Homeward Bound

We had planned on taking the Anchors up to Seattle to get them galvanized in the afternoon and then swing back and get a hotel room near the Airport since both Kathy and I had early flights on Thursday. Of course the Anchors were not completely sand blasted to we found the afternoon off. We decided to drive up to Tacoma and check out their water front. We had earlier read an article about how Tacoma was developing their water front and trying to attract cruisers. The article included a couple of pretty photos of the new glass museum. Well Tacoma still needs a bit of work before it hits my list of places that I want to hang out. They have some good ideas going, but they are at least a year or two away from getting everything done that they need to.

We did manage to get to Point Defiance Park that afternoon. It is a really nice urban park with a really pretty drive around the perimeter. It also includes a zoo, multiple gardens, and miles of hiking trails. Definitely worth a look if you are in the area.

That night we stayed at a hotel near the Airport and ate at nice little strip mall Italian place called Luciano's. Very tasty.

We are truly insane. Our next couple of days will cause us to travel thousands of miles all around the cou. I'm off to Huntsville, Alabama to visit some high school buddies from the debate team (you already knew I was a geek, right?) and Kathy is going back to Colorado to bring back Trier's remains to our house and to get Belini so she can stress out on the boat.

Steppin' Out

Ah, today we get to be a sailboat again. It is kind of embarrassing to be docked without a mast. People actually come up to you and say things like, "That sure is a funny looking boat. It almost looks like a sailboat." But first we get to change the oil. I decided to let Shurtz do the change since I didn't feel like buying an oil pump. So we motor on over and they do the oil change. Now it is time to step the mast. I start up the motor and start pulling around the dock and the engine just dies ... damn, they forgot to turn the fuel back on. Luckily we aren't too far away from the dock and I get a line to Kathy and we proceed to line her around the dock. This is really quite the chore since we weight over 13 tons. But the mast finally goes on and we are a sailboat again.
Tonight I found an open WiFi location that I can access from my car: The Tea Lady on 5th. We ended up going there the next day and connecting as well (also got a spot of tea).

Fishing for Anchors

Road Trip to Seattle

We decided to road trip to Seattle and do some marine related errands. The first was too get a new battery for our EPIRB and get the life raft serviced. We took them both to Puget Sound Inflatables. Servicing these guys is not cheap and will probably cost us another unit.

We also found a galvanizing place to get our Anchors cleaned up. This place was truly a dump. Later we found another place, Ace Galvanizing, that was only a mile away from the Puget Sound Inflatables that we ended up taking the Anchors to. I dropped off three Anchors: 65# CQR, 45# CQR and ~30# Dansforth. It will cost about $75 to get all of them dipped.

Our next stop brought us to Fisheries Supply where we managed to buy all kinds of goodies. These guys are already cheaper than West Marine and if you get an account with them the savings can be even larger.

After that we took a break and did a bit of touristing. We visited the Market in downtown Seattle and had dinner at Wild Ginger. I had eaten at Wild Ginger about 10 years ago. They've moved since then and have greatly expanded their space. I liked their old satay bar better, but the food was still outstanding.

Splash Down

Today was supposed to be an easy day. Drop the boat in the water, move some stuff on the boat and get out of the hotel. On the good side, all the painting and hull repair work got completed. On the bad side, the bow sprit platform was more damaged than I thought. The tab for fixing this: ugly!

Shurtz ended up removing part of the old sprit and we ended up splashing her in the water. Yeah! Now we have something that resembles a boat.

Good Vibrations

After a good nights sleep we were ready to start tackling the boat. First thing that I got around to really noticing was that the pulpit was bent when the mast was pulled. One of the standing rigging wires snagged a lifeline and torqued the front pulpit. Drag.

The guys at Shurtz Marine did a most excellent job of pulling Kalliope together in spite of the fact that Kathy and I were still basket cases from the previous job.

The Shurtz List

• Repair Gelcoat on port side
• Add new bottom paint
• Paint new name (They actually pointed us to a local guy, Vince, who did a fantastic job)
• Straighten Pulpit.

