Well, I made it here. I am in Rhode Island for the US Invitational Cup Qualification Series. Newport quite possibly can be described as the one place in the states that I have yet to race at, which I want to race at. I have found that in my life, fulfilling your dreams take many small steps. Coming here to race in this event kind of feels like a step for me. There is so much history in this place. There is not much to do over here right now. The weigh-in is tomorrow, and then a practice session. Racing starts on Wednesday!
Even though this trip I plan to take won't start for at least another two years from now. It just excites me more then anything ever has. It seems as though every waking second I have that I am not busy doing something I spend researching boat designs, or trips that other people have taken. Working out budgets, figuring out how much water I will need to bring. The small stuff all adds up to help me complete my end goal of sailing my boat around the world. She doesn't even have a name yet!!!
To this point I have spent $293.87 or something close to that anyhow. I have replaced the bilge hose, the faucet rocker-pump, the hose leading from the sink to the thru-hole. I have painted the interior of the boat white, purchased a VHF Radio, and fixed the step leading into the boat. My Cal 29 still needs a ton of work done to be ready to even think about sailing her in a nasty sea. I am going to try to re-do all of the wiring in the next month or so.
I can't wait to get back to Washington, though this here in Rhode Island certainly can be labeled an adventure. Taking my boat cruising for the first time will be an experience that will hopefully be incredible.
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Well.... I have had the boat for a little over a month now. Starting to ease myself into life aboard. I moved into the boat on the 4th of August. So far so good. I have not had any major issues. Today was the first time it has rained since I moved on. Just two leaks to be fixed. The forward hatch is not sealed properly, and the starboard hand-rail on the dog house has a leaking screw. Thankfully most everything else seems to be holding up.
I still have much to do to the vessel. In the past month, with the wonderful help of my mom and dad, we have painted the whole interior, it is looking pretty fly. That is actually all that we have done as far as improvements go. I am lacking money right now, so the changes I am able to make are certainly minimal. In the next months time, I hope to have the running lights wired, a stern light, the sink working, and shore power hooked up.
I have been extremely busy with all the Melges 24 sailing and the training for the Invitational Cup in Rhode Island, the summer grind is almost over!!!
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Oh my. I did not realize how much time it takes to get a boat into ship shape. Yesterday my Grandmother and Mom came up to help me get the boat cleaned up. Literally took 9 hours for the three of us to do a scrub of the inside. I had already washed the deck, and that took 3 hours last Wednesday. After spending that much time washing the interior, she is beginning to look inhabitable. Next weekend my dad is coming up here and we are going to sand the whole inside of her one day, and the next day we will be painting the whole inside.
After that I can finally start to fix her up and do what I want with it. I bought a VHF Radio online Saturday, it should be here soon. The money spent will soon start to pile up sky-high, uh oh.
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Well, I have to say, I am very surprised that I found a boat this quickly. I began looking at boats back in the spring time, but did not anticipate I would actually be able to purchase one this quickly. I ended up very lucky in the end. I found a great boat that I can really turn into my own. In the way of gear, not much came with it, so I basically get to do whatever I want to it.
I am extremely excited to begin this project. It will be a lot of fun to see all my hard work pay off and watch this POS transform into something that I can be proud to cruise around in. I do not know that much about boat maintenance, but luckily I am blessed to be surrounded by people in the sailing community that have all been there and done that. I will be asking lots of questions for sure. As for the name of the boat, currently her name is Phoebe, but I don't really dig it. I think tentatively I will be renaming her Outbound. The name somewhat describes my plans with the boat. I just want to get out there and stay out there. I can't wait to see where this all takes me.
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