Me Voy

Tool Storage

2012-01-21T13:28:00.000-08:00

Travis working on the steering in our future"workshop"

I recently heard some big wig CEO say that five years is a reasonable amount of time to expect a return on your investment. This made me think of MeVoy, whose five year anniversary we will be celebrating this April.

Although we no longer like to make any firm plans that involve boats, I'll share with you our plan pencilled in sand. We are thinking that around Spring time we will be permanently moving aboard Me Voy. She is now the brand new boat we had hoped to have, complete with shiny floors and an interior smelling of varnish. If all goes well we will do a quick haulout early spring, and be moving aboard sometime in April. This will allow us to get all of our stuff out of TARA and give her a good once over. After that we are hoping to throw a party themed "We've sold a boat named TARA', followed many happy nights rocked to sleep aboard our one boat.

The phenomena of the 'monstrous pile' in its early stage

For now, let me show you the rest of this brand new boat. Travis has done so much this year, that I've had a hard time keeping up with his progress. So for this installment of "Our Old Boat" I'd like to show you the tool storage we have come up with.

Because both of us like to do everything, with the exception of dentistry (ouch!) ourselves, we have collected quite a number of tools and materials that we both need and admittedly don't want to part with just yet. In our prior experience, these things either get shoved places, never to be found again, or get left out, eventually forming a monstrous pile that threatens anyone who dares to disturb it. This is not really a problem (yes it is I hate these piles!) on a boat that goes nowhere, but it is completely unpractical, unsafe and unacceptable in our sleek new home, that will be bouncing thru waves, heeling, and in general behaving like a sailboat.

In the old layout there were a couple of holds and drawers that held the basic toolage, but given our previously stated needs this wasn't going to be nearly enough. We needed more space to live our dream of piddling around making little things on aboard. We contemplated turing the crew cabin into a full on workshop, but didn't want to loose the option of hosting family, friends or crew in this already nice double bunk cabin. In the end we decided to change the aft cabin from a single berth with a locker to a workshop/galley.

Since I already covered the galley in a previous posts here and here I'll stick to the workshop area. To the left is what we had to work with. Actually what we had to work with was much more rotten and foul then that, ( the first picture gives you a better idea of the original state of things) but this is the space we designated for tool storage: one hanging locker, and two chests, painted in bilge coat white and grey.

The tool chest storage was pretty straight forwad. It will hold Travis' carpentry tools, handplanes, saws, etc, my roll of painting brushes, and also serve as Choppers step to his doggie door (more about that later) The other chest holds all our powertools that have cases, like drill, jigsaw, grinder etc., my airbrushing equipment, and also serves as a seat.

The challenge left was the hanging locker. Drawers were the thing we kept visualizing, but because of the curve of the hull it was quite a daunting project. Travis put on his yacht carpenter hat again, and went
to work.

He used mahogany for the draw faces, and aluminium for the drawer boxes, that our good friend Eric bent and welded based on T's measurements. Travis then attached some heavy duty drawer slides, cut out linings for the tools to lay on, and used brass door locks from Lowes to keep the drawers locked. Its shocking how much we can store in these drawers, and keep the place looking tidy.

There are still some things to figure out in this space, like how to best utilize the vertical wall, but that fun will be had when we move in and figure out our needs. For now I think we have covered the basic storage/living space and with the exception of some rugs, curtains, and new upholstery we are ready to go! Um...move in that is.

Polar Bear Plunge

2012-01-17T12:12:00.000-08:00

The other day we had our own version of the Polar Bear Plunge. Chopper was on his way to take us for his daily ball chasing on the grass, and Billy, who in my opinion, has become way too casual about jumping on and off the boat, missed the dock as he was jumping off the boat and plunged into the icy drink. Brrrrr.

He screamed and struggled to climb up the boat. When he realized that he wasn't going to be able to climb the hull, he turned and swam for the nearest pylon. The tide was low but he climbed the pylon like...well like a cat trying to get out of freezing cold water. When he was within reach I grabbed him and puled him up. The poor guy was soaked and freezing. He was in the water for a good minute maybe two. I admit I totally panicked and didn't know how to help him as he struggled to climb the boat. Next time I'm going to remember the good advice of lowering a blanket, a sheet or anything that is long enough that he could climb in case he needs to.

Wrap-up

2012-01-08T17:21:00.000-08:00

On a beautiful 60 degree January day in Baltimore, we loaded our trusty truck and headed to pay Me Voy a visit. This was not to be a pleasure call, and we were not doing this because we had nothing else to do. No. This was going to be a day of getting our faces slapped with plastic, our asses kicked by 46 feet of boat. Again.

"Are you building a fort?" someone asks us as we waddle with the 2x4 bundle.

Oh no it much worse then that. We are putting a plastic cover over a sailboat. It has to be done you see, and since paying the small fortune to get it done was not an option, well here we are.

It began well enough with Travis knocking together a frame, while I handed him stuff.

The building of the frame went fairly quickly and was quite enjoyable. Travis whistled little tunes while cutting and measuring, I fluttered about the deck taking pictures, and fulfilling my other duties ( handing stuff and now also tying knots) and with the sun still high, Chopper was looking a bit more lively. Perhaps there will be time for ball playing, he was thinking. Perhaps we could come knock off now and come back tomorrow, I was thinking. Both of our hopes were dashed as Travis began to unroll the plastic. The dreaded plastic.

We started with the bow, going around all the shrouds, cutting and taping little reinforcing squares, making sure our cuts are straight and in the right place so everything is lined up when we tighten the lashings that will hold the bottom of the plastic to the toe rail. It. Was. Frustrating. The plastic we used was called Ma Ka, and it was reinforced with fiberglass threads. Good for its strength, bad for razor blades. In the end, while a slight breeze blew, I hacked at the flapping plastic with a nearly dull blade, taping whatever I could hold and pull together. I was having my doubts now. Maybe getting it done wouldn't be such a bad idea.

I kept these thoughts to myself as we continued to cover the boat. Going around the shrouds was bad, but I'm not sure it was the worst of it. At least there we could stand up straight. To make progress along the side, one had to hunch over and slightly lean, and hold that pose for roughly three hours. Ouch. We worked each side together, wrapping the end of the plastic around 1x2's which would then get lashed to the toe rail and tightened.

With each pull on the lashing our spirits grew and our sentences became short and efficient. This might work. Almost done. Need to stand up. Soon over. I vacuum now.

In the end, it doesn't look like much. A simple shower cap to keep the wintry rain and snow off our deck. I will not be mad however, if the snow decides to skip its appearance in Baltimore this year. It may be totally insane to long for these warm winter temps, but my toes refuse to feel guilty. They are, without the least bit concern, soaking up the January sun in flip flops. They just won't listen to apocalyptic reason.

After finishing up, we stumbled down the dock to the truck. If you notice in the first picture there's the tiniest little corner on a sign on the top left hand of the picture. See it? We didn't. It read No Parking 4-pm-6pm. It was 5:56 when we finished. Rolling our cart back to the truck Travis and I both had the same thought, "Oh No!" That was all we could muster too. There was not enough energy for a good dose of curse words. And guess what... it was there! Just as we left it. Two hours parked illegally in one of Baltimore's prime traffic areas, causing one hell of a traffic jam no doubt. Just sitting there, without even a ticket! "Oh Wow!" was again all we could say. Dumbfounded, with our tails between our legs, but full of the new energy of gratitude, we high tailed it our of there. All in all it couldn't have turned out better.

The First Day of Christmas

2011-12-20T17:51:00.000-08:00

Travis:

We are in the last few days before Christmas, and the city is nearly impassable due to all of the people madly rushing to another store to get another gift for another person on their list. This has got me thinking about the true meaning of the season. So I have been taking it easy today, trying to avoid any place that sells anything, and thinking about the old story I learned as a small boy in Sunday School. We all know it. A virgin is with child, there is no room at the inn, the King of Kings born in a lowly stable below a shining star in the East. So, what does this have to do with shopping? It has set me on a day long Google search that has left me tired and confused. I feel like I have to share.

First I found out that Jesus was not the only son of God that was born of a virgin on Dec. 25. Around 3000BC Horus was born of the virgin, Isis, below a star in the East, and was visited by 3 kings. He later had 12 disciples, was baptized at age 30, walked on water, was crucified and raised from the dead three days later. But this is Christmas, not Easter so I will try to stay with the point. Next was Attis of Greece born Dec 25 around 1200 BC of a virgin, again crucified and raised from the dead three days later. Lord Krishna was born in northern India around 900 BC. His mother was also a virgin, he was born under an eastern star and resurrected. Dyonysus, also was born of a virgin on Dec 25 around 500 BC. He was also resurrected. There was also a persian god named Mithra who was born Dec 25 around 1200 BC who had 12 disciples, and was dead for three days before resurrecting.

This got my head spinning a bit so I dug a bit further. What is up with Dec 25? It seems to be astrological. As we all know, this time of year the sun is sinking to our south, and the days are painfully short. If we were to observe carefully, we would notice the sun would appear to remain stationary for three days around the winter solstice. Dec 22, 23 and 24 the sun is at its lowest point, and on the 25th it begins to visibly rise. To the ancients this signified the new birth or the raising from the dead. The star in the east is Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. On Dec 24 it aligns with the three stars of the constellation Orion's belt. These three stars have been known since the Egyptians as the three Kings. If you were to draw a line through the four stars as they align on the 24th the line would intersect perfectly with the place of the rising of the sun the morning of the 25th, thus pointing to the birthplace of God's Sun, or son as we have come to spell it. This story is ancient and repetitious because of the constant fascination with astrology throughout the ages. The lord Jesus ushered us into the age of Pisces and promised to be with us until the end of the age (Matt 28:20). At that time, around 2050, will begin the new age of Aquarius. Perhaps then there will be created a new holiday to celebrate the start of this new age.

So why all of the presents, and tree decorating and lights? This began as a roman Pagan holiday called Saturnalia, which was celebrated every year from Dec 17-25. This was a week of lawlessness and outrageous behavior, that included rape and murder. Not unlike what happens in department stores the week before Christmas. They decorated themselves and gave each other gifts of cakes shaped like people. (much like Gingerbread men) The early church wanted an end to all of this paganism so they decided to let people think they could still celebrate the same way if they converted to Christianity. Likewise the Christmas tree is a leftover from pagan worship of the Asheira cult. This group worshipped trees in the forest and often brought them into their homes and decorated them. They were converted by the church and their tradition lives on to this day.

The ancient season of Yule was a time of both reflection and celebration, a time to connect in a relational way with one's own inner wisdom and with the people that surrounded them. Many different cultures from the Nordic Vikings to the Celtic Druids, Egyptians to the Hopi ritualized this sacred time to promote spiritual unity and attunement. It was believed that the veil between this world and the next was thin at this time, and the ancestors were invited to partake in the celebrations. The Nordics believed this was the time that Thor would ride his chariot in the night skies, pulled by two Reindeer, named Donner and Blitzen. (History of yule taken from www.bellaonline.com)

I could go on, but I won't bore you any further. I just thought it would be fun for us all to be reminded of the spirit of this season. So, I am going to look at this Christmas in a new way. It is a time to reflect on the year that has passed, share good cheer and gifts with the people I love the most, but never see enough, and look foreword to the coming year as a gift of new life, with limitless possibilities. Maybe this is how I should have been looking at it all along. Anyway, have a great holiday season! Pour yourself an extra stout glass of eggnog from me. I'll be keeping mine virgin, just like Isis, the mother of Horus.

P.S. This is not meant to discredit anyones religious beliefs of spiritual truths in any way. If anything is should cement the realization of the amazing power of the one who sustains us all, to unify people throughout the ages and around the world to an unshakable truth of hope and salvation. Thanks for reading.

Let there be Lights

2011-12-13T17:37:00.000-08:00

Tara during our first winter aboard 2009

Our Christmas light display aboard Tara has waned in enthusiasm over the last three years. We started out with gusto, hanging bright icicle lights and colorful rail lights the first year, followed by a weak display of a single strand of colorful lights on the back deck last year, to zero effort this year. Why? Although we (I more then Travis) love Christmas lights, both of us equally despise taking them down. So to get my fill of beautiful lights on the water, I went exploring and photographing other peoples light displays. Lazy? Perhaps. I, however, choose to think of it as working smarter, not harder, a mantra I will be applying when considering future projects.

Flashback

2011-12-11T19:48:00.000-08:00

Its getting to be winter around here, and I'm back below in our berth editing videos from the summer. Back in August we shoved Billy into his basket, threw him in the car and took off for some wilderness camping in neighboring West Virginia. If anyone is unfamiliar with US camping regulations heres the nitty. Camping is free in any of the National Forests. Find a site and you can stay there for up to 14 days. State Parks and National Parks all charge fees for camping, in addition to entrance fees.

Dog On Boat on Vimeo.

Happy Bidding!

2011-12-02T13:59:00.000-08:00

We're so excited! Finally in honor of slimming down our belongings, our ebay store is up. Whoooo hoooo! Travis has been working very hard to make it all come together, and now it is done! I'm super stoked to be selling my bumper stickers there, and some other art stuff. There is so much more that we are excited about posting, but for now, you will see by the variety of categories, there's something for every boater, hippy, mystic, and art fan out there!

Me Voy's new hood

2011-11-20T19:50:00.000-08:00

Giddy with success as we take Me Voy to her new marina. It feels momentous, coz it signals that the hard core restoration work is over! No more tornado like clouds of dust and 5 gal buckets of epoxy for this girl. At least we hope! The buzz around the marina is that we are moving, but just to put those rumors to bed, we are staying put aboard Tara for the winter, and will move aboard Me Voy in the Spring. For now there is still upholstery to finish and other fun things like cushions and curtains to make.

Chopper enjoyed the new cockpit very much, as he was able to smell and therefore long after the yummies that are that much closer. For the most part though, he wasn't much impressed as we motored for about an hour to our new destination. We, however, were giddy, feeling again like we have just stolen someone else's very nice yacht. The only thing that tempers that feeling, bringing it down to reality, is the fact that both of us have touched every inch of that boat, sometimes in very uncomfortable positions.

We docked like pros, pulling into the slip with ease and confidence. It may have had something to do with the fact that the water looked liked this, you know almost dead calm. But whatever, it was still a classy entrance. Did you notice the spiffy main sail cover? Yup that old Singer and I went for another round of dancing and that old girl hung in there and then some, until we both came out saying did we just do that? Anyway its not completely finished, needs some different straps at the head and some zipper ends, but that will get fine tuned over the winter. But that's in the future, for now we are enjoying the next step of our ever evolving plan.

Table/Bed

2011-11-17T13:26:00.000-08:00

This is what is staring at me right now. Chopper. He's always reminding me of the importance of play time. We've been listening, trying to keep a balance between work and play, but there has been much to do. We were tossing around the idea of a table for the salon in Me Voy. To have one or not to have one. We decided that it would be great to have one, even if it did cut into the yoga space on the floor. We also thought it would be fun if it was somewhat funky and interesting, tying the colors of the interior together like a good rug. So this is what we came up with...

The center is a yellow submarine puzzle, that we worked on last winter. Its epoxied onto mahogany with some stenciling around it, and varnished. It was the first puzzle we ever did together, and it may be last. I knew Travis was a freak but until that morning, when I saw him hunched over the half finished puzzle, eyes spinning, hands shaking as he compulsively searched for a piece of the Blue Meanie, I never realized the full scope of his madness. "It can't just sit here, we must finish it" was his mantra, while I said "Lets just work on it little by little". Needless to say it was Travis who finished the puzzle in about 34 hours and collapsed from exhaustion.

