Graff, July 11 - 18

We had typical weather for July with hot temperatures and late afternoon wind. We happened on a great spot on the backside of Castle Rock by talking with a group on a houseboat that was leaving the next morning. Since we had a number of coming and goings this worked great for us.

The boat operated without any problems. If the air conditioning wasn't working properly all the time we didn't notice. We checked the water level in the batteries and found them all full. They ought to be checked throughout the summer as last fall when checked it took several gallons to fill them. However, I believe the new battery charging system that was installed last fall may do a better job of not overcharging the batteries and drying them out. We also checked the oil in the generator and engines and found them all full and with good oil color.

We noticed the upper eye bolts for the guy wires that stabilize the canopy on the port side were broken and in need of replacement. We didn't get a chance to get to Page to get them. Hopefully the next owner could take some out and do that repair. I noticed that one of the uprights appeared to be showing signs of weakening.

We noticed that the bag in the vacuum cleaner was full and we changed it out. Our previous trip we found the bag to be overfull to the point that the vacuum would not pickup. We found that it was even clogged out into the hose. There are replacement bags on the upper shelf of the closet in the master bedroom.

We removed the slide by simply hammering out the large pin that attaches it to the mount. We found that the advantage of having access to the back of the boat for easy docking far outweighed having the slide in place. We left it on top so that it could be put back on if desired. I'm not sure if it will be feasible to remount the slide up and out of the way until this winter.

We had the misfortune of extending one of the come-a-longs too far and the cable came out of the hole that holds it in place. It took much much work to wrangle it back in.

Thanks for all that you all do to keep the boat maintained and ready for the next owner! From my angle, its been a good summer so far.

George Graff