26 Jun 2013

One of the things that I thought I would miss the most, after moving out of our little home in the woods, to the even littler home on the water, was the wildlife. In Marmora, we had a constant parade of squirrels, and birds, and all manor of 4 legged creatures, but life aboard has yielded little to that old scene. The only difference is that the animals are different. Ground hogs, bunny rabbits, swallows, swans, geese, fish and ducks. Everywhere we look, everywhere we walk, in the evening, or during the high sun of the day, they are all over, often right at our feet.

Our yacht club is on a small island with a causeway attaching it to the mainland. And in this little protected environment, the wildlife flourishes. They have become accustomed to the silly humans, and only get out of our way when we get within petting range. The other day I had to give a baby ground hog a little nudge with my shoe so he would get out of the middle of the road and scurry back up the hill. Other than the occasional lame threat from a domestic canine, they are left to there own devices.

The great thing about it though, is that we get to watch them, enjoy their simple life, and marvel at the individual personalities that seem evident in every living thing.

On the boat note: Its getting slow. The big yard sale is today. Our truck is packed solid with stuff that has to go. We need to empty our storage unit before Saturday so that we don’t have to pay for another month, and for our own personal sanity. Progress can be measured in many different ways, sometimes the rearranging of stuff, and the reduction of required space can give the illusion of getting ahead.

We spent about 5 hours going through every nook and cranny of the boat re-evaluating every little thing’s importance, reducing where we had too much, and repacking where it was too loose. We put the sewing machine in its place, and it fit great. I have enough room in my chart storage area for probably the entire Atlantic ocean, all in big zip lock bags to keep the moisture from killing them. The boat still lists to the port side, but that is where the batteries are, the canned goods, the pots, pans, and utensils. I am pretty sure that when the big cockpit locker on the starboard side gets filled up, we’ll level out. Its still empty. I would like to get some more wiring done, and maybe get the solar panels installed before the end of the weekend, but we’ll have to see. Something always seems to get in the way, and the weather gods haven’t been playing all that nice lately.

What can I say, retired and living on a boat is rough work.

Time to Blog

Where does one find the time? Seriously, there is so much to talk about, and so little time to write it down. I haven't started the ships log, mind you we haven't gone anywhere, I haven't wrote down the electrical design, and I haven't even started my personal journal. I am in danger of alienating everyone who was ever willing to give me the time of day, and worst, every night I go to bed worrying that we won't be ready to leave in 7 weeks. On top of that I keep getting guilted into helping others at the club, as well as work parties and general maintenance. I am about to lose it, but I am trying desperately to leave the shotgun in its rack. God give me the strength!

On the good news front, we have a working stove. It took a lot of tinkering and running around, but the propane is operational, tested, and safe. We have lighting in most of the boat, fans in the salon, and as you can tell by the picture above, we are rigged for sailing. Maybe tomorrow if the weather gods play nice with us we'll get her out on the bay to tune the rig.

I stitched the yankee with tenura lifetime thread. I've found while working on others boats that its what tends to go first, so I wanted to make sure that it was going to stay together.

I installed our new Garhauer rigid boom vang, what a beaut...... So glad we got this. For those who don't understand the need, the rigid boom vang allows us; with the outhaul, and halyard to control the shape of the mainsail. Also, it keeps boom from falling into the cockpit unsupported, while eliminating the topping lift, which can be a pain in the butt.

 We also decided to upgrade our sheets, see them above laying on deck. From the 3/8" ones that we had, to 7/16". It is much more comfortable in the hands.

 All the winches and cleats have been reinstalled. I sanded down the wood around the cockpit, and Serena put three coats of Cetol on them. Now that they are all back in their rightful place, we should be able to go for a sail.

We mounted our fishing rods. We have three, 1 heavy boat rod for big fish, and two medium rods for fishing in shore. Serena was worried that the rack and rods were going to be intrusive and look ugly, but it doesn't look too bad, and we hardly notice they are there.

New Hella Turbo fans. We bought these because they are considered the cream of the crop. 12V, silent, and very efficient. $69.00 + tax. They are not silent, not even close, so they better last and they better not use too much power; not that there is another option. The good news is that we had air movement last night while the humidex was in the 30's.

We are definitely not on schedule, but we are still planning on leaving mid Aug. Even if our timeline gets pushed to the end of Aug, we're still going. I can't foresee anything that would keep us here on the dock, and definitely not here for the winter.

Next entry............??

Life Aboard

Well, what is life like aboard a sailboat! I don’t know, yes we live on a boat, but I spend so much time working on it that I barely realize that I do live on it. With only 8 weeks or so before we leave to go south, there is no time for reflection, barely time to blog, and no time to go through the 50 some-odd emails that have collected on my Blackberry from my last trip to Lowes’s free wifi.

Since the last update. The engine is now running, it was a pile of work, but she purrs like a kitten. Just hope it stays that way. The mast is rigged and up. I installed two winches on the mast with cleats, and exits. The boom is on with its new fittings. I am going to try and paint it tomorrow. We have lights; or at least 2 of them. I bought and installed a Xantrex battery monitor, but I don’t have the wire to finish the job yet. However, when I was drilling the hole for the meter the hole saw jumped and ripped some components off of the solar controller. A $300.00 + tax mistake. I spent 20 years in electronics, so I am hoping I can fix it, but if not, its going to hurt. We have TV, but only roughed in. I installed a new cockpit drain with hose that was temperature rated. And; sold the camper. The travel trailer went to its new home today. It was painful swallowing the lost money, but it easier than watching it get further devalued sitting in a storage facility, not getting used. We are considering a truck camper next year maybe, who knows.