The table also converts to make a bed, by removing the locked in legs and substituting them with shorter pieces. The table top lays in small ledgers around the satee and has a cushion that makes the entire satee into a nice big bed. We rarely sleep there, but it has happened, and Chopper for one loves it coz he can easily jump and hog the bed. He has BTW been staring at me the entire time it took me to write this blog and just now went to stare at Travis. However I feel another pair of eyes digging into my back and turn around to see this ...

... I am one lucky person

we've been busy

2011-11-14T15:41:00.000-08:00

We've been four and a half years in the making of this dream called Me Voy. Neither of us has ever stuck with a project this long! We're at the tail end of our work and are down to making some fun stuff. Here is a cockpit table Travis made over the last couple of weeks. Just for shock value the last two pics are of us in the cockpit, when it was called the "hellpit". Back then it was nothing more then a big hole at the stern of the boat covered by, you guessed it, a tarp. So you see things are really possible if you work hard, persevere, keep the big picture in mind, and smoke a little pot every now and then.

in the beginning there was only the hellpit

Travis in the hellpit doing some hell work

B&S Boat Trick #1

2011-11-08T15:57:00.000-08:00

One thing you just can't get on a boat, or at least on most boats is a long hot shower. Ironically during the summer, when our water hose is bypassing the water tanks, and laying on the deck absorbing the sun's heat, this is not an issue, but who wants long hot showers in the summer? In the winter, however, our shower practice looks something like this: turn on water til warm, get all necessary parts wet, turn off water, lather all necessary parts, turn on water and rinse til water begins to get cool. This takes all of about seven minutes. But somehow, thru some sheer luck I have stumbled upon the remedy for this, and I am calling it my Beer and Skittles Boat Trick #1. Ready? The answer lies in turning down the water pressure! If I seem a little excited about this its coz I am! With the water pressure turned down to an acceptable stream, I am taken back to the steamy showers of land life, where I have time to lather, rinse and stand and stand under that lovely stream and relax. Ahhhh.

Does anyone out there have any boat tricks they discovered? Do tell.

How do you remember?

2011-11-06T15:00:00.000-08:00

Do you like the holidays? Are you one who dreams of Halloween decorations, Thanksgiving plumage and Christmas lights in September? Do you dream up creative costumes in June and wear Santa Hats as soon as they appear on store shelves? If so, that's great, really is, we need people like you, I'm sure of it. It's just that I never got it. I never understood the holidays, and the equations I was observing were so unsatisfactory to me :
ghosts+candy = Halloween,
turkey+ family+ gratitude = Thanksgiving
Jesus+presents= Christmas
Champagne+high heels=New Year
bunny+ eggs+basket=Easter
etc.

I'm sure this is some lack in me that doesn't allow the magic of all these Holidays to penetrate, but, so it is. Until now.

This year, having dome some searching and re-discoviering the power of ritual, I wanted in on the magic. After all, that is what these Holy Days are, celebrations honoring our mystical humanity expressed in ritual magic. How did I not see this before?

So, with the Holidaze coming, I set out to reclaim the ancient meanings behind these popularized Holidays. It was almost Halloween and that felt like a good place to start.

Halloween or Samhain as it was known in the Gaelic tradition, celebrated the end of summer and the beginning of the dark season. Because darkness is often associated with death, it was also called the Day of the Dead, and was known as the night when the veil between the worlds (light/dark, life/death/ real/imaginary) was very thin. Candles were lit in the night to guide the passing spirits, and turnips or pumpkins were carved to scare the more unsavory characters.

In ancient Egypt the time was celebrated as the Festival of Isia, and celebrated the return of the God Osiris who was magically resurrected from the dead by his wife Isis, becoming the King of the Dead.

The Greeks celebrated a festival called Thesmophoria, which related to the myth of Persephony, who was kidnapped by Hades and taken to the underworld, becoming the Goddess of Death.

In Mexico the day is celebrated as Dia de los Muertos (Day of the dead) and the Hindu tradition celebrates Divali or a festival of related to Rebirth or New Year.

In the early Christian church the day was known as All Souls Day, and honored those who have passed.

So what does it all mean? How to put it all together and honor that which desires to be remembered at this time? The answer, I think, lies in the symbolic language of ritual. The symbolism of Halloween, Death, Rebirth, Change, Harvest, Spirit Connection/Communication can all translate into meaningful actions (ritual) that can help us to reconnect ourselves to that part of us which desires ritual in the first place. Tricky? Not really. I found that keeping in mind the symbolism of Halloween, allowed me to deeply appreciate actions such as lighting a candle or carving an owl in a pumpkin (in honor of inner sight). Even though I passed on the Ouija board, grave cleaning, and costumes, I feel my Halloween experience to have been richer then ever before. Next on the horizon... Thanksgiving, or maybe even Veterans Day?

2011-10-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

Glancing at the last post you'll have noticed that we have been working like mad. Me- to fund this venture of ours and Travis to knock out some of those items of the previously posted list. And you know what, we are getting close! In the last few weeks, new water tanks have been installed on TARA, Me Voy's V berth and state room have been refinished, TARA's roof has been painted, bright work on both boats has been done and a few other projects that are not yet finished are well on their way to completion. What does this all mean? It means that we are seriously getting ready to transition from our 55' Chris Craft to our 46' yacht . When? Everyone wants to when, everyone, including us.

For me, a hurdle to being ready to move onto Me Voy, is my attachment to TARA. She is such a wonderful boat, huge in comparison to the sailboat and filled with luxuries like a washing machine and dishwasher. I have begun mentally saying goodbye to all these things and daydreaming about life aboard Me Voy. In my experience everything begins with a dream and although TARA is not on the market yet and saying a real goodbye to her will be very hard, visualizing life aboard Me Voy has made me ready to scale down, simplify further, get down to one boat and focus on other work. And so, in honor of small space living, I thought the above video might put to rest worries some people (my parents) have about living in tight quarters.

Working like a Dog...

2011-10-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

That saying must have come from people who didn't own dogs.

40 degrees

2011-09-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

I never think it's going to happen. But it always does. And the hats and boots and coats loitering in my closet, once again saunter out, and whisper, "I told you so..." And the months of darkness and waiting are forgotten, as my knits and wools and polyester blends rejoice in the cold light of a changing season. How forgiving, how utterly accepting and loving and warm, my winter clothes are.

Non-Labor Labor Day

2011-09-05T17:37:00.000-07:00

Here it is, the final list. This one is the one that will bring us home on both boats. I'm sure stuff will be added but this is as complete as we are right now, and the good news is that it all fits on one page!

TARA:
-paint roof
-paint topsides
-fix fiberglass on port side
-fix rot on port window
-apply final coat of Sani-Tred to non-skid portions of deck
-make new lazarette hatch
-brightwork
-fill and varnish sampson post
-get navigation lights
-make anchor light base
-repair and paint section of roof overhang
-install water tank
-replace rubber seals on ports
-haulout 2012

ME VOY:
(exterior)
-replace bungs on deck
-re-bed stantions
-level cockpit seats
-seal cockpit
-caulk cockpit
-paint storage bins in cockpit
-make cockpit cover
-design/fabricate radar arch/solar panel mount/gate
-clean teak on deck
-rot repair forward port side sheer
-wax mast
-make main sail cover
-make head sail bags
-make sheet bags
-get shroud rollers
-make cockpit table
(interior)
-make tool box drawers
-organize carpentry box
-finish varnish on drawers and doors in galley
-get and install hinge for cabinet door
-make/re-upholster cushions for salon
-make cushions for cockpit
-refinish stateroom
-make and install starboard handle/shelf
-make salon table
-plumb washdown to aft head
-figure out galley/berth/reading lights
-varnish companionway ladder
-install water filter
-install soap holder for galley
-finish chopping block for sink insert
-install cruise air???
--get/ install auto pilot

Irene Passed

2011-08-31T06:26:00.000-07:00

Just a brief note to say that Irene passed us late Saturday night with gusty winds from the north. It didn't rain very much and the wind was pushing the water out of our little wharf, so instead of the flooding everyone was expecting, we were almost sitting on the bottom. The wind wasn't too crazy either, maybe gusts of 60mph? Definately felt like we had worst storms before. We got super lucky also, and didn't loose power at all. All is well.

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

Ominous clouds began appearing early this afternoon with bringing rain and moderate winds

YESTERDAY:

Preparing for Hurrican Irene. We're taking Me Voy to a neighboring marina with floating piers. That seems the safest way to go, since our first option of hauling way unavailable due to lack of space in the yards. That leaves us with only one boat to take care of , Tara, which will have long lines extending to the neighboring trees. We're really protected here in our spot, both in terms of our boat and the location of our marina.Its surounded on all sides by trees and buildings, on all sides that is except the South. Like an old timer here said, it will be a battle between Northeasterly winds and rain, and the Southwestern surge pushing water up the river from the Bay. Several people have been here for the last hurricane in the late 90's, Isabelle, and talk of a very strong surge that kept coming in from the Chesapeake. Coming and coming. Last time they had no power for 13 days, but that turns ou tot be only because no one reported the outage. Anyway we're stocking up on some food, fuel, getting extra dock lines, replacing our haylards with messangers, and generally taking action as if this is going be a bad one. The good thing is there is a great community of people here, of all ages and experience levels that makes it a good place to be. In general Baltimore seems like a safe place tucked up into the mainland and like I mentioned already our marina is very well situated especially against Northerly winds.

TODAY:
Due to unrelated issues we have no internet, so here we are at Dunkin Donuts, squeezing in some online time. Yesterday was a flurry of activity. A long 13 hour day of preparing. We took Me Voy to a very swanky marina and tied her to floating piers.We're staying aboard Tara and waiting to see how this develops. We are hoping that we have over prepared, and judging from the latest forecast it that seems probable. As of now the rain is pouring and we are expecting winds between 35-40 with gusts of up to 65. Thanks to one of our neighbors I am obsessively humming "come on Irene...", you know the song right?

The Zen of Boats (again)

2011-08-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

Buddhist practice often uses the image of a rainbow to illustrate both the illusory nature of all things and to demonstrate their impermanence. Now I'm not a Buddhist (nor am I a non-Buddhist) but I suppose this image is used because all of us, at one time, have chased a rainbow only to discover that its end can never be reached, that there is no end. This brings me right back to boat work. Although our lists have gotten considerably shorter over the years, that proverbial pot at the end of the rainbow continues to, at times, lure our minds and cause all kinds of conflict. What exactly am I talking about?

I have a confession to make. I'm not perfect. Sometimes I push and push and push to get a project done because I think that when it is finished I will be happy. I fall into the 'if only' mentality, you know... 'if only we get the haul out over with', or 'if only we got the solar panels installed', or 'if only we had one boat', or a million other 'if onlies' that sneak into my consciousness when I'm too busy to pay attention to the important things like my breath or they way Chopper runs down the dock balancing on only three legs.

And this is where the boats have truly been my guru. It is said that a guru is like a spotless mirror where we can see both the beauty and the ugliness of our inner life. Our weaknesses, virtues, doubts and strengths are revealed thru both joyful and painful experiences. (Excerpt taken from "The Journey Home" by Radhanath Swami) This is how the boats feel to me. In their steady presence the face of my weaknesses, joys, and doubts is revealed.

Poets, dreamers, romantics and seekers of all types go out to sea to experience the solitude of the ocean and the oneness with Life. Sailing, and the sea is used in many spiritual metaphors. We have yet to go to sea, but if these boats can teach us such lessons tied to the dock, I can only imagine what awaits us out there in the deep.

2011-08-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

Had some engine issues in the morning of our planned cruise, but they have been solved, again.

Now we are wondering, if it is wise to go out during a small craft advisory. Seems like we a forcing this whole trip to happen and need to lessen the tension by accepting that it will not happen this weekend. Stupid nature.

Summer Sailing

2011-08-03T10:10:00.000-07:00

Mr Perkins with head removed and gasket scraped.

Travis:

It's fun to dream about the future. It seems like only yesterday when Maggie and I were living in an old Airstream camper in the Mohave desert, dreaming of someday having a boat that we could live aboard. Of course in that dream the weather was always perfect, and nothing ever needed repair or maintenance. Over time this dream of boating grew and was refined to the reality that we now enjoy. But, along with all of the good, there is an equal amount of trial and difficulties that could easily pull us both into regret and despair. We had imagined ourselves spending limitless amounts of time learning to sail Me Voy together this Summer, finding all of the local anchorages, and having loads of fun on the Chesapeake. But, I have found, the future rarely lives up to our expectations. In reality, there is never an end of work to do, and just when you get close, something breaks and it is time for another costly repair.

The scope of the project fully engulfs Me Voy's interior

We managed to get two days of sailing in before the blown head gasket was discovered. On our last trip, I was alarmed by difficult starting, and devastated by rising oil level. I knew what it meant. I would need to replace the head gasket. I immediately consulted Nigel Calder's book "Marine Diesel Engines" to see if this might be something I could tackle. Nigel was very encouraging and wrote concise, easy reading instructions for me to follow. Now I just needed to get parts.

Neatness is essential to be sure no parts are lost

I usually order Perkins parts from Torrensen Marine. They have a great selection for the 4.108 and they ship quickly. They also have a terrific web site. Their price for the head gasket was $274. Kind of pricey but you've got to do what you've got to do, so I placed the order. They let me know immediately, that this gasket was on back order and they didn't expect it for 4 to 6 weeks. Not good. So, I went web surfing. After searching all of the marine suppliers, and getting the same answer, I tried a tractor supply site. I was shocked to find the same gasket in stock, for $25. I went ahead and got a top gasket set $40, a bottom gasket set $40, a new thermostat $15, and a single head gasket. All for less than half the price of just the head gasket from the marine suppliers. I had the parts in a couple of days. I have discovered that parts for the 4.108 are not hard to get, they are just hard to get from marine suppliers. Everything is still made by Perkins and is readily available from any tractor supplier that supports Perkins.

While disassembling the engine, I discovered the cause of the blown head gasket. It seems a failed Vetus Waterlock was letting raw water drain back into the engine filling the combustion chambers with sea water. Water doesn't compress so the head gasket gave out when the engine turned over. The oil level was more than a gallon high, almost fifty percent sea water. Why did the muffler fail? I forgot to drain it when winterizing. It's a real bummer to realize that my own mistake was the cause of a major problem. Live and learn I guess. I promptly ordered a new waterlock I found on ebay and decided to never again forget to drain the muffler when winterizing. It is important, evidently.

First try plumbing the new fuel system, leaked from every connection

Since the fuel system had to be disconnected to repair the engine, I decided to add a second Racor filter, so that we could switch from one to the other without stopping the engine, in the event that the filter clogs while we are under way. For my first attempt at this, I used flexible copper tubing and mechanical connectors. This took almost all day to create, and leaked at every connection. I now know that mechanical connections only work on rigid copper pipe and should not be used on the flexible type. Too bad I had to waste so much time and money to find that out.


Final fuel system installed and not leaking.

