Monthly Archives: February 2014

Creeping Towards Victory

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While Melissa was evacuating from her old office and attending the sailing conference, I spent another weekend in Astoria inching ever closer to that happy day when Andromeda is back in the water. We make progress, but slowly.

Since the weather was pretty mild on Saturday, I got to work right away sealing the cockpit sole and screwing it back down. The sole has been sitting loose since John, the previous owner removed the old engine sometime in September. That means that water has had an easy time flowing into the engine room and we had to keep the steering pedestal and other steering hardware down below. Now that the new engine is in, I really wanted to start buttoning up the cockpit. We have enough trouble keeping the boat dry without having the engine room practically open to a rainy Astoria Winter.

My Bear Trap.  This allowed me to apply the butyl tape and then lower the floor down with a minimum of lateral movement.

Melissa bought some grey Butyl Tape from This Guy after reading about its superior quality from Tate and Dani of Sundowner Sails Again. This was my first experience using this tape and I am so far very impressed with its ease of use and tenacity. I did have a bit of a learning curve when it came to applying it though.

Lesson one with butyl tape. Do Not Remove the paper backing until the tape is applied to at least one surface. This stuff is tacky!

I applied slightly overlapping runs of the tape to the cleaned and freshly wiped lip of the the sole.

Two runs of tape, slightly overlapping

For reference, check out our earlier post on getting the cockpit sole cleaned.

Once I had run the tape around the perimeter and gently lowered the sole back down, it was time to screw down the sole and seal the 32 holes that had been originally used. That’s a lot of 1/4 inch screw holes. Assuming 100 Kips of tension as the low end of the range for a quarter inch 304 or 316 stainless screw, clearly we are more concerned with the amount of attachment area between the screw and the fiberglass sole. I opted to screw down on both sides of each corner and once on each side, which comes to twelve attachment points for the sole. The remaining twenty unused holes were filled with epoxy.

Corners and sides are screwed and filled with Life Caulk. The unused holes are filled with epoxy.

I hope I don’t regret using the Life Caulk for the screws. After using the butyl tape, I think it may make a superior seal. It is certainly easier to work with.

We will refinish the sole at a later time. This may be an opportunity to use the Kiwi Grip paint. We will need something that provides a good grip but that won’t trap a lot of dirt. Suggestions anyone?

With the sole finally secured, I was really excited to put the steering pedestal and wheel back in the cockpit. I have knocked the pedestal over three times and am amazed that I haven’t broken the thing as we work around it down below. I had to repaint some of the brackets holding the steering pump and hooking up the rudder hydraulics is still a little ways off, but man it feels good to have an actual wheel back in the cockpit.

Sole and Steering pedestal re-installed

Sole and Steering pedestal re-installed

Since this post is running a bit long, I’ll save the engine alignment for Friday. But I do want to leave you with a final photo of one of Melissa’s projects. We brought home hundreds of pounds of hardware which Melissa meticulously went through and organized. We still have some weird stuff that I need to look at, but the screws, bulbs, O-rings, and a thousand other bits and pieces are now on Andromeda and labeled! Anyone who has ever just thrown up their hands and gone to the Chandlery for yet another bit of stainless steel will appreciate how great it is to have the ability to lay your hand on just the right sized screw for a particular application.

The metal bar with a dog leg is for the engine control cable. Finding the correct screw for the job was easy.

We have several containers like this which are divided by type, (Machine, Wood, Brass etc) The organization is still a work in progress but so far, I have saved hours looking for parts or going to the store to buy something we already have but can’t find. Thanks Baby!

 

Let There Be Light

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From the ultimate darkness of the chaos of the ancient cosmos God summoned His Will, focused His Almighty Attention, and created order. Let there be light!  And once this pattern of order from chaos was established, it repeated itself ad infinitum throughout the galaxy and throughout time. Order follows chaos, chaos follows order. Life emerges from the primordial ooze. Light emerges from darkness. Represented by the Tower card in the deck of the Tarot, chaos strikes quickly and decisively, some might say majestically. In the eye of the storm is the place of the numinous.  The Wheel of Fortune has turned and the structures of our lives crumble until order is again returned.

Classic Tower Card image.

Classic Tower Card image.

