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Well it is definite we are not going to the Bahamas this year.  Our daughter, Erin, is getting married in August in Destin, Florida and we are needed at home.  We had thought we could get it done with me flying back and forth but it has become clear that idea is not very workable.  Rusty had a hard time giving up cruising this year as I as sure most can understand but he is such a good guy he decided to come home, work, do wedding and then we will take off for maybe a year (I made Erin and Michael promise not to have any babies for at least a year so we could have a year + to cruise).

I left home a week ago with Erin and Michael headed to Destin to get a venue, photographer etc lined up.  We had florist, photographer, cake, rental company but no venue until the very last day.  We found a lovely house, Palazzo Del Sol, right down the beach from Jetty East where we spent many a Fourth of July.  Here is the link (I haven’t learned how to create a link that you can just click on…later!):    http://www.vrbo.com/199051     Pappy, Rusty’s dad, and Rusty picked me up Sunday and we headed to Brunswick while Erin and Michael headed back to Beaumont.  We arrived here Monday afternoon.  We have been in high gear since then so we could use the car before Pappy took our car back to Buna, Texas.  I’ll copy a FB post of Rusty’s to let you know what he has been up to.‎

Rusty’s Post on FB:

50% ready to sail… The first two days on SYL have been very productive. Pappy and I got the engines serviced including a complete removal of that good old “green” addative ethanol from the carbs. I know why they call it a green fuel… it makes the inside of your carburetor green and gritty… good job America! I never had a problem in the Bahamas where they don’t even sell corn but as soon… as I bought US fuel…. neither motor would run at idle anymore. The instant you go to neutral they die. And that’s really handy when your passing through a lock on the ICW… lol.
The next job we tackled was changing the complete shifting and throttle system. I bought the system they are installing on new Seawinds along with new cables. The old ones came out easy enough… but the new throttle box has a different footprint and naturally it’s smaller in places and bigger in others so you have to cut a bigger hole in the base, then decide how to cover up the old holes that stick out. I had some 3/4″ thick star board so I cut out a nice spacer that covers the top of the existing pedistal. I used the template for the new throttle box to cut a nice hole for it in the spacer, the upgrade will look and operate very nicely. Hopefully I’ll get the new cables pulled today. The long cables going across to the left engine will be a challenge. There’s a blind hole to hit as the cables pass through the inner hull… the rest of the job will be getting the new box and cables adjusted properly.
Pappy just left in the car for Texas, he was a blessing getting the car back home for us. With him gone, it’s just me and linda on the boat again… even though we haven’t left the dock it feels like we are cruising again. While pappy was here we felt the need to hurry so he could get home. In the first two days here we got a good jump on things, but now I’m on my own schedule, I can go at my normal procrastinating pace…. lol.
Linda just made our first meal on the boat, she went to Wal Mart this morning for provisions. SYL is quickly getting in shape to leave the dock. Last night we took the time to go to our favorite restraunt in the world. “Fancy Q Sushi” on the island here in Brunswick. My gosh! it was better than I remembered it. Pappy is a meat and potatoes guy but they had steak and shrimp on the menu so he was fixed up. If your EVER in this part of Georgia, look it up and go there.
OK, no more procrastinating… I better get busy on the boat again.

SYL !!  Rusty

I am unloading and reorganizing.  I found a nasty moth problem in the kitchen and had to throw just about everything away.  Nasty critters.  I am unloading so much clothing.  I hate to wash when we are cruising so I bring enough clothes that we could go two months with out washing…..I’m bad…..I know.

It is not a good thing leaving a boat unattended for six months.  We will leave in a few days when we are ready and start the sail home.  We will probably take a couple of months and plunk along the Florida coast.  When we are in Destin we will meet up with the kids to continue wedding planning.

Sea Yawl Later!!

Linda

1-14-12  It seems our life changes in major ways almost daily.  Today is no exception, in fact how today and tomorrow plays out may determine if we even go sailing this year at all.

