One Step Closer To Moving Aboard

[redbopeep]

Hey, all,

Well, we've just sold our smaller boat, a Rawson 30, to a wonderful couple who will be giving the boat a good home and hopefully cruising on her in the next few years. The closing is scheduled for early next week. I'm happy to have her off our mooring so we have a spot for our cruising boat! But now, we'll be without a boat to sail for a couple months. We're scheduled to move our schooner back to the water sometime this summer. Earliest possible is late June but it will be dependent upon the boatmover's schedule as well as availability at the travel lift and the visitors' dock at our marina. The dockmaster will give us a month (minimum) on the visitors' dock, which we'll need because ours is a wood boat which will be swelling up during that timeframe and taking on a lot of water during the process.

In the meanwhile, we work, work, work towards the re-launch. Rigging expected to take place after we're sure we don't have to haul out again w/hull issues. So...maybe August before we're rigged up and able to sail again. Ah, but then, so much closer to the cruising life!

[Lighthouse]

You must be itching to get going. Selling your smaller boat is certainly that step forward.

[Trim50]

Do you have any new pictures of the progress? When do you think you'll meet us at Catalina?

[redbopeep]

Originally Posted by Trim50

Do you have any new pictures of the progress? When do you think you'll meet us at Catalina?

I want to go NOW!

However, reality sets in...we'll be on an insurance policy limiting us to the San Diego harbor until we've worked the kinks out. Then, according to our surveyor, we'll probably go up to Catalina as one of our first sea trials. So, um, who knows--hopefully late summer but likely next fall.

Our surveyor is a funny fellow. He says that usually people are so busy fixing all the stuff they "thought" they had fixed that they're afraid to leave the harbor anyway. Basically, his 1-2-3 is: San Diego Harbor; trip to Catalina; longer trip up and 'round the Channel Islands. Usually the shake down cruise around the Channel Islands is the go - no go point for him to sign off on the boat being seaworthy for blue water cruising.

[redbopeep]

Well, its going to be sink or swim for us this summer. We have a rental studio that we've been in while rebuilding the cruising boat...Our landlord is renovating the apartments and asked us when we'd be moving since she knows its coming up soon. She wasn't pushing us but we decided to make the commitment to be out by August 1st. So in 65 days we'll be truly "homeless" and have to be living on the boat (well, and our two storage lockers...)

We confirmed with the boatyard that IF for some reason we're not launched by then we can move aboard in situ. They laughed and said it had happened before... We'll hope that the boat is in the water before we have to move aboard!

So the countdown begins.

[MMNETSEA]

Originally Posted by redbopeep

we decided to make the commitment to be out by August 1st. So in 65 days we'll be truly "homeless" and have to be living on the boat (well, and our two storage lockers...)

So the countdown begins.

In this time zone only 64 days and if we don't count 1st Aug only 63 !

So @ 2 pictures every week for 9 weeks , it will be better than watching paint dry.

[redbopeep]

OK, lots of hyperventilating going on right now--we're still moving aboard at the end of the month but are in no shape to get into the water before oh, September at the earliest. Projects piling up and taking longer than expected. We've got the list of "has to be done before we can launch" and it still includes some pretty basic stuff (lots of plumbing, new thru-hulls, seacocks, exhaust system...) as well as hull painting and varnish work.

We spent part of the weekend doing more "fun" stuff like ordering the new flooring material for the head (oh, the material ordered won't be here for 2 weeks...) and shopping for a galley sink (big galley so there's room for a regular house-sized sink). We spent the other part of the weekend packing up some boxes in the studio and taking them to the storage unit and boatyard. We'll end up spending next weekend finishing the move leaving us just a mattress on the floor of the studio until the end of the month. Every day this week we'll be taking a carload of stuff to the boat so that hopefully it will be an easy move.

I'm sort of anxiously awaiting the arrival of our "Airhead" composting toilet since we'll be living aboard IN THE BOATYARD starting August 1 and I really don't like the idea of walking with a flashlight to the office (on the other end of the boatyard) in the middle of the night.

Well, its the start of another week at the boatyard. This week involves putting back together the windlass, scribing the new waterline, priming above the waterline on the port side (only enough scaffold to do one side at a time!), making a new companionway ladder, locating the right spots on the hull for all the planned thru-hulls, making wood backing blocks for and installing eight above waterline and two below waterline bronze thru hulls (and the 10 seacocks that go along with them).

Things that are on order and aren't here yet--2 waterlock mufflers, the Airhead toilet, the flooring that goes under it, 8 of the thru-hulls, the prop shaft, bushings for the steering gear self alignment bearing, the Kobelt engine control system.

Things that are sitting here waiting to be installed--the Interphase FLS, the engine gage panel, the new spigots for the portholes, the refinished butterfly hatches and forward companionway/scuttle, the shower sump/drain pump, the fuel fill caps that go on deck and fuel tanks vent lines...and misc other stuff...

Hyperventilate...ok it will all get done at some point!

[MMNETSEA]

Originally Posted by redbopeep

OK, lots of hyperventilating going on right now--we're still moving aboard at the end of the month and shopping for a galley sink (big galley so there's room for a regular house-sized sink).

