Ready, Set, Spring!

Baltimore is blooming! The new energy of Spring has arrived bringing with it longer days,  beautiful flowers and yes... boatwork!

We have not yet gotten into the full swing of it, and are still wiping away the warm sluggishness of winter. I really enjoyed winter this year, making full use of the hibernation instinct, burying myself into books and studies. I discovered a wonderful site called culture unplugged, that supplied me with fresh perspectives and insights. I dove into the research of  herbs, tinctures and teas, and found a great site where I mispronounced every botanical name on the list . I made my own laundry detergent, baked my first ever loaf of bread, and watched my mushroom batch develop a nasty case of mold. I began to oxygenate our water, did a 7 day fruit fast, and began cooking with coconut milk. I watched Travis make a  to- die- for cheese sauce out of papayas, durian muffins and a bitter melon dish that still has my mouth watering.  I downloaded free audio books and listened to books I would have never  read. I snuggled with Chopper and Billy and began learning the native american flute. Its been a really fun winter!

3M SRINKtape vs Seafarer tape. 3M wins!

But, the boats, the boats are calling! We took the cover off of Me Voy a couple of weeks backs. And here boaters, if you have stuck with me this far, here is your boat tip. When putting on the cover we had a choice of two tapes. One $70 a roll (the white one), one $16 dollars a roll  (the clear one). The cheaper one turned to dust after about three months, most of the seams gave way and we had to retape with the more expensive one. So there. If you don't want to spend the money and don't mind retaping, you can expect about a three month life span on the Seafarer tape.

Chopper has been a bad influence on us and has refused to let the beautiful Spring days be wasted on work. Bike rides, ball playing and beach exploration are on his list and he totally disregards the lists we made which look like this:

Me Voy:                                                                                     TARA:
install LPG water heater (propane heater)                                   paint section of overhead
Install sink foot pump                                                                  replace section of rub rail
install composting toilet                                                               re Sani Tred deck
get/install berth lights                                                                   bright work
make/ install hand rail/shelf                                                         paint guest stateroom
install cat door to to litter box (placed under the satee)                install composting toilet
install solar panels                                                                        install stern letters
install wind generator                                                                
build cockpit roof
redesign stantions to accomodate a gate
rebed stantions
bottom paint
install thru hull for cruise air
install cruise air

If you've seen our previous lists you'll know that this is really not bad. There is a lot of  install vs. build tasks, even though a boat install usually will involve some kind of destroy/build function, I still like seeing those coz generally they are relatively quick, in boat years that is.

So with the coming of April we will be putting it into a new gear.  We don't expect to accomplish all the things listed here before moving onto Me Voy. We are planning on moving aboard this April and putting Tara for sale shortly thereafter. This is going to be one exciting month!




* Just for the record both Travis and I agree that we like Chopper's list much better!