There's a Duck In My Flower Pot!

Friday, April 25, 2014 - No Work… Here’s Why!

That’s right, the boat refit project has been delayed for a few days, and not by choice. A Mallard has taken up residence in a flower pot on the back deck. The boat is only a few feet from her nest and every time I get on board, she flies away.

We checked on line to see if we could find out how long she'll be nesting.

Here’s the story:

Mallard Nesting Behavior

I'm assuming your duck is a mallard. Few wild ducks of other species seem to nest around homes, but even if they do, their behavior is similar enough to the mallard that the following should cover them as well. If you are dealing with a Muscovy or other domestic breed, all bets are off...go see your local farmer or pet dealer for information.

Wild mallards typically nest on the ground, in tall grass and shrubs. Occasionally we find nests built on piles of decaying vegetation in the middle of a wetland. Even less frequently, they will nest in trees, most commonly in old crow or hawk nests. Man, of course, has provided all sorts of nesting structures that are placed in wetlands and designed to protect nests from predators. These are heavily used by mallards in some locations. Perhaps with brood after brood of ducklings hatching in artificial nest structures, it is only to be expected that some will also take up residence on a flower pot on your front porch or on your second story balcony. One other point on nest location: mallards are philopatric, which means that the hen frequently will return to the site of last year's successful nest; this may have implications for next year if you had to relinquish your barbecue to a mallard this spring.

Be that as it may, Ma Mallard typically lays one egg per day until she has accumulated a full clutch. Early in the nesting season, a full clutch averages 12 eggs. Hens that lose the first nest will commonly nest a second (and even third or fourth) time later in the summer; these "renesting" hens generally lay fewer eggs, commonly 8-10. The first few eggs are laid in a shallow "scrape" in the ground. As laying progresses, Ma will add grass, twigs, and copious amounts of her own down to the nest, resulting in a well insulated and surprisingly well camouflaged nest bowl.

During the laying period, Ma visits the nest for only about one hour per day. While there she lays an egg and works on nest construction. Don't be concerned if she skips a day. She does not incubate the eggs during the laying stage. Because no embryo development has occurred, weather conditions in her absence generally have very little effect on the clutch. An exception is a hard freeze, which may kill the embryos if it occurs before the hen has insulated the nest. Once she has constructed a nest bowl, she will cover the eggs with nest material whenever she voluntarily leaves the nest. This behavior makes the nest less obvious to predators, and protects the eggs from temperature extremes.

Incubation begins after the clutch is complete, and typically lasts for about 25-29 days. During this period she will usually cover the nest and go off to feed for about an hour each morning and afternoon. As hatch date approaches, she will begin to feign injury if she is disturbed. This behavior evolved to lead predators away from the nest...once she is a safe distance from the nest, her "broken wing" will miraculously mend, and she will return to the nest as soon as the danger has passed. This behavior is fun to watch, but be aware that she is risking real injury in the process.

Because no incubation occurred during the laying stage, all viable eggs will hatch within 12-24 hours of one another. After a short period of brooding the ducklings at the nest, Ma will lead the gang off to her chosen wetland. This may be up to 3 miles away, so don't be surprised if you don't see "your" brood on the pond right behind your house...she will take them to where she has found the best source of aquatic invertebrates to feed them. Not uncommonly, one or more unhatched eggs will remain in the nest bowl. Some of these are infertile; others are "addled" (eggs in which a partially developed embryo died during incubation). Discard the leftover eggs, but do it carefully; gas buildup in an addled egg can cause it to explode when handled, and the results are not appetizing.

By the way…if you are wondering about Pa Mallard, he's off looking for an unattended female during most of this. He and Ma stayed together during selection of the nest site and the laying process, but as Ma began to leave him for long periods during incubation, he gradually lost interest and flew the coop. Not politically correct, but that's nature for you.

Prior to today, she was apparently laying eggs; as mentioned in the article, one egg per day. She'd be on the nest for two or three hours and then leave until the next day, when she repeated the behavior.  In eight days, she laid eight eggs.  She started laying on the nest today, so we think she’ll be less skittish. Hopefully, I won't scare her when I get on the boat to work.

Progress Report!

All the wood paneling is sanded

Wood paneling all sanded

Portlights polished

Floor sanding just beginning

Ceiling restoration underway

As of today, the two big projects are sanding the ceiling and floor, but we also have to reseal the portlights. I can do the sanding anytime, but recalking the portlights will be done on  one of the warmer, less windy days because one of us has to be outside. The boat is pretty much torn apart. All of the projects currently underway create a great deal of dust. Finishing varnish, wax, paint, oil, will have to wait until all sanding is finished and the clean up too. 

Welcome Spring... The Project Moves Into High Gear!

Spring arrived yesterday and it's time to move the project into high gear. Of course the 50 degree temperature predicted for today should help!

repacking the portlights

I worked on the Nimble for a couple hours today. Anna Marie and I replaced the gasket (3/8 x 1/4 neoprene sticky on one side from McMaster-Carr (less that $8.00 for 50' under $15.00 with shipping) in the two starboard oval portlights. We then removed the outside rims and laid in fresh butyl. Then we put it back together, only now, two screws were too short due to the thickness of the butyl. We managed to get it together temporarily.

After the portlight project, I experimented with a variety of grits of sandpaper on the ceiling. I settled on a light sanding of 180 grit to remove some of the paint and will follow with 220 to remove the rest of the paint. The I'll use ever finer grits until I get to 1500. A coat of polish and wax and the ceiling will be finished.