Hyperventilate...ok it will all get done at some point!

Hi Brenda,

Midnight OIL !!!!

ELKAY do a very good double sink -- at least one of which is deep

Their S. Cal outlets :-

ELKAY SINKS

Richard

[redbopeep]

Originally Posted by MMNETSEA

Hi Brenda,

Midnight OIL !!!!

ELKAY do a very good double sink -- at least one of which is deep

Their S. Cal outlets :-

ELKAY SINKS

Richard

I like the Elkay sinks--I had a huge single bowl (deep) one in my house kitchen. I'm looking for a wide single bowl similar to that one--I found that I could use a rubbermaid dishpan in it and set all kinds of things next to the dishpan. Also had a nice cutting board that sat over it. Of single bowl deep sinks, I'm not finding exactly what I want yet. The original sink in the boat was a too-deep commercial sink about 27x27x24 deep. Very strange sink.

[redbopeep]

Update--

++ The cat knows something's up--he's began "hugging" the bed in the studio and won't even move for us to make the bed in the mornings. Guess he knows that the days are numbered for his nice snoozing while we're away for the day working on the boat. In a short week, he'll be trying to snooze while we're making all kinds of racket in the boat!

++ The rest of my thru hulls arrived in the mail yesterday. Bronze Conbraco (Apollo) from Discount Yacht Supply in PA. Four 1.5" for above waterline bilge pumps and shower sump and four 2" for above waterline cockpit drains. Upon inspection, one of the 1.5" ones has a casting flaw that goes all the way from inside thru the threads. It would leak directly upon installation! Though the company did not advertise these as factory "seconds" I begin to believe that is the case. I've contacted the company, but its just one more little "detail" to keep track of as things progress.

++ Hubby got the companionway stair/ladder completed yesterday afternoon. That thing was kicking his ___ with difficulty. He's normally very, very quick with such projects but this one took a couple days to do. It has two "fixed" permanent steps at the bottom and one "fixed" permanent step at the top the this fancy little ladder part that pivots out with thee steps on it. The "removable" part allows access to the front of the engine/alternator/flywheel, etc. The whole thing is quite pretty (Sapele aka African Mahogany) and I'll be varnishing it as soon as the dust settles from our sanding of the cabin-house (charthouse) exterior today and tomorrow. Haven't decided on what to use for anti-slip surface (the sticky tape just doesn't seem quite right).

++ I figured out that our fold-away aluminum Gorilla Ladder is the perfect thing to access the inside of the boat via any of the three 24"x24" butterfly hatches in the deck (good to know as there was no companionway ladder earlier this week and we won't be walking on my newly varnished one for a bit)

++ Decided that a 8" stainless steel bowl with a hole drilled through the bottom will make a great sink in the head. All the "small" sinks I've found so far are at least 12" diameter which is way too big! Still haven't decided on the galley sink. Will be washing dishes in a bucket starting next week...

++ We're eating really strange combos of food as we try to empty the pantry and 'frig before the move. Since our refrigeration in the near term consists of one of those little 12V icechest cooler/frig's we're eating all our frig stuff from the studio apartment. So, I've been backing all the frozen pies--we've been eating Mrs Smith's pumpkin pie, Claimjumpers' blackberry pie, and we're having lots of the veggies from the freezer. A meal is mixed veggies steamed and a piece of pie.

++ Using a handy laser to verify level waterline, I've marked 1/2 of the port side (that was yesterday afternoon) and will get my nerve up to mark the rest this afternoon. The above waterline primer goes on as soon as I've marked the line.

Well...that's kinda where we are at the moment

[Lighthouse]

"Red", thanks for the update. I've been following your progress with great interest.

[redbopeep]

Originally Posted by Lighthouse

"Red", thanks for the update. I've been following your progress with great interest.

Progress--Ha! This is a sad, sad state of affairs; no turning back though. 6 days...

[JeanneP]

I haven't tried this, but in Australia the boatyard where we had all our work done on sv Watermelon had an interesting technique for non-skid. While the last coat of paint was still wet, they sprinkled Epsom Salts onto it. When the paint was dry, they washed it off, leaving a lovely rough surface that was barely noticeable. I think they used Epsom Salts because the crystals are larger than table salt but are also water-soluble.

You might want to try it on a test board or such since I can't vouch for its real-time use on varnished surfaces.

[redbopeep]

Originally Posted by JeanneP

I haven't tried this, but in Australia the boatyard where we had all our work done on sv Watermelon had an interesting technique for non-skid. While the last coat of paint was still wet, they sprinkled Epsom Salts onto it. When the paint was dry, they washed it off, leaving a lovely rough surface that was barely noticeable. I think they used Epsom Salts because the crystals are larger than table salt but are also water-soluble.

You might want to try it on a test board or such since I can't vouch for its real-time use on varnished surfaces.

I've heard of that for texturing deck paint as well. The owners of the schooner Alcyone use that method.