After another day of gathering fittings, cutting tubing, and soldering all connections, the system is finished and leak free. This time I added an additional line off of the delivery pipe so that I can add a little fuel pump that will circulate our fuel through the filter and back into the tank to polish the fuel. This way, if we ever make it to the islands, we will be able to clean the dirty fuel before using it. This system was explained to me, years ago, by the genius, Peter Lawford, of Annapolis. He is also the architect of our charging system, currently under construction. He eagerly avoided work one day to explain the tricks of clean fuel and fully charged batteries to me. Thanks again Peter.

Two absolutely essential books for a wannabe Perkins mechani

Even more thanks to Nigel Calder, who wrote the book on marine diesel. There is not much I would not feel comfortable doing with Nigel's book as my guide. If you have a diesel and think you may ever want/need to work on it, get this book! The factory service manual is also very handy, but if it is not available, Nigel's book will still get you through. He is also the author of "The Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual" which gives an in depth explanation of every system aboard your boat.

Mr Perkins reassembled and ready for action

Another long standing problem was the saildrive. It knocked in higher gears. We have pretty much decided it would need to be replaced. However after looking into the problem, it turned out the knocking was not being caused by a worn gear, but was rather a transmission cable that was not adjusted properly. After tightening up the cable, it hums along with no knock at all. So, now it seems we may indeed be ready for some Summer sailing. Maggie's birthday is Sunday and we are planning a cruise. It looks like it might actually happen, unless something else breaks down.

I guess that's just the way life works. Good times and bad times are just the two sides of the same coin. You can't have one without the other. I am slowly learning to enjoy the good times without getting too attached to them, and accept the bad times as part of the process of living and growing. I know we can't always have fair winds and following seas, and that it is often the struggles that define us. So the only thing we can do is try and be thankful for whatever comes, knowing there are greater forces at work, pushing and pulling each of us along our individual evolutionary path. That way, maybe we can become free to enjoy the good times without fear of bad times coming, and appreciate the bad times as the great life teachers that they are. Then everything that comes can bring happiness. It sounds pretty impossible to be happy in all circumstances. But so did living aboard a boat while we were baking in the hot desert sun just a few years ago. It all starts as a dream, and then ...

Tara's Booty

2011-07-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

We have been taking it easier this this summer, much more so then any summer since the boats came into our lives. Part of it is that we just cannot keep the kind of pace we had going, where we would drive two hours to spend the weekend working on Me Voy, then come back to Tara and do something stupid like install a new plywood deck. Cheesh, who are these people in our archives?

We do, however, recognize the danger of slacking off too much. Its very easy to loose momentum, and get behind on maintenance or loose focus and never finish what we started. As history would have it, we have both started ambitious projects in the past, only to never see them through to completion. That is not an option for us with these boats, but it is something we are both aware of.

One of my recent projects was the transom on Tara. There was nothing wrong with it in terms of rot or damage, it was just ugly. And the reason it was ugly was entirely my fault.

It began with temporarily painting the name on the transom. By temporarily I mean I thought I was going to be able to sand it off without going thru the varnish. I would then slap a coat or two of varnish and everything would be beautiful. Ooops. What I didn't take into account was the small detail of our transom being stained. That meant when I sanded the letters off, I inevitably went through to the wood below, and left two giant spots of unstained wood where the letters were. Oooops. Ok my options were to sand everything, re-stain and re-varnish, or try to match the stain and move on with life. I chose the latter, but long story short, it was impossible to match exactly the shade of red mahogany. Can you see the darker spots on the transom in the picture? Well they just kept getting worse, and I just couldn't live with that. So I decided I was going to start from scratch and do it right. Btw, if you are thinking of temporary letters on your boat, for God's sake use masking tape, or stickers, don't paint it on!

I've already written about Citrus Strip and how much I like it, but this was going to be a real good test for this miracle striper. I was about to take off six layers of Epifanes varnish.

I wasn't real impressed after the first application. Only some sections of the transom began to bubble up. I scraped those off, and applied more Citrus Strip.

The second application worked much better. Almost all of the varnish was bubbling up. I applied Citrus Strip to the stubborn areas and waited. This stuff works really fast.After ten minutes I was ready to scrape off the stripper.

Here again I have to say, I love this stuff. Notice the orange gloves that I'm not using? Don't need them! Other then a rather itchy smell, this stuff doesn't burn the skin like most other strippers.

After a few hours I was done with the stripping and sanding. There is no way I would be finished so quickly if it wasn't for the Citrus Strip.

Travis helped me stain and brush the first coat of very Epifanes. We thinned this first coat liberally to let it really soak into the wood.

I'm spraying the remaining coats, one every morning, or every other morning. The beauty of Epifanes is that it requires no sanding in between coats if reapplied within 72 hrs. This saves a lot of time, and energy, as does spraying. Previously it took me about 3 hrs to brush a coat on the transom, as opposed to fifteen minutes of spraying, and fifteen minutes of cleaning the gun. That's a huge difference! Plus, the compressor makes a lot of noise and creates a very festive atmosphere. I really do like using loud tools. Must be a girl thing.

Summer Daze

2011-07-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

While the heat bakes outside, we hide out in our air conditioned floating bubble.

Still here. Still hot outside. In preparation for this heatwave, we made plans to go on "vacation". I put that in quotes because truth be told, between my freelance art job, and Travis' self imposed boat work schedule, we are already living a life with minimal schedules and obligations. Most days already feel like a vacation, as we don't have alarm clocks that jarr us awake, or much job stress. These last few years, however, have been so much about persevering through this boat restoration, that now, as our to-do lists grow shorter and the light at the end of the tunnel shines brighter, we feel the need to step back and see clearly where we have come and where we are going. In other words, time to relax and dream again.

And so began our retreat from the heat. Four days of no obligations greater then taking the dog for a walk. Four days of air conditioned comfort aboard our lovely Tara, made soo cush by Travis who has been diligently working on both boats dealing with things like oil in the water of Mr. Perkins, new wiring for Tara's AC, and a stubborn mercury switch for the new-to-us oven in the new-to-us galley in Me Voy. Four days of writing, re-writng and editing our continued quest for a simple and self sustaining life. Four days of talking about things we want, and things we don't want. Four days of watching mindless movies just for fun, four days of afternoon meditation and four days of a clothing optional existence (except for the dog walking). Yup, a vacation at home is just what we needed. I have not yet processed all that we are coming up with, but in the meatime here is our life.. for now.

I'm refinishing Tara's transom. I've learned from last years experience and decided to spray the varnish. This makes a four hour job into a half hour job.

My mom and dad came to hang out with us last weekend

Judging from the arrangement of his glasses, this is where I get my 'creative' from

We moved our kitchen from below deck to the upstairs deck. I love cooking outside! And I love it even more when Travis cooks outside!

We LOVE our community garden and strongly support urban gardening efforts.

Now that summer is here our garden is producing quite spectacularily again! This made a wonderful and fresh salsa.

Chopper is unconcerned about the future. He trusts us completely to take care of him.

Trashy Thoughts

2011-06-16T14:56:00.000-07:00

I've been watching animals and their relationship to trash. Chopper could care less that he's sharing the water with debris of questionable origin. The ducks, if the trash is of acceptable size, will use it like a raft, and bob along the marina looking for handouts. The crabs and fish will gladly make a house out of whatever refuse fits their needs. Birds sift through the garbage finding wiggly things to eat. Muskrats navigate the water pushing aside bottles and branches with equal equanimity. Only the human animal disdains trash, all the while producing it in great heaps. Consumerism ends its cycle on our sidewalks and in our waters. We care, but not enough to stop and pick up that styrofoam cooler; the ducks don't care and use that cooler as their personal floatation device. One man's trash is another duck's treasure? I feel there's a lesson here, a metaphor, an irony that I can't pinpoint. What do you guys think?

Reunited

2011-06-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since Me Voy's cushions were last out, and despite their current ragged condition, everyone is happy to see them. The cushions arrival signaled the beginning of the long awaited clean -up. On this day all the tools get put away, materials get taken off the boat, and we begin to wrap up the galley build with several fresh coats of varnish. This magical day was last Saturday, and it was even better then I imagined.

A full galley blog will have to wait, but for now, here are a few pics from Saturday. We sanded and varnished the countertops and cabinets that Travis has been working on. I got to fully appreciate the difficulty of the job he was faced with, as I sanded the cabinets inch by inch. In true boat style, each cabinet, each molding is a unique piece of artwork, shaped and painstakingly fitted by the sculptor. In the four years of working on the boat, Travis has gone from wet behind the ears, to the "wood guy", to the professional yacht carpenter, to a magician, making the dreams we dreamt on those very same cushions manifest right before my eyes. It all smells a bit like "The Secret", yes that... and sweat.

There is still some missing details but this is the overall design. Here's what it looked like a couple of months ago and how it looks today.

And in case you thought this was just some kind of hocus pocus job, I wanted to show you the guts of this construction. No messin around here, all our holds have been painted and are ready to accept our bounty. Likewise all plumbing has been re-soldered, the water tank filled, and we now have running water aboard Me Voy. This is a first in our history together, and another milestone in the project.

Charging system pt. 1

2011-06-08T12:33:00.000-07:00

One of our goals for Me Voy this year is to get her off the grid, and the first step in that process was getting batteries. In our system we will have one starting battery and two house batteries. Although there is a wide variety of battery options available, we chose the AGM battery. The advantage of the AGM (All Glass Mat) battery for a sailboat, is that is is completely sealed and cannot spill acid if inverted or even submerged. All batteries have a discharge rate, which can be up to 1% of their total charge per day (or more in the tropics) but because of the tightly packed glass-mat saturated with electrolyte, the AGM makes for a very tightly compressed battery with low self discharge rates. It also makes it a very heavy battery that we had to load into the boat.

Our plan was to use the boom to lift our first, and heaviest, battery into the companion way and then into its box. My job was to use the winch to lift the battery while Travis guided it over and into the hole.

The boom and lines creaked under the strain but everything went very smoothly.

The gooseneck, which is the part that attaches the boom to the mast, was designed to handle jobs such as these. Notice that is can swing in either direction and also up and down. Also notice that this piece of hardware, like all of the hardware on Me Voy, from hinges to latches is handmade. I find this incredibly difficult to comprehend and often find myself examining the various shiny bits of stainless looking for grinding marks or polishing imperfections. I have to say that these Spanish craftsmen, were true masters of their trade, and am therefore not surprised that Mr. Holman and Mr Pye, the designers (who went on to design under the name Oyster) chose the Carrabel builders to build their vessel. What I am surprised at however, is that this boat landed in our laps thru Craigslist, with a price tag that was ridiculously affordable.

Our audience that day watched with fascination as we scrambled around deck, obviously intrigued by the ropes swinging to and fro. We planned on spending a few hours loading and hooking up the batteries, but found ourselves done in half that time. I love it when a plan comes together!

Sodden realizations

2011-06-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

I've been scratching my head trying to figure out the "Billy Situation". The problem is he keeps falling overboard. This usually happens at night as he does his secret cat things, and even though he floats like a beach ball, and climbs the pylons with expert ease, I hate that dreaded soft splash followed by the whining moan of a cat that is totally unhappy. I don't stay up nights worrying about this, but while considering this issue one morning, something like a flash of inspiration lit the up the reptilian parts of my brain with one word- GRASS! After all, where does he go on these nightly sojourns but to the parking lot where these is, yes, grass. I know this because the evidence of partially digested grass blades can be found in his pre-hairball spit up. Gotcha!

So I got some sod and planted it in a window box. Coming home the next day I had to smile when I saw Billy, so busy making love to the grass, that he failed to sound the alarm at my arrival. I'm sure this will not completely solve the overboard issue, but it was ten bucks well spent anyway.

Our neighbors were very curious as to why we had a roll of sod on board. After joking that it was to sod the cockpit in Me Voy, something that we did kinda consider, we explained that it was for Billy. Our neighbor then went on to ask...

"So did Chopper get any grass too?"

Without skipping a beat Travis replied, "Yeah, but he smoked all his already" :)

Friends with boats

2011-06-01T15:17:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you a little secret. It begins with a sweeping generalization which I'm pretty sure is right on. In every marina there is at least one eager boat owner that is looking for someone to go sailing with him. It doesn't matter that you know nothing about sailing, he'll take you anyway, and if you bring beer he might even let you take the helm.

Meet Helmut. He's been working on his boat for 15 years, buying only the molded hull and doing everything else to his specifications. He launched the boat last year and invited us for a sail this weekend. We didn't have any beer, but he let us bring the dog, and take turns at the helm anyway.

WARNING the following sequence of events took place to remedy the previously mentioned beer situation, and is NOT to be attempted by your average drunk. These men are professionals!

It was Helmut's words of wisdom, however, that set the tone for this trip. He said, " I don't want to get wasted, I want to remember this shit!" So thanks to the beer delivery guys, we enjoyed a few cold brews and lived to remember everything. BTW if you're wondering, Bud Light Lime tastes a LOT better then it sounds.

So for all you armchair sailors, don't despair. You don't need a boat. Take a stroll around your local marina. You're bound to make a friend.

Just go

2011-05-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

Why aren't we sailing yet?

Three reasons...

1. Leaky raw water pump. This seems like a simple fix however Travis' research has shown that our Perkins 4108 was built in Spain, and has a different timing cover on the engine that the standard Perkins waterpumps will not fit. The TRANS ATLANTIC DIESEL company finally solved this mystery that had Travis scratching his head for nearly a month. They got us a list of parts that we will need, and fortunately for us, we were able to find them locally thanks to Craigslist and avoid the B.O.A.T. phenomenon.

2. Broken windlass. No its not a critical part of a day sail, but just like having a running engine, we like to have a working windlass for those just in case scenarios. We found a windlass at Bacon Sails, our favorite local marine consignment shop, and since it fits our previous windlass base almost perfectly, we are only waiting for some new bolts to have this project checked off our list.

3. Main sail traveller swap. We are replacing our old Lewmar main sail traveller with a spanking new one also made by Lewmar. The old one was difficult to adjust and had a tendency to get jammed in the most inappropriate times. The new one is a lower profile design, that uses ropes for adjustment rather then little knobs you have to lift and slide.

So a few more weeks and we should be ready to shake the dust off the sails. In the meantime to those who say "just go", I say we will... in a couple of weeks, unless we get raptured first.

Happy Mother's Day to Us

2011-05-13T11:42:00.000-07:00

What a sneaky boat Me Voy is! She must have been planning this surprise for weeks, although just how she influenced events over 100 miles away, will remain a mystery. Its not surprising however that her previous boatyard would remember her, as even in her awful state of disrepair, one couldn't help but notice what a special boat she is.

It was one of the boatyard workers, who found the surprise, and asked our friend and mentor, Richard, if he knew how to contact us. Finally, on Mother's Day, Richard gave us a call with the wonderful news. A set of Me Voy's sails was found in the sail loft! Wooooo hoooo!

The stars aligned to make the trip to Oxford the following day to get the sails and visit with Richard.

The town of Oxford, where Me Voy spent her years prior to us finding her, is on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It is a quiet little town, with pristine waterways, clean sidewalks, and beautiful boats.

Everything in Oxford is postcard perfect. Flowers smell better, the cars are always shiny, and even the squirrels carry little baskets for their acorns.

Chopper reveled in the familiar smells, sensing the boatyard where he romped for three years. We were all very excited to see what changed, what was the same, and what our sails looked like.