This is a fancy way of saying that we’re making some progress here on many levels. But it is interesting to stand back and observe our lives through the lens of our ultimate goal of long distance sailing. Although we have been focused on getting the engine in Andromeda, I have tried to allow myself to kind of float down the river of this winter without fighting the current too much. I mean, when you have a boat hauled out during the winter, things just take longer. You can’t do anything about it, so why fight with it? Let it be. Because all things, even this winter, must pass. The light will return,  dispelling the darkness.

And order is slowly but surely emerging on S/V Andromeda. Mike is meeting with the mechanic again tomorrow and will have a report for you when he returns, but suffice to say he’s installed the cockpit floor and the steering pedestal. He was decisively pleased with all the organized bits and pieces and how easily he found the right bolts for that floor. You can see he’s filled some holes with epoxy, which will take its own sweet time hardening in this cold weather.

Regaining order in the cockpit.

Regaining order in the cockpit.

At the same time, my professional life has taken an interesting turn that is related to this whole order/chaos theme; this pattern of light and dark, of winter and spring, of storms and calms,  and how it relates to our long term goal of sailing.  We have, at the most, 3 years before we cut those dock lines and have a party, not necessarily in that order. Between now and then we continue to chip away at our land based ‘contracts’. Things such as leases and mortgages do not have their place in our plans; at least that’s our current thinking.

So recently my office building was repossessed by the bank, effectively making my 3 year lease null and void. I was suddenly removed from the comfortable knowledge that I was secure in that space until we sailed away. But I saw this as an opportunity to go to a month-to-month lease where I would be able to cut loose as soon as Mike is able to get out from under Boeing’s thumb. While everyone else in the building was moving out,  I figured I would stay in my office because I loved it. The space was beautiful, filled with light, and very comfortable and affordable. These things are important to me, and they set the tone for sessions with clients.  I didn’t want to move all my furnishings, only to have to move them again when I retire. And I certainly didn’t want to get into another lease situation at another location and have to build up a practice again.

My office before I downsized by removing the couch, which we now use at home. I replaced it with another red leather chair. I love red leather chairs and could easily collect them.

So I was going to stay put. But this week, very suddenly, just like the Tower card in the Tarot deck, things fell apart completely. I became very concerned about the security of the building and, as I am leaving for Scotland for two weeks on Monday (to visit our Claire) and was getting no response from the attorney handling the building, I felt no choice but to move out. (There were lots of things happening in the background in terms of the building, but the security issues pushed me over the edge.) On Wednesday I began packing my things, but I had no place to go. It was the oddest feeling; this precipitous leave-taking. I went through the motions of packing up without feeling much of anything. When clients asked where I was going I just had to say, ‘I don’t know. I’ll figure it out and let you know.’

The stress was enormous. I have a full practice and I would be leaving for vacation without knowing where I would be meeting with clients when I returned. Sleepless nights followed. Thank you, Ambien or I would have been a zombie. After 25 years of practicing, this was how it was going to end? Somehow, I felt a little bitter about that. And I absolutely had to find a way to finish what I had started with the clients I have. One does not abandon one’s clients in mid-stream, at least not without some kind of closure.

It looked like I might have to set up a home office. Um. No. I really, really didn’t want to do that, even though our house would handle it. Another idea was to have the office on Andromeda, an idea I have toyed with for years (even before we bought that boat). However, she’s still in Astoria and it will be months before we can move her safely here.  I felt like the bricks and mortar of my professional ‘self’ had been hit by a hurricane.

Some of the artsy things I have in my office. Rocks and things from our travels, nestled in one of my cement leaves from my ‘cement leaf period’. 🙂

This is what chaos feels like; like a maelstrom with me in the center.  An interesting thing about being in stressful, chaotic times is that the stress of those times prevents you from really thinking clearly. It’s hard to make decisions logically and deep inside there is a place that feels completely calm and almost detached from the situation. It’s like the outer ‘self’ is freaking out, but the inner ‘Self’ is just surfing the wave. And maybe we are meant to notice that; to experience the separation of ‘self’ and ‘Self’. So I end up following my gut in the end, after hemming and hawing and ‘what if’-ing all over the place. In the end, the gut speaks. Or maybe it’s the gods. Or the One God.