It would probably cloud a clear finish like varnish. I think some of the silicon anti-skid additives in a topping layer of clear finish might work and look ok if I mask off stripes or areas for them. Someone told me NOT to use the walnut shell anti-skid since it was "ugly" and hard on your feet.

Thanks for the suggestion!

[redbopeep]

Packing and "dreaming"

Even though we're not moving 'til Thursday (still don't have that toilet yet!) I'm finishing up the packing out of the studio today so we can focus on the boat the rest of the week. We're leaving the computers and a travel bag here until then. I wonder what the landlord is going to say when we get out the sawszall recip saw and cut up our old box springs in the parking lot so it will fit in the dumpster? Can't think of what else to do with it. The mattress can be forced to fit into our double berth on the boat--though we'll be throwing it out before launch and putting a latex foam one in the berth.

One thing about this apartment--Gee wiz there's lots of dust! This has been the dusty/dirtiest place we've ever lived. Black dust on the window blinds and window sills gets just everywhere. But, after this week, that's behind us and we'll be living aboard while finishing up the work to be done before launch.

Right now, while I'm packing, David's over at the boatyard piecing together the old sole and installing all the stringers (leveling bits of wood that go on top the floors for the sole to sit on). The new mast steps are a bit wider/longer than the old ones so he's doing some creative work to re-use the sole.

I just took down my glass wind chimes that I kept on the medicine cabinet door. They have a wonderful quote written on the top which I've look at each morning while brushing my teeth (since 2002 when I got the chimes):

Dare to Dream

Choose a wish,

find a dream,

pick a wishing star:

Let your hopes and spirits soar

high and free and far.

Believe in the impossible,

then work and try to do--

For only those who dare to dream

can make a dream

come true.

In just a little while, we'll be living aboard! And in just a little bit later we'll be voyaging! I'm glad this has been one of our dreams and that its coming true!

[Lighthouse]

Good luck with the final packing and great move towards your commitment to a voyaging life.

[redbopeep]

We finished the move yesterday! We sat in the cockpit with a cold drink watching the sunset reflect off the water *



* Disclaimer--

sitting on dry land in the boatyard, the sun setting to the wast (which we have no view of since we have a tarp tenting the boat...and the "water" being a little pond just to the east of the boatyard that we can see through an opening in the tarp...but still, all the elements were there...

The cat is now hanging out in the forecastle watching David do interior work (the bed!) in the stateroom just aft. We spent the night last night on our old double mattress which just barely fits on the sole in the galley and dining saloon area (because the cabinetry that goes there is still un-installed). We had a clear view of the cockpit and helm since we still don't have a companionway door...

Lots of work to do!

[Lighthouse]

Wonderful! Now you'll really get a lot of work done.

[redbopeep]

Originally Posted by Lighthouse

Wonderful! Now you'll really get a lot of work done.

lets see...update for today...

last night, the cat almost ended up permanently "under" the sole as he slipped down into the bilge while exploring an area where there's an access panel out and he couldn't hardly manage to scramble his way back up to jump onto the sole. Rather funny.

Today was really "find everything" day as we organized the boatshed to hold the additional "stuff" that we don't want in the boat while working on the boat.

This morning, I did the "test" strip of paint in a small area just above the waterline on the port side. Good color, not quite enough prep-work on the primer--need to sand it a bit more before doing the topcoat of paint.

Hubby's still making sawdust in the boat. I think that will be going on for a while--I've "bagged" the mattress and bedding in plastic when we get up in the morning. Then, vacuum and use compressed air to clean the area before sleeping (that's going to get old fast).

The little "boat" washer/dryer is set up next to the boat, the composting head inside, and the solar shower out back. Interesting life these days.

Tomorrow and Monday we help friends deliver a boat down on Baja--so no projects for a couple days--fun sailing instead.

[redbopeep]

Enjoyed a great 36 hour sail to Ensenada--a trip that should have taken about 10-12 hours No wind though. Such is the life of sailing and not using the motor!

We had lovely dolphin, whale, and porpoise sightings. Lots of fish too.

Back at the boatyard, we are now back in full swing on things. Plumbing and more plumbing for hubby. Hull painting and sanding for me. I can "roll and tip" by myself but it sure is faster with a helper. No helper though I go back and forth between the hull painting and finishing out the cockpit sole and seating.

We don't have screens in the portholes and hatches yet. Hummm... come to think of it, the newly varnished teak hatches are still sitting below the boat waiting to be installed... well, anyway, we've just "invested" in a mosquito net for over the bed. Ahhhh. Now I can sleep all night w/o getting welts all over my arms and legs from the little flying west-Nile-virus-carrying critters.

Still sleeping on the floor of the galley on our old double mattress though the bed is framed in the stateroom. The new (latex foam) mattress should be here at the end of the week. The fellow doing the custom mattress did measurements earlier in week.

This morning, it was humid and overcast so I spent a few hours vacuuming and cleaning out the boat shed. Its amazing, but even with the huge piles of stuff still needing installation, there's a lot LESS stuff in here! We're making progress. Well, either that or we're just running out of stuff--I prefer to think its progress

More later, back to my cockpit sole.