Everyone was hard at work in the yard, getting the boats commissioned for Spring. Steve, the rigger, lead us into the sail loft and pointed to three bags waiting for our arrival. They had Me Voy's name stamped onto them and like everything else in Oxford, looked clean and proper. We had to be satisfied with only peering inside the bags, as it was too windy to unroll them for a detailed inspection. We did see that we were now in possession of a 140 Genoa, a complementing staysail, and a small handkerchief of a sail used in stormy conditions instead of the main sail. This sail we hope to never ever use, but the other two will sure come in handy! (We have since unrolled them and the condition of each of the sails could only be described as brand new. This means we now have two main sails, one in need of repair, one jib, three different staysails, one genoa, and the small main whose nautical name I can't remember. Our cutter rig is now fully equipped with the exception of a spinnaker, which we hope Me Voy is saving for next years surprise)

It was time to celebrate with some afternoon beer and chips on the beach, while waiting for Richard to come home so we could spend the evening catching up on our lives and solving the world's problems.

Chopper decided he was going to play till he dropped, and stared us down every time we refused to throw the ball. We obliged for most of the day with relief coming near the end of the afternoon, as new and yet untested ball players took over.

Squeals of delight egged on our exhausted pooch as he jumped, dove, and swam for the ball. We watched with joy as he ran and played, knowing this meant we were off the hook for the rest of the evening, free to be entertained by Richard's stories, without being politely reminded that there was a ball to be thrown.

Richard, with his customary white shirt and jeans, and his boat, the 103 year old Roslyn, deserve a post all their own. In short, Roslyn is Richard life long love and companion. He saved her from sure death, as he replaced the trees growing thru her deck with new boards, and converted her interior from a fish hold to the cozy salon that we are now privileged to enjoy.

It does seem like every good news is tamped down by bad news. Is this the law of balance that we must accept? We were elated at hearing about our new sails and deflated upon hearing that Richard has throat cancer. He will begin chemo in two weeks and was told to prepare for "hell". His chances, he was told are 80-30 , 80 being that he will come out of this fine. In thick British accent, with an irreverent smirk he says, "I've had chances worse then that at sea... at least 50-50".

He is in fact preparing for chemo as he prepared for a long voyage, lots of pre-made soups and easy to make meals. The difference however will be the absence of his tobacco pipe and vodka, two constant companions in Richard's long history as a yacht captain.

Even with the somber news, the evening was a celebration. It was good to be back in Ros' cabin sharing drinks, smokes and stories with Richard, who in all our time at Oxford, was the only person who never doubted that we will succeed in restoring Me Voy. He understood in a way that only someone who did the same thing 50 years ago could. I know that his sincere support, understanding and encouragement were crucial to our success. Richard here's to you!

Suite Tara

2011-05-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

While the work on Me Voy is progressing at a snails pace recently, I wanted to take you on a tour of our new stateroom aboard TARA. Its not actually that new any more, as we completed it last year, but it has taken this long to catch up.

As you may know, two years ago Tara jumped into our lives and stole our hearts. This was a true case of 'love is blind' as we enthusiastically handed over some green in exchange for a rotten wooden boat. You know what happened next, you've seen the deck replacement, the hull repairs, the paint jobs etc. Beneath all that however, waited the aft stateroom, or the master bedroom as you'd call it in house. We used it mostly for storage, and for a brief time a workshop. We slept in the guest stateroom, in small bunk beds, while the ideas for the aft stateroom ripened.

The hole you see will be covered by plywood, that will be the ceiling of our stateroom below as well as the floor of the deck above.

As far as the interior of the boat goes, the worst damage occurred in the aft stateroom, as rain leaked through the deck, rotting out ribs, planks, bulkheads and of course the deck/ceiling itself. Most of the damage was initailly hidden from view, with only minor water damage actually visible. That's how it is with most boat jobs. There is a small section that is visibly in need of repair, which soon turns out to be a huge section that was simply being hidden by paneling or fiberglass or whatever material that is hiding the damage. Fiberglass boats are especially good at hiding huge problem areas for years. We've seen some boats that looked perfectly reasonable on the outside with only a small soft spot, only to discover that the whole core of the boat is soaking wet and the boat is garbage. This wasn't exactly the case here. We knew there were very ugly things hiding beneath the bulkhead, and we were right.

This was our first introduction to the stateroom, port side.

First introduction to the starboard side of the room.

The first step, after burning lots of incense to get rid of that funky grandma smell, was to remove the existing bulkheads (walls) and beds, along with all the rotten ribs and beams, replacing them with new wood. In case of the overhead beams, Travis scarfed white oak of the same dimension to existing beams at a point in which they were no longer rotten, epoxing and screwing everything as he went. In the case of the hull beams, he scarfed some ribs and also did what is known as 'sistering' where new ribs are attached next to existing ribs that are solid. An invaluable resource in this operation was the Gougeon Brothers book called The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction. Its very well written, with lots of pictures to keep the instructions both clear and detailed.

Some new ribs are sistered while others are scarfed in place.

Overhead beams scarfed and epoxied with epoxied Okume plywood

Port side of the aft stateroom with new ribs

After all that, the fun part began. We have been tossing around ideas for the room all along this process, ranging from cedar lined walls for a cozy cabin feel, to bamboo plywood for the ultra modern look. In the end we decided to keep it classic and continue with the white and mahogany theme that was already present throughout the boat.

We debated over the layout of the room, and decided that the previous arrangement of two twin beds on either side of the room was unacceptable, and opted for a full size bed on one side and an office/library on the other. We borrowed the idea of the cutout shelves along the side of the bed from the guest bedroom, making the cutouts oval to complement to windows (ports). These little compartments are quite handy for storing all kinds of things without intruding on sleeping space. They also keep many things tucked away and impossible to fall out during particularily moody seas.

This Chris Craft Constellation was built in 1961 for a Navy admiral who must have had a fancy for mirrors. We kept one mirror in our salon, but the mirror in the stateroom had to go. We were dreading this project, as it was a big and heavy mirror glued to the wall, but our fears were unfounded as it easily slipped off the wall, out the companionway and next to the dumpster all in one piece.

With the mirror gone, the design agreed upon, and the materials purchased, things were moving pretty quickly. We worked together on both sides of the room at the same time using the back deck as our workshop to cut all the big pieces of plywood and mahogany. Creating something new was a nice break for both of us from the usual restoration and maintenance work. We did this during the hotter days of summer, utilizing the room's air conditioning system making the work very pleasant and gratifying. With both of us working together the room started to come along rather quickly.

The office area is beginning to take shape as mahogany plywood becomes a table.

For the office area we envisioned a large work table and shelves all in mahogany, with mahogany drawers set in white for bottom storage. Rather then making the table top square, Travis had the brilliant idea of giving it a sweeping curve in the front. This gives it both more room and looks awesome in profile. We also included some hinged compartments for extra storage. The back half of the desk top lifts up for storage, and the small rectangular cut out you can barely make out in the front hides my scanner.

In less then a month we had the room ready for habitation. We were very happy to leave our bunk- bed style bedroom and stretch out in the master suite. My computer was also very happy to finally have a home other then the galley table. It didn't take long for this room to become one of our all time favorite places to chill.

A light from Lowes turned upside down with a switch installed. I can't believe they didn't think of this.

Stained glass film on port windows looks beautiful anytime of day and gives us much needed privacy.

This is pretty much the sleeping orientation every night with Travis and me squeezed into the empty spaces.

Misty Morning

2011-05-02T19:59:00.000-07:00

Spring is here, and with it come the emerald seas of pollen. This urban paradise is breathtaking.

Easter in the Tropics of Baltimore

2011-04-27T21:51:00.000-07:00

After our family cruise on Easter Day (aka. Me Voy Day) aboard our recent family addition, the sailing dinghy Miss Gen, the storms began. Unlike the typical rain and wind bashing we usually tend to receive here, these were more like tropical storms, with heavy, wet rain and no wind. The rain falling on the surface of the water had the curious sound of raindrops on leaves, magnifying the tropical rainforest feel already hanging in the air.

Miss Gen all put to bed

A steady, warm rain, poured from the above, running colors together into a Monet - like vision everywhere. The sound of the rain was steady and there were none of the usual dock line moanings or fender squeeks to be heard. Strangely absent was the typical clanging of the haylards and the splashing of water against the hull. It seemed the rain was lulling each boat to sleep. All was silent except for the big blobs of a thick, warm rain falling onto the surface of the water surrounding us on all sides. Just the rain falling and the boat barely moving.

We sat in the aft deck, watched the world melt and listened to the rolling rumbling of thunder late into Easter night. It was a beautiful night to be on Earth.

Easter Cruising

2011-04-26T09:27:00.000-07:00

Chopper enjoying the Patapsco from the bow seat aboard Miss Gen.

Travis:

It was four years ago on Easter Sunday, that Maggie and I became the very proud owners of Me Voy. At that time we were fairly certain that within a few short months of week-end work we would have her ready for cruising. We soon realized the scope of the enormous project we had undertaken and our education officially began. Now we are both well versed in all aspects of boat restoration and repair, and I have even risen to the status of professional yacht technician. We have learned a lot from our time with Me Voy, and the education is only just beginning.

Chopper helps keep watch.

Easter is a special holiday for us. I am a preacher's son, so I know very well, the meaning of the day. Jesus was put to death and arose from the grave a new creation three days later. It seems only fitting that we would have acquired Me Voy on the day of resurrection. She was alone, and dead in every way. It has taken several miracles to bring her back, but today she is almost better than she ever was. Completely resurrected.

Leaving the marina in our wake.

I would like to be posting pictures of a day on the water aboard Me Voy, but there are some issues that could not be taken care of in time. It seems the raw water pump for the engine, has begun leaking badly. I managed to take it all apart, and I found the shaft is badly pitted and needs to be replaced. This is fairly simple unless you are dealing with a 1979 Perkins 4-108 that was manufactured in Spain. Everything is just different enough to be impossible to find. So, we decided to take Miss Gen out for the day. So Here's the story.

Maggie likes to hang on

It was a perfect day for sailing. Wind was SE 10kts steady. We had planned for a short sail, but with conditions so good why would we stop? So we decided we would sail for Fort Mchenry. History buffs my know this as the fort that was being bombarded when Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner, our national anthem.

Miss Gen Catching good wind

We were sailing up-wind against a strong current, but Miss Gen made good headway, and handled beautifully.

All smiles as we leave the home front

Chopper is a very good lookout

Fort Mchenry

After a few hours of beating into the wind, we made it to the Fort. Still perfect wind we decided to turn into the harbor and head for the Korean War memorial park in Canton.

Nice beam reach heading toward the city

Docked in Canton

This was now officially a cruise. We stretched our legs, pooped the dog, and headed on out. The clouds were beginning to gather and the breeze had started freshening.

Spirit cruises passes wide of us in front of the fort.

After leaving the park, it really started to blow. Our steady 10kts had started gusting to 20kts plus. This is not bad in a yacht, but it can be fairly frightening in an 8 foot dinghy. I managed to hold her to the wind all the way around the fort, all the while digging my fingernails into my palm, as I tightly gripped the main sheet. We passed dangerously close to the rocky sea wall that protects the fortress turned park. As my fingernails sank deeper into my palm, a lady yelled from the shore, "Don't you got no motor? I'd be so scared!". I guess we looked like we weren't scared, but at that moment, I was concentrating too hard on staying off the rocks to even give a reply. The waves thundered against the seawall, the wind howled, and we shifted to windward holding our course, wondering if it would be a good time to put on life vests.

Maggie takes the downwind home stretch

After rounding the fort, we could finally turn downwind. We had a good laugh, and surfed the waves, making good time homeward. Maggie took over at the tiller and brought us home just before the storms started.

Me and Billy relaxing on the back deck

It was another great day. Maggie and I spent the rest of the evening talking about the past, and the future. We toasted the last of the Chivas to four incredible years and watched the storms pass from the comfort of Tara's back deck. Perhaps next Easter we will be sailing Me Voy.

The Old and New of Friendship and Boat Collecting

2011-04-20T08:02:00.000-07:00

Me and Cami have proven to be timeless friends, picking up right where we left off.

Travis:

This past week-end, we were visited by my best friend ever, Cami, and her husband, Bill. It seems like a memory from another lifetime when I think back to the time she gave me a place to stay when I needed to end a bad relationship, without the support of my family or other friends. We would stay up late drinking Jagermeister in a smoke filled farmhouse apartment, talking about life, love, and God, while singing songs and giggling together. She was the best therapy that I could have had. Even though we have not seen each other for nearly eight years, it seemed no time had passed since those good ole' days back at the farmhouse.
I had met Bill previously, but had never gotten the chance to hang out with him. He's a really cool guy, who both Maggie and myself instantly hit it off with.

Bill proudly accepts his new relationship with "Little Hooch"

The reason for their visit was to pick up Bill's birthday present, Little Hooch. Now that Maggie and I are getting closer to cruising time, we have decided to reduce our boat collection and get a dinghy to be used as a tender for Me Voy. Cami sent me a message on Facebook a few weeks back asking if I had a solo canoe she could get for Bill for his birthday, and I told her about The Hooch. She showed the pictures to Bill, and it was love. His grandfather was a fantastic woodworker, and one of my early inspirations, so Bill has a real eye for anything wooden and varnished. Easy to see why we hit it off. He was so thrilled to get this boat. He will be paddling her on the Shenandoah River, near his home in New Market VA. He is an avid fisherman and needed something to help him outsmart the big bass. They have a small son, who I have not met yet, who will fit nicely on the second seat I installed for Chopper.

Me and Chopper figuring out the rig aboard "Miss Gen"

Now that we have depleted our boat collection, it was time to get shopping. We have been researching and measuring, and imagining, all sorts of different options for our tender. We want something that we can stow on deck; we like to drag up over rocky shorelines littered with glass shards, so it can't be inflatable; and we wanted something that sails, rows, and motors equally well. It seems the answer came from the source of all such answers, Craig's List. This Dyer Midget, named Miss Gen, came with the barely used sail rig, and oars, AND the ever elusive title, so we can actually legally use a motor. This is good, because I am a terrible oarsman. We picked her up on Monday, not 24 hours after saying good-bye to Little Hooch. After getting her home and rigging her up, we spent the remainder of the day sailing the Patapsco, and exploring rocky, garbage covered shorelines. She sailed fantastic, and seems to be more than adequate for the two of us plus dog and gear. Maggie and I agree that Miss Gen is a solid addition to our family.

Billy watches us come in under sail, completely unimpressed.

I am beginning to think that life is just one big soup of old friends and new friends, old boats and new boats. We meet, we love, we share memories, and we have each other for the rest of our days, even if we don't see each other as often as we would like. There is not a single friend from my life that I don't still cherish, and there are no boats that I have shared time with that I don't still love. If only our lives, and storage space, were big enough to spend more time with those who have impacted us so deeply. But we just can't keep all of that goodness for ourselves alone, that wouldn't be right. We have to share the people and things we love with others, so that they can have new experiences, and so that we can make more friends and meet new boats. The world is our oyster! I have enjoyed the trip down memory lane, and I am enjoying looking to the future. What do I see in this future? Cami and Bill, going sailing with us on the Chesapeake this Summer. Bring the kid. It will be awesome!!! We'll supply the Jagemeister.

BoatLIFE sux

2011-04-14T18:12:00.000-07:00

This is one sucky caulk!