The strange thing is, as always we are just fine with that.  Our personality type lends itself well to fluidity.  I’m sure our instant changes in life direction grates like fingernails on a chalkboard to some readers.  I guess you guys that lace your shoes up every morning and follow the year’s predetermined path instead of slipping on crocs and seeing which way they point every morning just need to shake your head and  love us anyway.  It works for us.

Rusty

The last few days preparing to leave have been wild.  But this morning is different… I’m sitting here at the lakehouse looking out the big windows and a bald eagle just landed in a big tree in the yard…  It’s dead quiet except for the light wind filtering thru the tree branches….. pretty serene.

The “to go” pile is ready to load and essentially complete, It fills one whole corner of the living room.  Linda left this morning for Beaumont, her trip will begin tomorrow.  Linda will spend the weekend in Florida with Erin ironing out some of her destination wedding plans that will take place in August.  I will follow Sunday and pick Linda up on the way East, that will put us on the boat in Georgia by Monday night.

I have a couple days to load the car.  Today I’ll clean the car out and start the load.  I want to look at every item and mark it off on my list, so it’s not as simple as just throwing stuff in the car.  I’m sure we will leave something we intended to bring, but that’s just the way it goes.

9:58PM  I emptied the Magnum, did an inventory of items to load and got 1/2 the boat stuff in the car this evening…….. It appears there is room for everything, but it will certainly be tight.  It’s lucky we bought a station wagon… it seems everywhere we go the car is full all the way to the headliner…

Tonight a full moon rose about 8PM over the glass smooth lake outside the window….. it was a beautiful sight.  I can’t wait to see the beautiful sunrise and sets SYL has in store for us this season.  Living on the water provides an every- day opportunity for picturesque morning and evening landscapes.

Sea Yawl Later !!   Rusty

Christmas and New Years is almost over for the crew of SYL, the dates are now past but we have one more family gathering.  This weekend we will wrap up the holidays and begin our march toward Georgia….  to the boat.

Today we are still at the lakehouse, making lists and organizing some of the things that go back to the boat… filling boxes and putting them in the “to go” pile.  Preparing to leave not only includes packing but tieing up loose ends here in Texas.  Our most accute roadblock is getting our medicals squared away.

I’m having a thorough check up….  at this moment I’m drinking “the juice”……. you know.. the stuff that cleans you completely out for tomorrows “inspection”?  Yep, it’s the only thing men dread as much as the dentist.  The best part is… by Monday I will have made my appointed rounds and hopefully medically free to go by midweek.

I look forward to getting back to the boat.  SYL holds some great memories for us and I’m sure the excitement will crest when we see her sitting there with her ears laid back ready to throw off those dock lines and show us some blue water…..

By the end of the month I hope to get her buffed out and the bottom clean.  While professionals take care of  the finish, I’ll be cleaning and greasing everything including dissasembly and greasing of the winches.  I have a couple rope clutches to change out and a few upgrades like the composting head to install.  This years cruise SYL may be in the best shape she’s ever been in.

As we use our boat we find out what works best and are improving her every year.   The learning curve and desire for newer and better toys will never end but our boat is pretty darn cruiser friendly as she sits.  Starting with the awesome Seawind platform was a big leg up but we have some cool stuff on our boat.  I love the movie / TV projector and sound system.  Going over it in my head…. the generator / inverter system is a peach, the AC/Heater, watermaker, SSB and now the new head…. There are always things you could add… but I think I’m ahead of the curve…. lol.

When you buy a boat go ahead and start sending a couple hundred a month to your brand new West Marine account.  The account opening paperwork should come standard in the boats closing package.  If not… go to your broker and complain about non-disclosure because it’s gonna happen.  At first you spend all your money and time fixing the stuff you find wrong or break on your first real voyage.   Then after the “maiden” cruise… when you get “caught up” with maintenance… then you get to continue spending money like any good boat owner to stay up or add toys.

