Gone Today, Here Tomorrow

Friday February 8, 2012

I think one of the most exciting things of us being here in the yard has just happened. The keel bolt issue has been fixed! Can you believe it? And you were probably sitting there having no idea it was even being worked on. You know why? Because it took less than 48 hours for us to start a conversation with the person who was going to fix it, to having it completed and delivered back to us. Amazing!, right?

Ok, let me back up a little bit. If you’re not familiar with the whole story of the keel issue, this is how it started. We took the keel off back on January 10 only to find out that a few of the bolts had crevice corrosion and would need to be replaced. This bummed us out as it was now one more project to add to our never ending list. What bummed us out even more, is that as soon as we began searching, we could not find a soul anywhere near us to do this kind of repair. And only being a few hundred miles from ‘The Boating Capital of the World’ no less. We thought we were going to have to ship the whole keel up to Canada or Rhode Island to have it repaired as they were the only capable people we came across. Not only would that have taken a lot of time, but it also would have cost a lot of money. So we kept searching, and then came across a guy from California who actually builds keels, and would be able to fly out to Florida to do the job. But after costs kept rising due to little add ons, we canceled that deal as well. With, however, lots of helpful tips from the guy on how to do the job on our own with help from our yard.

So on both Tuesday and Wednesday when we were out running errands, we’d stop by Moitessier to talk to Frank who had lots of good ideas on how to do it ourselves, and we’d also be out scouring the aisles of Home Depot for a top grade drill press. We were all ready to make the purchases and start work when Matt had been talked into contacting the the owner of the yard next door where Frank and Yu have their boat. Ever since we got here we’ve been hearing rave reviews about this guy, how there’s never been anything he hasn’t been able to do, and how his work is always meticulous. Tracking him down, Matt had a nice conversation about what needs to be done, and the guy says, “Sure. I’ll have it brought over tomorrow, and have it finished by the end of the day.”.

Even that night (Wednesday) as we planned for the keel to be taken from us the next afternoon, we sat and thought really hard about the directions we’d give him on how to perform the job. Sister in a few new bolts? Take them out and replace them? We were still figuring this out when there was a tap on our hull. We climbed out to see a neighbor of ours, Terry from m/v Island Girl, coming over with a dinner invitation. Having met Matt a few times while I was away, Terry thought Matt was still living the bachelor life and might need a hot meal. Although I did happen to be back, that hot meal was nowhere in sight from my end, so we took them up on their offer to join them for burgers on their boat.It was so nice to be on a boat that’s on the water, and we were able to enjoy a spectacular sunset from the windows in their salon. The burgers were delicious, the company was great, and it was a much needed distraction from all our boat work.

Yesterday afternoon we were just doing little projects here and there, more fiberglassing for Matt and washing the cushions up on deck for me. The guy to fix the bolts stopped by and said that after some preliminary work that morning, he figured that replacing any bolts would be better than sistering in new ones, so we decided to go with his judgement. A few hours later he’d be back to have the keel brought over. After he left, Georgie started her routine of crying out to us while we were on the ground, so once more I strapped her into her harness and leash and let her roam around the yard. She’s doing much better now on the rocks, walking and even running through them without issue. I think she’s still getting used to the fact of being on a leash though, since she did try to chase down a random piece of paper in the yard, and was yanked back in mid-air as she tried to make her leap. The even bigger issue though, was when we put her back on deck and I caught her two times making her way one step down the ladder. I could see that causing some big problems in the future.

After we had finished our little jobs and were running out of things to do, our yard manager showed up with a fork lift to get it ready to take over to the yard next door. Securing some heavy duty chain to the front and back bolts, the keel was lifted a few feet off the ground and we waved to it as it made it’s way out of the yard. Both of us would have been really interested in following it and watching the progress, but the owner next door doing the work gave strict instructions that no one was to disturb him for the rest of the afternoon while he worked on it, not even his employees. But we were just happy that it was gone. A month of just trying to figure out what to do with it, at least now something was happening. In a construction site, one should buy crane warning lights on the site.

Then this morning Matt ran over to see how the progress was going. We’re used to having things go wrong, having things delayed, or at least two more projects coming from anything we start, so we were thinking it would probably be over there through the weekend and a couple of days into next week. When he got back I asked him how it was going. “It’s done”, he replied. “What do you mean it’s done?”, I asked. “It’s done”, he said said again. “And it was done right?”, I gaped, “Like it’s actually ready to come back and be put on?”. He just smiled. For once, we finally got it right. Four weeks of anguish and a four hour remedy.

It was delivered back this afternoon with a shiny new bolt sticking out of the lead. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything prettier. Well maybe when the boat is all put back together, but we’re not at that point yet. For now this is more than sufficient. It means that very shortly we can start putting the boat back together. Finally light at the end of the tunnel. Finally I can let myself believe we might get back in the water.

Terry and Patty (photo courtesy of Island Girl Cruising)

Frank & Sense

Tuesday February 5, 2013

 

You know all that work that I talked about us doing on the boat yesterday? Can you believe that we still had enough energy to go out that night? We had to. It was Frank’s birthday and we have been planning on getting together ever since Yu’s birthday last month. And being me, I did what I always tend to do, and that’s hijacking other people’s special occasions. This was me while we were standing on the street while planning to get together for Frank’s b-day. “Hey, you don’t like wild nights out like this, right? Since you’re more low-key, we should have dinner at your boat, Yu can cook for us, and then if you’re up for it we can head to the White Lion and take advantage of their $1 tall boys.” Yes, I told him exactly what he’d be doing for his birthday. Let it be known though, that every I do this, as it happens more than I like to admit, everyone always has a great time. So the night went exactly as I planned it, and everyone had a GREAT time.

