in firewood and such.

"The Glass Post"

A few of you will remember my daily "Glass Post" of the work my loverly wife Bic puts forth from her stained glass shop here in the house. She was always making something! Things certainly have slowed down in this department since she took that full time job a year and a half ago. Any way this piece is for some boating friends who are going through a nightmare kitchen remodel [not me]. This is a custom size piece and design to fit in the window above the kitchen sink. It's their memory of family, a Carolina beach, and a wedding on a beautiful "October Morning".

Still Bwoken

All I managed to get done around here in this last two weeks was I got the gutters and drain pipes up on the back patio. Let me tell you with a torn muscle on my shoulder, I did this very slowly, a little bit at a time, just as I'm putting new plywood interior on the sailboat, a little bit at a time. A couple hours work with my arm and it gets to sore, so I chill out. I Must HEAL!!!!!!
Last thursday I got the ply in place on the boat, today I'll fasten and glue it in place, then try to get the headliner all stapled back. Few hours at a time!
Hot and sticky!
Can anyone make sense of this?

Let's Ride.................

A couple of short vlogs I took last year or so. Check out the rear view mirror.

Micky The Troublemaker

This is the e-mail my nephew sent to his parents

I'm in the Marquises, in is gourgous. it is very expensive to use the internet so I haven't and skymate hasn't been working for a couple weeks. Why have I been reported missing? We went through heck when we checked into this island(Nuku Hiva) because I had been reported missing. We should be in Tihiti in less than 2 weeks. Tell everyone I Love and miss them and am sorry I can't email.

The Houston Boys Trial

Two years ago I was taking a drive to look at a piece of property. Just off the main road headed south I took a left and noticed right away what a beautiful piece of property I was passing through and sure enough just ahead was a big ole house with this really nice front porch overlooking the road with a monstrous oak tree right in front. I was impressed with this country setting I had just passed by.
Two days later, that front porch and the road would be the scene of real good ole boy shootout with two cops dead and a wounded defender of that porch. This little county went nuts and now two years later this issue has made it to court. I believe you all will see this unfold nationwide as the trail proceeds. These boys were singled out for years by a corrupt system of justice in this little Tennessee county.
This following quote is from an article on line last night that had lots of nitty gritty details of the law in this county and how the judge who started this is now in prison. There is even a book not to long ago published titled "Sex, Lies and Videotape. I read the article to my wife and copied this one line figuring I'd make a post about it. Well, sure enough while laying in bed thinking I should have printed out the whole thing it was so juicy, I got up and found that they pulled it. Deleted, no sign of it any where. Oh well, here's the one line.....
"The jurors will be asked to decide who launched the May 2006 gun battle in the Ten Mile community where generations of Houstons had lived peaceably is at the heart of the legal battle." I found the whole article here......I think they picked it up from last night.....http://www.roanecounty.com/cgi-bin/storyviewnew.cgi?062+NewsLocal.2008714-824-062-062007.Full+NewsLocal

This link is the one who posted and deleted it and they have all the articles for two years on this case. [notice the comments on a recent article that two people mention they need a copy editor, those comments were for the article they deleted] This will be a juicy trial for sure!
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/14/first-houston-trial-starts/

Most of this community believes the boys were shot at first. A friend of theirs told me a second hand version of what went down on that porch a week later. I have always believed those boys were defending themselves from a cowboy cop with a history of pulling his gun and using it.
The jury will tell!

UPDATE>>>>>>

THE VESSEL FERDINAND WITH 3 PEOPLE ON BOARD WERE IN THE MARQUESAS FROM JULY 11 TO JULY 13 STATED FROM THE POLYNESIAN GOVERMENT this morning july 15

Still no word or satilite update from the Pacific.

OK they should be all the way across the islands of French Polynesia by now and in the vicinity of the Cook Islands. Damn sailors, you never know where they are. I can't imagine a nonstop, across to NZ, only whackos do that.

Latitudes & Attitudes

Recently I've spent a lot of time on Google Earth and other sites , visiting the South Pacific, it's weather, islands, marinas and people. It's someplace that has been on my "have to do" list since I took up sailing in the late 80's. I've been subscribing to a magazine almost from it's beginning that I felt, somewhat accurately described what it's like to cruise and live aboard a boat. It's a bit layed back when it comes to magazines, but that is what living on board is all about. Lets go have another beer, we'll get to it tomorrow.
Anyway, they have been very successful and even have a TV series. Recently they decided to pull a stunt that no-one has pulled before, they have put the magazine and all the TV shows on line for free. It's a marketing plan that he hopes will pay off from people like me spreading the word. I've never seen any of the TV shows but now I get to see them all.
So, here is the link if any one is interested. Enjoy!
http://www.seafaring.com/