The double bed didn’t really work out as we had hoped. Even after it was extended, it was still too small for the two of us, so for sleeping, its separate beds, for anything else that a bed might be useful for, well, life on a boat has its uniqueness.

There are a million other little things that have seen some work. Add club duties, family responsibilities, and we are chewing through 16 hr days. We usually get to shut down around 10:30 every night, shower, have a couple beers, go to bed, get up, and start it all over again. I have never been so engaged in my whole life, and never so focused, now that there is nothing left but the boat. I would beg for another fours weeks, or at least some descent weather, but mother nature and God don’t care much for our schedule.

One of these days I hope to blog about the systems, there design, there installation, and why the hell we spent so much money on this leap of faith. It would also be nice to blog about our travels. Unfortunately our only travels so far are a quick 200 metre trip to get our waste tank pumped, and a second 100 metre trip to the mast crane to step the mast. Not really exciting stuff. Everyone we talk to seems to have this glorious view of living and cruising on a boat, we’re just waiting for it start…….

We're Boat People

Wow, what a whirl wind. Coming back from my parents, moving onto the boat, cleaning and getting the trailer up for sale, dockside party, too much food, and too much alcohol. Life is sometimes hell, but were suffering through it. It could always be worse. We could be cutting grass! No offence to those who are stuck cutting the lawn this weekend, but you guys get it.

Priorities. Get the boat ready to live on as soon as possible. I managed to get the stove installed, just before the dockside party on Saturday. No propane yet, but the stove looks good, and it’s a great place to store cold pizza. I finished the hardware installations in the salon area which allows us to use the double bunk for two. Installed the grab rail on the dodger, for the side at the dock. The other one I’ll do later. But basically, all out time has been sorting, organizing, and figuring out where all this stuff is going to go.

The dockside party was a gas. 17 boats, and about 45 people, give or take. We got to visit a lot of the boats, check out others innovations, and pick their brains. The food was awesome, but there was a pile of it. And of course, there was no shortage of alcohol. Serena lasted until about 11:30, and I crawled myself back to the boat at 12:37. It was pretty quiet out by then. But my headache tells me I had a reasonably good time….

One of our fellow Yacht Clubbers arrived today after spending the last 363 days completing the “great loop” in their power boat. I am looking forward to picking their brain, hearing their stories, and pick up some more ideas. I think they spent about 3-4 months in the Abaco, before coming back here.

This week I have plans to get the mast up, get the engine running, and hopefully get the propane to the stove so we can cook aboard. So much work, and not enough time to get it all done. Then there is visiting, helping others on their boats, helping with the club, and, and, and……

Seriously, I can’t wait to leave the dock, just to get a break. More pics and info soon. Without internet, its hard to get around to email and blog entries. Later…………….

A Vacation from Our Vacation - Oakridge Resort

Its funny, but everyone thinks that if you are retired and sailing off into the sunset that you are on some kind of permanent vacation. Well, I gotta tell you, it ain't so, not even close.

The responsibilities are still there, they are just different. This little visit hanging out at my parents has been a nice break from boat chores. Don't get me wrong, I miss the boat, and the projects are continuously running through my head, getting redesigned, moving around on the priority list, and never far from my conscious thought. But I'm sleeping in, practicing my guitar every day, drinking way too much beer, eating way too much food, and spending my days doing accomplishing nothing.

Saturday we drove up to Bayfield for lunch at the Docks. A great little restaurant overlooking a lot boats, and the birth place of Bayfield Yachts. Fish and chips washed down with a pint of nature's finest is hard to pass up. We walked down to the beach, and then wandered around the docks looking at all the pretty boats. There is a great fleet of Bayfield's here! I met a great couple, Pat and Nigel on a Bayfield 29, Ubique. I could have spent the entire afternoon talking boat, my favoritist subject, but Serena needed to find a grocery store and a few antacids. Guess lunch didn't sit well with her, but she's all better now.

Sunday, we walked 3 km to Port of Franks. Its a tiny little hamlet on the shores of Lake Huron, and there is this great little restaurant there called Christine's. Sitting on a deck off the second floor, munching on fish and chips, washing it down with a pitcher of natures finest lager, staring out at the beautiful blue endless lake. God, vacationing is hard work.

Monday was Casino day. Serena and I don't gamble, ever. Or at least almost never. My parents on the other hand love to play the slots once in awhile, so we figured what the hey, time to lose our Casino virginity. Free pop and a $1 more than we started with. Of course we had to drive by "The Docks in Bayfield"; hey look, its lunch time...... Okay, honestly, I lost $25, and Serena was kind enough to win it back for me. We survived our first visit to the casino, and we're not likely to going again soon, maybe next year when we visit Mom and Dad again.

Oakridge Resort. I love this place, and not just because my Dad manages it. There is just something about the area. Quiet, beautiful, close to shopping, good restaurants, and really inexpensive way to live. Serena and I have run the numbers, done some figuring, and added park living to one of our possible scenarios for after boat living.

Tomorrow we head back to Trenton, and move onto the boat. The refit will take on a new vigor, the travel trailer will go up for sale, as we try to make a new life on a Bayfield 29 named Vita.