Caulk is one product that all boat owners have in common. On a wooden boat, caulk is used in so many different ways, that its important to make friends with it from the very beginning. Weather you are sealing around screws, or caulking in between hull planks, never underestimate the potential of this seemingly innocent product to completely ruin your day. I speak from experience when I say choose your friends wisely.

To prevent water from penetrating into the deck pay special attention to all screws. To reseal them, remove each screw, scrape off old caulk, dap new caulk into the screw hole, tighten screw and wipe off excess caulk.

All caulk is not created equally. For years we have used Boat Life caulk, mostly because it was what the pros used, and, since it also happened to be the most expensive caulk, we figured it must the best. Its NOT! Last year, by accident, Travis purchased the West Marine brand of caulk, simply called Multi-Caulk. It has become our best friend ever since!

All screws have been resealed and caulk neatly wiped off.

Its not often you find a product that is both cheaper and better then its more expensive competition, but that is exactly what we discovered with the West Marine Multi-Caulk. At $11 per cartridge, compared to $18 per cartridge of Boat Life, this caulk seems firmer and much much easier to control then the runny and gooey Boat Life. This is important because caulk can spread like wild fire, ending up in strange places, like the end of a Q tip for instance, which can not only ruin your day, but throw off your balance as well. This leads me to the next and probably most important positive quality of the Multi Caulk- its ease of clean up. This stuff wipes off easily with paint thinner, both off the boat and off your skin. This is in sharp contrast to Boat Life which only seems to smear around both your hands and the boat, oftentimes leaving hands dirty for days.

Notice the lack of frustration as "the wiper" cleanly removes excess caulk.

As a final straw, you would think that Boat Life, after the mess and the boogery hands, would at least reward you with a nice end result. But the kicker is that over time, this stuff has yellowed! So I officially say- Boat Life Calk- you suck!

Le Papillon

2011-04-11T19:38:00.000-07:00

Le Papillon beached on Fire Island.

If you're a little geeky about boats, you may have heard about Le Papillon. This vessel, previously known only to the few who loved and/or gawked at her as she floated in our marina, is now rather infamous on cruisers forums and other blogs. All this because the owners son, loaded a cooler and together with a couple of friends decided to sail her to Maine, without permission, or much experience. Unfortunately it didn't end well. Le Papillon is now beached on Fire Island. The crew was safely rescued, but there is no guarantee of their safety once the enraged father gets a hold of them!

For full documentation of the wreck, its current status, and pics of Le Papillon being built (courtesy of our neighbors Art and Linda Benson) check out Will's blog called Tugster. He's got some amazing pictures of the sand now nearly swallowing this massive ship.

Le Papillon floats during winter 2010 as the dock goes under water. Photo courtesy of Art and Linda Benson.

Le Papillon was a steel hull vessels built in Baltimore. She has circumnavigated the globe, and was last floating at our marina only a couple of weeks ago. We are saddened and shocked, and have decided to never leave the dock again.

Countertops, floors, and the thrill of progress

2011-04-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

Travis used templates to cut out countertop for Me Voy

The wait was finally over. The floor has dried and Travis was able to get started on the countertops. We chose bamboo for the countertop material. The product is called Plyboo. Its a three layer laminate of horizantal grain bamboo. I love love love it. Its durable yet lightweight, and its bamboo, which means its a renewable resource which can be grown ecologically.

Before I knew it the countertop pieces were cut and we were hauling them to Me Voy to see it they fit.

They fit!

Plyboo comes in a variety of colors from natural, which you see here, to a darker tan to a striped variety resembling tiger wood. I love the look of the natural bamboo, especially next to the darker mahogany. It brings some much needed light to our galley.

An old paw at boatwork, Chopper isn't celebrating just yet.

I was amazed how fast Travis cut out the countertops and how well they fit. The key to this was making good templates which he did the previous day, spending four hours templating all the surfaces. He used strips of luan and hot glue to mock the final shapes of the countertop, taking into account the size of the companionway and matching the sections of the countertop in such a way that the grain of the bamboo would match and the pieces would fit thru the "doorway". Quite a thinkpiece this was that he made look too easy!

There is still much to do to properly fit in the countertops. Chopper understands this and is taking notes.

Ah the places these feet have seen!

This was the first time in months that Chopper was allowed back onto Me Voy. He couldn't believe it was the same boat, and had to sniff every corner, nook, and open cabinet there was. It was hard to get a good picture as mostly he was a white ball of curiosity.

The refinished floors were so clean and shiny I had trouble believing it was the same boat. Only one more coat to go!

Chopper admires new overhead

Chopper was very impressed with the newly painted overhead, so white and shiny! Another example of a Bilgekote application . I love that paint.

Overhead painted with Bilgekote

Disappointed that we didn't come to play Ball, Chopper finally laid down and took it all in. I was right there with him. Ahhh the thrill of progress!

Inside Me Voy

2011-03-24T20:29:00.000-07:00

Part of our galley, this cabinet will hold silverware and various cooking instruments in the drawers, with rear storage for sacks of various grains and flours. We chose to coat it with grey Bilgecoat, for its durability and mold resistance.

Tool storage area and future workshop

Travis has been hard it at it the last several weeks, sanding all bulkheads, constructing new storage bins, making mouldings, and giving all storage cabinets a nice coat of paint. We have chosen to paint the interior of all the holds with Bilgecoat. This paint, designed to paint the inside of bilges, provides great coverage and is resistant to moisture and therefore mold. It smells sweet and deadly when applying, and a respirator is a must if you value your nervous system. It comes in both grey and white and when dry makes for a very durable glossy finish.

In addition to sanding and building, T has also been busy stripping the teak floor in the boat. He was going to use the previously mentioned Citrus strip, but after experimenting on a section of floor decided to use the belt sander instead. The Citrus strip did take the layers of varnish and drips of paint and epoxy off, but it kept the floor wet, and this would have slowed the refinishing process significantly. So, for the sake of progress, T asked our trusty belt sander to dance instead. It was however, a short number as after their tango around the salon, the belt drive split in two and belt sander was left to sit on the benches awaiting a new belt. Such is progress.

Going with the flow, Travis decided to focus on the smaller and finer finishing details, such as hand carving some mouldings. I could tell he was really excited about this project when I came home and he beamed as he showed me a stick of mahogany with some chisel marks of it. "I think I got it figured out" he said, as he lovingly ran his gaze along the piece of scrap wood. Turns out he did get it figured out, as his hand carved piece matches exactly the original cabinet moulding.

The new moulding matches the original profile exactly with only the color variation giving away its secret

The belt sander was soon ready to dance again, and like magic (magic to me, painfully un-magic like to Travis) the floor was stripped and covered with paper.

Then began the process of refinishing the interior. We wanted to get this done before the countertops and upper cabinets were made. That way instead of facing the daunting task of refinishing the entire interior at once, we only had to do the remaining new construction.

The product we chose for the finish was the Epifanes matte finish. We both prefer the softness of the matte to a glossy surface, and the Epifanes, although more expensive then most varnishes or urethanes has its advantages. For one with the Rapid clear there is no sanding between coats, huge bonus there! Also even though the stuff costs more, you end up using much less of it then other less expensive finishes. Another bonus is its ease of application. Although the stuff tends to be rather thick, its very easy to apply and runs virtually disappear, especially with the matte finish. I've also used the gloss Epifanes on our exterior varnish and noticed that I could slather the stuff on and it smoothes out beautifully. (The important thing to remember with the gloss varnish is not to apply it in direct sunlight as it "flashes"and becomes a matte finish. )

Interior finishing with Epifanes Matte Finish. Have you seen a prettier boat?

As March comes to a close it seems we are a few months away from completing Me Voy and being ready to move aboard. It sounds incredible to even say that, but it really looks like we may be living aboard the prettiest boat ever very soon.

Dear Blog

2011-03-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

This fortune cookie has been hanging in Me Voy's salon for the duration of the restoration process. Its meaning used to be simple:

                                       Dream = sail away to a tropical paradise
                                       Fear = obstacle to be overcome in order to realize dream

That was four years ago. During that time, the boat(s) and other teachers, have been kind enough to appear in our path and shed some light into the dark corners of our minds. Thanks to them, dear blog, our definition of both "dream" and "fear" has changed significantly.

Let's start with dream. I love palm trees. To me they are a symbol of peace. I used to imagine myself sitting under a palm, sipping delicious milk from a freshly cut coconut, watching waves roll across the vast expanse of ocean.What could be better then this? I thought and pushed myself to sand even faster, believing that if I work hard to get there, then I will be rewarded with peace and happiness. After all how could I expect to be happy while sanding? Sanding sucks, everyone knows that. So if I can suck it up now, work hard, then my peace will be waiting for me, under that palm tree, in that paradise, in the wonderful future.

Yes, dear blog, I wrote to you many times in the previous years, posted pictures of our accomplishments, and even took a little pride in how hard we were working. It was all done with relatively good humor, because I knew that soon we would be posting pictures from that paradise, where all this work has paid off. Now don't get your white digital page all in a tizzy! I know what you're thinking, but rest assured, I am not giving up on the boats, or on the tropical paradise. I have not changed what I am thinking about, just how I am thinking about it.

You see, I know now, that happiness and peace cannot come from the fulfillment of any dream. Dreams, desires, even wishes, are all bound to the material world, and the material world cannot give lasting peace because it is always subject to change.
A dramatic example of this is the recent Japan earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Immeasurable human and material achievement was destroyed in seconds. Seemingly indestructable structures crumpled in minutes, leaving a landscape strewn with worthless garbage that minutes before was valued as someone's wealth. Seeing these images it is easy to see the unreliability of the material world for providing lasting happiness.

But, if we look around this impermanence surrounds us all the time. My young skin is slowly getting lined with tiny wrinkles, which I know will soon fractal into even more and deeper lines. The varnish on our boats fades with the passing months and if left neglected will soon peel away to reveal bare wood, which if left unprotected will soon turn to mush. Things always change. If we rely on things to supply us with peace and happiness, we will always suffer.

So what is the solution?

Across time, space, and culture, there have been people who all say the same thing. Peace and happiness can only be found within. They are not objects to have but states of Being to experience.
The monk to your left, is a dramatic example of this knowledge. As his physical self burns, his Inner Self remains untouched. This is the Self that does not get wet when it rains. This is the immortal and immovable Self. This is the God, the Allah, the Jehovah, the bliss consciousness, Transcendental Awareness, Enlightenment, Nirvana, the kingdom within, the Higher Self, and the Quantum State. Whatever word you label it with, it is this wordless experience, that is within all of us, that is the only reliable source of peace in this changing world.

So can you guess my dream these days?

At this time we can search hundreds of techniques and teachings that were otherwise unavailable to most seekers at any other time in history. Some think this is not good, that it dilutes the teachings, and leaves most people paralyzed, by the overwhelming amount of choices. I'm of the opposite mind. I love the variety. The more I learn from various traditions, including the very exciting field of quantum physics, the more convinced I become that we are all fighting about the same thing.

So dear Blog, looks like change is coming. You began as a blog about one sad boat, became a blog about two demanding boats, and now? Well I don't know where we go from here, but thanks for listening.

dogs and cats

2011-03-03T19:14:00.000-08:00

Lately the weather here has been a touch schizophrenic. Kind of like Billy. After his latest "accident", he seems even more crazy. Is it spring he smells or has he turned the corner to full blown madness?

Here's the mystery though. Why is it that the boat could be lurching furiously, knocking things off the shelves, cup jingling, fenders banging against the hull, ropes screeching as they strain in the crazy wind we've been having, and Billy seems oblivious to it all. But hang a towel in the salon railing, and its all over, he's unable to cope.

I don't get it. What is he doing when he's sitting, swaying with eyes dimly closed, tail switching? Tell me that's not suspicious behavior. Or when he suddenly darts out of the room and gallops around the deck. Just wanted some exercise? Does he understand more then I think he does or less? Is he ignoring me out of spite or is that bucket really that interesting? With Chopper its easy, it seems I could read his mind. But Billy continues to surprise and intrigue me.

Does that make me a dog person?

warning

2011-02-27T18:17:00.000-08:00

I feel like this post should come with a warning, something like "not for the faint of heart". I'd like to say that the situation looks better in person, but it doesn't. These days its challenging for one person to get around Me Voy. Stick another body in there and things get dangerous.

It might be hard to imagine that one day soon we will be living here, and all the dust, scraps of wood, gooey materials, and tools will be either neatly put away in their designated compartments or just plain gone. But that vision, now imprinted in my minds eye, shines from beneath the surface of the chaos revealing an underlying order that is calm and reassuring. Strangely, I can laugh at this chaos now, seeing it for what it is, a temporary ripple on the surface of a deep and still lake.

However, as a favor to the outside observer, I have imposed my own order and labeled the various sections that are currently being developed. So go ahead, jump in, the water is only chaotic on the surface.

9 lives

2011-02-22T19:45:00.000-08:00

Lately most of our evenings consist of sitting around out little teak table, drinking hot tea, and dreaming up the design for Me Voy's galley. This area really got hit hard by the various leaks that were left unattended by the previous owner, and now that we have finished the replacement of the hull planking, the time has come to have some fun!

This is my favorite phase of any project; the design of the space and the picking out of the materials.

We are changing things up a bit from the original design, combining what was the aft stateroom with the galley, into a larger galley space and a small workshop. We figure with two berths and five possible sleeping places already, a workshop space will be more useful. After all we have to have some place to keep our collection of Epoxy resins!

After nearly four years of boat restoration we have a West System epoxy for any occasion

But it hasn't been all talk either. Travis, after years

of working on other peoples boats, has turned to working on our boats full time. We figure the most important thing right now is to get our boats into a state of "finishiness". We both realize that neither of these boats will actually ever be finished, as there is always something to make better. But a state of finishiness is totally within reach and even seems likely with Travis Ahsum on our side. I know I'm biased, but seeing T's work I am amazed with the quality and speed with which he makes things happen. Looking at the big picture, or the previously mentioned elephant, this project gets overwhelming, but when I see all these small things getting chewed at I can see this whole thing coming together soon.

However none of this was really the point of this post. What I really wanted to remember, was sitting here, with incense wafting, tea steaming, Chopper sleeping with his bone but alertly keeping an eye on everyone and Billy... dragging his soaking tail in the salon!? WTF? It seems Billy went for an evening swim in the frigid water. How this happened will remain his secret. We heard nothing and saw nothing except for the poor disgraced cat coming down into the salon with a walk that reminded me of a old man disgusted with the world around him. He seemed to take it in stride as I wrung him out in a towel, and Chopper licked his ears. The whole scene was a bit surreal, and if it wasn't for the wet towel, that now smells of cat, hanging over the stair railing, I swear the whole thing was a bizarre dream. Its a wonder these animals don't run away from home.

Strippers

2011-02-17T08:39:00.000-08:00

Over time we have tried many different strippers. Some smelled very very bad, some made my eyes burn, some made my skin burn, some made me cough and gag, but none, did the job like this unassuming "natural" stripper called Citrustrip. This stuff is a miracle! It smells good, doesn't burn the skin, and its biodegradable. And what ahsum boat store did we get this from ... Wal-Mart!

Elephants

2011-02-13T16:32:00.000-08:00

Q: How do you eat an elephant?
A: One bite at a time.

Aboard Me Voy, Travis is a blur of activity. This pic is taken in the salon looking aft.