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A Letter To Concerned Parents

Hello,
I just wanted to let you know that I have been searching information about the islands. There are a couple of things of note that I hope will help you worry less.
First,... in French Polynesia which covers as much area as Europe, when you sail into a port of call, the captain must put 800 US dollars per person into a bond till they leave the country. Also, if they stopped there in the Marguesas he [the captain] would also still have to go to Papeet in Tahiti to officially sign into the country. Much more paperwork. It would be a lot easier for him to go directly to Papeet, not give up the bond money, get a two week visa to pass through the rest of the islands of French Polynesia. Second,.... The map and service he [Captain] is using, Skymate has a void of service in that part of the pacific, poor planning on his part.
It is about 1000 miles to Papeet from where we have the last position. If they have no problems and they do indeed stop there, they should be there in a day or two.
I have checked all the recent weather in that part of the world, and there was nothing of any note.
I hope this helps.

This is what I just sent the parents of the other crewmember on the boat that my nephew is sailing on. I spent most all of the morning in the South Pacific. Damn it's nice there!!!

Small Boat, Large Ocean

As some of you know my nephew is making his way to NZ in a sailboat. By following the Pacific Crossing link in my blog you could be aware that on thursday last July 3d their reported position was about 60 miles east of the main island. Well, we haven't heard anything from him or the boat since. The parents of the other young man crew Finn have e-mailed me asking if I have heard anything. They seemed very worried they haven't heard from their son who reports in often. I e-mailed the island tourist board to see if they could help us find out if the boat did in fact stop there. they e-mailed back that they couldn't help and did not see the boat. I told Finns parents not to worry to much because it is very common for boats to pass on by islands if all is going well.
At sea in a small boat the crew and boat gets into a groove that if there is plenty of fuel, water and food and the boat and crew is working well, stopping at islands wastes a lot of time. I'm hoping that is the deal, and they just pushed on to the next set of islands.

The 1957 Thompson Is Done

Let me apologise for the camera lens, I didn't clean it after the gale force winds shoot. [see previous post]

Well, I'm as done as I feel I should be for the customer, but dang it, floors need painting, small bilge area wants painting, chrome needs polish, wheel needs cleaning , interior hull needs varnish, exterior hull needs way more work for my anal standards and a few more things I forgot, but hey, it looks good as it is.

Hope the customer is happy!

What A Blow

After getting the boat all tidy....
We headed up river to the festivities, speedboat races and fireworks after dark...
Right away we saw "October Morning" [boat I recently worked on] rafted up to a line of about 6 or 7 boats, so we went along side for a beverage or two. Bic got to meet the new owners L and R and really liked them a lot, they live close by, about our age and no children. I noticed looming dark clouds and the last place I wanted to be in a blow was tied up to a whole line of boats. We moved into a nice open area quickly and threw out the hook......
And then the heavens opened and the wind blew gale force for about 45 min......
A few small boats ended up on shore and many boats had mashings and bashings with each other.......... It was a very exciting time for Bic'n'I on "Malihini" for the first time in a blow, with biblical amounts of rain. We fared well, found all the leaks and more important, all the dry spots.
Not knowing for sure if the fireworks were canceled we decided that that storm was plenty enough fun and excitement for our fourth of July outing so we headed on home and figured if they shoot them off we'll be home in time to watch from our patio.
They did....and it was Good!!!!!!!!!!
Great Day

The Fourth, Is A Day For Lawn Chairs.......

Or Whatever............................................

click those pics

My nephew Christian should be arriving in the small island chain of the Marquesas today or tomorrow. From there I believe the next chain of islands is like 7 or 8 hundred more miles. It's a very long way to New Zealand in a 43 ft. sailboat. God I wish it were me!!!!!!!!!!!! I really miss being at sea in a sailboat.

After cleaning up and throwing in my truck some remaining debris from my electric upgrade [metal boxes], old AC unit from this house and a few other various hunks of steel around the yard, I decided to try and cash that in for steel instead of just going to the dump. Figured if it paid for the gas why not. I drive the 8 miles so with another ugly mass of shit in my truck truly looking like the redneck I am in my 94 Ranger. $70.40. I just about shit right there when she handed me that cash. I normally would of went to the dump and threw that into the metal dumpster.

Got to get Malihini's water pump impeller in tonight and make sure she is running smoothly because Friday night were going to watch the fireworks from the lake and raft up with some friends. If not we'll probably sit here on our back patio and look down on the show. We haven't got all the trees cleared for the perfect view that use to be here on this monster brick house on the hill but we can see enough that come over the tops.

Hope you all have a great Holiday!

Mic'n'Bic

P.S. That old postcard was taken from our patio in the 50's and that center pic is when we bought this house.