The Florida Promise

 

Image here.

It must be the blinding sunshine. Maybe it's the sensational beaches with endless bikini clad bodies emitting the scent of tanning oil. Could it be the laid back lifestyle or the lure of fishing just a few minutes offshore? Whatever IT is...IT SUCKS!

IT, is the Florida Promise and it's been happening for a LONG time. It began when droves of Northerners began the exodus from the chilly weather to the incredible, natural "Disneyland" the is the Sunshine State. Basically, contractors (local or not) make you a promise by saying they will show up and then never do! OR when they do they are either drunk, hungover or have a wicked tan from their day out surfing instead of working for you!

I've changed the names to protect the innocent or not-so-innocent in one such scenario we've experienced. Let's say, "Tom", the painter tells you he will show up Tuesday to look at the boat and give you a price. Well, he never shows up and he doesn't even call. Being the good communicator you are, you call him and say, "Hey Tom, Don't worry about coming by today, it's a bit late now. Thank you". "Tom" replies with some excuse about how busy he was and he will come by tomorrow. BUT he never comes!!

This seems to continue until you've called about 6 different people until you finally get a "good" one. Someone who shows up when they say the will, performs the job with little to no errors, charges on or below the estimated amount and gives the results you were after. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is. There are an amazing amount of boats (mega-yachts mostly) here and these contractors know how in-demand they are. It's as if they don't really give a sh*t about their name or reputation. WHY? Because they know they can charge insane amounts of money and people will pay it(not us but some people don't know about the "working man's price") -  and they know that there will always be those folks that are in a rush to get cruising that just want the job done and pay because they can't wait any longer.

My advice to you:

• Don't Be in a Rush  - Contractors can smell your fear and your money. If you are pushy, hurried and riding them they will charge you for it!

• Be Proactive/Handy - Doing the work yourself not only helps you understand systems better it allows you the freedom of knowing how to fix things when your "out there" where it can be exponentially expensive! If you really can't do the work yourself it's not the end of the world but it may cost you more in time and money. Two things we rarely have at the same time. So if you have time - SAVE MONEY & Vice Versa!

• Get Several Quotes - Get as many contractor names & company's as you can, ask everyone you know, use forum and prepare yourself to be confused. You will get opinions and ideas from different ends of the spectrum by stick with what you know and keep it simple!

I'm sure several yachting and boating town's have similar issues with handymen and such but here in Florida we refer to the issue as "The Florida Promise." The best weapon is awareness! I hope you found these tips useful. Best of Luck!

Namaste!

Dinosaur Removed: An Update

So if you have been following this blog then you know "work" has pretty much been at a stand still for the past, well, a solid 2 months. GR began removing the "dinosaur" 1968 12 kw Onan (original, factory installed) piece by piece trying to salvage many of the parts in case someone wanted to have them. Sadly, it actually ran when we decided to replace it but we were getting coolant in the oil; which is typically a head gasket. Normally, you would get the head checked but the parts are obsolete so we decided it wasn't worth sinking our money into!

How did we get it out you ask? One word. YOUTH.

 "Youth is wasted on the young."  George Bernard Shaw

God, it's so true!

Unfortunately, we have come across more "dudes" that give the *"Florida Promise"! GR slowly dismantled this 1200 lb monster. Piece by piece trying to salvage the parts and give them away to someone who could use them. Some of the parts include the heads, the exhaust manifold, the stator, the rotor, alternator and water pumps. All of which can be conveniently recycled at DJ's Recycling up the road for a few cents on the pound.We posted on the Hatteras Owner's Forum, Craigslist and even some Onan Discussion Forums. Hopefully, someone's will put them to good use. Along the way G  painstakingly reported his attempts to dock neighbors that anxiously await to hear our progress on Project Motor Boat. Graciously, one of the yacht owners organized guys to muscle it out. (translation -  youth)

As I walked up the dock, I saw one of the boys (5' 5", 160lb of pure muscle) walking away from Felicity. I jokingly called out, "Hey, Did you get that thing out of there?" To which he humbly laughed out a "Yea." I thought, he was being sarcastic and we were back to square one but as I got closer to our finger pier I saw that ugly, hunk of junk OUT of the boat!! At the site of it, I jumped, squealed in delight and ripped open the 12 pack of beers I brought home, just in case. I gave one to Alex, the "young muscle", took one to GR and one for myself. I quickly snapped a pic and posted it to Facebook. I was thrilled!