All I know is that on Thursday I was driving downtown in Tacoma, on my way to the grocery store on 6th Avenue to buy some chicken. I passed a business that I hadn’t remembered was there. It’s a yoga center but also has art spaces and offers a lot of other kinds of esoteric things that are right up my alley. It’s owned by a Social Worker/therapist.  I thought about it all the way to the store. Then I couldn’t get it out of my head. I found myself wondering if they had office space. I called and left a message and within 12 hours got a text and an invitation to come and tour the facilities. The minute I walked in, I knew it was going to be fine. In short, I now have another office that is very close to my old one, fully furnished, with a view of Commencement Bay. It is for rent by the hour. No leases, no deposits, no contracts. I can walk away at any time. And I will make new friends there. Bonus!  As I wind my practice down in preparation for sailing, I will pay less and less for the same space. The name of the building: Good Karma Center for Joy. No kidding. That’s the real name. For now, it is perfect.

A beautiful new space.

A beautiful new space. Thank you, Universe.

Finding this space so quickly leaves me reeling a little bit from the lessons learned: that there are many beautiful spaces in the world; that what I need will be provided for me even if I haven’t thought of it before; that if I can accept the chaos of a storm, it will pass and order will be reinstated. And when things like this happen, I know we are on the right path. When things fall into place without struggling, without having to overcome barriers I’ve created myself, then all is well in the Universe and there is momentum.

And this is the waiting area right outside my door, just for the office I'm renting.

And this is the waiting area right outside my door, just for the office I’m renting. Adorable.

So I’m getting all the rest of my furniture moved out tomorrow. I’ll be able to dispose of what I don’t want or need, donate some to the new space, and then I’ll be ready to close down the practice quickly and easily when it’s time. Or move it onto the boat if I choose to do so.

This is the multipurpose space and yoga space. Picking jaw up off the floor.

This is the multipurpose space and yoga space. Picking jaw up off the floor.

To top off all these messages of ‘you are doing the right thing, don’t worry’ that I’ve been getting lately, I went to the Women on the Water seminar today in Seattle and connected with several women who belong to a private Facebook page for women boaters. It’s called Women Who Sail and if you are a reader and a boater (power or sail) and a woman and would like to join, contact me and I’ll send you an invite. It’s a great group of women and there is a huge wealth of knowledge and experience in the group. (Sorry, guys. We love you’ll have to take your chances on Cruiser’s Forum.) I love it that my circle of friends in the boating world is expanding. Plus I won a 200$ gift certificate for new custom dock lines! Wowza! Could it be any more clear? We’re totally doing this sailing thing! Bring it on!

 

*So the one place where I am having a little more trouble surfing the wave is in the world of my computer, which continues to cause me agony in the photo department with its Picasa issues and missing files of some kind causing the problems logging in to Google so I can upload my photos to the web in postable format. Before it crashed, I had it working perfectly. Ugh. Sorry, Lee. These photos were taken with my phone. Shudder.

 

 

Meandering Through Mercury’s Winter

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An unusual sight around here.

What’s the saying? ‘Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat nor gloom of night…”  If you think that is the official motto of the Postal Service in this country, you would be wrong. That is the official motto of the owners of S/V Andromeda. That’s us. Except fot the heat part. There is none of that, so just substitute the word ‘sleet’ and you’ve got it. During Snowpocolypse 2014, we are truly in the proverbial ‘winter of our discontent’.  With Mercury firmly in retrograde, slowing everything down and putting all kinds of roadblocks in paths, I’m practicing my cat-like waiting and watching mentality when it comes to getting anything done. I understand that’s the lesson of Mercury retrograde periods. Introspection, patience, acceptance. I’m not good at some of those things, but I’m trying. So progress of any kind lately has been slow going, for sure.