Cabin lights after 800 grit sanding and polish.

While watching TV in the evening, I cleaned and polished two of the cabin lights. I wasn't sure how to bring them back to life. The Brasso wasn't nearly as effective as it was on the portlights. Coincidently, Capt.  Mike (Boston Belle Charters) posted pics of his refurbished lights on the Nimble Nomad Owners Facebook page. He used 400 grit wet/dry and polish. I used 800 grit and a brass polish (Brasso). They look pretty good!

Detail of Teak Stain on Fiberglass!

Stains like this are all over the fiberglass at most of the places where the wood meets the fiberglass.

After the use of a razor blade, some water and 600 grit sandpaper, the stains are gone!

There’s no easy way to get rid of these stains. It just takes time and effort. The tools to accomplish the task are a razor blade, a spritz of water and 600 grit sand paper. That and perseverance will get the job done... in time! 

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Snow and ice have slowed work on the project!

Work has slowed considerably in the last two days. After four to six inches of snow, a freeze settled in and it is cold outside! By the end of the day, all but the hand sanding of the paneling was completed. I even was able to start sanding the fiberglass headliner in the forward area of the cabin. It had been painted white. Pits, stains and imperfections detract from it’s appearance. I plan to sand off the paint. Then I’ll hand sand it with ever finer sand paper ranging from 600 to 1500 grit wet/dry paper. After that, I’ll polish it with super duty rubbing compound, Finesseit II and then a final coat of pure wax. It’s the same treatment I’ll do to all the interior and exterior fiberglass.

The sun allowed some of the accumulated snow to melt and I found several leaks. Anna Marie and I cleared all of the snow off the boat. We’ll address the leaks as soon as we get a warmer day.  

Yikes! It's COLD!

This port (and three others) developed small leaks.

Rehab of the Nimble Nomad Begins!

The third day of the rehab of our 1992 Nimble Nomad is in the books! It’s still chilly outside, so all of the work is being done on the interior. With the electric heater running it’s fairly comfortable inside. Commitments unrelated to the rehab have limited our work to about three hours a day. Some of the work is tedious and time consuming. It took about forty-five minutes to polish one port and there are six of them. You do the math! There are five brass light fixtures are left to be polished. The most tedious task involves removing teak stain where the floor and side paneling meet the fiberglass.

The boat came with these galley cabinets.

The galley cabinets have been temporarily removed for installation of a new countertop.

Most of the trim wood has been removed, labeled and stored in a safe place off the boat. The small head and three-quarters of the port side paneling have been sanded and the interior fiberglass has been compounded. We still need to polish and wax it. The navigation instruments and VHF radio have been removed and stored for safe keeping. Except for tools, the boat is pretty well stripped out. 

A trial fit of the Airhead composting toilet indicates that it will work well in the small head compartment. It will be installed after the floor pan receives a fresh application of gelcoat and the wood has been varnished. 

In summary, the work is progressing nicely. There have been no major surprises and the work has been rewarding. Based on the results to date, we are optimistic that the boat will look new, at least on the inside! 

Work on the exterior will have to wait until warmer weather arrives.

Final Details and the Long Trip Home!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014 - Decommissioned and Departed!

The final push began at 0700 when we left the campground. On the way to the yard, we picked up some bagels, donuts and coffee for the marina employees to thank them for the service they have provided and the service still to be performed. They seem to be a nice group of people.

Between the hours of 0800 and 1000, we finished the decommissioning of SUNSHINE, at least the work that we could do. The yard has offered to pickle the motors and flush them as well.

I wasn't able to remove the old and now defunct lock down chains. I'm going to write to Bill Watson to ask him to remove them if he thinks they are an issue with potential buyers.

Returning to the campground, we quickly hitched up the Cooter and started the long drive home at a few minutes past noon. We drove for six hours and stopped for the night at the Crooked River State Park off Exit 1 in Georgia.

We hope to drive for 10 to 12 hours tomorrow so we are within easy driving distance to home. We're hoping to have a short six hour drive on Friday.

Thursday, February 27, 2014 - the Longest Day (of the three day drive home)!

Yes, it was a LONG day, but not for the anticipated reason. Our plan to drive from Crooked River State Park in Georgia to Kiptopeake State Park on the Delmarva peninsula in Virginia came to a screeching halt at about 1310 hours when the dashboard idiot lights showed an engine overheating and battery discharge problem. A quick look at the gauges confirmed that there was a problem. Within seconds, we were slowing to a stop on the shoulder of I-95 at milepost 186 in South Carolina. 

At first we called AAA for assistance then we called Tow Boat US since we had the boat in tow and we have their trailer assistance insurance. 

Truck Service of Florence came to our rescue. The plan was to replace the serpentine belt that had parted, but when the mechanic looked under the hood, he found the vacuum pump was seized. We waited another hour before a tow truck arrived. On the way to their shop, we got caught in a traffic jam for 1 1/2 hours. By the time we got to the shop it was after 1900 hours. The tow driver dropped us off at a motel for the evening.

Friday, February 28, 2014 - Another Long One!

The repair took all morning. At 1200 hours, we pulled out of the repair facility driveway and resumed our drive home. The rest of the trip went smoothly and we pulled into the Red Shack's driveway at 0130. We off loaded a few of the important cargo items and got the heat turned up. The pipes are frozen, hopefully there aren't any leaks, so we haven't any water, but we need sleep. We'll resolve the water issues in the morning.