360 Days And Counting Till Cast-off

[Trim50]

This is the countdown...the hardest part I hear. Each day at work I draw an X through the day and I have the days numbered on the calendar.

We put our canvas cocoon on the boat for the winter months...

I'm sitting under the canvas at the computer trying to get my Pactor working with my TS480SAT radio so that I can send e-mail at sea...it is a maze of software, cables and reading for right of passage to be able to use HF for e-mail.



Also making more sushi for friends on the dock...getting pretty good at it, but it requires 4 hours to prepare a meal for 4 people!

[redbopeep]

Congrats! on taking that big step to set a date for cast-off

Looking forward to hearing all about your preparations as you come along, too.

Love that winter cover--did Lori make it? Its quite impressive!

Take care,

Brenda and David

[Trim50]

Well, the recent economic situation made setting a date pretty easy. For one, I don't think I'll have a job come October next year which makes leaving easy. The good thing is, our planning anticipated this since the present job was highly speculative on gas prices being above $4/gal.

Nope, Lori didn't make this one. The canvas was made by Albert's boat covers...took him about 6 months to make it. I have his number if you are interested. I'm sure he will work in SD as well.

Are we going to see you two at Catalina with the refit boat this coming summer?

[redbopeep]

Originally Posted by Trim50

Well, the recent economic situation made setting a date pretty easy. For one, I don't think I'll have a job come October next year which makes leaving easy. The good thing is, our planning anticipated this since the present job was highly speculative on gas prices being above $4/gal.

Nope, Lori didn't make this one. The canvas was made by Albert's boat covers...took him about 6 months to make it. I have his number if you are interested. I'm sure he will work in SD as well.

Are we going to see you two at Catalina with the refit boat this coming summer?

If we're still in So-Cal, you bet. Right now, our planned launch is early January (after the holidays) --we were trying to just get in the water by October and then had the usual assortment of work-related and misc things delay us. However, living on the boat (in the yard) is allowing us to work more hours on boat projects, so we're quite happy about that.

Benefit is that I'm refinishing the spars and doing rigging work now that I thought would wait until we were launched. We may actually get the masts installed upon launch instead of coming back for them a few weeks after launch

[Trim50]

Would love to see some recent pics of the progress!

[Istioploos]

Originally Posted by Trim50

This is the countdown...

My best wishes on your countdown. Just think in less than a year ...

[imagine2frolic]

Counting down the days? Here's a gift in case you decide to leave early!!!!!!!!!You're not feeling like you're wearing a striped suit are you?

[Trim50]

What I can't understand, is what do the rest of the people think about to get them through the days???

I don't even remember what it was like not to be planning our escape...Seems so odd now.

Just thinking out loud as I brush-off my zebra-stipe suit and shade my eyes from the fluorescent lights.

[redbopeep]

How's it going? Any new news on your plans/prep? excitement

[imagine2frolic]

I think about warm delicious breezes caressing my flesh on starlit nights. Phosphorous trails left behind in my wakes. Palm trees leaning over soft, white, sandy beaches. I Imagine I can hear the wind calling me as it rustles through those palm leaves. A freshly caught fish on the grill as the sun starts to paint the sky. My li'l brown love smiling at me, because she is content as wavelets slap the hulls. Dolphins racing before the bows giving me quick glances seeking my approval of their talents.

I never EVER think about sweat dripping onto my eyeglass lenses trying to get a pump rebuilt. I completely place out of my mind the hard challenges that we will sometimes face. I don't think about what neeeds to be done to get the boat ready. I just do it while the first paragraph is wafting through my mind.................. I in my mind's eye allow myself to see, and experience what I know waits for me......i2f

[Gallivanters]

Greetings from Panama!

I'm certainly no expert, but... if I may...

When we sold our last boat, I came across a ten-year-old notebook in which I had written my first "To Do List" for that old boat and I was amused to see that I'd only crossed-off, like, 25% of the items which I thought were absolutely necessary to get done before we could safely & comfortably cast our lines and leave Hawaii... ten years prior!

