Death of a Cooler

I hate the cooler in my keelboat. I have always hated it since I bought the boat. The reason I hate it is simple: its insulation sucks, and I can't keep a block of ice for more than 12 hours in the summertime. This puts a serious damper on my cruising style. Since I bought the boat 3 years ago I have been planning to rip out the cooler, fill in the deck hatch, and build a new top-loading cooler which doubles as extra counter space in the galley.

Finally, a couple of weeks ago when my friend Joe was visiting, I worked up the nerve to rip out the old cooler. Here's what the hole where it used to be looks like:




Big hole in the bridge deck...a bit spooky.












These 2 pictures show the area where the cooler used to be and where the new cooler will be built. Lots to do...but it's not as important as getting the new motor in, so I am not really working on this. The destruction is the easy part. Now that's done, so I have to start thinking about the CONstruction...

Next step: fill the hole in the bridge deck!

Volvo Restart

Every 4 years the volvo ocean race stops in Annapolis. This race is an extremely intense round-the-world sailboat race. The crews are star-studded and they are braving some of earth's most punishing environmental conditions. Read all about it at www.volvooceanrace.org Here are some pictures we took as the boats leave Annapolis to start the leg to New York:














Pirates of The Caribbean leaving city dock.















My friends Amie, Matt, Karishma, Hannah, and Joe sitting on the dock at SSA watching the boats leave.














SSA club manager Mike Higgins gets the duck's-eye view of the action together with his dog Norton.

Croquet

David was the shoreside support crew for the MCAT (I CANNOT POSSIBLY THANK YOU ENOUGH). He provided transportation service, and a whole lot of pep-talking. The following day we attended the annual USNA-SJC croquet match together. Thanks, Big D, for humoring me by going to the croquet match. A good time was had by all (I think), and we got this snazzy photo in front of the house afterwards.















Hey David, do you think you could have told me BEFORE we went to the party that my tie was ridiculously too short? We brothers gotta look out for one another...

The end of the MCAT

On 4/22 I took the MCAT (yes, I know I am behind on my blogging, but no news IS good news!) Since then I have been so busy NOT studying I haven't had time to blog. Finally, here are some pics from the party:















Heh heh torching the MCAT practice tests. Here's hoping I don't have to take it again!















And munching barbecue ribs at 11:30 PM....they took a while, but they sure were good! David was already asleep so missed them entirely...bummer....