What is THAT?

OMG, I just read about a sailing couple that ran into a whale in the Carribbean? Yes they RAN into a WHALE and it tore their hull in half. They got away on their dingy, and were picked up by the coast guard, after watching their boat/home sink. uuugh. They are planning on buying another sailboat, saying that life at sea is so peaceful. Huh?

Just a few more... sore muscles

Port side bow getting new planks

We are nearing completion with the work on the port (left) side of Lucy Maru. This weekend, I helped Travis put in the planks at the bow. The curve up in the front was pretty wicked, but no one got slapped with a springy board, phew! We used a lot of clamps to hold everything place, and now she's good as new. Well almost.

Lucy Maru port side undergoing a refit

That's a picture I took from the water that shows the entire port side. The areas that are not white are the new planks, you can't really see how many there were from this pic, but take my word for it, there was a LOT of them. I'm soooooo glad that part is behind us. Now, a bit more prepping before we primer, and then, finally, PAINT!

In the meantime we found a great deal on a little sailboat to practice our ( ok my) sailing skills. Its a sailfish, kinda like the sunfish but smaller. I go out during my lunch break, and it has already answered all kinds of questions I had about sailing. You see, unlike Travis, I can't call myself a natural sailor.

Me, heading out to play in the harbor

Everything about it confused me, starting with being able to tell which way the wind is coming from. I know that sound ridiculous, but for some reason, once I got out in the open water, I totally lost all sense of direction. (You know I once drove 4 hours in the wrong direction, thinking that west was to my right! That sucked!) Add to that a tiller (the thing that controls your direction) and of course the sails, and its all over, I'm lost. So being able to directly handle the sheets (the lines that the sails are attached to) and the tiller, is seriously groundbreaking. I'm now able to pick a course, tack and sail in a circle. And I can tell without a problem which way the wind is blowing!

The dream begins!

The Zen of Boat Repair

This is the bow section waiting for new wood.

This has been a great week. All week I stayed at home working on new illustrations, and making good progress on the boat . We still haven't got hauled, as the rail that we are waiting for has a wheel that needs to be replaced. This has really has worked in our favor, because in addition to having a huge whole in the side of the boat, we are behind schedule on our hull paint job, which we hope to have done before our haulout. I've learned a lesson here, make plans in pencil, because things change.

So, we're doing the best we can in keeping our progress moving along on Lucy Maru. I'm working on fairing and sanding the hull, getting it ready for paint. Its a very tedious process, of layering the filling compound, sanding, feeling for dips, and filling and sanding some more. When I really get into it, its quite pleasurable and meditative work. I have now done almost 2/3 of one side of the boat. By the time I'm done, I will have touched every inch of the hull.

I can see in hind sight, how we deceived ourselves into thinking that Lucy Maru won't interfere with our work on Me Voy. We should have known better, and I know we both did, but the force pushing us aboard this Chris Craft was irresistable. I don't know what the outcome of this will be, but it feels like there's a current that is carrying us along to some unknown destination and all we need to do is not get in our own the way.