There were all sorts of great things which I thought would be needed. The important items were done - but the majority of "must have" items weren't really all that necessary to sail that boat across the Pacific, Indian & Atlantic Oceans. I only got around to adding a roller furler three months before we decided to sell the old girl!

The point I'm tying to make here is this: You'll NEVER have the boat Completely Ready to go by any certain date.

And I think it's best to just let go and let the boat tell you what you need and do not need ... as you go.

All your magazines, catalogues & neighbors can fill your head with what one "needs" have in place in order to sail this wattery world... and one can sit on the dock an entire lifetime just waiting for the latest & newest chartplotter to arrive. I reckon that's a lot of good cruising time waisted once you realize that you can get here just as easily as the rest of 'em withlittle more than a few old paper charts, GPS and a pencil sharpener.

I suggest you all forget about making your Dream Catcher perfect... just cast your lines, steer for the horizon and let the boat tell you what you "really need" to live the life you're dreaming of.

It is said that "Cruising is getting to do boat maintenance in Exotic Locations" and "The worst thing one can bring aboard a cruising boat is a Calendar." All true.

At the moment, I'm trying to work-out why our depth sounder has given up the ghost... 2000 miles from our home port. Solving little problems in exotic locations is one of the things that makes this life so interesting... and fun!

Cast your lines now and finish your To Do List out here! You'll find that many projects are easier & cheaper to complete away from home. And you'll also find that many "Must Have" items turn out to be completely un-necessary to sail your boat to your own personal paradise.

To Life!

Kirk

[Trim50]

Originally Posted by Gallivanters

Cast your lines now and finish your To Do List out here! You'll find that many projects are easier & cheaper to complete away from home. And you'll also find that many "Must Have" items turn out to be completely un-necessary to sail your boat to your own personal paradise.

To Life!

Kirk

The only real to-do-list items that must get completed are...1) solar and 2) bank account balance.

Approximately 30% of my cruising kitty is stuck in the market...so I want to make sure we have enough not to require tapping investments that would result in certain losses.

I'd also like to finish the wind generator and watermaker...but I can do either of those anyplace in the world.

Storage is still a challenge to be overcome.....figuring out what tools to bring and which to leave at my parents place in AZ.

[redbopeep]

Originally Posted by Trim50

The only real to-do-list items that must get completed are...1) solar and 2) bank account balance.

Approximately 30% of my cruising kitty is stuck in the market...so I want to make sure we have enough not to require tapping investments that would result in certain losses.

I'd also like to finish the wind generator and watermaker...but I can do either of those anyplace in the world.

Storage is still a challenge to be overcome.....figuring out what tools to bring and which to leave at my parents place in AZ.

We're really excited for you guys, Ken Sounds like you're getting it all together!

Don't get all wrapped around the axle regarding taking a loss on investments. Too many people leave money in a bad investment with unrealized loss until they can recover the investment with a gain. The psychology of this makes sense but the money part doesn't:

Lets take an extreme case...say you have 100K invested in a particular security but because of the bad market performance, you now only have 50K market value to that security. And lets say the projection is that your investment will grow back to 100K in 5 years if left in that security. Most folks will just sit there and wait the 5 years before moving the money elsewhere. However, it is often likely that you could take the 50K, move it to another security that is projected to earn back your money in less time--who knows, with some of the grossly oversold industry sectors, if things turn around in those sectors, maybe it would be within a year.

Sure, by getting out of a losing position, you'd realize a loss upfront and maybe you don't have investment income to balance that loss against, but maybe you do. You're not incurring a capital gain with the cash out, so it doesn't cost you there and if you could earn back your investment faster somewhere else, that's the driving reason to go ahead and take the loss now and move into a better investment for the upcoming time frame of interest to you. With US tax laws, you can carry forward losses indefinitely and when you have a gain, you balance the loss against the new gain...until no more loss. Further, you can take 3K loss against ordinary income every year until the loss is accounted for as well. Yea, 50K of loss would take a lot of years at 3K per year against ordinary income...but if you're someone who has 100K in a single security, like my example, you're also likely to have another several hundred K in other securities--some with gains and distributions.