 While running out to ABC earlier in the day to pick up some Guiness for Frank, we ran into Yu who was also there picking up some supplies for her specialty margaritas, and told us that another set of their friends were in town for a few days and would be joining us that night. So at 7:00 Matt and I walked down the dirt road that connects our marinas and scaled the ladder up to Moitessier. We were greeted by Yu and the delicious smell of food cooking, and also by two fellow sailors, Gary and Courtney of Gremmlin’s Hammer. They’re currently living on their ’79 Endeavour 37 up in Boston at the moment, but needed to swing through Florida on some business. Good thing they did, because we all hit it off right away. It’s always so fun to meet new sailors, especially when they’re in your age bracket and have your sense of humor, because then you can automatically start busting out lines from “Old School”, and they’ll laugh along with you and throw out another line, instead of looking at you like you’re crazy. (Seriously, if you ever meet me, there will be a minimum of five movie or tv show quotes thrown out, more if you join along with me.)

We were all having a really nice dinner of chicken tacos that Yu made, and I was instantly grateful I forced her to cook for us when I planned Frank’s birthday. She had always told us about all these amazing meals she makes, and one of my goals before we left St. Augustine was to come over for at least one home cooked meal from her. And her specailty margaritas definitely lived up to the hype as well. I was trying to be good and pace myself, but that’s when Frank decided he wanted to do a shot of Patron, and there were no other takers to do one with him. Well I couldn’t leave him taking a shot all by himself on his birthday, so I saddled up and threw back a drink with him, instantly feeling the effects. All of us going back for seconds on the tacos now we sat around their large and beautiful salon, talking about zombies (yeah, I don’t know how we got there either), and laughing up a storm. When Frank committed himself to another shot, Courtney and I jumped right on the train to join him. It was definitely time to slow down.

Which is why of course, with all our good sense, we all packed our things together to do down to the White Lion. Walking in the door I was used to it being overcrowded from the past few times we had been, but this time it was completely deserted. Which completely baffled us because you’d think when a bar is offering $1 drinks in a college town, everyone would be there. Maybe there was just a big exam in the morning, but better for us, since we now practically owned the joint. Right away we pushed together a few tables and started filling them with beers and mixed drinks (also only $1!). Also hogging the juke box we all stormed it, searching for our favorite artist that were not listed on there and paying extra to have them downloaded. But when you’re only paying $1 a drink you can splurge a little on the extras.

So, being in a deserted bar with good music and cheap drinks, us girls did what any girl would do. We turned the place into our private discoteca, and even got the bartender to throw on the strobe light. It was an absolute blast, and now that I’m feeling it the next day, it gave my legs an even better work out than Jazzercise. We were even so into our own little party that at the end of the night, the bartender rewarded us with free shots of Rum Chata. Which if you’ve never had, go out and get it now! It honestly taste like a cookie and is the best stuff in the world. It was definitely worth the workout to get it. After completely tiring ourselves out and probably annoying the three patrons at the bar, we eventually we were able to tear ourselves away from the bar to walk to Gary and Courtney’s hotel just down the street so we could all meet their dog, Johnny, who goes along on their sailing adventures.  A few slobbery kisses and it was time to go home.

So at the end of the night, it actually ended up being much more wild than Yu’s birthday, but just as predicted when I hijack an event, everyone had a g-r-e-a-t time. I may have had to look at the camera today to remember all of it was great, but I don’t think it’s a night any of us will forget.  As long as we look at our photos.

Just a couple empty cans.

I Do My Little Turn On The Catwalk

Monday February 4, 2012

The painting is, dare I say, done.  At least for the areas that have already been fiberglassed.  It was a lot a long process, and a lot of time spent in small spaces, but now it’s one more thing checked off our list.  The process wasn’t hard, although we had to split it up over yesterday and today in order to do two coats.  Yesterday we washed down the whole area.  While waiting for it to completely dry out, we ran some errands on the bike.  Trying to fill the fridge again with at least two or three nights of meals we walked through the aisles of Winn Dixie before jumping across the street to Home Depot. We’re trying to find the right fittings to connect our grill to our propane tanks, and no matter what we buy it never seems to fit.  Hopefully today will be different.

 Errands ran, we got back to the boat and wiped down the now dry areas with Acetone before painting. Then it was the squeezing into small spaces.  The only area I had to do yesterday was the bilge running from the mast to the galley.  I thought it would be easy, it’s painting.  I like painting.  But I guess what I really like, is painting in areas that I can see.  Plus I was given one rule (besides don’t get paint on the floor or settee), and that was Don’t get paint on the wires.  So what happens as soon as I get my brush wet and stick it under the floor boards? I get a big ‘ol splat on one of the wires.  Ooops.  Looks like I didn’t tape them away quite well enough.  Then there was also a little more trouble while painting in between open holes in the floor where I couldn’t even see where my brush was making strokes, but after dousing the area I’m pretty sure it’s covered.

 Matt painted the engine bay, which at first I felt really bad about because he had more square footage, but then I realized his area had much easier access, and then I didn’t feel so bad for him. Then today was a day for the second coat of paint.  Once again we had to wipe down and Acetone the areas, but this time we first had to take sandpaper to what was already painted so we could rough up the surface a little and give something for the paint to grab on to.  Once again Matt tackled the engine bay while I did the bilge.  But in addition to that, I was also given the project of painting the remaining storage areas under the port settee.  I thought it would be a cinch compared to the bilge, because like Matt, it was a much larger and more exposed area to work in.  What I wasn’t counting on, again, where wires and hoses.  It was very hard to work around them and I didn’t finish until more than two hours after Matt.  He was probably sitting around on his computer watching me and thinking “Ah, so this must have been what it was like for you last week while I was working”.

My expert work didn’t finish there though.  We had taken one of our water tanks out weeks ago to make room for the fiberglassing, and while it has been sitting on our deck since then, we were ready for it to go back.  But not after a good cleaning.  I asked to take the hose to it while trying to get the most pressure possible to blast the sides of the tank with.  I tried once and it didn’t work too well.  What I did find out though, is my arm is somehow small enough to fit in whole, so with a few paper towels I was able to give the entire inside a thorough wipe down.  I think I’ll feel much better drinking our water now, after seeing what the inside of the tank had previously looked like.