And that includes posting to this blog. Because my computer has died. Again. Thanks, Mercury. I’ve decided to name my computer Lazerus because Mike has had to bring it back from the dead so many times. I wonder what that means I should be calling Mike. So I’m posting this from my little Asus netbook, and it’s slow going. Mercury retrograde is no time to be trying to get computers to work outside their comfort zone. I THINK I finally got Picasa to work but we’ll see. I know computers are supposed to make our lives easier and all that, but really, I could have mailed a roll of film and had it developed and mailed back in the amount of time it got me to get Picasa to work, and with a lot less cursing.  Plus, I wouldn’t have had to agree to allow Big Googly Brother to know where I am at all times and when I go to the bathroom and whether it was number one or number two before getting my photos. Google Plus. REALLY?   Why not just ask for my firstborn child? The Red Blooded American in me screams in protest at these instrusions into my privacy. Discontented, indeed.

These beautiful little Aussies from Gearhart Australian Shepherds brightened our day.

But, computers aside, there isn’t much to report on progress in the Andromeda arena. My prediction is that she will not be back into the water until the third week in March, anyway. We keep going down to Astoria, but it’s now more of a ritual and a feeling that we need to check on her than to actually get much done. This weekend we traveled down, deciding to spend the night in our friend’s ocean cabin in Long Beach rather than spend the night on Andromeda. That was a very wise decision as Snowpocolypse 2014 hit about 30 minutes after we got the heat turned on. We had a cozy evening in front of the gas fireplace, eating popcorn, watching movies, and relaxing. Mike braided my hair. That part was kind of pathetic, but fun.

Mike uses his laser vision to look for Andromeda on the far shore of the Columbia River.

You know how you can just tell when things are not going to work out as planned and you have to be flexible (code for ‘sailing’).  That’s what we were dealing with this weekend. First the snow. Then when we arrived at the boat yard, we had no automobile access to the yard. There was a fancy new security gate that we had to open with a special card; the kind we do not have; because no one has bothered to give us one. Who knew? I’m all for security at the boat yard, but somehow I kind of thought that since we are paying for the use of said yard, we’d, I don’t know, be IN THE LOOP when it comes to receiving things like key cards. The previous week we had no access to the bathrooms because they had changed the security codes and failed to tell us. If I didn’t have high self esteem I would think it was a personal affront. But I believe it’s just poor office practices

So we parked in the upper parking lot, climbed down the cement retaining wall into the boatyard (oh yeah, that security gate is REAL secure) and climbed up onto the boat to find that she was suffering from snow standing on the decks. Know this: you will know every leak in your boat when snow starts to melt on your deck. Ugh. Warm weather cannot come quickly enough for me so we can start getting some of these things fixed. With the temps hovering around 34 degrees, it was simply too cold to work effectively. Stainless steel ladders are very cold and slippery in that kind of weather. We went to the Columbia River Maritime Museum instead. An excellent and safer choice.

The front window exhibit at the museum. Yikes! Very dramatic to be sure.

If you’ve never been to that museum, it’s totally worth a trip to Astoria to go. It’s small enough to see in an afternoon, but the displays are very cool, even if disturbing. Of course, many of them are all about the ‘graveyard of the Pacific’, as they call the Columbia River Bar. I talk myself off the ledge about that by focusing on how many boats cross that bar safely every day, and knowing we’ll wait for the right window to try it. It’s all about the window of opportunity. Still, the Coast Guard averages more than one rescue per day per year in this area. They are busy folks.

All this stuff, much of which is unidentified still.

Since we last checked in with the blog, two things have been accomplished: First, we brought home all the various containters of screws, bolts, nuts, and assortments of pieces and parts stored hither and yon in Andromeda. We stashed them on the dining room table and I commenced to spending my evenings sorting them and organizing them. The screws and such were easy, if numerous, but the parts and pieces had us scratching our heads. Many things are unidenifiable, making us fearful of throwing them out, but not knowing if we really need them. Anyone know what these things are?

Huh?

We probably kept too much, but you never know when someone in an anchorage somewhere will need a plastic knob with a screw on one side or a piece of aluminum with three holes bored into it in random places. Some people might see these as trash. We see these as karma kitty material.

The other thing that happened is this:

A beautiful sight! New shaft!

Now we are waiting for the weather to warm up, for our propeller to get here, and for Mercury stop being apparently backwards. We can’t have that fiberglass repaired until the weather is a little warmer. Maybe by the time we get her back in the water our dock will be repaired and we can put her into a protected slip rather than at the commercial dock where she has been since the piling fell over. Until then, we meander through this winter and try our best to be contented.