Winter Reading

A few of the books we received... more on the way!



Hibernation has set in, and the cold makes doing boat work like getting out of bed on Monday morning... very difficult.  In the meantime, a little light reading is in order.  Since we are inside of 6 months to departure, we've ordered all the latest cruising guides, charts, etc... quite a bit to cover.  So we'll be reading till it gets a little warmer.  The reality of actually ditching all your stuff (everything - furniture, cars, pets, etc...) is really setting in.  It's a bit like the "rip the bandaid off" syndrome.  Hard at first to get rid of it, but some relief after it's gone.
Gotta go, too much typing and not enough reading....

Summer Trips

Finally made it out to the boat this summer.  It's been a busy summer, but we managed to make a 4 day trip to Annapolis, St Michaels and some anchorages in between.  The weather was amazing, 80's and a decent breeze.... oh and the kid's were at camp.  Here's a video, mis-identifying the lighthouse as Smith point, when it's Thomas point lite... still some work to do on my geography skills.  How we're going to make it to the Caribbean I'm not sure.

Summer wrap up

Busy summer, but we managed a few trips on the boat.  The solar panel works great, we are almost completely self-sustaining for our electrical needs.  The investment in LED lights, low power fridge and other equipment has paid off in keeping the amps used down.  A few pics from the summer:

Going through the drawbridge

Sunset at anchor

So now on to winter, and the winter projects.  Plans include new teak caulk for the cockpit teak, a new chainplate or two, and some engine stuff. 

Wrapping up the big projects

Two new coats of bottom paint

With spring finally taking a firm grip on us, it seems we're getting close to launch day the first week of May.  I went back over all the projects done this fall/winter and came up with the following:
5 of 9 new ports installed
New refrigeration & settee area
Install solar panel
New batteries
New fuses and electrical wiring for all major components
Prep bottom for launching (new zinc, prop cleaned and 2 coats of anti-fouling paint)

As well as various smaller projects (rebed some chainplates, run new water hose, new cockpit drain hose, install more LED lights, install radio/battery monitor/vhf/solar instruments.  Some things I had done by the pros, like new furling system and sail, new dodger, and rebuilt starter.  Also ordered a CPT autopilot, which I can install.  All in all, lots done but always more to do.  Ready for the warm weather and bay sailing.

Work update

It was a nice day today, so I had lots of productivity.  See the projects page for the latest work on the fridge/seating section and the new solar panel pumping out some serious volts.  Lots of people down at the marina today working on their boats, getting cleaned up, etc.... we can smell Spring in the air.

The First Post

There's always excitement about that new car smell, first day of school, your first drivers license, the first post....
Not really all that exciting, but the build-up was worthy of a Hollywood production, huh?
Welcome to our blog, we're not doing much sailing right now but the Boat Specs and Projects pages are filled with the latest info.  To all our friends and family, feel free to comment.... the training wheels are still on this blog-bike thing and any support is welcomed.

Stay tuned, when it warms up a bit there will be more to report.... the good, the bad, the ugly....hmmm, sounds like a hollywood movie.