Also, I hate to admit it, but we have become ‘those’ pet owners.  While browsing through Amazon I came across this cat harness and leash, and thought it would be a good idea to have for Georgie.  It still worries me a bit that she won’t know how to handle herself right away on deck with the rocking motion of the boat when we’re back in the water.  It will probably be more of just a training tool for a little bit, or if she demands on being outside when conditions get just a little bit rough (only in the cockpit of course).  But we also feel so bad for the times right now while we’re on the hard and we’re running around on the ground and she sticks her head over the side, mewing, and basically asking if she can come with us.  So today, we let her.

Having put her in the harness for a few hours for the past few days just to get her used to it we figured she was finally ready for a little walk today.  We clipped on the leash and carried her down the ladder.  We set her on the ground,….and nothing.  She didn’t move.  Thinking she may not like the surface of the rocks in the yard we picked her up again and brought her to the little park across the street.  She wasn’t a fan of walking in grass either.  She literally just went limp on the ground.  Trying to get her moving we would pull up on the leash, but she’d still just stay limp, with her feet dangling a few inches off the ground.  It gave us a good laugh for a minute, until we felt bad.  On pavement though, she likes to move.  We can walk her just like a dog. That is, until she decides to stop and twist herself in circles, which was often.

Getting Down and Dirty

Saturday February 2, 2012

I knew there would still be projects to do after I got back from Arizona, but I foolishly thought that Matt had done the bulk of them while I was away. Maybe I just wasn’t ‘in the know’ of things still on our to-do list, but I honestly thought there were very few projects for us to do ourselves, and we’d wait for the yard and contractors to go about their work, getting us ready to go in the water. Silly, silly girl. I was allowed a little adjusting time on Friday, after having just got back, to get back into the swing of being on a boat, plus I think he wanted to spend all afternoon with my new laptop, finding out if he wanted to steal it for himself (not going to happen!). I had my heart set on going to First Friday Artwalk again, and after a little begrudging on the part of Matt, he said that if we got our projects for the afternoon done then we could go. Since I was still used to a ‘boat project’ being along the lines of making sure all the dishes are done and the galley is clean (yes, I get all the pink roles), I was thinking that whatever he had up his sleeve would only take us an hour, two at max. Still plenty of time to then clean up and then head into town.

The boat project for the day was to help Matt fiberglass the areas under the port side settee.  This sounded like a long and extensive project to me, all fiberglassing ones had been in the past, but he assured me it would take an hour, tops.  And I believed him.  Silly, silly girl.  Luckily, my part of the job wasn’t hard.  I was the mixing wench.  Which meant that while Matt was covered in ooey gooey goodness, I’d mix his next batch of epoxy.  Knowing from unfortunate experience that even though this job is easy, it would still be messy for me too, I searched through my bags to find at least one outfit I wouldn’t mind ruining.  Because that’s what epoxy does, it sets and you never get it out!  What I came up with was a Hanes white tee and some purple leggings that would have been great for Jazzercise, minus the side pony.

So there I stood, mixing one part resin with three parts hardener, and sometimes throwing in kitty hair (shredded fiberglass), and silica (thickener).  I’d hand the cup over to Matt and he’d stuff and spread the mix in the necessary areas, gloves completely torn open and epoxy all over his hands and arms.  This was a medium temp epoxy which meant that it set a bit quicker than the regular kind, but also created higher temperatures to do so.  Since some of the area he was using it on was below our floorboards, he’d occasionally have me take out our heat gun and check the temperature of the floor in areas where it was curing.  A few of the areas were getting close to 130 degrees, and I expected the plastic sheet we had set down to protect from any mess on the floor to burst into flames at any second.  But even in the hurricane state of the boat, I knew where the fire extinguisher was and was ready to grab it at moment if need be.

This one hour project turned into four hours, and before we even cleaned up there was only thirty minutes left in the art walk.  We would not be making it out that night.  But the work Matt did looked very professional, and I’ll take one step closer to leaving over a night out on the town, even if it is one of the best events around.  I really did want to make it to one more art walk during our stay here though.  But if for any reason we’re still here in March for the chance to attend again, heaven help me, I will burn this boat down.

Today was a bit more of the same, but before we could get to the fiberglassing, I was able to run some errands on my own while Matt stayed behind to get the engine bay ready to paint.  And what my errand for the day was, was to run out and get that paint that would be used for the engine bay and the bilge area.  We had spent all morning debating which kind of paint to use in those areas.  On his way back from dropping me off at the airport, Matt had stopped at a West Marine in Jacksonville and picked up a specific bilge paint from them, but wasn’t sure if he wanted to use it.  Plus there was only a quart of it. To get the best epoxy paint, one can go on this Homepage and also find out why it is way better.

The other thing he had his eye on was a high build epoxy paint from Sherwin Williams.  It came with a price tag five times that of the West Marine paint, but was two parts at a gallon a piece, should be stronger and longer lasting, plus it’s likely there will be enough left to cover the anchor locker as well.  We hemmed and hawed for a bit about the pros and negatives as well as the cost, but knowing Matt, and knowing that he truly wanted the better paint but just felt bad about spending the extra money, I made the decision for him and got myself ready to go to Sherwin Williams.  Besides, I had just been completely spoiled by my parents, I think we could afford to swing an extra few bucks on something necessary.

Getting my butt all the way to the Walmart area where Sherwin Williams sits, about three miles from the marina, I may have quickly popped into McDonald’s for an iced coffee, a usually unnecessary expenditure, before going to Walmart to grab a few items as well.  No surprise that I had come back to an empty fridge and we had no real food to eat.  Then jumping across the street I walked into the paint shop and pretended I knew what I was doing, by throwing down an envelope with some scribbles written on it to the guy behind the counter.  Along with it I tossed down the bilge cover since we wanted to do a paint match and hopefully patch that little area that Matt nicked while sanding.  It took awhile for them to be able to match the color, I think our cover was a little too dirty to get a clear reading, but soon the can was shaking away in it’s mixer.