Here I am standing near the companionway looking forward at all the elephants still to be eaten.

2011-02-07T10:47:00.000-08:00

OK, the time has come to get serious. It's Feb. already and I haven't worked on a boat in more then 2 months. Someone said that objects in motion tend to stay in motion, but since my butt hit the couch after the canvas job, I just haven't been able to get anything accomplished. I am however practicing contentment, and as such I am content to walk around the marina taking pics. Check out the frozen shrouds...so cool!

The Zen of Duck Watching

2011-01-29T12:48:00.000-08:00

There is so much Nature around us here in the middle of the City. Yes, its true, they did pave paradise and put up a parking lot, but turns out paradise is a stronger opponent then we initially thought. After all, a little plant bursting thru the cracks of a sidewalk, has only one mission- LIFE! And that's a pretty ahsum force!

I watched this duck pedaling his way thru a break in the ice, towards open water. His determination inspired me to procrastinate and write a haiku. Travis joined me and then there were two. Feel free to write your own in the comment section, you may win something! Here are ours:

M:
Above, cold white light
An opening in the way
My toes are freezing

T:
Icy waters hard
Breaking thru carving struggling
Shitting where I eat

And it was my birthday!!!!!

2011-01-28T10:36:00.000-08:00

I was just reading Maggie's blog about the snow and the power outage and the driving conditions etc. But nowhere does she mention the most important bit of news, that I turned 34 yesterday. It was weird being without electricity on my b-day so we have continued to day two of the birthday celebrations today. She is taking me to see STOMP in D.C. tonight and she has given me another day off from boat work. It is good to be 34. I hope everyone has enjoyed my birthday snow as much as I have. Maybe with a lot more hard work and good luck we will be celebrating on a sunny beach with a frozen cocktail for my 35th. Everyone is invited. BYOB

2011-01-28T09:57:00.000-08:00

This year we said goodbye to the 2x4 and railroad tie and got an ice eater to do the breaking for us

Everyone is talking about snow. How much did you get ?, how long did it take you to get home? etc etc. Some of these answers are more exciting then others, like, "it took me 8 hours to get home, and I live 45 min. away". Now I don't mean me, no I left work early to avoid the insanity that seemed inevitable after all the stewing and brewing going on over the radio, TV and internet, concerning the upcoming storm. Yup I was safely aboard when the wind, snow, and thunder hit. You heard right, thunder and lightning made an appearance during this snow storm. Eerie right?

Was that thunder?

The big story wasn't so much the amount of snow but its weight. This was a wet heavy snow, that broke a lot of tree limbs and snapped some power lines. We were lucky enough to be in the power out zone and got our first taste of off the grid living in Tara.

Unlike Me Voy, Tara is an electric baby. We have done some things to improve that situation, like switching most of our lights, and all our pumps to 12 v, but everything else including heat, cooking stove and even our speakers are 120v. Cooking and heat were easy to take care of. We pulled out our trusty propane Coleman stove to make dinner and used the kerosene heater we use on the back deck for heat. It worked great keeping us at an average of 64. Travis even jury rigged a carbon monoxide detector we had lying around to avoid that death thing that we hear can sometimes be a problem.

Kerosene heater , 12 volt lights and cake. Power outage what power outage?

Jury rigged carbon monoxide detector

All in all being forced off the grid ( 26 hrs. in total) taught us some things. For one we really need a
"green" way to charge our mobile devices. I ended up charging our internet hot spot and phones at work, but that just won't do - I am after all, aiming for early retirement! Two, we really need some 12 v speakers in here, and three living on a boat is better then living in a house. My co- workers talked of stumbling around in the dark and cold, and, although I don't usually like to compare myself to others to make myself feel better, I couldn't resist being a little smug as I thought about our warm and bright little nest floating somewhere out there in the darkness. Don't worry though, that smugness soon evaporated as I realized how far we still have to go to voluntarily disconnect ourselves from that little spinning meter.

WTF?

2011-01-26T05:28:00.000-08:00

We may have found our dinghy. No its not the Portland Pudgy that we are pining after, but, it has all the qualities we are looking for, rigid bottom, fairly light weight and its 9 ft length would fit neatly on top of the deck house. Now it just has to unfreeze a bit to see if we really got something we can work with.

Yesterday...

2011-01-16T17:28:00.000-08:00

...was full of my favorite kind of work... thinking.

Progress Happens

2011-01-10T12:07:00.000-08:00

2010 was again a year jammed with boat projects. Having two boats in the same marina, not to mention the same city, made it much easier, but... the question remains, what the hell were we thinking?!

TARA
-replace rotten hull material on starboard (right) side.*
-sand/fill/paint starboard side*
-rubberize and non-skiddify decks*
-install windlace switch a hawse pipe*
-paint deck house*
-build laundry room*
-build master state room*
-rewire for 12 V*
-varnish transom*
-make transom letters*
-paint lazarette
-paint aft head
-service engines*
- get new anchor and bow light
-make canvas for winter*

* means we have completed a project

Me Voy
-paint deckhouse
-paint cockpit
-install doggie door*
-reseal windows*
-add a scupper in cockpit*
-remove lazarette rot*
-paint lazarette*
-rebed stanchions
-install propane
-install radar mast and radar*
-install chartplotter*
-finish painting engine room*
-install and hook up engine*
-hook up exhaust*
-hook up engine controls*
-go for a sail*

We didn't do to bad, and even though our 2011 list is already looking beefy, we feel half confident that this new year will be 'The One'. You know, the one where we have only one ahsum boat, a phat bank account, and a plotted course that takes us to warm places. Can it really be that easy? Ha!

Something Finished!

2011-01-08T10:59:00.000-08:00

Today we did laundry... on the boat! This added luxury delivered via a Haier washer and dryer will make it even harder to move aboard Me Voy!

You can see the original bulkhead (wall) material peeking from beneath the cedar we chose for the walls, countertops and cabinets. White vinyl with mahogany trim finished the overhead (ceiling)

We now call this Billy's Laundry Room

Also finished is Chopper's Facebook page. As our official spokesman he officially invites you to be friends. Woof!

2011-01-04T13:25:00.000-08:00

After making to Chicago we got to the business of tree shopping

This Christmas we got lucky. Zeik the Fit delivered us to Chicago two days before a storm front, where we ate, drank, ate more, and even picked out a real Christmas tree, which we decorated under Mom's watchful eye.

OOOOPS! What a bunch of amateurs!

After a chainsaw job on the front steps, some lights and decorations, it began to look a lot like Christmas...

We hung out with my parents and family friends, eating, drinking, cooking, shopping, getting/giving presents, watching movies, playing pool, and making fun of Chopper and Jake playing their special game of steal the ball.

After all the cooking we can finally eat!

Soon it was time to head east. Somehow oblivious to the upcoming East coast storm, we loaded our loot and headed to Baltimore. We drove thru a couple of micro-storms but were truly stunned as we snuggled with our laptops back home, to read the headlines of the crippling East coast white out that was raging a few hundred miles to the North. Snow? Where was this snow? All we had was wind, again blowing close to 30 knots, again for three days in a row.

Travis' homemade cookies ready for packaging and distribution (if we can keep them from sliding off the table)

You'd think after 12 hours in the car, we had our fill of travel, but now it was time to load up again, and have Christmas with Travis' family, where again we ate way too much, and received way too many presents.

Both our families were respectful with our choice of vegetarianism, and both offered some yummy no-faces food.

Ooooohs and ahhs as we stock up on fleece and other boat friendly clothing

This Christmas was different however. Now that we are officially husband and wife, we stayed in T's Grandmother's house with his groovy Uncle John. John moved back into his childhood home to take care of his ailing father and stayed, taking care of his aging mother.

John has a flair for decorating and subtlety!

Christmas utopia!

Grandma's house was the place where all the family gathers for Christmas. Everywhere you look there is something to see. I have been here many times, but every year I am astounded at the many many things on display.

Tressie or Grandma, as she was known to most people, died in November of this year. She was in her eighties and despite her many ailments, remained a loving, kind and generous woman. She was very much loved and is missed terribly. She was part of the original "mountain clan" that lived in the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia, before they were made into a National Park. Her family were homesteaders before homesteading was fashionable, and served as an inspiration to young Travis with her self sufficient lifestyle "on the mountain". She sometimes spoke of the Depression, and how her family didn't even know it happened. Nothing was different for them, because everything they ate or produced they did themselves. Voluntary simplicity and the joy of being were their staples, and hard work the backbone of their existence. Ah the good 'ol days!

Things did change for Tressie and her family when the state of Virginia began purchasing the mountainous farmland and giving it to the Federal Government to be made into a National Park. No one wanted to leave, but they were given no choice. Tressies' mother simply refused to leave saying they will have to carry her by force... and so they did. There is still an old picture, of Tressie's mother being carried out of her home in her rocking chair, atop the shoulders of several burly local officials.

If you ever visit the park, and peek into the visitor's Center, you will see the farmland that used to be home to many families just like Tressie's . It's surreal to me that these pictures would be so proudly displayed as part of "history". I guess its better then hiding them in some Federal Depository of Shame

(that place is too full anyway) but it begs the question, Where does all the heartache, the suffering we create, go? Is it stored in some virtual dimension, that will one day burst when critical mass is reached, swallowing all other dimensions due to its sheer size and therefore gravity?

So the only answer is... be kind NOW; to yourself, to your family, to those you know and those you don't. Practice the love that is expounded so loudly in Christmas cards year round! Try it now.. smile. It will make you healthy, and add good vibrations to that other dimension where all the warm and fuzzy feelings go. I made my deposit did you? We are in this together, all of us! Yes even you.

* for more amazing pictures of Tressie's and John's Christmas Utopia visit our flickr page

Dawn of the Road

2010-12-21T02:23:00.000-08:00

I love road trips, even if they are North and it is Winter...

With our bags packed, Travis is making breakfast as I noodle around the computer, checking last minute directions. We're on the way to Chi-town for the holidays. Did anyone catch the lunar eclipse? We made it a point to get up and watch and it was worth it. Smoky reds and mysterious greens, a nice way to begin the day. Hope everyone is blessed with peace and joy this Season and always!

Keepin' On

2010-12-10T15:02:00.000-08:00

After four days of steady onslaught the wind has stopped, and is replaced by bitter cold temps. Low 30's, or about 15 degrees below normal for these parts. Grateful to have our footing again, we plug away in the cold, determined to make the progress that will allow us to leave these cold winters behind forever.

Travis has been making steady progress on MeVoy, hooking up the electronics that we were gifted last year. Just today he got the radar mast up, with our GPS antenna, radar and LED deck light wired and ready to go. He also hooked up the SSB antenna, and the Loran antenna. We were considering getting rid of the Loran, but since we had all the parts, we decided to keep it. Top of the line 80's technology! Quite handy actually, as it uses radio frequency, instead of satellite, to pin point the boat's position. Its the early version of GPS and chart plotter in one, much more difficult to use, package. That means solar storms have only us to fear, arrrrrgh...

Radar mast is going up

Radar, GPS, Loran, and SSB all hooked up!

Torn between staying aboard Tara and supervising on Me Voy, Chopper watches intently as Travis works on MeVoy a few slips away.

Meanwhile, Tara's canvas is beginning to come together. My deadline is Sunday, as after that the temperatures are supposed to dip even lower! Brrrrrrrrrr.

Winter Comes like a Lion

2010-12-06T14:24:00.000-08:00

Don't let this picture fool you. Winter has arrived. And none of us are smiling about it!

Squeek, grrrr, plop, swoooooosh, thud thud... this symphony of creaks, groans, and bangs alerts us to the winds whipping outside. Today marks day three of sustained 25-30 mph winds. I'm talking around the clock wind, gusty cold Northern wind, wind that has turned our sink drains into miniature ice blowers as it pushes itself anyway it can into our rocking and squeaking home. Living here, like this, we are aware of every nuance of both the wind and water. Every howl, every roll, every jingle of glass bumping against glass is identified. We are the wind, we are the boat and we are the water. This intimacy with nature, even when She is not very nice, is awesome.

(Billy, the cat, disagrees with the above statement.)

In these conditions all work grinds to a halt. So we watch movies, read, cook, play music, draw, whatever. I mention this, because recently we saw a great video called Hold Fast . If you have about an hour check out these crusty-punk kids and their boat appropriately named Pestilence. Its a smart, witty, insightful and really really stooopid adventure.

Weeee!

2010-11-15T17:36:00.000-08:00

I'm having fun with this project. I love the big table and large space. I've dreampt of this room ever since we got the boat. Now, 1 1/2 yrs. later I'm finally gettin to it.

You can see more pictures of this and other projects here.

Another new thing... Lucy Maru is renamed Tara. We have decided this a while ago, and more needs to be written about it, but for now, its enough that you know her name is TARA.

Something New

2010-11-15T05:21:00.000-08:00

Two things.

1. Blog layout. Yes its still us only with bigger pictures. Still kinks to work out and things to add, but... you like?

2. Canvas job. Finally the time has come to bring out the 'Ol Singer and get to making our canvas cave.

As usual with boat jobs, I thought I could get it all done this weekend, but in reality it took much longer.

The back deck is now a great sewing room

Finally adding the snaps with the borrowed snap tool, Thanks Crabber Dave!

Remember Brazil-LIVE

2010-11-11T13:42:00.000-08:00

Back in the States the rip tide of work has sucked me into its vastness.
Remember Brazil?

Watch brazil 2010 in Travel & Culture | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Obrigado Brazil

2010-11-01T19:55:00.000-07:00

After a 20 min. cab ride from the hostel to the Rio bus station, a 6 1/2 hr bus ride from Rio to Sao Paulo, a 30 minute bus shuttle to the Sao Paulo airport, a 9 1/2 hr. plane trip from Sao Paulo to Newark, a 2 hr layover in Newark, and a 35 minute airplane ride from Newark to Baltimore, we're back on the boat, exhausted and a bit greenish from all the take offs and landings. Glad to be home...

Samba

2010-10-30T04:09:00.000-07:00

Friday night in Rio means only one thing- party-time. Paul, the hostel owner took a group of us to experience the nightlife, Brazillian style, in an area called Lapa, known for its bars and live music.
Here after 10 p.m. the streets close to car traffic, and the people, the music and the drinks rule the night.
Imagine the sounds of homemade drums, eukelelies, and Portugese, mixing with vendors, hustlers, young people, old people, even babies, and you have just scratched the surface of Lapa. This wild scene goes on for street after street after street and continues until 5 am. I'll say a bit sheepishly here that we were not able to hang all night long and after a few beers and appetizers headed back to the hostel. The amazing thing is the whole thing didn't cost us more then $12.Its been a while for us, but I know a night like that in the US would be much more devastating to the wallet.

Oi = Hi

2010-10-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

Sitting inside our hostel suite, overlooking the sprawling city of Rio de Janeiro, we are taking the day off from sightseeing. Yesterday we explored the Tijuaca Rainforest, where Christ the Redeemer statue looks out over the entire city of Rio. The views are literally breathtaking: a 360 panaroma of the entire city, harbors, forests, favellas, mountains, and islands. This rainforest was replanted in the 1800''s and now hosts and incredible array of orchids, birds, anteaters, sloths, and monkeys. Walking through this jungle is not recommened... so we had to do it. There are steep paths that cut thru this lush bush that open up onto views of the Christ statue that can only be seen off the beaten path. We didn't see much in the way of wildlife, as most of it comes alive during the night. Our only heart pounding encounter was with a wild monkey, who did not appreciate being video taped. We respectfully, and quickly backed up the trail, at the sight of his powerful muscles.