My List

• Replace Zincs
• Remove Pulpit
• Reinstall Dodger, Gallows, Solar panels, etc.
• Fix Windlass (only goes up, not down)
• Clean up the Anchors. Shurtz let me a descaler to remove some of the bigger nastier rust particles ... I really thought that one of the anchors was a goner, but it seems like it can be recovered. Note to self: don't forget ear protection when using one of these guys. I felt like I just got back from a U2 concert.
  
  
  
  

Kathy's List

• Paint V Bearth with anti-mildew paint
• Stow goodies away

Crossing The Bar

Olympia, Washington

Another bad night for Trier. We also have to meet the trucking company at 9:30 am. Too many things are happening at once. I wish that I could slow them down. We call our vet while driving over to the boat yard. The vet suggests that he might be going into diabetic shock. We need to get Trier over to a pet hospital and make the decision that we knew we would have to make this summer, but were dreading. It is 9:40 am. The boat is still not here. Trier is going downhill fast. Screw the boat. We drive frantically to the nearest pet hospital. Stupid traffic. Get out of the way! Where the hell is the hospital. We finally find it, but it is too late. Trier passes away in Kathy's arms just in front of the hospital. [Afterwards we find out the he was probably not in Diabetic shock and that the cancer was growing inwards attacking his lungs. The hospital would have not been able to do anything.]

After an hour or so, sill in shock, we go back to the boat yard. The boat is still not here but arrives within the next 15 minutes. Our original plan had been to drop the boat directly into the water. We decide to put her on the hard, get the bottom painted, get the new name painted and some other minor things. We really don't want to think about it. There is a hotel in the port district, three blocks away from the boat yard. We check in. Walk down to the Oyster house and have a wake for Trier (damn good cat!)

Sick Kitty

Ogden, Utah

Trier is a very sick kitty. He did not have a good night and woke up at about 4 am with some breathing problems.

The next morning we call our vet and she give us some hints. She thinks it might be the medication as well and we give him some meds. By that evening he is doing much better, he is alert and starting to walk around.

In the meantime we arrive in Olympia, Washington in the rain.

Washington Bound

Fort Collins, Colorado
Saturday
The last couple of days have been hectic trying to get the house closed up for the summer. Somehow we have managed to everything more or less packed up for the drive out to Washington and the house is in reasonable shape. We have a house sitter for the summer and he came by Saturday to help mow the lawn and help pack up some items in the car.
The plan is to be away for three months this summer. Three months seems like a damn long time.

As an added complication we have a sick kitty, Trier, that we have been taking care of. A couple of years ago he started having some kidney problems. Our vet figured out a regime that stabilized him and he was doing pretty well for the last couple of years. Then in January he started getting some lumps on his back. It was the dreaded C work. Many vets think that this type of cancer is related to the vaccination for feline leukemia. You might want to check into the vaccination before you have your pet poisoned.
Trier has been a damn good cat over the years and is game for about anything as long as it involves sitting on our laps. We've taking him sailing and the heeling boat just doesn't faze him. He'll come up in the cockpit and just hang out.
Anyhow, Saturday afternoon he became pretty weak and had a hard time standing. We thought it might be because of a new medication that he started the week before. Initially the new meds seemed like they were working great (seems like it almost had a Viagra like effect on him. Our other cat, Belini, was non too pleased.)
Sunday
It is Sunday morning, 10 am, we are ready to hit the road. Really we are. Our boat is in Washington. Trier seems to be doing a bit better. Everything is ready ... except where is our other stupid cat, Belini. She is not to be found. We look 4 hours straight for her. We know she is in the house ... at least we are pretty sure she it .... she couldn't have got out could she. Maybe she is in the Garage. Okay, it is 4 pm and we really have to go. Our house sitter Dan will take care of he until we can bring her out next week. We hit the road. Trier is tired but gets some major lap time so he is mostly a happy camper on the drive out.
An hour after we leave, Belini comes out of hiding. She was somewhere in the house!?

Movin' Out

This is the big day. We are loading her up and shipping her out. Again I get up absurdly early to put the final touches on everything and motor over to the yard. The trucker is there, everything is ready ... but, but my neighbor down the dock decided that she wanted to turn her boat into an experimental submarine. When I get to the yard her old wooden boat is sitting on the travel lift, keel sagging and water dripping out of the hull. It takes about two hours for them to deal with her and then splash another boat and then our turn. A little lifting, a little this, a little that, and viola one Tayana 37 packed up and ready to go.