Next up is major renovation of the generator room all 100 sq. ft of it! First, clean up all the grease, scrape the paint, removing old fuel lines and just a whole lot of cleaning and sanding to prep for all the new goodies we will install!

Seriously, this is a momentous occasion for us. We were really beginning to think we were in over our heads. Power boating was just not for us. We longed for the simplicity we once had. Now, we are are encouraged once again, that the seemingly impossible - really IS possible! It just takes good old fashioned hard work, perseverance and youth, looooots of youth.

*The Florida Promise is a promise made to you by a local contractor to show up and do work, to which they never do.

Removing a Dinosaur

Okay it's really not that BIG, but it might as well be! (Image found here.)

Removing Felicity's original generator, a 1968 12KW Onan, has become a very daunting task. Similar to removing a dinosaur. It's huge, heavy and OLD!! A dinosaur in that the technology has advanced so much in the last 44 years that many of the parts are obsolete. A major factor in why we chose not to fix it; spending money on something that in the long run, could cause headaches.  It's also a dinosaur in that it's monstrous, considerably larger than many new generators and almost double the weight. While GR has spent many a night, crouched down in the generator room below our galley disassembling the engine, we have managed to get the bulk of the job done. However, the actual "removal" has become another beast entirely. We are still in the concept stages of how we will 1) lift a 1000lb generator  out of the hole and remove the hunk of metal our of our galley, up 6 steps that round a corner and out of our salon without ruining carpets or walls. 2) THEN WHAT?! What do we do with this thing?? We have no way to transport it.

Our biggest issue is that we just don't have the right kind of equipment. We don't really want to put out the expense to build a framework to lift it up and move it out. Then we have all that wood left, to what...store it? No. Normally, we are do-it-yourself-ers but on this project we need someone that already has the equipment AND the manpower!

Yeah.

So that's what we are up against. Any ideas? Have you done something similar? Please leave your comments below!!

GR's Five Favorite Products

Fridays are fun days right? Everyone is excited about the weekend, including us. I decided that on the blog Fridays will be Favorite Days! We will talk about some of our favorite things like anchorages, products, companies, and foods.

In my opinion, GR is a "Mr. Fix It" like no other I have ever seen before. He really takes pride in every job he does and that shows. There are a few products he uses on a regular basis that help tremendously and we wouldn't consider leaving the dock without them on board. I just LOVE telling everyone about the little tricks we have learned about certain products. So without further delay, here we go! While most of my posts are pretty basic this one gets down right technical! (Well, for me anyway!)


Super Lube - It's a great multipurpose grease and can be used as a dialectric grease for electrical connections. When applied to rubber gaskets it can keep them from dry rotting. It performs well in high temperature areas. The secret ingredient, Syncolon® (PTFE) a replacement for Teflon. It creates a better barrier between moving parts.


PB Blaster -  Penitrating oil can that break free many rusty things including Master-Locks, screws, bolts and any other fastener you may need to break loose. You can spray it on bike parts after the evil rust monkeys get to it.

Ultra Tef Gel - Creates a barrier between two dissimilar metals. Every screw, nut, bolt and rivet get a bit of Tef Gel.

Sea Foam - GR adds this to fuel, diesel, gasoline and oil. When added to oil at oil changes it keeps the valves clean and working freely. GR has also been known to soak carburetors in it to clean out all the junk that builds up. Cleans injection systems and engine parts.

Sno Bowl* - Sno Bowl is the best at getting that brown brow off the hull that every boat gets from the ride down the ICW. It works in the head getting all that calcification off the bowl.

Have you used these products? Do you have any other uses for them? Please share them with us in the comments section. Today being Friday, I'm sure GR has a list of projects for us to do this weekend. I'll be sure upload anything good we get done!!

*This stuff is seriously bad for the environment and contains Hydrochloric Acid. So handling this should be done very carefully and sparingly.