Experiencing summer in the San Juan Islands has been delightful! The past two summer seasons we’ve been up north in British Columbia and I didn’t get out of my fleece and wool clothing till we made trips back to Colorado. I was not a fan. But here in Anacortes, we’ve been enjoying temperate weather—60s to low 80s—which feels just right for the adventures we’ve also been enjoying. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Boat Maintenance’ Category
Sailing, the Taj Majal, yoga and more
Posted in Adventures, Boat Maintenance, Where in the World is Sundown, tagged ACE Group Fitness Instructor, Anacortes, camping, Cascade Mountains, Hans Christian 33t, kayaking, sailing, San Juan Islands, Taj Mahal, yoga on July 22, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Summer 2018 starts with stripping and getting oily
Posted in Boat Maintenance, How to Live Afloat, Lessons Learned, tagged Anacortes, boat maintenance, British Columbia, Hans Christian 33t, Puget Sound, San Juan Islands, stripping, varnish on May 28, 2018| 7 Comments »
I’ve been drawing a lot of attention on the dock in Anacortes, Wash., lately. Who wouldn’t while they’re stripping down to bareness in preparation for a healthy dousing of oil? Whoa! What? (more…)
Aging beautifully
Posted in Adventures, Boat Maintenance, Boat Renovation, tagged aging, boating, Hans Christian 33t, sailing, travel on May 12, 2017| 3 Comments »
Where in the world is Sundown?
Look here!
Our sweet Sundown, a 1982 Hans Christian 33t sailboat, feels newer and more beautiful than ever. And she should as we’ve invested more time and several boat bucks (1 buck = $1,000!) into her over the winter. As we make final preparations to set sail for British Columbia this weekend, we thought you’d like to see some of what’s new.
A Weems & Plath barometer to help us better predict weather (a generous gift from our friend Chris Bowman who felt Sundown wasn’t complete without it).
Sundown’s original Kenyon stove gave up the ghost…well, the oven did. And you know what time it is when your oven quits? Time to get a new one! We now have a shiny three-burner Force 10 (kind of like a Wolf stove for boats). The oven holds an accurate temperature and the stove top has pot holders to keep what’s cookin’ from sliding off the stove when under way.
Because $@#! happens! Replacing the original hand-pump-to-flush head with a fancy electric one was the BEST improvement ever! Just tap the rocker switch and “swoosh!” Poo begone!
We installed a ProFurl roller furling for the genoa (the big sail out front). So rather than the genoa being attached to the head stay (the cable the runs from the top of the mast to the very front of the boat) with bronze hanks, which is very traditional, it’s now attached to a rod that runs the length of the head stay and rolls up around it. The photo on the left shows the hanked-on genoa in a down position and tied to the life lines. The photo on the right shows the genoa on its furling. Thank you Dave O’Connor of Bellingham Sails & Repair for modifying the genny for the new system!
We have Advanced Elements inflatable kayaks! Given our experience in BC last year, the farther north we traveled, the more limited off-boat physical activity became. There was nowhere to run, bike or even hike, and the water was too cold for swimming. Having a way to escape the confines of the boat, get exercise and feel independent will revolutionize this summer’s cruise and keep this sailor in a much happier head place!
A new-to-us cutaway Seagull guitar also has joined the fleet of boat toys. It sounds great and will help us stay in harmony as we sail on.
We’ve also done some varnishing, gel-coat repair, re-painted her boot strip on the last haul out and many other maintenance projects to keep Sundown as bristol as possible. If only we could all age so beautifully!
Back on board with places to go
Posted in Bicycling, Boat Maintenance, Where in the World is Sundown, tagged boat maintenance, Colorado, Hans Christian 33t, travel on August 11, 2016| 5 Comments »
The last five weeks or so have been non-stop action! First, we sailed (or motored when there wasn’t much wind) from northern British Columbia to Bellingham, Wash., in nine days—two of those days we sat out weather on the hook. So in seven travel days we did about 375 miles. When you go five to six knots an hour, that’s 50-60 miles a day, and 10- to 12-hour days. Whew!