If you're cashing out of other "positive" investments in order to fund your trip, you'd be paying income tax on those gains and have no loss to balance against the gains. Many people do make the error of cashing out of a good performing investment (makes them feel good) rather than realize a loss on a poorly performing investment. The bottom line for you will be needed cash in the kitty, so getting out of poorly performing investments with long times to turnaround and keeping good performing investments (if they are expected to have continued good performance) will likely really help you out.

All just my opinion, hope all goes well for you in the upcoming year and once you take off

You know my opinion about storage--happily opposite yours. Hope you all work out a satisfactory arrangement there. We'll be weighing the tools as they go on the boat. Hubby insists they're good ballast

Happy Holidays,

Brenda and David

[Trim50]

I've been buying a bunch of pelican cases off Ebay for my tools and smal electronics. Amazing how cheap you can get these things.

[redbopeep]

Originally Posted by Trim50

I've been buying a bunch of pelican cases off Ebay for my tools and smal electronics. Amazing how cheap you can get these things.

About the pelican cases...you've been living aboard and I assume that's with many of your tools and small electronics already there--do you notice much corrosion or how have things been doing thus far with hand tools, power tools, electronics and so on?

[Trim50]

Nope, our boat is very dry. The Pelicans are for taking items like cameras, tools computers ashore. Plus there is always the chance that a hatch may fail or god forbid one gets rolled.

I don't keep power tools on the boat at this time...we have a 40 ft shipping container in a storage yard near the marina. I figure I will take all the Ryobi's and palm sanders. The big tools like table saws, drill press, band saw.etc will have to go to AZ.

[redbopeep]

Originally Posted by Trim50

Nope, our boat is very dry. The Pelicans are for taking items like cameras, tools computers ashore. Plus there is always the chance that a hatch may fail or god forbid one gets rolled.

I don't keep power tools on the boat at this time...we have a 40 ft shipping container in a storage yard near the marina. I figure I will take all the Ryobi's and palm sanders. The big tools like table saws, drill press, band saw.etc will have to go to AZ.

Glad to hear its generally dry!

Yea, we're taking the little stuff but not the big stuff. Of course, for us that includes all of David's 28V Milwaukee tools...

In July, when a guy we had working with us on the boat completed his stuff, he took his drillpress with him. We were immediately feeling pressure to buy one but didn't want to because we've got a huge one in storage in Maryland. And, truly what we were most using the press for was simply making various sizes of wood bungs to cover screw holes in the wood So, we picked up a little, used, Craftsman drill press stand similar to this one. These stands only work with drills that have a traditional chuck rather than the fatter hand-set type. Of the 7 drills we have here in California, only one fits that description--a nice Bosch hammer drill we lengthened the straps for holding the larger drill body and put the hammer drill in. Oh, my, that little stand is totally awesome. Also, it is made so you can put a grinding wheel on it (of course, we got a stone for it). The press we got is aluminum with some regular steel parts. You could probably replace the steel with stainless, but these little fold up, put-away stands to turn your drill into a press really are a great thing to have on a boat.

We have a bench-top mill-drill that is in debate whether it goes with us. David wants it and I don't. Since I'm the one who does the milling, I figure I'll end up with final say It is not very powerful, but I've used it to mill all kinds of small, out of production car parts and expect we'd end up doing the same for something for the boat but haven't used it yet here in California.

Again, good luck with all the final prep!

[Trim50]

How do you like that 28V lithium ion tool set? I've heard plus and minus reviews. I still have the 18V Ryobis which are basically disposable tools....only thing is, they last forever!

