08/15/2009, Kala Point
Resting a stones throw from the beach at Kala Pt. near Port Townsend, Badus wings are folded and dinner is boiling on the stove. The water laps against the hull in a friendly manner while we watch an Otter rolling and throwing sand in the air. There is finally space inside to think a little, and after the madness of pulling out of Seattle its rather refreshing. We left that place by the blackberries and Andi's raft show under grey skies and heavy rain. After borrowing a slip for the night in some marina outside the locks we set sail for Kingston and spent the day sleeping there at anchor. Today the spinnaker pulled us north and we found this sandy spit a welcome home as the sun to the west lay low on our arrival, skipping off the tree tops it loves best. There is a peaceful lagoon here, full of birds and mystical reflections when the ripples cease; the revelation as I recline on the tramp and sip Dragonwell tea is that the pond and the sky occupy the same space. It is only when the wind is calm that this is revealed, that each resides in the common place of perception.
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A quick update. The boat is loaded with drystores, water, and all the sailing gear excluding the windvane which is half built. It has been a long process getting the boat put back together, going over almost every element and reworking all the pieces into a useable whole. We've only gone sailing a few times so most of our decisions are happening based on a combination of experience and visualization- I can't wait to push out of here and get to know the boat for real, I'm sure it will have a lot to teach us.
I think the hatch tops are solid and water tight enough for the ocean, its all rather beefy. Overall weight of the extra crossbeam, windvane (19lbs), and pilothouses is something near the weight of the engine we got rid of.
I'll throw a couple photos in the gallery. We hope to leave next week for california, beating out of Juan de Fuca and finding some ryhthm offshore to lead us south. What does this mean for you?? Finally, some entertaining sea stories.
until soon
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Fair winds & following seas, BADU!
Looking forward to SPOT updates.
I realize that some people who are checking this blog are getting bored with the boat photos., so heres one from the washington coast line.. a place we will soon leave to port as we pass
The channel where we live is full of boats, commercial and otherwise. Birds and animals share space with metal and fiberglass, eating styrofoam off the oil slicks and raising their young on white bread handouts, yet somehow they persist. The other night we took BADU out for the first scull with the sawyer oar and the scull lock. As bayliners cruised by, occupants staring at us uncertainly and pointing, it seemed we had joined the other species in exile, stuck in a techno world of motors and whirly jigs. We went slow sculling into a headwind; turning at the locks we sailed back down with just the jib. Sculling is good - tiring as it is. It allows one to slip back into the Other Place, even here in the channel there are totems in the mist if one stands at an oar. Perhaps something in the air of the Other Place gives the creatures staying power when everything is against them. Perhaps we will find a little of the same as we choose exile and join them.
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A place of aching for the Other Place,
A yearning,
A movement through space,
Continually turning,
To mark another mile.
i wrote a big post, this site timed out and I lost it. This happens almost every time i try and post and is very annoying.
anyhow, there are some pics in the gallery of sailing yesterday, the projects are moving slow as we wait for incompetent people to charge us exorbitant amounts for nothing. The marine industry in Seattle is plagued with hacks masquerading as professionals- best to do everything oneself.
until soon
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Got back to town yesterday and laced the tramp on. Unfortunately it is clear that it will rip in the first month of use. I followed the pattern for the old one which is clearly a bad design. There are not enough grommets around the edge so the stitching is pointloaded and will tear away from the strong webbing edge. In hind site, if we had seen this coming, we would have added a lot more holes in the crossbeams and more grommets. Instead we will pull the grommets and sow a grid of webbing underneath the tramp material that links all the grommets.
this week we will get the sculling system going, scavenge some sail covers, install the compass, start assembling the "rocket tops", ect.
why do boat lists never end?
ahh we are just about finished working on this thing, I can taste the salt. In my heart I am already up north building a fish weir in some quiet lagoon.
Our trip out to Eastern USA made me really glad to live on the North East Pacific, upwind of all the pullution. It is very very noticeably cleaner out here. Some recommended reading-- The Road by Cormac Mcarthy; A Sea Vagabonds World by Moitessier.
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Looking into the hull of a Tiki 21 makes me happy.
We are working on storage inside while we rig and whip above decks. Our mainsail is back from the loft with another reef in it and a new tramp is on the way.
Tomorrow we will go for a sail and see if we can't work some of the hiccups out of the mainsail operation.
The list is starting to get a little shorter and the pile of stuff in our throw away pile is growing. There isn't room for all the unecessary things we normally tend to trap ourselves with.
tomorrow I will try and update the gallery.
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cheers from france
Launching at dusk half a mile from the marina, it was a quick motor back to tie up as night fell. The boat is very very easily driven, carries no way, tracks like a car and is easy to maneuver. I think sailing in fjord country will be amazing in this boat.
now we turn our attention to rigging and setting up the main hatches. Somehow we will figure out how to live on this thing.
Within 5 min of tie up we were visited by one of the Otter people. I take it as a good omen that we are on the right track. I think the seals will also find us interesting.
I hope to try moving the boat with sweeps soon if I can figure out the right spot for oarlocks.
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My Favorite spot is sitting on one of the bow with my feet dangling in the front compartment. That's the spot closest to the water. You won't go fast but you will move. You can use the rudder to compensate for the fact that you are paddling from one side.
There are some new photos in the gallery. I have been busy these last few days lashing the boat together and fitting chafing gear all around the plywood deck. Lashing the rudders back on was straight forward and went well. I lashed both the rudders and the dolphin striker with 7/64 Dyneema. The beams are lashed with 5mm double braid dacron.
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Finally the boat is back on her feet, the paperstone is bolted on and we are fitting plywood decking. The new filets on the crossbeams are in the way of the plywood so we need to carve the corners of the ply off.
Drilling out the old nylon rudder hinges was tough. It took all day to do and seemed more like drilling a stainless screw out of balsa.
I am looking into rigging now and I think I will be using a fair bit of climbing gear.
pics to come in a few hours..
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The Kevlar went well. In one session we put four 5 oz layers on the keel, wrapping about six inches up the stem and about four feet short of the skeg. The leading edge and bottom of the skeg as well as the bottom of the rudder recieved one layer. the layup is 4 inch tape centered, 6 inch tape centered, then two six inch tapes overlaping the keel by one inch.
Getting Kevlar to encapsulate by hand is difficult, so lots of fairing with 407 and a couple epoxy coats to try and get the edges sealed in. I was too busy to take any photos in the middle of the process, here is one from fairing stage and a few of the barrier coat.
Tonight I will throw on another two coats of this epoxy barrier coat followed in the morning by a hard bottom paint.
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