John Samford's Blog

In The Boatyard

2010-07-17T20:57:46Z

At Thunderbolt Marine in Savannah, you always see beautiful boats having major work done. An example is Calixe:

Calixe is a 193-foot Feadship owned by Wendy McCaw, former wife of Craig McCaw of McCaw Cellular (sold to AT&T). Calixe is apparently a part of the divorce settlement that went to Wendy. It was listed recently as number 29 in the 100 largest American yachts. As I entered the boatyard, Calixe was being relaunched following completion of a beautiful paint job.

Another head-turner at Thunderbolt is Steel Magnolia:

I earlier said that I wouldn’t show any embarassing photos of Steel Magnolia before her face lift, but now that you’ve seen her bottom out of the water, here’s some of the rust we’ll be having fixed and painted:

And here’s a view of her rather large bottom which needs a little sprucing up:

Work has already begun removing rails, gates, windshield wipers, deck chairs, and anything else that would get in the way of a major paint job. Now that she’s out of the water, work will begin in earnest Monday and I’m hoping to have her out of the yard in four to six weeks. I’ll post some updates on our way to beautification

Oil Spill Live Feed

2010-07-15T20:49:02Z

wkrg_oil_spill on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Getting a Facelift

2010-07-07T18:47:01Z

I’ve never been too happy with Steel Magnolia’s paint job. She’s kind of built like a workboat, and you would expect her to be a little rough around the edges. But, along with a thousand other issues, the original paint job was just not done correctly. As a result, there are areas on the deck and house where paint is bubbling, peeling and cracking. And on the steel portions of the boat, there are some serious, but cosmetic, rust areas that need attention.

I’ve been wanting to deal with these issues for some time but I was told that the boatyard would be far more competitive in the summer, when business is light. So yesterday, I moved Steel Magnolia from The Ford Plantation into Savannah to the Thunderbolt Marine. She’s going to have a face lift!

I could show some pictures of the rust areas and peeling paint, but I don’t want to embarrass the lady. So I’ll just plan on showing the “after” pictures. She should be tied up there for four to six weeks, and then emerge looking all shiny and new.

Lucile Pierce Samford

2009-11-11T16:00:53Z

When my first grandchild was born on August 22, 2008, I wrote a little journal entry because the Lovely Laura Lee told me her grandfather kept a daily journal and each grandchild could go back and read about the day they were born. So now that this is a tradition, herewith is the journal entry for today, November 10, 2009, the day my second grandchild was born.

Lucile Pierce Samford, second daughter of Daniel and Emily, was born this morning just after 10 am. She weighed in at 7 pounds, 3 ounces and was 21.5 inches long. She has a thick head of very dark hair and was born with very long fingernails which had to be filed down by her grandmothers Laura Lee and Charlene to prevent her from scratching her face. Best she get accustomed to regular manicures at a young age.

Lucille Pierce came into the world as Tropical Storm Ida came ashore on the Gulf coast drenching our area with heavy rain. As of tonight, areas in Birmingham have reported anywhere from 3 to 6 inches of rain over the last 24 hours. Creeks and rivers are flooded and the Mountain Brook Club golf course looks like a large lake. This rain is added to a very rainy fall with Birmingham receiving more than 5 feet of rain so far this year compared to an average of about 41 inches at this time of year.

Our economy is just beginning to show signs of recovery from a deep recession which began almost two years ago. Stella’s arrival and now Lucile’s have come among terrible economic times.

However, both of these beautiful children have been a welcome addition to the world, and a sign of hope for better days to come.

Welcome to the world Lucile. We look forward to watching you grow. And we hope the world will become a better place for you and your sister.

Mary Travers dies at 72

2009-09-17T03:16:21Z

Some of the earliest music I ever remember listening to at home were my brother’s Peter Paul and Mary (and Kingston Trio) albums. Mary had the ability to take a raunchy sounding Dylan song and make it absolutely beautiful. Read about her from the NY Times here.