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I did almost nothing productive on the boat today…. Our freinds took us shopping so we did some provisioning, but the only work on board today was loading the groceries we bought…. nary a screw or wrench was turned by my hand or any other on SYL today.

I’d like to get her compounded and waxed, but it seems expensive here, I may check in St. Augustine when we go thru there (some day)… lol.  Our sailing destination and departure date still seem to be as undetermined as that lost flight of WWII planes in the Bermuda triangle, and we are good with that.   

I was looking online this evening at Brunswick attractions… we may just have to hang out here a while.   “Skipper Bob’s” ICW travel guide is a great resource, we followed it loyally on the way here.   We parused it this evening to see what local (winthin a day or two’s sail) attractions might be fun… but it looks like Brunswick is the place to be for a 100 mile radius.  We probably won’t rush off as soon as we are able, but then we may do 2 or 3 days of sailing sun to sun in order to get further South.  As I’m thinking about it… being further South in February is probably the right choice.

John told me that the Marathon Florida anchorage is packed, no room available for more boats.  Marathon is the typical jumping off place to the Bahamas for some and a popular end destination for others.  I guess everybody is waiting for the “perfect” crossing weather.  I am leaning toward going bay to bay from Biscayne Bay to Card Sound then South by bay rather than by open water.  There’s some spots I’d like to hit on the way down like Gilberts and Alabama Jacks.  Who knows….   oops, did I just catch myself planning… I know better than that….

SYL!!  Rusty

The projects are getting smaller and smaller.  I got the new head out of it’s box, it will be an easy install.  I read the instructions last night.. so we are good to go.  Removing the old one will be harder than putting this one in.

Our new friends John and Carolyn took me to West marine and the liquor store today and offered to bring Linda to Wal Mart tomorrow for our final shopping run.  We pretty well have everything we need, but there are a few items we didn’t think of the first trip that need to be added to the ships stores.

Tonight we had a great dinner with our new freinds.  Linda made jumbalia and grilled vegetables, I did one of my stand up chickens.  It took forever to cook the chicken because the grill here at the marina struggled to get up to 300 degrees.  I had to cook the chicken for 2 1/2 hours… but it came out as good as always.

John and Carolyn were great company.  Their boat is georgious, shes a new Catalina.  I’ve been invited on board but honesly I’ve been so busy I haven’t taken the time for the grand tour…. maybe tomorrow. 

I did the hands and knees Comet scrub down on the back half of the boat today in preparation for the evening festivities.  It seems like it takes an event for us to get the boat cleaned up.. so we are grateful for the company this evening…. we had a wonderul time.  These guys had some sories to tell.  If we hadn’t asked them to come over we would have not gotten the boat polished up tonight….. Tomorrow will be nice as we reap the benefit of a clean and orderly cockpit.  We have transformed it from a work area to a living area again.  Linda and I are truly both enjoying our boat even though we haven’t left the harbor.

Man…  I’m trying to think what we have left to do… other than the head and scrubbing the front of the boat I guess we are done!  All of that is light work.

SYL !!   Rusty

On every lucky boat there is always a winch or two on board just in case you need it… my boat has several scattered about….  Today was the day I chose to service all my winches.

I’ve done good, I’ve got them all satisfied except one……  I have a kit just for the anchor windlass.  After I get done with her I’m quitting for the day.  That’s a lot to do in one day for any man.  Winches… you can’t live with them and you can’t live without them………

I think I’ll change oil in the Honda generator before I tackle the windlass.  It’s supposed to get cold in a day or two.   Of course we are still plugged in to the dock so electricity is free flowing right now but the Honda is something easy I can mark off the list of things to do before we go.  We re-installed the jib and reset the lazy jacks today too, so she is ready to motor or sail down the river…. at our leasure.

One thing that didn’t work out as I expected was the lift off hinges required to remove the access door behind the new head.  I bought some nice stainless hinges that lift off their pins to remove the whole door…. but they won’t work because the door is inset into the wall so you have to open it 1/2 way to clear the jam… which negates the purpose of the special hinges.  Anyway, I’m going to remove the pins from the existing hinges and put loose fitting drop in clips in the hinges so we can remove the door easily without cutting it.  I’ll live with that a while and see how I like it.  If that doesn’t work I’ll do the Ted Cook thing and make it easy to use by dividing the door into top and bottom sections.

Back to work…. Rusty

The upgrade was not without blood letting and multiple trips under the boat … but by golly we have new throttles.  They are sweet!   A big part of the process was learning how the new throttle box works and getting it set up right.  The motors idle great, when I drop them in gear they don’t die now… how good is that!

Getting the spacer and new throttle holes drilled was a chore.  I dry fitted everything so it would be nice and straight when I glued it down.  The spacer is mated to the boat using 3M 5200 and screwed down on all 4 corners.  The blood letting came trying to get the box to square up in the hole.  The jab saw caught me once on the finger trying to get the fiberglass corners clearanced under the spacer.  No biggie.. no band-aids… just a paper towel dab and it’s all good.

So….. I am a functioning boat again.  I can actually leave the marina without fear of dock rash.  Tomorrow I’ll either start on the new head install or begin the wash down….  I suspect the washdown will be next.  Removing bird droppings and cleaning up my work site (the aft cockpit) will make SYL look sporty again.

We have some new freinds – A nice couple (John and Carol) from St. Louis just arrived in Brunswick and tied up to dock 5.   They introduced themselves today…. they are on a brand new Catalina.   Their intent is to head South about the same time as SYL so we may have a buddy boat down the ICW toward the Keys. 

I’m very pleased about my progress and Linda is accomplishing as much on the household.  I feel we are ahead of the curve on our quest to motor South.  By Monday we should be ready to go, thats about a week ahead of my original departure date.  Our new freinds will probably give us a ride for final provisioning.  We could go with what we have now, but one more trip would fill in some blanks that would make life more fun.

OH, by the way I turned on our “SPOT” tracker today so if you click on “where is SYL” on the right side of the page then zoom out about 5 clicks you’ll see where SYL is located.

Sea Yawl Later !!   Rusty

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…:)