The trucker left about 1:30pm on Wednesday. In theory she could have been ready to be picked up on Saturday. Of course, nothing is opened on Saturday and this is Memorial day weekend, so we are going to pick her up next Tuesday. Now it is time to jump on a plane (not again!). Fly back to Colorado and close up the house for the summer. I got three days before we need to leave.

Load 'em up

So, I managed to make it to San Diego. As an added bonus my rental car company (Enterprise) closed before I could get my car. So I spent another half an hour digging around for a rental. I managed to pick up a Jeep Wrangler (Drives like a pig on the highway, but it was a convertible).
The next morning, Monday, I woke bright and early and took Kalliope over to South Bay Boat yard to get the mast yanked. This was the first time that I cast off the dock lines and pulled her out of the slip without any help (I guess my neighbors didn't feel like getting up at 7am!). As I was pulling out I was thinking about my deductible, but the wind was light and the gods were merciful, we exited the slip without further incident.
Pulling the mast wasn't as hard as I had thought. I had labeled everything the previous week and she was pretty much ready to go. The only thing that I wasn't sure about was how the wires were connected at the base of the mast. The mast had been pulled before, so I thought there were probable some connectors hiding in the mast ... wrong! The connectors were in the bilge,
in a closet, and under a settee. As the crane was suspending the mast (at $150/hr), I am digging around trying to find all of the connections. I got em loose with only one stupidly cut wire.
Now our baby, Kalliope, is a motor boat.
The rest of the day I spent stowing things so they would not chew holes in the boat on I-5 and removing spreaders and other mast paraphernalia.

Shipping Out

Today I'm supposed to be flying to San Diego to get Kalliope
ready for her trip up north to Olympia. The plan was to arrive in San Diego
about 3:30pm, bubble wrap up some gear, a nice dinner and then early to bed.
Tomorrow I am supposed to show up at SouthBay boat yard at 7:30am to get the
boat hauled. I'm not flying. In fact I am sitting at the airport waiting for a
flight. My original flight I managed to miss because after I got to the airport
I realized I forgot the keys to the boat. I left them at home .... stupid? You
bet. So a quick call to Kathy and a 45 minute drive to Longmont where Kathy gave
me the keys. Turn around. Hall Ass back to DIA. Of course, I missed the flight
(by only 5 minutes!). Of course they put me on standby. Of course that flight
was completely full. So now I am waiting for the next flight. I have been
traveling since 11:30am this morning and should be on the boat sipping a beer.
Is that happening? No. I am sitting next to the moving walkway at DIA listening
to the lawyer inspired wisdom, "Caution, moving walkway coming to and end.
Please watch your step, thank you." I wish it would come to an end.

Something for the amazing category: I just sent off my SSB & EPIRB
application last Tuesday and it arrived in the mail Saturday morning. Three
working days! Can you believe it? Coast guard registration is taking a bit
longer. I sent in my application April 1st. When I called them last week they
told me that they where just getting to mid March applications. They still think
that I am six weeks out from getting Kalliope transferred (and rechristened from
the uninspiring Rena K. Her original name was Whiraway. We might have
kept that, but not a name that sounds like a substitute for Preparation
H).

Web site turn on & FCC Registration

One week before we ship Kalliope to Olympia. I spent
yestday morning getting my SSB license and EPIRB registration in order. The FCC
forms for the SSB are a bit intense; however, I found a nifty guide at http://www.shakespeare-marine.com/new-fcc-license-steps/.
The license should show up in a couple of weeks.

Today I signed up for a blog
account. We'll see if this works out okay for a log. If not, I'll go back to a
more traditional web page.

The Boat Decision

In my previous blog, I always had great intentions to finish this posting. The original post was:

Why a boat is a better investment that the stock market.

Heck, I didn't even know about the big crash in 2008 at the time. So I guess in hind-site it was. Although, it is an investment that does cost you about 10% of the cost of your boat every year. So really, I guess the basis cost of my boat in 2010 is about 2x what I paid for it. Not very comforting.