Harbor Sunset

After spending most of the weekend in front of my computer, I took a few hours off to get some fresh air.

Poor Falls of Clyde…in limbo. So very depressing. Impounded by the state but still owned by the Friends of Falls of Clyde. I guess the powers that be don’t mind that their names will go down in maritime history as the “bad guys.”

Too bad that it’s only money that talks. History’s voice is silenced by greed.

One bright spot in all of this is that I’ve made some new friends. People who understand and care about the fate of ships like FOC.

Maunawili and tug Hoku Ke‘a:

Horizon Reliance assisted by Mikioi and Pi‘ilani:

Mana‘o approaching Pier 9 to pick up some folks:

Horizon Reliance‘s distinctive stern:

Pi‘ilani:

Variety

Not sure what was going on here just before the arrival of BBC France (in the distance):

Harbor Police boat:

Mana‘o

BBC France:

Something new and a bit of a surprise, a large red-eared slider:

Someone’s abandoned or runaway pet? It was swimming away from the area where Nu‘uanu Stream flows into the harbor.

Moana Holo:

Pre-Party Ship Spotting

Friday was FOC’s 136th “birthday.” Before heading over to the party at the pier, I did some ship spotting.

Nakue towing containment boom:

The “resident” (I assume) female ‘iwa flying low over the water to snap up a morsel:

Tug and barge traffic:

Prominent Ace arriving:

Detail:

Keoki passing by:

As for FOC, I was sad to see that there was no ship lei… At least she had some decorations at the bow courtesy of the ship fairy.

Back to the Old Grind

Brought the sander (my other tool purchase) to the ship yesterday to test it out. It’s a pain to lug the tools around, but at least I can look after them.

So…I did some sanding.

Indeed.

To tell you the truth, due to the general situation with the ship, I’ve lost heart in things. I had to prod myself to get to work.

I started with an area on the port side of the salon. It was a bit of a kapulu job, as we locals say. Thinking about it now, I wish I had taken the time to do better.

The base of the pillar at the left looked like the one on the right. I guess it’s a slight improvement.

On to the big job…the poop deck rail.

If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll know that the rail was one of my first projects. It had been sanded and varnished by volunteers shortly after the ship changed hands in 2008. It went downhill from there and looked terrible after a while.

I hand sanded (ship had no power then), scrubbed, and varnished it over a period of six months. It wasn’t perfect, but it looked pretty good.

What happened?

I feel bad about letting it get so crappy, after working so hard on it.

Back to work with the sander:

Some parts are worse than others and will probably have to be taken back down to bare wood.

I was able to get a small section looking pretty again.

I’m glad I used le Tonkinois. Worth the expense, I think. Time to order more.

This will keep me out of trouble for a while.

Stepped on this while walking around on the poop deck:

Not much going on, ship-wise.

Water taxi, Hikino: