Thursday April 11. “Fleetwood” is on the hard.

Written by Jack van Ommen on April 11th, 2013

With my week’s house arrest curing my flue and the polar temperatures I had lost time to prepare “Fleetwood” ahead of the haul out. She moved into the shed, at Hans de Boer, on Monday morning. The plan was to remove the keel, so that I would not need to climb ladders as much for the extensive overhaul. But I could not budge the keel bolts. The underwater hull looks as when I launched a year ago on the island of Chios. But the lower part of the iron keel is going to need many hours of work. I hit a few rocks and got stuck on gravel a few times too often on the Rhone and the Saone. My finger tips are sore and cracked my body aches all over from removing the fasteners through the teak deck that needs to be removed. Twisting my winter over fed body into the nastiest crawl spaces. But I am in a good location to get this done. We have had our first frost free nights but I cannot wear enough warm clothes to keep from shivering. This weekend we are promised temperatures between 10 and 15 degrees Centigrade. My cold is still not entirely cured. Last night was choir rehearsal. We will have a general practice, with the other choir group, on Saturday for the May 4th performance.

I absolved the Bank of America for their trespasses but they did it again. This time they are insisting that I have changed my address in the last thirty days and therefore I cannot request the stupid little “Safe Pass”, which I need to make wire transfers out of my BofA account to my Dutch account. I wonder what they will come up next after they finally agree that I have never changed my address. A never ending battle with people who apparently just read stock answers from a cue card and cannot use their tiny brains to understand what I need. When I asked to give me the new address, that I now supposedly have changed to from the only address I have ever given them, they were unable to give that to me.

Off to the boat yard.

 

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