 September
11, 2001 changed everything for everybody. We went back to the
yard on the 13th where the mood was somber. Most of us
did not know what to say. Still, the work of the yard continued.
Jule III would not see any real work for another week or two.
Visions of the South were fading away. If we can't go South on
the water, why not travel the ICW by land yacht? So we started
planning our land voyage ... certainly not as adventurous as
Voyage 2001 but what the hey.
 Buster's
first task was the removal of all of the old adhesive from the
deck top and roughing up the surface before applying the new
deck. It was now early October and the yard was filling up with
boats for winter storage. Hard to believe another season has
passed and we have been "on the hard" for over 3
months. How depressing! More planning on the land voyage. We were
also working on our dog stategy. How were we going to take two
dogs and a cat on Voyage 2002.
 The
old deck was laid on the floor as a template for the new deck. We
did a pretty good job of removing the deck. We only broke 4
planks (out of total of 110). We could now see that the deck was
quite thin. We clearly saw black stains on the teak where the
fasteners had corroded. Black streaks near the bungs are a sure
sign of a failing deck. Interesting points to ponder. It was mid
October now.
 The
new deck on the floor was waiting the masterful touch of Buster.
Our new deck started with over 200 board feet of burma teak. Many
boat units (aka $1,000) laid on the floor. Much of the wood was
precut at the mill in 1.75" by ½" by 8-12'
pieces. It is hard to believe that this will soon be our new
deck. Progress would be slow. Phipps Boat Works was busy in the
yard and postponed our work several times. It no longer made a
difference to us as there was no longer any chance of sailing
South this year.
 We
had a pleasant surprise in late October. Blaine and Janet Parks
were headed South and stopped by to say hi. We offered our slip
as it would not be used by us anytime soon. As usual, Bailey and
Max were sailing with Janet and Blaine on the S/V Charbonneau. We
met the folks of Charbonneau at the Dry Tortugas during Voyage
2000. We have kept in touch ever since. They have a web site at
http://www.sailcharbonneau.com.
 Real
deck progress was evident by mid November. Buster had cut all of
the pieces with exact precision. Each plank was fastened to the
deck but without any adhesive. Buster wanted to confirm that each
piece fit together properly. Buster was going to use a new type
of adhesive on the teak. It was a modified epoxy that had a
limited flexibility. The epoxy would move with the slight
fluctuations in the deck while underway. He was concerned that a
rigid epoxy could fracture..
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