If you're lucky enough to live to 100, the years between 50 & 75 are your third quarter. That segment in life could be the waning of your physically agile years, so it's a good idea to stay active. It's also a good time to challenge your brain to keep things limber up there - by mastering something new. We decided to go sailing, and this is a chronicle of our journey.

1/1/13

Happy New Year (and a little carpet install)

Winter sunset in the slip on s/v Florian
Florian has a nice teak & holly sole (floor)
The previous owners of our sweet little boat took very good care of her. The sole (floor) is almost 17 years old, but it looks great, with just a few scratches here and there. We thought it might be wise to protect it with carpet, and give our bare feet a surface to land on that's less slippery when wet, and less chilly during the winter. Boat carpeting is spendy, so we went looking for an alternative.
We used butcher paper to make a template on the floor
 I use black butcher paper to seal the back of my art when I frame it, so I have a big roll of the stuff on a dispenser in my studio. I cut a length off, brought it to the boat, and we made a template of the shape and size we needed to cover just the center-line of the teak, with holes for the drop-down dining table legs to lock into their little recessed collars.

Shopping the remnant carpet store
I found a carpet remnant manufactured for school floors (water proof and tough) for about $40.
Laying our template over the remnant
We flipped the carpet remnant, and flipped our template, and traced the shape on the back of the carpet webbing.

Don uses a straight edge and a knife to cut the remnant
With cardboard and a big cutting surface underneath, Don cut the carpet to size.
Cutting non-slip to lay under the carpet
I bought a roll of non-slip carpet backing for about $9. and we cut & placed it between the sole (floor) and the carpet to eliminate any slipping, and to protect the wood from the course surface of the carpet backing.

The floor is prettier than the carpet we've
covered it with, but it's protected now

Here's a nice, old fashioned Winter cocktail - the Applejack Rabbit
Fill a cocktail shaker half way with cracked ice
Add four shots of your favorite Calvados (apple brandy)
Squeeze the juice of one small lemon into the shaker
Add two teaspoons of real maple syrup (or more if you like sweet)
Cap & shake mightily.
Strain the drink into chilled glasses and top with a thin apple wedge.
Put your feet up, take a deep breath and enjoy this dandy little drink.
Happy New Year!
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2 comments:

Neophyte Cruiser said...

The carpet job looks great and it will save some wear and tear on your teak and holly sole. You might want to lift it from time to time to check to see if the non-skid is holding up. We had a small throw carpet in our quarter berth with a piece of non-skid beneath it and after a year we found the non-skid partially bonded to the teak and holly. It may well have been the function of the summer heat in Baja, but it may be worth checking anyway.

January 2, 2013 at 7:44 AM
Unknown said...

@Pete, thanks for the tip. It might be a heat issue, but now that you've mentioned it, I recall a similar thing happening with non-skid in my studio (I use it to brace the blocks I'm carving) when it stuck to the inside of a drawer after sitting for a few months. We'll keep an eye on that! Thanks!

January 3, 2013 at 3:55 PM

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