[redbopeep]

Originally Posted by Trim50

How do you like that 28V lithium ion tool set? I've heard plus and minus reviews. I still have the 18V Ryobis which are basically disposable tools....only thing is, they last forever!

It;'s an awesome set of tools. Couldn't go wrong if you decided to get into the 28V Milwaukee tools. We had no battery powered tools whatsoever when starting the project--just lots of air tools, and power tools with extension cords and a couple bit-and-brace and Yankee drivers that we'd used on our various house projects. As you may know, the major rebuild of our schooner has taken a little over two years. Those V28 tools have been used day-in and day-out and have been great.

At the beginning of the project, David went to the ToolDepot and got a great deal on a setup that included the skill-type saw, a drill, recip saw (a sawsall), soft case, battery-powered flashlight, charger and two batteries. Then, with replacing keelbolts looming, he quickly purchased the (huge) variable speed angle V28 angle drill (w/o battery and charger) for a good price at the same place. That drill is better than the Milwaukee Hole Hawg (which someone else had on the project) because the V28 was variable speed it could drill 2-1/4" holes thru the lead keel with no problem (just don't go too fast or the lead melts and the auger/forsner type bit becomes encased...and, it did take two people to hold the drill because of the torque) but David did frag the gears on it (warranted repair, btw) within a month...the repair shop said "take it easy, man"

Later in the project, the right angle drill was used with a 6-1/4"" hole saw to cut 18 of our portholes through the finished 1-3/8" planking and 3" oak port hole backing blocks topped with 1-5/8" mahogany inside...6" of wood. No problem, hang on tight. Again, the Hole Hawg couldn't perform this task because it was not variable speed.

David and another guy used the two drills, skill-type saw, and recip saw such that at least one V28 tool was in use almost non-stop 10 hours a day, 5 days a week for about 8 months, hot-swapping the two batteries all day long. Since then, in the past 18 months I'd say the V28 tools get about 2 hrs/day average usage as the work moved into more finish carpentry and more use of the tablesaw and planers. One of the batteries had a warranted replacement at about the 10 month point. The batteries have a two year warranty, btw. The skill-type saw had a repair in about 1 year...complete rebuild (another warranted repair) after it was used for cutting about 1/2 of the 2" thick hardwood planking for the entire boat. The V28 skill-type saw, going thru full 2" planking stock of mahogany and 2" framing stock of hard Angelique, was as useful as any of the other skill-type saws in the boatyard. The same saw was used to cut about half our fir deckbeams, too.

When our helper's work was done and he took his tools with him late last summer, he also took his 14" bandsaw and his portable metal cutting bandsaw (oh, so nice to have folks around with great tools) so we were faced with another dilemma--buy a bandsaw or what? Well, we'd used this guy's portable metal cutting bandsaw for all kinds of things (wood and metal) including making the bronze 3/8" chainplates....and we needed to cut more plate so we recently purchased one of the factory-reconditioned and warrantied 28V metal cutting band saws. It also works great--its been used on mostly bronze plate or bronze/brass sheet metal so far. We can set it up stationary with our bench-top vise or use it as intended portable. Oh, and now we have 3 batteries and a second charger since one of each came with that purchase.

So...how are those V28 tools? They're really great. Seldom do we use the corded tools now. If we use a handtools that's not a V28 tool, its probably an air tool for fasteners, or, planers, grinders, and sanders.

[chiroeurope]

Folks just a note here, when working with many marine grade hard woods you REALLY want to be where a high grade filter mask and some form of eye and skin proctection. Working on concertinas i work with mahogany, ebony, and a few other exotic hard woods (until I can get a sealed cover for the CNC the wife has outlawed cocobo & a few others).

I don't mean to insult and hope none is taken, I just grew up around wood as Grandda was a master woodwright and learned early that wood can kill you if you don't take the proper care when dealing with the dust.

Again no insult meant and I really hope none taken. It is just that cancer sucks trust me (not from wood though).

Michael