Going to pay the tab, I don’t know if the guy thought we were with an organization and gave a contractor discount, or there was a sale going on that we didn’t know about, but the price came out $30 cheaper than we were originally planning.  That could buy me a lot of iced coffees….  After I paid the bill the guy asked if he could help bring the cans out to my car and I had to sheepishly admit that I had ridden my bike there and the cans would be going home with me in my backpack.  Wrapping them up in extra plastic to make sure they didn’t spill, we eventually got them stuffed in and I was able to put on the backpack without toppling over.  Now back to fiberglassing, and tomorrow, paint!

Georgie supervising while we work.

anchor 1

Built Rocna Tough

Friday February 1, 2013

It’s official, we have our first sponsor!  The very kind people at Rocna Anchors have collaborated to work with us after we lost our original Rocna during our grounding in the St. Augustine Inlet.  It was a big blow to us to lose our trusty Rocna, and before we hauled out and found out what the damage was, at the time, it was to us the worst part of the whole incident.  After we got back that night after some much needed dinner and drinks with our friends on Hideaway, I kid you not, Rocna Anchors were the first people we contacted.  Not family, not friends, but a thank you note to Rocna for saving our boat from certain demise.

Let me explain a little.  When you live on a boat and you’re anchored out all of the time, you anchor is a HUGE part of keeping you and your boat safe.  When we left, we went big with our anchor.  It was 55 lbs of peace of mind attached to our bow.  The one we purchased was rated for a boat ten feet larger than ours, but in the case of our anchor, we really wanted to oversize.  When the size and brand of your anchor can determine whether or not you might drag through an anchorage in bad conditions and crash into shore, or worse, other boats, you want to go with the one that’s going to give you the least chance of that happening.

We had heard great things about Rocna from other sailors, and while getting all the last necessary bits to start cruising, it was enough to make us switch over from our Manson Supreme this spring.  And I have to tell you, we could not be happier with it.  I’m not kidding when I say this, it sets on the first try every time.  There have been so many times where we’ve been sitting at anchor when another boat comes in and they go through a routine of dropping and upping their anchor multiple times because they just can’t seem to get their anchor to set.  Not only do I feel bad for their extra hassle, but I worry that they may not stay set and might go bump with us in the night.  We on the other hand, drop, back-down, and relax.  It has never failed us once.  During Hurricane Sandy we were relying solely on our Rocna to keep us safe while settled up a creek, and any worrying was for naught.   We never even straightened out our chain.  It has been magnificent, and certainly the most trusted part on our boat.

The biggest test for our Rocna so far though, was when we had our grounding mentioned above in the St. Augustine Inlet.   Our prop was fouled leaving us dead in the water with no engine power, and the wind was right on our nose giving us no way to sail out.  Although we were eventually rescued by US Tow Boat and a local Search and Rescue team, they were nowhere in sight while we were quickly drifting back towards shore.  With his quick thinking, Matt dropped our anchor to keep us from drifting any further back than we already had.  And guess what?  It set right away.  No positioning, no backing down, just solid and secure.*  If our anchor had not held right away like it did, there is no question that Serendipity would have rolled over in the breaking waves of the shore and our boat would have been a true shipwreck, completely totaled out.

So do we love our anchor?  Yes.  Do we love it even more knowing that it’s a Rocna and built Rock Solid?  You bet.  Would we trust our boat and our lives to it?  Already have.   And it has passed with flying colors.

To check out our testimonial on Rocna’s website, including pieces of the letter we sent to them thanking them for saving our boat, check it out here.  And if you’re at all interested in buying a Rocna, please do.  We’ll feel much better if you’re ever anchored next to us.

*Not that I’m suggesting you shouldn’t always anchor properly.  I’m just stating that in this emergency, it did what it was made to do without any help from us.

Lights Out

Thursday January 31, 2013

My last few days in Arizona were very nice and relaxing.  I did attend a Jazzercise class with my mom on Tuesday morning though, and I’m still having trouble sitting down!  I’ve been bending my knees a little bit and letting myself fall the rest of the way.  Those women really know how to make you sweat!  Now don’t think I’m too out of shape, I was doing all the advanced moves, but there were a lot of women in their 50’s and 60’s keeping right up with me.  My legs were jell-o as I walked out the door, but not weak enough that I couldn’t jump behind the wheel and drive us home.  It had been almost six months since I’ve driven any kind of vehicle, and I think I did pretty well at it.  I’m sure it fit right in with the rest of the snow birds, running a few lights, and suddenly slamming on the breaks.  (I’m just kidding, I only did that once)

Getting ourselves cleaned up it was another day of shopping, where I think I can say I’m successfully stocked up for the next few months to come, getting everything I need that I may not be able to outside of the country.  It may have been more clothes and make up, but the way I see it, this will hopefully be my last girly shopping spree I get for the next four years or so.  If the boat gets back in the water and things go according to plan.  So I see it as necessary and won’t even worry about where I’m going to fit all of this new stuff once I get back.  But that day I didn’t go crazy, it was just a few small things that are replacing old things I already own.

The next day was spent around the house relaxing, and doing a faux packing to make sure I could bring back all my new things.  Even with a newer, bigger bag from my mom, it of course did not fit.  But that’s what UPS is for, and the rest of my belongings should be arriving a few days after me.  Then it was off to a wonderful day of electronics where nothing was behaving as it should.  I tried to make a spreadsheet to print boat cards on, and after the three hours, literally, it took me to get up our name, boat name, and website, my mom and I found out we couldn’t print the cards.  My laptop wouldn’t connect with her printer, and her computer couldn’t open the ‘Open Office’ document I had used to make the spreadsheet.  That’s ok, I can live with that kind of hassle.

The real kicker came that night when I was trying to do work on my new laptop and my password wasn’t working to log in.  Truth be told, I had been having that issue for a few days, but just dismissed it since I still had my other laptop which has all my photo editing tools, so I was on that 90% of the time anyway.  But yesterday we really wanted to get to the bottom of it, and dedicated four hours to trying to solve the problem.  This included a call to Best Buy where they stated that if we didn’t buy their plan, they couldn’t do anything to help me, and a call to my uncle who’s in IT, but not familiar yet with Windows 8.  Finally and thankfully my dad was messing around with different options of the password I thought it should be and was able to get in.  Why did I ever add a 2 to the end of my password?, I never do that!  But once it was fixed and the stress was gone, I was able to enjoy the last few hours of my vacation sitting around and unwinding with my parents.  Can it really get any better than watching Mrs. Doubtfire with a bowl of popcorn in you lap and an ice cold Pepsi next to you?

