Lots of decisions to make here on the rigging kids. Going from rod to wire is going to take a lot of modifications on the upper fittings and the forestay … don’t even get me started. And, taping? More taping? YES! We prepped the boat up once again for the fiberglass repair as Video Annie gets ready to clock in at the yard.
Only $48? That’s great! Just a teeny bit more to go. Get inspired. Get on board!
Let’s KICK OFF this third season, shall we! With a trip to Ft. Lauderdale where we get a great visit in with the super-knowledgeable Pam Wall, get some initial rigging hardware quotes on rod versus wire and … well a funky little surprise at the end with my bad-ass brother, John. Bring your jukebox money!
Only $48 to go?! Shut the front door. That’s awesome. Just a teeny bit more to go. Get inspired. Get on board!
Okay, you all called it. It’s time to haul out. “Uncle!” we cried. But, we were proud of the demo we accomplished DIY style. Now it’s time to take that same attitude to the shipyard and do this job with the professionals so we learn how to do it right, but save time (and our fingers!) in the process. Season Two, that’s a wrap!
Whoa! We’re so close. Only $70 to go. Let’s make this happen kids!
Hey kids! Little cruiser’s ditty for you here. I’ve done Dr. Suess style on the blog before (shout-out to Cara and Eddie on s/v Danseur du Vent!), and found it to be challenging, inspiring and fun. Here is another Suess-style musing while I’m dreaming of our plans to sail south this season. Enjoy!
OH THE PLACES YOU’LL CRUISE
Congratulations! Today is your day.
You’ve bought a great boat. You’ll soon be off and away!
You have hands that will work, and new occupations to try.
You may find you’re a bad electrician, a good plumber, not sure why.
But, you’re on your own. It’s just you and your boat,
and the brains in your head that will keep you afloat.
You’ll go to many an anchorage. Choose them with care.
About some you will say: “Only go if you dare.
The inlet is tricky. You have to zig zag,
and the skeeters at night really make it a drag.”
You may not find any where you want to stay a while
If so, just weigh anchor and sail on with a smile.
That’s okay if you feel the need to just drift.
The world is your wide open explorable gift.
And it’s opener you’ll see, on the wide open sea.
Out there things will happen, because that’s where they do.
Nothing will crack or explode at the dock. It’s true!
But you’ll find it’s really the way it should be,
because it’s more fun to make repairs, learn and work on your boat while at sea!
So, don’t worry about the happenings and the equipment you may lose,
because it’s all about the journey. OH THE PLACES YOU’LL CRUISE!
You’ll be on your way up at times, climbing the mast to great heights.
You’ll sail to exotic places, and take in new sights.
You’ll enjoy the fullest all of these cruising delights,
and savor the peaceful time on your boat and those calm, restful nights.
Except when you don’t, because, sometimes, you won’t.
I’m sorry to say, but sadly it’s true, neighboring boats will drag anchor and bump into you.
Hurricanes and run-agrounds and all the things that you dread,
can happen, you know that. Just be prepared. Use your head.
Your boat will get banged and form scars from hard knocks.
It just proves you were brave enough to leave the dock.
You can’t avoid it. At times you’ll need major repairs.
It will spring up inconveniently, when you’re not ready and unaware.
Times will be hard when your boat’s on the hard.
Be ready to break out another (platinum) credit card.
The list will grow in every cubby you look,
but you’ll want to do right by your boat, in every cranny and nook.
Looking back over time, the projects will seem smaller,
particularly when you’re sailing away, living simpler, stretching your dollar.
Your boat will be ready to take you so many places.
You’ll see all kinds of wildlife, wild people, all ages and races.
Take it all in, every bite, every hike.
Sail your little boat wherever you’d like.
But be ready, always, for another bump and bruise,
because it’s all worth it for the places you’ll cruise.
We’re getting closer and closer to giving the gift! Every little bit helps move the cause along. Get inspired and get on board!
Seems our hack job didn’t really pass muster and we have, in the words of Brandon with Perdido Sailor, “a lot more to do.” So, bad news and now a very BIG decision to make. What do you think we should do?
