It has been a busy week! It started with water system leaks, a motor that was not completely bolted down, no tender, no outboard, no lifelines and no dodger.
Today we have a 99 percent complete water system. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘boat building’
Boat busy-ness = forward progress
Posted in Boat Maintenance, How to Live Afloat, tagged bimini, boat building, dodger, Hans Christian 33t, Honda, live aboard, sailing on September 27, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Sundown gets a cold heart (refrigeration install)
Posted in Boat Renovation, Lessons Learned, tagged boat building, cruising, Hans Christian 33t, live aboard, sailboat on April 26, 2015| 2 Comments »
Sundown was built in 1982, but never equipped with more than an ice box to keep perishable food cold. It wasn’t a bad ice box at 8.5 cubic feet with good insulation, a molded interior and nice teak shelf. Given Sundown will become our year-round residence soon, however, it’s time for refrigeration.
When it is time to upgrade, replace or install a new refrigeration system there are basic questions to be answered. (more…)
It’s a date
Posted in Adventures, Boat Maintenance, Boat Renovation, tagged adventure, boat building, Fort Collins Colorado, Hans Christian, Hans Christian 33t, sailboat, sailing, yacht on January 21, 2015| 1 Comment »
About a month or so ago, Kim and I were dining at our favorite restaurant, Los Tarascos. Kim has been ramping up her already well-established business, KBC Communications, and is settling into the groove. She felt so “in the groove” that she stated, “we need to set a date.” I agreed that we should and with that she said, “How about September 1?” (more…)
One more step closer to living the dream
Posted in Boat Maintenance, Boat Renovation, How to Live Afloat, Self-employed, tagged biking, boat building, boat maintenance, Colorado, communications, Fort Collins, Hans Christian, Hans Christian 33t, public relations, sailboat, self-employed, social media on August 11, 2014| 7 Comments »
We’ve taken one more step to launch us in the direction of living full time on Sundown, our Hans Christian 33t sailboat. (more…)
Red dorade parade
Posted in Boat Maintenance, Boat Renovation, tagged boat building, boat maintenance, dorade, Hans Christian, Hans Christian 33t, sailboat on June 3, 2014| Leave a Comment »
I wrote the title of this post with “Raspberry Beret,” a song by Prince, playing in my head. While Sundown won’t wear a cute little French hat (which is just a silly thought because sailboats don’t wear hats), she will wear these shiny, freshly painted dorades. I love visible progress like this. Stay tuned for more!
Chillin’, knittin’ and TV time
Posted in Boat Maintenance, This & That, tagged boat building, boat maintenance, Christmas, Colorado, Fort Collins, Hans Christian, Health, healthy eating, Holiday, lifestyle, sailboat, sailing on December 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »
It’s winter time in the Rocky Mountains. A Siberian cold front has settled over Colorado and temperatures have been cold! That hasn’t stopped Clay from working inside our sailboat, Sundown, however. With a propane heater blasting, he’s been rebuilding the former icebox compartment, making it more accessible with a hinged top. We plan to add a refrigeration system to it, too. Check out the photos of his handiwork I added to the Photo Gallery.
I’ve been busy knitting Christmas gifts, but I can’t display them publicly yet. Doing so would ruin some surprises. I also have been working a lot, including shooting a fun TV show about how to maintain healthy habits throughout the holidays. It was taped on location at The Cupboard, a wonderful kitchen and foodie store in Old Town Fort Collins. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed hosting it.
Chinese medicine for a sailboat
Posted in Boat Maintenance, tagged Acupuncture, boat building, boat maintenance, boat maintenance tools, Gibraltar Rock, Gua Sha, Hans Christian, paint, sailboat on July 27, 2013| 4 Comments »
That’s right! After experimenting with a 3M product meant to chemically remove paint from the bottom of Sundown, we decided that the results weren’t satisfactory and we’d spend a lot of money only to have to go back over her bottom side with scraping tools. So we sharpened the chisels, sucked it up and went to work. We spent about 10 hours total scraping off all the old bottom paint. (Check out our Photo Galley for several photos of the job.) (more…)
Gutting the galley (or slicing & dicing the kitchen)
Posted in Boat Maintenance, Lessons Learned, tagged boat building, boat maintenance, boat maintenance tools, Bulkhead (partition), Hans Christian, Port and starboard, sailboat, Teak on June 17, 2013| 3 Comments »
One of the features I really love about our Hans Christian 33t is the floor plan, especially the Pullman berth (Master bedroom) that’s off to the port
Hans Christian 33t interior layout
side rather than jammed forward as a V-berth. If Sundown is going to be my full-time home one day (soon, I hope), then I want it to feel as “normal” as possible, which includes having a rectangular shaped bed like I’ve slept on my whole life.
The galley layout, on the other hand, needed some redesign. Since Clay and I like to cook and entertain, we need as much useable space in the kitchen as possible. Therefore, the bulkhead next to the stove that strangely divided the sink counter from the cooktop had to go. By opening up that space, we would shorten the possible sleeping area by the dinette, but we felt what we’d gain would be better than what we’d lose. (more…)
Getting wired
Posted in Boat Maintenance, tagged boat building, boat maintenance, Electrical wiring, Hans Christian, sailboat, sailing on January 24, 2013| 1 Comment »
I asked my husband for a list of all the wiring he’s finished recently so I could write about it. I envisioned a concise inventory organized by bullet marks. I received part spreadsheet, part chicken scratch. Seriously? Like I’m supposed to decipher this and translate it into something our readers can understand? (more…)
Christmas Screw-ooges
Posted in Boat Maintenance, This & That, tagged boat building, boat maintenance, bronze, Christmas, Genoa, Hans Christian, holidays, Mainsail, Sail, sailboat, sailing, Screw on January 16, 2013| 5 Comments »
My b
rother came to our house for Christmas which was a special gift. A week later, we received another gift from him – a box of perfectly custom-made bronze genoa stop screws*! He is a professional machinist so this job was nothing for him. He’ll have a website up soon, as we’ve urged him to start a side business machining custom parts for our fellow salty dogs. In the meantime, he can be reached at sharpe3006@gmail.com.
*Translation for our non-sailing friends: A genoa is a sail on the front of the boat that complements the main sail. It’s sheets (ropes) are attached to an apparatus called a genoa car that is mounted on a genoa track that is mounted on each side rail of a sailboat with such sails. Genoa stop screws hold the genoa car in place based on how you want the genoa sail to interact with the wind. When the screws are twisted up (to remove the tension), the car moves smoothly along the track. Get it?
Sundown Sailing Adventures 