05/09/2006, Pt. Richmond, CA
I didn't sleep all that well last night as I kept going over and over in my mind just how we were going to be moving the boat over to KKMI in the morning. Never having had our boat towed, or even seeing one done made the prospect a little scary to say the least.
We drove over to KKMI at the appointed hour to meet Mike who was going to take us back to our marina in the boat (ridged bottom inflatable with 150 hp motor) we would use to tow Whisper's Echo back. Since it was just the three of us for this operation, Mike, Rick and me there are no pictures to document this event. But, and I thank God, there wasn't much to see after Mike successfully pulled Whisper's out of her slip and Rick managed to climb aboard just in the nick of time by grabbing a hold of the bow pulpit rail and pulling himself up and over. (That really was the only worthwhile photo op but I needed to be in the stern and had my hands full with steering).
Once Mike had towed us into the open estuary, we moved the tow line from the stern of the boat to the bow. After that it was a very slow tow back around the corner from Marina Bay to the Richmond Marina where KKMI is located. Once there we again changed the tow ropes to bring Mikes boat just along the port side of the bow and he just powered her back and we came neatly along side the dock.
Rick and I spent the rest of the day getting all the lines ready for pulling the mast which we think should happen sometime tomorrow. We labeled all the running rigging, disconnecting and bringing all the lines to the mast. We removed the whisker poll, the main boom and the staysail boom carefully securing them to the deck. Rick also began the job of loosening the standing rigging, just enough to be sure all the bolts would turn. We were lucky none of them were frozen and required soaking to break free. Day One Done.
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05/08/2006, Marina Bay - Richmond CA
Boat work has started! After spending 5 days at the April boat show we made arrangements to have Whisper's Echo hauled tomorrow at the boat yard just around the corner from the Marina we are in. They will replace all the standing rigging, replace the thru hulls, scrape and paint the bottom along with a growing list of items.
So we have been up here at the boat getting her cleaned up and doing some small projects. Yes, I am now 2 for 0 in the measuring department. First was the new stove which was too big for the space I had measured and required an enormous amount of work by hubby hero Rick to get installed (I did offer to send it back and get the smaller 2 burner model). Next I measured for the new sink faucet in the head and went to Home Depot and purchased what I thought would be a perfect fit..NOT. Poor hubby could not make this fit like he did the stove. We went to the local marine store and found a fixture made for the head, and I told Rick I would get it, but it was really pretty cheap looking and ordinary and he said no we would find a really nice one to fit. Back to Home Depot we went with new measurements (Rick's) and found something even better and back at the boat it fit! Course underneath we (Rick) had some work getting it all installed and what I thought would be an easy to do install became a 3 1/2 hour job. I do have pictures, but I forgot to pack the camera cord so I can't download. I'll post pictures of the haul out when we get back to San Jose in a week or so.
We are actually staying in Oakland while we are working on the boat, thanks to friends Gail and Colleen and their wonderful guest cottage!!! If we haven't said it enough yet girls - THANK YOU!!!
Well that's it for right now. Will write more in the next couple of days as the work progresses.
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04/08/2006, Richmond, CA
I wish I could say that we have been too busy working on the boat this past month, but unfortunately with all the rain we have been having that is just not the case. I can say that it has really been a good month for Rick as he has been retired since March 3rd and is finally beginning to relax.
We have made some small progress, example the picture of the signal flags that I finally got finished all 40 flags then made a case to hold them all. Still working on the drogue assembly, will get a picture taken of that when it is finished.
Got all the sails down, during one of the "dry" days, and have the forward V cleared out of all the rest of the sails and the dinghy. We rented a storage unit right up near the boat and are starting to move everything off the boat we can to make working on her easier. Will have the storage unit down here in San Jose cleared out in the next two weeks.
I've been going through closets and cupboards and started the hard job of reducing our things down to "boat size". Hardest for me has been all my kitchen gadgets. I'm afraid that my galley just won't support what I have. As cooking is something I REALLY enjoy and finally have lots of time to do, it has been hard deciding what I can and can't live without. Actually I have been collecting a lot of really great new products that I think are going to optimize my limited space and some really cool new silicon products that solve metal rust problems.
I have been using the new silicon baking ware now for well over 6 months, and I can say they are fantastic to use. You don't have to grease them and everything just pops out of them. I've made several angel food cakes now and had no problems cooling the cake inverted (it didn't fall out), and then when it was cooled was able with little problem to get it out. I've even done roasts using the square pans and they come out great. No rust or rattling problems with these pans.
We are waiting to get some clear dry weather forecasted (at least a week or more) so we can schedule the boat to get hauled. In the meantime, I have the old sail covers at the apartment and am going to use them as patterns to make new covers, so I have a lot to keep me busy sewing.
That's it for now, hoping soon I have really interesting things to write about and more often. Praying that the rain finally stops and we can really get working.
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