Starting with our launch date July 22, 2008 absolutely every task on this boat from just starting the engines to sailing in 2009 was a first. And while we have sailed on Narragansett Bay for a number of years, sailing our catamaran was and continues to be a new experience.

So, now that we are spending our second year on the hard at Shaw's for the winter, I am happy to report that it all gets easier.

Last year we were hauled on October 26. Then we went through the winterizing drill hoping that we covered all bases. At least we felt we could not have missed anything obvious. And, thankfully, that was true.

And then we had to figure out how to cover this 37' x 22' foot platform in order to protect it from snow and ice. This meant Bob had to come up with a design and a method to implement it in a way that was re-useable year after year. He designed the framework to fit onto the lifeline stanchions and over the boom. He created a boom extension forward of the mast to the pelican striker and so many other little details. When all was said and done and we had heard what we hoped were the last comments about shingling etc we determined that the structure may have been overbuilt (Bob is a belt and suspenders kind of guy) but it served us well. As a first time endeavor we worked long and hard into the middle of November enduring lots of really cold and damp weather to finish up this project.

This year the changes have been incredible. The boat is still the same and it is a terrific boat. The changes are in us, and our growing comfort factor and confidence.

All of the boat noises in a new boat that send you scrambling are now just like the creaking in your house. After a while they either don't bother you because you know what they are or you have checked out noises you couldn't identify and now understand what they are.

There is also a lot to be said for experience and that sense of having done something before reducing the stress level. That is how we have approached this winter season. Thankfully Bob really did a great job in marking the framing before we disassembled it this past Spring. Every screw and clamp was bagged and tagged as well.

So this years project is a week reassembling in good weather rather than bad since we are 3 weeks earlier than last year. And the framework all fit together nicely and was mostly done in one day with bracing added the second day. We will again buy the shrink wrap from the yard and install it ourselves and only have the yard guys tighten it up wherever they think it is necessary and this is usually ½ hour of yard labor.

There is so much you learn by doing and all experience is good experience. This year the added benefit is we feel not one iota of stress. Not in anything we have done whether on the boat or in the yard. The experience of having done it before is invaluable in reducing stress levels.

Our sailing has ended for the year and we have almost completed the seasonal dance including oil and filter changes, winterizing heads, water tanks, shower sump etc.

We have completely washed the boat and installed our winter halyards hoping to extend their life by removing our good halyards. We do this each year.

Hopefully the installation of our framing will go as smoothly as everything else. We will soon find out if we marked everything properly for the reassembly.

We left Greenwich Cove around 9:30 AM on Saturday 9/26 and headed out through Warwick light. The day was perfect for the trip.

We had a lovely ride under the Mount Hope Bridge, through Mount Hope Bay and up the Taunton River. Our friend John came along for the ride and ended up at the helm for the entire trip. It was one of the nicest rides ever for that area.

Tom had a dock ready for us at Shaw's when we arrived around 1 PM and we were hauled yesterday. It was so nice to pull into the yard and see Masquerade already hauled and getting power washed.

There is the old saying that there are a couple of things you should never see being made...laws and sausage. I would add watching your boat get hauled to that as well. While I have a great deal of faith in Tom, boat hauling is not for the faint of heart. So to see that the deed had already been done was great.

Once the framing is completed, we will install the shrink-wrap and just have the yard tighten up any loose areas. That seemed to work well for us last year.

We are so relaxed this time around. I attribute it to having been down this road before. Last year everything was brand new and building the framework took forever. In addition we were working in the cold and stress levels were high. This year we seem to have it all under control and no one is stressed about anything. Amazing how the experience last year prepared us for this year.

As for our sailing season...well, Bob and I worked at EGYC again this summer as launch drivers. We took the weekends shifts...I drove the day shift and he handled the night shift. We enjoyed it and it worked out well. We finished up 9/20.

Other than lousy weather in June and July we did get out more than we thought we would. We did manage to develop the rhythm for sailing the boat and it is a kickin' boat. We never got too far but we had fun anyway and look forward to next season. We will not be working next season and plan on spending a lot more time cruising.

Think Spring!

I've never been a big fan of candles on a boat. My onboard ambiance candles consist of some battery-operated candles that were a very appropriate gift.

I did however have some decorative basket type candleholders that contained two tea light candles. I was never going to use the candles but had forgotten to remove them from the decorative baskets.

This is where we move to the wake part of the story. We spent a couple of days in Bristol at the Herreshoff and if you have even been there, you know it gets kind of rolly. In addition to that there are the powerboats that buzz into and out of a nearby yacht club on a nice summer day adding to the chop in the mooring field.

Dinner consisted of some fresh corn on the cob so Bob filled the pot with water while I shucked the corn. He started the stove and that's where it all went a little nuts. All of a sudden we had flames shooting out from under the pot and when he lifted the pot the flames really became impressive. Fire extinguisher impressive. Bob shut the stove off and I grabbed a towel, soaked it and smothered the burner and the flames died out quickly. Next all fuel sources were shut down and we never did have to use the extinguisher which we had ready to go.

What we quickly noticed, after our hearts had returned to a somewhat normal rate, was wax splashed all over the counter and stovetop but we had no idea where it came from.

A few minutes later as we were calming down and brainstorming what could possibly have gone wrong, I spotted the decorative baskets above the stove in the main saloon and one was tipped over.

The summary....apparently when we got bounced around one of the little baskets fell over and the tea light candle fell behind the front burner of the stove beneath the grate. When Bob was placing the pot on the stove, he had it out in front of him and never noticed the candle.
When he fired up the stove the wax ignited and I am here to report that 1-2 foot high flames in the galley quickly gets your attention.

This is why they call these types of things accidents. No one I know in or out of boating would purposely do anything like this to cause damage. Just recently there have been two house fires attributed to candles left on in the house when no one was home but the late and very inquisitive cat.

So a word of advice from one who has been there....toss out the real candles.