Then it was back to the grind today, two flights and two thousand miles to get back home.  It was much more fun getting through security this time though, with two laptops to take out, and when they ran my bag through the scanner three times I thought I might not be getting on my flight at all.  I still have no clue what they thought I was carrying with me that my things needed to be inspected that closely.  But all was well and after holding the line up for only about five minutes, my bag came through and I was on my way again.  In the sky and ready for electronics to come out I happily grabbed my now fully charged Nook, woo hoo!, only to find….it wouldn’t turn on.  WTF?!  Really, electronics?  Still?!  Luckily for me, the guy in the seat next to me was watching Limitless on his touch pad, and must have known I was peeking over his shoulder because he left the captions on.  Thanks airplane guy!

Landing in Jacksonville, I was greeted by Matt, who looked exhausted from his hard day of labor on the boat.  He told me he had completely lost track of time and thought it was much earlier than it was when Chris came knocking on the hull to bring him to the airport.  His clothes and hair still had a little bit of dust on them, but after a week away, it was the best thing I could have ever seen.  We met Chris at the van, and then in a total surprise to me, we went to dinner to a place just up the road called Sticky Fingers.  It was a BBQ restaurant, and between the three of us we split the ‘Ribs for Two’ meal, coming with more food than we could all put away.  Our platter came with four slabs of ribs, each with a different sauce, and even one dry rub.  It was all delicious, and as usual when we go out with Chris, I was ready to fall into a food coma when we left.

Back on the road and coming into St. Augustine, we drove around town for a little as it was the last night before the ‘Nights of Lights’ are shut off until November.  It was actually really sad as we drove past, my face pressed up against the glass, knowing that the next time we’re out everything is going to look a little less magical.  Part of me wanted to get back to the boat, grab the camera, and run back out to capture all the beauty that we had admired, but taken for granted for the past two months.  As we pulled into the little side streets of the Lincolnville Historic District where our marina is, it hit me that I really felt like I was coming home.  This wasn’t just some random city that we were passing through anymore.  All the streets and buildings were comforting and familiar, and as much as I still want to get out, I am really going to miss it when we leave here.

Punching in the code for the gate and walking into the yard, it felt really good to be back.  Climbing up the ladder and expecting to immediately be bombarded by my furry little friend, Georgie, in true cat fashion, completely ignored me as soon as I walked through the door.  Then I saw what Matt was talking about in the email yesterday.  He was not lying about the mess.  The last step of the companionway was missing, all of our belongings lay out across the floor, and there was only one small spot to sit.  I didn’t even know what to do with my bags I had just brought back, there was no place to put them.  But this has to mean progress, right?  That something was actually done in my absence.  It may be an extra cramped space to get used to, but if I close my eyes hard enough, maybe I can pretend I’m back at my parent’s house, sprawled out in the queen size bed that I have all to myself.

“And kick, ….. and sweat…..”

Three hours to make this?  I don’t even know how that happened.

In St. Augustine News

Wednesday January 30, 2013

 

Since I’ve been a little lax on what Matt has been up to in St. Augustine, here is the report I received from him tonight.

The boat is trashed!  I’ll try to straighten it out before you come tomorrow.  I don’t even have a place to sit inside the boat right now.  I’ll be sleeping on the floor tonight…. It is that bad.

I just finished grinding the fiberglass. I used tarps to block the dust, but I still spent over two hours wiping the entire boat down.  There is dust everywhere, and it is really itchy!  I had to empty the vacuum three times just to get all of it.

I only got the tabs ground on the area where the fridge compressor is, the water tank area, bilge by the mast, and the settee by the bulkhead to the v berth ( where the tv is). I still have to do under the stove and sink, but may save that for another day.  Today was miserable!   It was so hot under the tarp I thought I was going to pass out.  I couldn’t see half the time because of the dust, and the grinder couldn’t reach in some spots do I had to use the dremel… Which isn’t large enough to do much.  I also cut through the fiberglass by the bilge pump into the cabin floor.  Its a small spot, but still noticeable, and I’m not sure how I’m going to fix it.

The microwave is 90% in.  I still need to do trim work (which i will have to make by hand)  mount a new 110v plug in that area, and mount bumpers to prevent the microwave from sliding back into the cabinet when the door is shut.  Because of the slope The worst it looks crooked in the cabinet.  It 100% level and perfect 90 degree corners, but with the slope of the cabin top, it looks really twisted.  Ugh!

The engine bay is about 3/4 of the way painted.  I can’t get into the aft cabin to paint the back area yet, but at least the front is done.  The steps will still be out when you get back… It’s a small jump to get down.*

I talked to the keel bolt guy from California and let him know that we wouldn’t be needing him anymore.  The costs were just jumping up too much, and he (building keels and knowing all about them) didn’t really think that him coming all the way out here was necessary anyway.  He gave me some really great tips though on how we should be able to work with the yard to do the job ourselves.

What do you think about keeping the hot water heater?  We haven’t used it yet and it takes up a 3x3x3 space that could be used for other items.  I’m not sure if we will ever use it, but I also don’t want to wish we still had it either.   We could always get one of those solar showers that everyone uses the time we want hot water, and that works without running the engine.

Also, what about the sink in the v berth?  If we got rid of that I think we could get much better use out of that space.

So it looks like Matt has been pretty busy while I’ve been away.  Things are finally progressing, and with any luck, we might actually be out of here in a few weeks!

*I found out from Matt that it was absolutely necessary for the engine to come out with the transmission.  The yard knew what they were talking about, and we were lucky we listened to them.