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Lookout! The DIY’ers are on the loose. Have grinder, will cut. We made a real mess of things in the bilge, but we gutted the stringers. Tell me, what do you think of our end product? Are we done cutting?
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Mmm-hmmm, we make “hazmat” look good. First real dig into our rotten stringers. You’ll be shocked to see how low we can go! Then we suit up solid to start buzzing into the fiberglass. Here we go!
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There’s a point in every relationship where the fun “dating” phase ends and you start to really get to know a gal. At first, she’ll make sure she’s always “put together” when she knows she’s going to see you. She’ll tidy up her place if she knows you’re coming over, and she’ll always try to be in a good mood around you. It’s not like she’s putting on airs or anything, you’re getting to know her, on the surface, you just haven’t yet seen the “real her”─raw and exposed. After a few months, efforts to always present herself in a certain manner will wane and she’ll start to let you see little things about her that reveal more about her true nature. Maybe she wears a retainer at night. Perhaps she keeps a really messy sock drawer. She is annoyingly particular about how you load the dishwasher. She snores. Any number of things that weren’t uncovered in the easy, fun dating phase and, at first, they kind of drive you crazy.
But, over time, you come to find these are the things you really love about her. The intimate workings of her personality─her quirks. The things no one else knows because they’re not as close to her as you are. You start to see the method behind the madness of her seemingly sock disarray. You get her systems. You know what makes her angry, what makes her tick. And you love that you do and that no one else does. That’s when a relationship really starts to form. When you get to really know her.
That’s what we’re going through right now with our boat. When we first bought our 1985 Niagara in April, 2013 she was ready to cruise. We made our first passage on her, across the Gulf of Mexico from Punta Gorda, FL to Pensacola, FL, right out of the gate and she carried us through some very rough seas seemingly with ease.
Then we spent an awesome year sailing and cruising her around our local anchorages and to the Florida Keys. While we experienced some common gear failure and deterioration, for the most part our boat performed beautifully the entire time. We doted on her and made some upgrades and enjoyed every minute on our wonderful boat.
Then the dating phase ended.
When we started spending more time on her, looking in lockers and under the floorboards, we started to uncover some things. For one, we found our mast stringers were rotting. They had been for a while. We also found our hand rails were leaking, our lazarettes were leaking, our port lights were leaking. Let’s just say a bunch of stuff was leaking. Once we completely disassembled her to make the stringer repair, we found many other little annoying things about her─some hoses were deteriorating, some modifications were not done the right way, some (okay, many) things needed to be re-bedded.
And, it started to drive us crazy! You had to start to wonder if this was really the gal we first met in Punta Gorda and had been cruising around on for two years. Had she been putting on airs?
The answer is no. She was always there─her quirks and finicky systems─just lying under the floorboards for us to discover. But, we had to get her raw and exposed to really see her. We had to uncover every inch and once we did we found these were the things we really loved about her. Sure, she’s got some leaks, some corroded wires, two very sad rotten stringers that need to be repaired.
But, she’s got good bones. She is a solid, well-built, well-designed boat. Once we took everything apart and could see the ingenuity of her systems and the durability of her construction, that’s when we really got to know her. It may seem like a lot of work disassembling your boat and scouring every inch, but you have to really expose her to get to know her, to appreciate her. Phillip and I have gained a wealth of knowledge about our amazing boat during this entire repair. While it has cost us a good deal of time and money, we know it is the absolute best thing we could have done before setting off to really cruise in our boat─get to know her. Every system. Every locker. Every inch. That’s when the real relationship begins. We know we’re building a bond that will keep us together─functional, fulfilled and afloat─out on the water.
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Prepping our boat for the fiberglass job took a lot of cleaning, a lot of a plastic and a lot of tape, cut mostly by my teeth! Pretty cool to see her all ready for surgery, though. Lookout rot! Here we come!
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Two apparently! Removing these shrouds required some hefty plumbing wrenches and a few bad lawyers jokes but we finally got them off! Enjoy!
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