The trek off the mountain took about 3 hours, and dumped us out in the middle of a bustling city street in the middle of rush hour. Here the primates were just as wild, if not more so, then our forest dwelling brother. Travis communicated with the natives using sign language, and repeatingly saying "LAPA, LAPA", which was the name of the bus stop we hoped to find. Everything turned out fine, as we finally elbowed our way off the jammed packed bus, and onto the jammed packed street and side walk, where we were able to plot our course towards the youth hostel in Santa Tereza. Still unsure of our current position, we spotted our landmark; a white cat perched serenely near his dog house (?), just as we saw him earlier in the morning.

The final leg of the trip was a steep climb up the winding streets of Santa Tereza, where we pitched our tent under a mango tree in the backyard of the overcrowded youth hostel. This arrangement saved us a day of searching for accomadations, as everything was full due to the holiday weekend here in Brasil, and pleased Paul, the hostel owner who wanted to experiment with tent camping. He gave us the night for free, including breakfast, and called us his prototype.This was only for one night, after which we were to move into the "honeymoon suite". Being grateful for this arrangement, we drank a bottle of wine, made instant bean soup, and laughed about one hell of a day in Rio.

Rambohemian

2010-10-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

Our new packs are loaded with the simplest of necessities for the ten day trip to Brazil we are about to take. We are taking as little as possible, both in an effort to avoid checked baggage, and to keep mobile while we are exploring parts of this fascinating country.

The majority of our stay will be at a temple near a National Forest in central Brazil, and the other will be youth hostels on the beaches of Rio. We are soooo excited!

Thanks to modern tech, we will be checked in for our flight before ever leaving the boat. Thanks to our friend Glen, we will have nothing to worry about on the home front, as he will stay aboard with Billy and Chopper while we are gone. Thanks to my (our) parents this trip to Brazil, part honeymoon, part research trip, is really going to happen.

Next post will be from the beaches and jungles of Brazil. Happy Thursday to you too!

Walking on Water

2010-10-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

So much has happened in the last few weeks, including our intenet limit running out, hence this post from a local dive in Annapolis, where its loud and smells like fries. What other things happened? OH just a little something like our first solo sail aboard Me Voy! Did you get that? That's right, that hulk we've been working on now for four (!) years, has finally taken us for a ride! There is so much more to say about this, mostly things like " wow", and " best day ever", and "is this really our boat?" and so on. But, since there are no words to adequately express our amazement at this now beautiful and functional boat, lets just let the pictures do the talking...

That day was trully AHSUM. We realized while sailing that it was our one month wedding anniversary and almost a year since we brought Me Voy to Baltimore. Here I must mention that this was all possible thanks to T's hard work on Mr. Perkins, who now purrrrrs in the engine room, and came in very handy when the wind died on our return home, and made docking, dare I say it, easy.

2010-10-05T19:06:00.000-07:00

It was a coldish Sunday morning that we met Mike and Rebecca from ZERO TO CRUISING for breakfast at Fells point. They were tied to a sea wall on their way to the promised land- that is- they are headed south. Like their name points out they went from knowing nothing to (safely and successfully) traveling the watery road on their sweet 32' Cat. They seem pretty set up to us, and there is no way to even compare the size of their vessel to a 32' monohull! It was pretty inspiring meeting some real people who were 'do in it'. Made this whole dream of sailing away seem totally possible, and lit the fire under our arses to work even harder on both these boats.

End of the world...again

2010-09-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

Tropical depression Nicole has made her mark on Baltimore with drenching rain and gusty wind. It has rained here for about 8 hours straight and I'm happy to report that Sani Tred is keeping our boat dry. The same cannot be said for our dock as it is now under the water. That's right the good ole BY(O)B has yet to invest in floating piers, so today we will be climbing up the hull to get in and out of the boat. Before we moved aboard I wondered about things like "how do you get on and off the boat". After living aboard I learned the answer, any way you can.

If you are Chopper for example, most of the time you get carried. This is one of the few things he does not like, which is strange because Chopper likes almost anything. He likes things that we would think are naturally gross, like rolling around in poop, eating vomit, and of course his slimy, squishy tennis balls. However, even the promise of a good ball game has not been enough to entice him to go out today. There was only one thing to do, and on my way home from an early work day I did it... I got him a rain coat.

Now truly I never ever thought I would be the sort of person who dresses little dogs in human clothes. In fact I never even liked little dogs, thinking them more like rodents, then man's best friend. However, everything changes, and today my good friend Chopper got a raincoat.

He was quite exited about it really, that is until I stuck his head into the hood, tucked him under my arm and handed him to Travis to lower unto the wet dock. After a second of hesitation, I could see the acceptance and understanding light up his now half hidden face, as he hoofed it down the dock towards his peeing spot. He looked back only once, and from beneath that yellow vinyl I could see the beginnings of sunshine - or at least something like patient endurance.

Chopper made a new friend. Read about it here

Dog is My Guru

2010-09-27T06:40:00.000-07:00

Travis:

It seems the honeymoon is not much different than the time before Maggie and I joined in holy matrimony. Everything is back to normal and we are working as hard as ever on our little dream of sailing and adventure, while keeping in mind our greater purpose of generating inner peace through the practice of patience and virtue. This is a difficult task in the best of times, but it can seem nearly impossible when faced with the difficulties two large old wooden yachts present on a daily basis. It often feels like the battle to keep our home and our future home, from completely deteriorating, is a futile attempt to delay the inevitable. After all, everything and everyone will ultimately return to the Earth and thus complete the circle of life.

So, it sometimes feels as if all of this work is completely futile. This thought has made us both realize that no matter what we will never "finish" these projects. There will always be stuff to do. This past week, I finally got around to sanding and varnishing all of the bright work on Me Voy again. This is something that any boat owner will tell you, is a job that will always need to be done. While doing this I found some places on the deck that need repair, cracks in the deck house, and repairs that need to be made to the rig. These are all parts that were thought to be "done" at one point. Now they need to be "done" again. Our home boat is going to be getting hauled out for bottom paint next week. This was "done" just last year. So, you see there is no sense in stressing about getting these projects completed. That is a dream that will only bring disappointment.

This is a new way of thinking for me. I used to believe that I could do it all, and I would do it so good that I would never have to do it again. I thought that working toward this dream was what life was all about. Fortunately I live with a great teacher whose wisdom is far greater than I ever knew. I am not talking about Maggie, however she has taught me many important things. I am talking about Chopper. We are so blessed to live with such a joyful and compassionate friend who is always willing to show us a better way to live through his perfect example.

For Example:

Chopper is very serious about his business. Play time is serious for him. It may seem like he is just goofing off, but he knows if it weren't for him we would never have any fun at all. However, even though there is no end to this work, and he is very, very busy.....

He always takes the time to enjoy a beautiful sunset. Chopper has taught us to pay attention to the little things. Don't let life pass you by while you are busy with work. There will still be work to do tomorrow even if you work really hard today. It's alright to take a break and enjoy the scenery.

This is only one example. But this lesson goes a long way. We really do get caught up in the things we are doing a lot of times. These times are hard on everybody, and especially hard on relationships. Loving each other and living in peace are what Chopper is all about. We can't let work become our lives. If we do everybody involved will suffer.

Chopper isn't the only spiritual guide we live with. Here, Billy inspires our Yoga practice by showing off his flexibility, during a meditative catnip trance. He is quite the Yogi.

The most important work we can do is to live life. Enjoy each and every gift we have while we have them. Sooner than we would like to think, Chopper and Billy will have gone on, and all that will remain of them will be either fond memories or regret for the time we could have better spent. Of course we are still working on the boats. But we are careful not to miss out on the important things in life. That's it for now. It's time to get back to work.

Honeymoon

2010-09-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

Some days are just perfect.

Just Married

2010-09-13T18:09:00.000-07:00

Here's official proof. Complete with rings.

This is just before the deal went down. Mama made sure I felt like family.

There, that's more like it.

Our official witness signed her name into the giant old book.

We have gathered here to join...

With this ring I thee wed.

This is the big hug after the kiss. I didn't post the kiss pic, due to it's PG13 rating.

I know we have some young readers.

Maggie looked a little freaked out just before the vows.

But she went through with it anyway. I think she could have done a lot better, myself, but I am sure glad she has settled for me.

We did it!!

Now send presents!

Rubberize It

2010-08-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

After much prep work we finally got the materials and the umph to Sani-Tred the deck.

We had no idea what to expect, as their website is not that helpful and we found the actual detailed directions in a box which we opened towards the end of the job. But, nonetheless, the whole thing turned out to be a great success!

I love this product. It went on easily with a roller, spread nicely and filled in any cracks. Tapelines held their edge well expect for around the toe rail where we had some bleeding. The rubber granules that we spread into the wet rubber are soft and pleasant on bare feet. Really there is so far nothing that I don't like about it. Did I mention that its rubber? Yes rubber, waterproof, flexible rubber. If I were to do it again, I think I would paint the whole boat with this stuff. It really seems perfect for a woody.

Bow awaiting tape lines

Aft deck prepped and ready to tape

We skipped photographing a couple steps here, and got down to business. Here I am spreading rubber granules into the wet rubber for our non skid surface. This will then be covered with a couple layers of tan rubber to the inside of the tape lines. (Thanks for the photo Chris!!!)

Here's a detail of our drain taped off with the rubber granules. The idea here was that the granules would stick to the wet rubber but not the rubber outside the tape line which was done the day before and already dry. These excess granules are swept off before beginning the layer of tan rubber. Our neighbor Chris became our official photographer as we became quite the spectacle at the marina. I guess its not everyday you see a deck getting the rubber treatment, and there was a lot of interest and excitement regarding the final outcome. In the end, I believe several boaters here will be ordering Sani Tred.

Finished bow

Chopper was so good, really staying out of the way. In fact he didn't get any

rubber on him at all, which is just unheard of.

Billy didn't see what the big deal was, and really resented being locked inside the boat for three solid afternoons.

Bare feet love rubber!

We were so happy to have this deck job behind us

Chopper was happy with the tan, much easier on the eyes

This blog is copywritten

2010-08-13T12:39:00.000-07:00

The deck job is the last big remaining project on Lucy Maru. When we put down the new plywood last year, like good little boat workers, we epoxied and primered the deck thinking we were going to paint it. Since then we have found SaniTred, a two part rubber that we will use instead of paint to completely waterproof the deck. When using this rubber however, it is best to apply it to a raw surface, bare wood, metal, concrete etc., so that it permeates into the surface itself . This is a bummer for us, since that means we have to sand all our primer and epoxy off first.

Now I heard somewhere, that as a method of torturing prisoners, the prison guards would have the inmates build something only to tear it down, repeating the cycle of building and destruction until the mental state of said prisoners would be near collapse itself. I thought of this story often as I proceeded in sanding off the primer that I so carefully applied, wondering if this is the time I will succumb to the torture of boatwork.

It wasn't.

Only one thing saved me. Ok two. One was that Travis sanded most of the deck. Yeah!

And two was a revolutionary idea and technique that made the work possible, even... not terrible. Ready. Ta da... sanding by foot. Now I hesitate to broadcast this patent worthy idea so freely, but the wave of enthusiasm cannot be stopped. I'm thinking sanding shoes, adjustable size, with vacuum attachment of course. Read while you sand. Dance while you sand. Sand, sand, sand all day long! DeWalt are you reading this?

feelin hot hot hot

2010-07-25T13:23:00.000-07:00

Air conditioning doing double duty yesterday as the heat index reached 110 degrees.

yes. Its hot. very very hot. News reports of Baltimore weather have stopped calling it a heat wave, appropriately so, since this oppressive heat has been here for about three weeks. No longer a wave, just a state of things.

This historic summer heat however, is leaving me pretty untouched. Just like during this winter's snowmageddon, Lucy Maru is once again a joy to live on- an air conditioned refuge gently bobbing oblivious to the sticky muckiness outside. Now I know this artificial air, in the car, on the boat, is making me soft, gooey even, but man it feels good. So, soft or not, we're going to enjoy these luxuries while we can, anything else would be... dumb... and hot.

Me Voy continues to wait her turn.

Anyway it got hot at a very good time as far as boat work is concerned. The major project left on L.M. is painting the decks. Its a big job, and we have to plan it carefully so that when we begin, we'll be able to finish without interruptions. That means clearing the decks and our schedules, as well as coming up with an orderly system by which to proceed. We're going to use Sani-Tread as some people here at the marina have had great success with it. Its basically a rubberized coating that fills in any cracks, and makes the whole deck completely waterproof. Because it's rubber, it expands and contracts with the wood, remaining flexible for years. We're going to do the decks in a tan non-skid, with white edges. This is the final touch on L.M. It' s going to look so good, pulling the whole boat together, both in terms of color, and finish level. But, right now we're at the waiting for materials stage, enjoying the AC and working on some interior projects.

Meanwhile, magic is happening at the garden.

Yes our little 10x15 city plot, turned into a sort of supermarket, where I go to pick chard, cucumbers, green peppers, eggplant, and squash, lots and lots of squash. The plants, rooted in one spot and unable to enjoy artificial air, are actually fairing quite well. We laid soaker hose throughout and have been very conscious of watering and weeding. In response the plants kept on producing fruit, which we are very happy to eat.

Cooking with garden veggies

Farmer Allen at Vital Zuman Farm, where Travis and I lived in an old Airstream, would be proud.

Home is Where the Cat Is

2010-07-06T19:44:00.001-07:00

We packed the car, filled Billy's bowl with at least four day's worth of food, asked our neighbor Linda to water our plants, and set of driving to Chicago to visit my Mom and Dad, where we were treated like royalty.

Traveling with the windows of our Fit rolled up, was a new experience. Our bubble of climate controlled air, sped thru the heartland with cruise control set to 70. It was more like spending a day at the office then driving across the fields of the mid-west. We arrived in Chicago fresh, untouched by the road. I relished the comfort.

We chose this same method for our drive back. Windows up, AC on, cruise control set. So easy, so mindless, so comfortable.

There's only one thing.

I missed that feeling of skin tingling, wind whipped, salty smell of the road on my skin. That mix of exhaustion and exhilaration at the end of a day spent mingling with the elements.

So why did I roll up those windows?

And, why would I do it again?

glad that's settled

2010-06-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

Billy loves air conditioning and yoga

If you read the previous post then you know that Travis and I have been perfecting the "rolling and tipping dance" while planning a small wedding aboard Lucy Maru. Well it all got to be too much. We kept coming back to our back up question in times of uncertainty ..."what would 'normal' people do"?

Indeed it seemed ridiculous to be restoring a boat with an arbitrary deadline of early August, so we can invite our parents, who in our eight year relationship have never met, aboard our boat/home to perform the equivalent of a theatrical production surrounded by decorations that cost way to much. OK, so as you can guess, we are not going to do that. Phew!

Instead we are going to get a marriage license in a nice and private courthouse ceremony, just me and T, and invite the folks to meet each other when its convienient for all involved. This plans feels so much better!