(Also, when I talked before about the fiberglasser, he was not part of the yard, just a vendor.  Everyone here at the yard has been very helpful and quick with their work)

She’ll Be Coming Around The Mountain When She Comes

Monday January 28, 2013

Since I’ve already done a few mommy/daughter days on my visit here, it was time for a daddy/daughter day.  Back when we were first planning this little side trip out to Arizona, and the whole 7 days it took from when they asked to when I left, I was asked what I wanted to do while visiting.  At the top of my list was to do some mountain hiking.  Back when Matt and I had come here a few years ago my parents had brought us out to Piestewa Peak, and the two of us had a blast climbing up to the top.  Or more accurately, my brother and I slowly climbed to the top while Matt ran it, came back down to get us, and went back up again.  Since I didn’t have anyone as nimble as me to do a hike to the top of a mountain with, we changed plans so my dad could take me to Mt. Lemmon, just outside of Tucson.  Although there are trails that lead all through this mountain, there is also a long and winding road that leads up to a ski resort and a little town at the top.  This sounded like something we could handle.

First things first though, my dad had to get a little work out of the way and visit one of the local colleges in Tucson to do a little recruiting/informational seminar.  This meant a 5:30 wake up call for me as there was still a two hour dive before the 8 am meeting.  Having chugged a coffee on the way down, I quickly cracked open a Monster Energy drink as soon as we hit the cafeteria, trying to recover from the five hours of sleep my busy brain left me with.  But there was wifi and guilt free time to do work on the blog, so I happily sat among the students while my dad went to do his thing.  I was even feeling, shall we say, half awake by the time he came back to pick me up.

Since the dark weather cloud was still hanging over my head, the weather for the day was forecasted to be slightly less than favorable.  We had encountered downpours almost the whole ride down (Really Arizona?  That much rain in one visit?), and there were many low lying clouds covering the tops of many of the mountains we passed.  My big worry was that we’d get to the top of this 6.500 ft mountain that’s supposed to offer beautiful views into the valley, and not be able to see anything but the dense fog in front of our faces.  Temperatures were low as well, high 40’s while we were driving through the valley, and my dad declared that for every 1,000 feet you go up in elevation, the temperature drops approximetly five degrees.  Still starting over 2,000 feet over sea level we only had about 4,000 feet to go up, but that might equate to a drop of 20 degrees in the temperature!  That would put us under freezing, and might even give me the chance to see snow.

As we drove along the stretch that led to the road at the base of the mountain we saw one of those flashing roadside signs, blinking ‘ICY’, and we just laughed.  Dismissive at first, and then we began to watch the temperature drop.  Just a few degrees here and there, but it was enough to make us keep a close eye on the roads.  As we drove up, there was a drastic change in scenery every 1,500 or so feet.  The bottom most level was filled with rocks and cacti as far as the eye could see.  Even though there was 20 miles from the beginning of the road until you reached the town, we kept rising in elevation and left the cacti behind for small trees and shrubs.  By this point the temperature had also dropped into the 30’s and we were taking that ‘Caution, Icy’ sign very seriously now, as we were in a pickup truck without rear wheel drive, and skidding on these icy roads could have very dire consequences.

It was also around this time that we had reached those clouds that had been hanging so low in the air.  Visibility went down to just a hundred feet in front of us.  There’s such a strange sensation when you’re driving at the edge of a cliff with only a guardrail protecting you from a thousand foot drop, and not being able to see a thing past the guardrail.  I still can’t tell if it was giving me a false sense of security, not being able to see what was down there, or the images in my head which were probably 10x worse of what was down there.  Which is strange because normally I’m not scared at all of heights and love the thrill of looking over the edge of a cliff.  Maybe I’ve finally realized that we’re not as invincible as we all think we are.  There were a few more times when my heart jumped up as the temperature had dropped below freezing and we’d hit a slick spot in the road, tires spinning for just a second before kicking back into gear again.

The little bits of snow that we had seen here and there on the side of the road were now beginning to cover everything and the pine trees we were now passing were caked in icicles.  We had finally reached the top of the mountain though, at 8,200 feet.  Doing a quick pass of the ski slopes we then turned on to the main road of the town and pulled into one of the restaurants for lunch.  As we started walking up to the door my dad observed, “I think I just saw a snow flake”, at which point we both looked up, but couldn’t tell if there was snow falling from the sky, or if just a few flakes had blown off the trees in the high wind.  Rushing inside to get out of the cold, we took a booth against a side wall, trying to keep away from the windows that were letting frigid air in.  My dad talked about the few times he had come up before with my mom, and how they always talked about renting a cottage up there for a weekend, as each time they had come before didn’t seem like long enough.

As he was telling me this, we both kept glancing out the windows to see what the weather was doing.  It had in fact begun to snow.  Just a light little dusting at first, creating a picturesque postcard scene of the mountain.  We browsed the menu, ordered our food, and by the time our drinks hit the table it was no longer just a dusting out there, it was snowing hard!  Still watching, we made little jokes about how we were probably going to have to skip having our wine while sitting out at one of the picnic tables further up the road, our original plan after lunch.  By the time our food came, it was a whiteout outside.  And to make matters worse, the wind was still blowing, hard.  When it would die down we could see the flakes falling directly down from the sky, but most of the time it was coming in sideways, and sometimes swirling in circles.

At this point we were worried about being able to make it back down.  Even though the food was amazing (Come on, a shaved beef brisket dip with sweet potato tots?  I can’t say anything bad about that), we were starting to rush through our meals, allowing ourselves to get going again as soon as possible.  Looking at my dad I was still able to make one crack.  “You know how you wanted to stay in a cottage here?  Maybe that will be tonight”. Keeping an eye to make sure things didn’t get worse, he was still confident with the weather as it was, and wasn’t ready to leave quite yet.  Paying the tab we got back in the truck, digging out the winter coats we had brought for just this reason.  Driving up the road a little more he wanted to show me the picnic area that him and my mom like to visit, full of boulders and trees, and described as pure heaven.