After securing Sundown on Squalicum Harbor’s dock, we took a shuttle to Seattle, flew to Denver and then drove to Fort Collins with one of our sons. We’ll take the traffic in San Juan Channel in July over that on Interstate 25 any day!
The next three weeks was filled with lots of family, friends and fun. We cuddled with our dog; paddled, biked, ran and swam; cooked for dozens of people multiple times; celebrated birthdays; ate at our favorite restaurant, Los Tarascos; worked (yes, that “W” word); and more! While we went home rather emergently, everything/everyone ended up being fine.
Cool dog Seren
Yum!
Maggie and Martha (not in photo) visitied from Maine
Dave driving to Los Tarascos
Brotherly love
Us & the biking Brackes
Seren riding in Kim’s canoe
Super Bill!
Kim and her mom
Kayaking Molly
Now we’re back in Washington. The first few days here I was on deadline and cranked out several magazine articles and columns. While being home afforded me time for face-to-face meetings and working at Unite for Literacy‘s office with my colleagues, all of which are very valuable, I didn’t get much time to write. So once we arrived in Bham, my keyboard almost ignited I was typing so fast!
On Monday, we had Sundown hauled out, pressure washed and blocked at Seaview North. She sat on the hard in the boatyard for a couple of days while we performed some routine maintenance, such as:
- Replacing the cutlass bearing on the propellor
- Making sure the engine was aligned properly (it was)
- Replacing a couple zincs
- Re-painting her hull and boot stripe
- Buffing her topsides
- Polishing all of her stainless steel rigging, and finally
- Cleaning the deck and windows.
The pressure wash peeled up the “N” on one side of Sundown’s transom. Clay called Graphic Partners in Loveland, the company who made our port of hail lettering, and they are shipping another set of letters to us ASAP and free of charge! Thank you, Shavon!
And while we were in Fort Collins, Dave from UK Sailmakers made small adjustments to our mainsail and genoa. He’s also serving as our postbox here in Bellingham. We appreciate him very much!
So, Sundown’s shiny, ready to sail and we’re off to Anacortes, Wash., to meet up with our friends Bob and Sandy. They just bought a new boat and want Clay to do some work on it. We like that town and love “Sob and Bandy,” so it will be a good time. We’re hoping Clay can get more work while there to help pay off the extra expense of our trip home and the boatyard bill. Time will tell.
Clean and green
Posted in Boat Maintenance, How to Live Afloat, tagged boat cleaning, boat maintenance, cruising, environment, green cleaning, Hans Christian 33t, Norwex, sailing on May 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »
CAUTION: This blog post sounds a bit like an advertisement, but I mean every word of it!
Can something be clean and still green? Absolutely! As long as the green isn’t mold. (more…)
Alaska or bust
Posted in Adventures, Boat Maintenance, tagged adventure, Alaska, boat maintenance, Canada, cruising, Hans Christian 33t, sailing on April 18, 2016| 3 Comments »
What we hope to see in Alaska!
After returning from the Seattle area where we sold and shipped some unused sailing gear that came with Sundown but we decided not to use, we hung out in Deer Harbor on Orcas Island for over a week. While there, we accomplished a lot. (more…)
New sails, zincs and wee wee pads?
Posted in Adventures, Boat Maintenance, How to Live Afloat, Lessons Learned, tagged adventure, Bellingham, boat maintenance, Hans Christian 33t, sailboat, UK Sails on March 2, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Fancy fabric
One of the first things we did when we arrived in Bellingham in September was to seek out a sailmaker. We wanted to have the sails which came with Sundown (her original ones!) inspected. Right in Squalicum Harbor Marina, UK Sails has a shop and a very knowledgeable and experienced sailmaker, David O’Connor. (more…)