Having made this decision we decided to relax a bit and have some fun. We have, after all, in three weeks, painted the hull of Lucy Maru, painted the deckhouse, painted some overhead sections, and painted and varnished the stern. So yeah, we're beat. Coz you see when I say painted, what I really mean is we sanded, then wiped down, then painted... then sanded then wiped down then painted again all of the above mentioned boat sections, all while keeping our day jobs, which are not the usual nine to five grinds, but still take their toll. Ahhh...relaxation is well deserved and well appreciated.

While Me Voy waits, T perfects his skillz on something a bit smaller

Lucy Maru's hull is all painted!

Chopper watches as Travis goes sailing. The stern we worked so hard on the last week, is now varnished and ready for letters

Lucy Maru is such a pleasure to live on! We are so privilaged to live on this classic cruiser. I only hope we can simplify with grace when it comes time to move aboard Me Voy.

We must get Me Voy out of this Satellite Hell as soon as possible, which

looks like next Fall perhaps?

I know its summer

2010-06-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

Me beginning work on the transom.

I was the only one in the marina working outside today. I had the stern to finish, and the Epifane varnish was not going to listen to excuses like its too hot to work. I had already put that job off, and my 72 hour timeline in between coats was wearing thin, which meant I had to varnish today with no sanding, or varnish some other day with sanding. The answer seemed pretty simple to me. I have to say here that I love the Epifane varnish. Other then the no sanding between coats, which is an obvious blessing, it covers well and smooths out to a nice gloss. I learned that flat surfaces like rails should be Epifaned out of direct sunlight as the finish will flash and look matte, but as this was not a factor today, I slathered myself in sunblock and began the work.

A small piece of the transom was rotten and needed to be replaced.

Travis works on filling the previously removed bungs. We drilled all those little plugs out last year to expose the screws so we could replace the whole plank. This year, that seems like a bit of an over kill, and we have decided to replace only the small rotten section instead.

T and I have perfected the dance called "rolling and tipping". He rolls the paint on and I follow with a brush and smooth out his bubbles. We're using Petit Z-Spar which gave us good results on Me Voy. Its tricky to get just the right mixture of paint and solvent, but when that magic happens, the paint lays beautifully, with great shine and no brush strokes.

I'm not as happy with the final coat on the deck house as I would like to be. The paint was very runny, and there are some obvious runs. Yuck!. I hate it when something turns out less then perfectly acceptable, but I'm think I'm gonna have to let this one go, and move on.

Lucy Maru has become our sole focus as we are trying to get her ready for this upcoming wedding. Mixed feelings abound as to this ritual that seems so strange to us but so important to both our families. How do we make this experience meaningful for us? We'll be working on that and the rest of our Lucy Maru list this week. So, if you're sitting in your office, or your home or even your boat, take a little air-conditioned breath, send us some good vibes and pray for rain in the Baltimore area.

Back in the US (thanks to Dad)

2010-05-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

My flight from Poland was cancelled due to the strike at British Airways (avoid traveling thru London!), and rescheduled for June 9. Dad rebooked me on a direct flight to Chicago, where I spent a lovely day working off my jet lag by lounging in the sun, riding in Dad's convertable, and shopping with Mom.

Now I'm back on the boat, where fans are running at high speed, and the sun is scorching our decks. It's ninety something outside today, and I'm waiting for the sun to creep across the sky to offer me some shade to work by. Travis is off in Va. going to motorcycle school and I will attack the overhead on our back deck, meaning I will peel off what fiberglass there is hanging loose, then grind, sand and finally primer the exposed wood. Its not a big area, but its all overhead, so it should be pretty terrible. I'm going to capitalize on my renewed enthusiasm for boat work however, and get this job over with. Having been away from boats for the last 14 days, I'm pumped enough to perhaps enjoy this job a bit. OK, who am I kidding? This is not going to be fun, but, the after-glow of a hell job completed will be awesome.

I will leave you with a few pics of Poland.

This is Bialystok. The city I grew up in. The biggest culture shock for me was the cleanliness of the streets. There are trash cans everywhere(and people use them) as well as people walking around sweeping the streets and parks. I didn't see a single piece of trash anywhere!

Churches, and there are many of them, are open all day long. Anyone can come in and vandalize... um, I mean look around. I thought the bloody feet on this Christ were particularily disturbing.

Inside this church is dripping with gold leaf, typical of the Catholic style. You can see a worker on the left, touching up the gold leaf. My footsteps echoed loudly as I toured these quiet sanctuaries, where ordinary people stopped by on their way to or from somewhere to say hi to God.

These trains are loud and fast, and the train station chaotic but immaculate!

Stork migrate from Africa to Poland? Its true. They come back year after year, and build their nests on top of special platforms people set up on top of electrical poles. Storks are said to bring good luck and having a nest on your property means you are free from moles digging up your yard, as moles are evidently easy prey for the stork.

Restoring old things must run in the family. My aunt took over as director of what used to be a dilapitating country school, and after fifteen years, this is what it look like today. Beautiful!

I saw this sticker in several places. I also saw a gang of skinhead questioned by the policja. Poland is a land full of history and contradictions.

Trippin

2010-05-20T14:09:00.001-07:00

It's true. I flew across 'the pond' to Poland. Cheating? Maybe, but as the waters of Poland are not on our list of sailing destinations, I boarded a flight bound for London, and released all control of my destiny for the next ten days.

Poland has become quite Americanized, with shopping malls, ethnic foods, cell phones, and political discontent. Prices are similar to that of the US, except the average Pole earns about 700 US a month. No one recycles, except the bums, who dumpster dive for aluminium cans. This early morning ritual can pay up to $20 US per day, a good wage. It also earns, however the resentment of ordinary people, who despise the noises coming from the dumpsters in the early morning hours, and the us vs. them divide deepens.

There are floods here in the North reminiscent of Katrina. (Not one person here has heard of Katrina) People are stranded in their houses, in rescue shelters, and there is nowhere to go. The funny thing is there are little rescue boats, that go from house to house distributing food. (I see a Polak joke in there somewhere.) These floods are the worst they have seen in recent memory, and the season is all wrong for flooding.

Here are a few things that blew my Americanized mind:
1. No one I talked to has heard of Sara Palin
2. Pigs feet make a good soup
3. Birch trees make good syrup
4. There are ancient "jungles" in the Northeast Poland
5. Polish mountain music and Jamaican reggea sound great together
6. Poles are the only people in the EU (european union) that are required to apply for a visa
when travelling to the US
7. The streets are free of trash

I'll leave it at that... goodnight.

Holding Down the Fort

2010-05-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

Maggie has gone away on a big old jet airliner, to the far off Eastern European land of her birth, Poland. She has not visited with her family there in a very long time so I am glad she was able to make the trip. Unfortunately, I was unable to accompany her. It is difficult to find an appropriate sitter for the boys and our two boats, so I stayed back to hold down the fort. My hope has been to get loads of work done on the boats and my old truck, but with the rain steadily falling, I am held up below deck making the most of it with Chopper and Billy. We have been missing Maggie terribly but we are managing to keep ourselves occupied with a lot of reading, cooking, cleaning, and documentary watching.

Today, like an old friend, the Black Crowned Night Heron returned to our marina. He is one of the last waterfowl to return from warmer climates back to his Summer fishing spot here in Baltimore. I watched him in amazement all last summer as he would patiently wait on the swim platform of our neighbor's boat for an unsuspecting fish or snake to swim by. Today he sat perched on the bow rail right outside the window drying his feathers in between rain showers. These are rather rare so it's neat to get to be so close to him. He looks a lot like a creature from a Pink Floyd video. Gosh I miss Maggie.

Objects in Motion

2010-05-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

Our boat lists are slowly getting shorter. Emphasis on slowly. I've been prepping L.M. for starboard side hull paint, which meant spending a lot of time on The Raft. I really enjoy working on the raft. Its peaceful and private, and bobbing on the water, even when holding a sander most of the time, is somehow soothing. The exception is the bow of the boat, where the situation quickly deteriorates into a hellish spectacle: me, arms stretched overhead holding sander, balancing on a bobbing raft while doing an ungraceful backbend, struggling to sand the tip of the bow. I have nothing good to say about that hell spot.

I've spent many days on this raft and it still doesn't have a name

I did finish all the prep work and we planned on painting this Sunday,but the wind had other ideas in mind, so the paint job is being pushed back to probably the end of the month. Unfortunately its a two person job, which takes more planning and coordination of schedules then is really convenient, and then there's the weather to contend with. Anyway, I feel like this is a big hurdle to overcome as far as Lucy Maru goes. Having this behind us will mean we can flip her around again, and then paint the decks and house, do some fun canvas sewing, and ta da... I think this is as far as we're prepared to take her.

Meanwhile Travis has been focusing on Me Voy. With the engine painted, he dropped it in, but before any further progress could be made there, the rot in the transom had to be finally addressed. If you've seen the previous video you know the kind of effort required there. Poor T has another weekend to go, crumpled into a sort of N, before I take over with the painting. This job will also be a milestone for Me Voy as it will officially conclude all rot removal and replacement!!!!

Mr. Perkins awaiting further attention

Universe smiled upon us (or was it really just laughing?) last week, and we got a plot at Baltimore's City Farms. Evidently the wait for a plot is on average 3 years, but after waiting only a week, we got the call. The timing was perfect, and even though we are so busy with the boats and work, we just had to do it. It s so nice to get my hands into some dirt. We cleared our 10ft x 15ft plot and thanks to Homer The Tiller Guy we had cucumbers, squash, chard and spinach planted all in about two hours. Tomotoes, lots of tomotoes, peppers, onion, beets, and radishes, will round out our first planting.

For $40 a year you can get a plot in the city to grow your own!

Its so neat to go from boat, to garden back to boat. The contrast of the elements is striking. The rich soft dirt in between my toes vs. the cool humid air of the docks. The smells of the two places are so far apart in reality that it feels like I'm living in a dream where anything can happen. The addition of the garden has completed our set-uppedness in Baltimore. Too bad balmy winters and palm trees don't show up much in B-more, otherwise we might get stuck here for good.

T pulling weeds out of our garden

All tucked and ready to grow

live- sort of

2010-05-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

Its a very beautiful and blustery day here in B-more, and we're making decent progress on both boats. Details soon to be posted, but for now just a little video to prove we're alive. (I got a better HD camcorder but the uploaded quality still sucks compared to what I got on the puter, and You tube really sucks coz it got rid of all audio coz of some copyright issues. Anyone know ways to get around this, especially the video quality thing?) Anyway here we are...

Watch Boat restoration times 2 in People & Blogs | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Uncharted waters

2010-04-25T19:17:00.000-07:00

We finally got a camcorder, and today I spent a rainy afternoon figuring out how to make something with it. I learned however that the camera should record in high res mode, if you don't want your video to look crappy like this one, but decided to post this anyway despite the

low res. So here's a little tribute to Baltimore and a day of no boat work!

One Boat at a Time

2010-04-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

It was never our intention to restore two boats, much less two boats at the same time. It just happened. Even when we found Lucy Maru, and decided to move in, we still deluded ourselves into thinking that we were only going to live on her, and only work on Me Voy. I remember being sincere in that resolve, and thinking back, I can only laugh at our ignorance. I 'm not sure what it is about boats, but there seems to be something special, something akin to a soul, a consciousness, a bond, that forms between the crew and the boat. There are times, when I know that Lucy feels my presence, like when she edges closer to the dock when I'm stepping aboard, or when Me Voy giggles as I sand her brightwork. Am I imagining this? I tell myself that I am, as the feeling of betrayal starts to creep in whenever I don't work on one of our girls.

Last weekend it was Lucy's turn to get neglected, as both T and I focused on Me Voy. After the crazy temperature swings we have had, the weather was perfect for piddling around on deck.

T making proper mast wedges

Me sanding doggie hatch

Together we caulked the window frames into place. We made the switch from Boat Life caulk to the West Marine caulk. T discovered it thru work, and its so much better then Boat Life! It wipes away much more easily, doesn't discolor, and is about half the price.

We kept a pretty relaxed pace, focusing on enjoying ourselves rather then pushing towards the accomplishment of specific goals. It worked great. We had a good time, and accomplished everything we set out to do. I hope I can apply this attitude to future boat work, coz with so much of it still ahead, it 's easy fall into the trap of rushing to get things done and hating every minute of it. And what's the point of that?

Tax Day

2010-04-18T15:46:00.000-07:00

I suppose apologies are in order, to all of our loyal blog followers, for our neglect of our blogging duties. I was going to make some lame excuse, but I think we have just been preoccupied with the new beginnings of Spring and have fallen away from our old routines a bit. We have made some boat progress, including mounting the engine in Me Voy, and re-bedding the port lights. I also removed the "last" of the rot from the hull and transom and began installing the new wash down pump. We have had to put finishing the engine install on the back burner while we replenish our bank account after paying the marina and the tax man. I should be back on that next week-end. Maggie also began prepping Lucy Maru for paint.

But this blog is not going to be about boats or about the tax man, as the title may have indicated. This blog is about us. Me and Maggie. You see April 15, tax day, is the anniversary of the day we first met. I was working at an art studio in the wood shop, while living with the artists who owned the place and Maggie was freelancing for a few weeks with us, doing some painting and she also was living at the bosses house. We were instant friends. We spent at least one entire night banging on a drum together beside a big fire pit alone under a blanket of stars in blue ridge VA, and many others just hanging out talking. I thought she was the coolest person I had ever met. That was eight years ago, and I still think she is the coolest person I have ever met.

She went back to L.A. way too soon for my liking and a few very long weeks later, I sold most of my bigger possessions and got on a Greyhound with a one way ticket to Los Angeles. We have been together nearly every day since. It has been really hard at times, but we have only grown closer through all of our trials. She is the best friend I have ever had, and there is nobody I would rather be sharing this dream with.

I hope this isn't too sappy. I promise to get back to boat blogs within the next few days. There is just one more thing I suppose I should announce. You see all this time we have never made our relationship legal. We have often debated the significance of marriage, and wondered if it is a broken institution set up by "the man" to somehow keep us in line or otherwise under control. What is the point we would often say. We have often declared our love to each other so isn't that good enough. Our parents don't think so. So, in light of their desires and family and all of that other really neat stuff, we have decided to do it. So here it is. The day will be August 7 of this year aboard Lucy Maru. Can't wait to blog about it.

The Secret Life of Cats

2010-03-31T06:50:00.000-07:00

Billy in our Arizona desert back yard. He was quite the hunter back then, slaying and dismembering mice and lizards, and giving the pack rat the boot from the Airstream.

With four days of steady rain, chilly temps, and Travis sick with can only be called the sleeping-coughing sickness, not much has been done to either boat. We did manage to order materials for the upcoming overhead project in the v-berth on Lucy Maru, and paint Mr. Perkins, Me Voy's engine.

Billy on a leash at the Grand Canyon during our exodus East. That is the one and only time he allowed us to walk him on a leash.

All this free time has lead me to wonder about cats, cats on boats in particular, and even more specific, our cat, Billy. Lately he has taken to doing laps around the top deck, galloping in circles from the back deck to the bow and back again, in the middle of the night, of course. What is he doing? I wonder as I wait for the dreaded splash.

Billy chillin on a roof top of our first B-more apartment

The splash must have been very quiet, for I slept right thru all of last night's secret goings-on. The only evidence something did happen was a thoroughly wet and embarassed Billy shivering in the salon. He wouldn't talk about it at all, and went to brood in the pilot house, leaving us baffled, wondering about his secret night life.