Driving the one mile up the road to this area, we got there and found they had closed that section of the road!  Gates had swung out to keep any vehicles from traveling down it, and we were now shut out.  From what I could see, it did look like it would have been beautiful, and I still jumped out of the truck to snap a few pictures.  Since that plan was now out, we decided to stop in the general store for some of their famous fudge.  Talking to the guy behind the counter we made some comments about the snow and he replies with, “Yup, we’re supposed to get about 6-8″ today, but the good thing is, they haven’t closed the road down yet”.  Excuse me, did I hear you right?  6-8 inches of snow?  Roads closing down?  This was all we needed to hear before jumping back in the truck to make it out while we still could (fudge in hand, of course).  Possibly sounding a little too much like my mom on the drive down I kept giving my dad instructions of “Make sure to go really slow, we’re not in any kind of rush.”  “If someone comes up behind you, just pull over and let them pass.  Don’t feel the need to speed up because they’re on your tail”.  I know, I know, I’m terrible.  But plunging off a cliff in icy roads was not something I felt like experiencing that day.

We were able to get out of the snow just fine, and as soon as we hit 6,500 ft, the snow disappeared, and the skies cleared up.  It was still cold as hell out (we hit a low of 25 near the top of the mountain), but at least now we could stop at all the little scenic looks and get out to see the views.  They were much better this time around, now that we could actually, you know, see.  Stopping near the bottom we did finally enjoy our wine and cheese, the now 45 degree temperatures feeling like a heat wave compared to where we had just been an hour ago.  But even wine can only keep you warm for so long, and as soon as the clouds rolled in and the wind kicked up again, it was back in the car and on our way home.

The views from up here are a-m-a-z-i-n-g!

Snowball fights in Arizona, why not?

Fountain Hills

Sunday January 27, 2013

I always thought I had a dark cloud hanging over my head as far as weather goes, but now I know for sure.  When I left Florida the temperatures had taken a dive into the 50’s and 60’s, while my parents in Phoenix, had finally warmed up out of a cold spell and were enjoying nice sunny, 80 degree days.  As soon as I got to Arizona to join them, everything flipped.  Matt is now enjoying nice days in the 70’s back at the boat, and here I am in Arizona, in the cold and rain.  Yesterday rained from morning until night, accumulation 1.25 inches, more than 1/4 of their total rainfall last year!  Yes, that dark cloud likes to sit just above wherever I may be.

Yesterday wasn’t a total waste though.  Armed with some research and new information, we went back to Best Buy and left with a new Samsung Series 3 for me.  Then after a little time at home trying to figure out how Windows 8 works (it’s easiest for those on a touch screen, but I’m getting used to it), I eventually sat it down to do some good ole TV watching on the couch.  House Hunters International and Pepsi really do make for a great Saturday afternoon.  Then it was off to the grocery store where I picked up ingredients for my famous homemade meatloaf (Ok, it’s only been made twice, but each time, it was spectacular), and then gave my mom some cooking lessons back at home so she’d be able to replicate it.

Waking up this morning there were still clouds abound, but my mom and I were not going to let it stop us from going to the area flea market that is held each weekend.  I went with the thought of not actually purchasing anything, but more just to have fun looking around at all the booths.  First on the list though was to hit up their breakfast counter, and holy crap, they have some incredibly good things for really cheap.  I think these heavy retiree/snow bird areas have it right.  Walking past the stalls once more I was left with “If you see anything you need…” to which I thought “Ok, yeah.  I’m going to find soooo much stuff I need here for me or the boat” (insert sarcastic tone).  But then little things started popping up here and there.  “Hey, this microfiber brush would be great for keeping the solar panels clean.”  “Cool, a collapsable strainer, and look, a skillet splatter cover so now I can cook Matt his fried fish!”  (Assuming we eventually catch something).

Slowly the backpack kept growing more full as I also found a wide brimmed hat for Matt and something called the Hip Klip that my mom’s friend had shown us the other night, a cool little mini-purse that clips on to your pants and lets you carry around small things likes ID, money, and a phone or camera without having to worry about holding on to it, or even better, someone trying to steal it off you. Â Knowing how often I misplace things when we’re out and about, I think it was a very wise investment. Plus, it’s never too late to learn more about investing, and resources like Invest Diva can provide valuable insights to help you make informed financial decisions. Â Just grabbing a few more small things like yummy dip mixes (I plan to eventually copy the ingredients on my own), we were tired and hungry and on our way back home. Â Four 1/4 mile stalls is a lot of browsing!

Later in the afternoon after the weather had cleared up just a little bit, the three of us decided to make the drive out to the Scottsdale area to check out Fountain Park, a 64 acre recreation area with a very large fountain in the center of it’s man made lake.  This fountain goes off every hour on the hour for fifteen minutes, and has a spray that shoots over 500 feet in the air.  Packing up a cooler of wine and cheese we sat at one of the picnic tables, trying to get out of the nippy wind that kept biting at us.  When the fountain did go off, it was a beautiful sight, but it’s a shame that we couldn’t have gone there on a nicer day.  As soon as the water trickled to a stop we were back in the warmth of the truck, looking for the next sightseeing attraction.

Since we were so close, we made our way over to Old Town Scottsdale, a place my parents had taken Matt and I on our first visit out to Arizona a few years ago, and I remembered it being fun with some nice window shopping as well.  As soon as we parked and got out of the truck we were greeted with live music playing from inside a bar where a young crowd looked to be having a very good Sunday Funday.  We stuck to more reserved things and went browsing inside shops, looking at works of art and Southwest and Native American decorations for the home.  Next door at a souvenir shop we looked at funny graphic tees and coffee mugs, and I was also able to finally get the friendship bracelets for me and Stephanie that we have been talking about for the past three months.  They were supposed to have been made by hand, but shhhh, I’m cheating.