Yes, the age of your boat does matter. but not like you’ld think.  A brand new boat will cost you way more to get up to speed than a used boat.  After spending way too much on factory fresh, then you get to put $30 to $50K in the boat on radios, nav equipment and all the things a new boat doesn’t come with.  There are “packages” you can buy, but normally when you buy a new boat you get to add things like autopilots, and shore power systems that really add up.

More than the boats age…. how it’s been used and maintained determines how much or little you need to spend to make her right.  There are lots of low hour dock queens out there that are fine for local use, but to rig out a cruiser don’t underestimate what you’ll need or want on her to enjoy your boat.  The way to go is to buy a working cruiser with the things you want already on it…   Kaleo was one of those boats that was ready to go.  Matt & Christie had her refined and worked all the bugs out of a boat that previously hadn’t been “tested” in a long time.   The biggest challenge when you buy your dream boat is that you probably don’t know what you really want.  I know that sounds wierd, but it’s hard to know if you haven’t done it yet.  I dreamed and explored what’s available for so many years, I hit it pretty good right off.  The base boat I picked out was a no brainer, my choice was from experience after bareboating for years on different hulls.

Well, it’s getting late.  I look forward to getting into the sailing mode and living that life again.  Hopefully my post will fully reflect my joy.  This post is too long already.

Sea Yawl Later !!   Rusty

I just found out that a photo of Rusty, Ted Cook and Matt Butcher is in the January 2012 “Cruising World”, page 16.  I had no idea.  A friend, Steve, posted it on Facebook.  

I am struggling with WordPress.  I took the crash course and it was great but it was just the very basics.  If I want to post more than one photo, create albums, or anything more than I have done I am not doing so well.  So….rather than not post, I have decided to just post with what I know how to do for now.  If any of you know of any good video’s on WordPress please let me know.  There is a wealth of information out there but right now with Christmas I just don’t have the time to filter through it all.

I thought I was going to have all this time to learn more about my mac and revamp the web site…..but since we are leaving in January instead of March or later things have esculated around here.  I am not complaining (well not really) but I need to download tutorials rather than count on having  good internet access. My first priority is how to post and manage photo’s better.  I can put them on the web site but I can’t figure out how to edit them once I have them on a post.  Ah, well….more tutorials are needed…:)

We just found out that the job we were going to stay in the states for is not going to happen.  This has been the strangest working season.  We thought we were going to work until March then thru this summer and now it seems we will be leaving in January.  Go figure.  Things can always change but that seems most likely at the moment.  I am excited about Christmas, all the kids will be coming to the lake either Christmas or the next week.  I want to spend time with my mom and brother and then we are out of here!!

That is the plan for today….lol.

Sea Yawl Later!!

Linda

This weekend we join our friends Katie and Dean from “Our Way Too” at Portofino Marina for a potluck dinner and an evening of watching the 50th Annual Kemah Christmas Boat Parade.  I grew up in the Kemah area (Texas City to be exact) and I hate to admit I had never gone to the Christmas Boat Parade.  It was delightful and if you were not in the Christmas Spirit at the beginning of the evening you had to be by the end of the Parade.

These photo’s do not do justice.  I was having trouble getting good, clear shots.  Operator error I am sure.

We enjoyed a visit from Katie and Dean from s/v Our Way Too and “the kids”, Matt and Christie formerly from s/v Kaleo.  Matt and Christie are charter members of the “Texas Navy”.  Kaleo sold this week.  “The kids” are adjusting to land life but I know their cruising days are not over.  Katie just moved aboard their 42′ Hunter Passage.  They are planning to start their adventure in the not to distance future.  We ate well, watched old cruising photo’s and played Mexican Train.

We will be joining Katie and Dean this weekend on “Our Way Too” for the Kemah Christmas Boat Parade.  We will leave the lake tomorrow for our rented condo in Kemah.  It looks like Rusty’s next job will not start until January