With my ‘homemade’ gift in hand we walked by the 1,000 jewelry shops lining the streets, all selling sterling silver and turquoise bracelets, necklaces, and rings.  At the end of the street a sign with old shop milkshakes caught my eye, and with live country music ringing out the door we stopped to look over the menu and debated staying for dinner.  With none of us wanting to stay for a rendition of ‘Stand By Your Man’ we thought a milkshake to go would be the best idea.  Getting a strawberry shake whipped up at the old fashioned soda counter, I waited excitedly like a little kid, barely snapping a photo before digging in to the sugary goodness.  Taking it back to the truck, we began the drive back home to couches and relaxing, a rainbow littering the sky behind us as we left.

Spoiled Rotten

Friday January 25, 2012

Yup, it’s happened already.  Not even 24 hours with my parents and I’ve already been spoiled rotten.  I knew it would happen a little bit.  I expected a few things here and there, a dinner out, a new charger for my Nook, but I was not expecting everything that came my way today.  It started out as a mommy/daughter day where I thought we’d just go out running a few errands.  Stopping at the bank to add my name to a few accounts, we then ran across the street to the salon.  I have not had a hair cut in over six months and my curls were beginning to loose a little of their bounce.  A few snips here and there with the utilization of tools like Matte Black Hairdressing Scissors, and now I can actually be able to wear my hair down again without the need to run to my flat iron.

Mentioning to my mom I needed a new pair of jeans since both of my current pairs keep falling a little lower on the hips, my mom took me to Ross.  Only planning on buying jeans, we walked through the door and my mom mentions “If you see anything else you want, tops or whatever, just throw them in the basket and we can get those too”.  Let’s be fair…you just can’t do that to a girl.  Especially not a girl who’s basically been living out of a suitcase for the past six months and has been rotating out the same five shirts for the past five months.  (I swear, one day we will get to climates where I can wear all of those tank tops I brought)  So after looking through the jeans and fining only one pair in my size that were not skinny leg or bedazzled to hell, I started in on the shirts.  “Ooooh, nautical stripes.  Oh look, this one has an anchor.  The buttons on this top remind me of the brass on the boat.”.  On and on it went, and bigger and bigger the basket grew.  To be fair though, the whole time I was riffling through the new clothes I was also thinking back to what I have on the boat and what can make it’s way to the Bathroom Sailor’s Exchange.  I was still with it enough to realize that there is no new room on the boat and anything new that was purchased would only be replacing something old.  (So you can stop giving me the stink-eye now, Matt)  Being let loose in a clothing store with a command of “Get whatever you want”,  I think I did pretty well as we came up to the checkout counter and I had only picked out two pairs of pants (teal colored skinny jeans for $14.99?  That can’t be passed up!),  and five new tops.

After clothes shopping, as if that wasn’t enough, we went in search for another gift that was desperately needed, and Matt and I have been looking to get (on our own) for quite awhile.  That would be a new laptop for me.  At the moment I have a Gateway that is about eight years old and slowly dying out on me.  It always gets the job done, it just takes it’s damn sweet time doing it, and we both had a feeling it will soon be up and quitting on us, most likely when there is no access to get a new one.  So my parents taking pity on me, and my dad making a comment of “Wasn’t that the computer you were letting me use six years ago while I was visiting from Vietnam?  That’s what you’re still using?”, said that since Matt wasn’t able to make it out on the trip as well, his airfare could be used to go toward a new laptop for me.  And with that, my mom and I went out for a search of what would be my first new laptop, since up until this point I’d always gotten the hand-me-downs from Matt. Searching about three different places we made notes of what we liked best and decided that after doing some reviewing and research later that night, we’d make a decision and go back and purchase tomorrow.

There will still other shops we could have hit up, but it was only my first day there and the sun was finally starting to poke out of the clouds.  Just my luck that I get there and the temps go from the 80’s down to the 60’s.  Today was still hovering in the low 70’s, so while I still had the chance we ran home so I could change into my suit and say I layed out by the pool.  It didn’t last long, less than an hour, and mostly just for photographic evidence that it was done.  I enjoyed a beer, hung out with my dad, and then got changed to get ready to go out to eat.  Some of my parents close friends who lived just down the street from us while I was growing up had just moved into the area and they wanted a chance to see me while I was in town.  Stopping over for a quick drink and catching up, we then all piled into their car and made our way to one of my parents favorite Mexican restaurants in the area.

The place was called Dos Gringos and they described it as having a great outdoor area.  We did end up going pretty early in the evening though, since dark clouds were closing in and we didn’t want to be rained out.  But an early dinner time also meant Happy Hour was still going strong, and $3 margaritas were quickly placed in front of us.  We weren’t even very far into them when the rain did start coming down and we had to run to a sheltered table on the other side of the restaurant.  This did, however, put us right in front of the giant Jenga set my parents had been telling me about.  At the time there were two young boys next to us playing, and although they did get a topple worthy set going, they left before it ever fell to the ground.  After we had satisfied ourselves on some chips, salsa, and ceviche, my dad and I decided to try our hand at the game as well.

We continued where the boys had left off, and after only one or two moves the whole set came tumbling down, to the applause of all the tables surrounding us.  Picking up the pieces to rearrange, and starting from scratch, we played two more rounds of the game, my dad winning each time as I always picked just the wrong piece of wood to slide out, and all the pieces crashed to the ground.  The game was put on hold as our food came, and we enjoyed our tacos and enchiladas as the sky grew dark and the strings of lights hanging over us grew bright.  Finally leaving the table after we’d had more to eat than I think any of us originally planned, we made it back to my parents house for one last nite cap before everyone parted ways.

Only one day into my ‘vacation from my vacation’, and I feel like I’ve done enough where if I had to go home tomorrow, I’d still be satisfied.  I’ve been wined and dined, taken to the salon and and on a shopping spree, and spent the afternoon lounging by the pool.  I think it’s safe to say, I’ve been spoiled rotten.

In St Augustine News:  Serendipity is beginning to get all polished and shiny.  All of the port lights have been cleaned and are sparkling like new.  A good hull polish is also in order, as soon as a buffer is borrowed from Frank. In fiberglassing news, our fiberglasser has not shown up for five days now.  If approved by the insurance company, we’re planning on giving him the boot, doing the work ourselves, and saving ourselves a nice chunk of money in the process.

Moments before it crumbled.