Author Archives: Melissa

Home is the Best Nest

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Has it really been two weeks since I posted anything here? If it’s been that long, it must be because we were sailing! Looking back it feels as though we crammed a full month’s worth of adventure into what was really a rather short 8 days and 460 miles. While we had one or two hiccups, overall the trip was fabulous and we found ourselves really falling for this boat that we’ve worked so hard on for the past few months. We were certainly not ready for the trip to end.

Mike checking out the rain. Can’t say enough good things about this cockpit and hard dodger with the canvas enclosure. We love it.

We waved goodbye to Astoria the morning of July 4, crossed the Columbia River Bar into the Pacific, and turned right.   We had our first overnight passage on the ocean and watched dozens of 4th of July fireworks displays from our position off the coast of Washington State. We anchored out every night starting in Neah Bay and by the time we had worked ourselves over to Bellingham, we had the routine down,  the communications signals worked out, and had begun to trust our anchor and chain to hold us tight. We sailed under ‘jib and jigger’ as well as under full sail and under genoa alone; discovering to our glee that Galapagos sails well even in light wind. What a gift. We discovered cockpit dancing as the sun goes down. We began to know our boat and how to live on her. She began to come alive to us.

Relaxing in the Strait of Juan de fuca. This was the best day ever.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip.

Sunset over Vancouver Island close to Victoria. Can you hear the music playing in the cockpit? Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.

Schooner Zodiac from Bellingham.

Mike and Andrew in the bay.

Hand made dinghy. A work of art.

Raising the main.

Crossing the strait under full sail in light wind. She may be heavy, but she’s light on her feet.

We’re working on several posts about this trip. Mike is working on some film footage he took, and I’m just processing what’s worth writing up and what isn’t.

After what looked like it would be a false start due to the height of our main mast/antennae combination and the height of the Murrey Morgan bridge (apparently our ketch rig has a taller main mast than most)  we are finally settled in a good slip in Tacoma at Foss Harbor where we moored Moonrise for 5 years. We’re so excited to have Galapagos close to home. We can close the curtain on Little Cunning Plan, Part 1: Buy a boat and bring her home.

Little gaff rig.

Little gaff rig.

 

Adventures in Cheap Boat Tricks

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This weekend was filled with doing all kinds of little things that make the boat  more livable and more like a boat that sails rather than a boat that sits at the dock; preparing to leave Astoria this week. Mike got the battens back in the main sail. We tried out the new sturdy stool I bought to keep by the mast for when we need a boost up. Mike checked the batteries and secured them stoutly. We got out the jack lines. We created our ‘safety kit’ area. We earned our Coast Guard Safety Inspection sticker and mounted it proudly on the mast. We bled the steering system one last time to be sure the fluid was correct.

All these things are good and necessary. But on our outing last week it occurred to us that we have been at the dock so long we’ve forgotten that if you want to go sailing you really want to do a little thing called DECLUTTERING the boat. Otherwise all kinds of interesting noises may come from the cabin as the wind fills the sails and the boat begins to dig her shoulder into the sea.  And all kinds of interesting opportunities for cleaning may be yours when you get back to the dock. In our excitement that we might actually get to sail this boat, we kind of forgot that everything needs to be stowed securely, not sitting out on the countertops. Enough said.

So this was the weekend for stowing and for completing a few of the little cheap boat tricks I’ve been up to.

Mike’s workshop was the worst offender in terms of being completely unprepared for sailing.

Ugh. What a mess.

Due to all the myriads of projects going on all the time, it is usually completely cluttered with bits and pieces of things, tools, cans of viscous liquids, and all the other assortments of items that, in general, make up the man cave.  Since buying the boat we have been too busy doing things like revamping the engine room to give much attention to going through and organizing all the stuff previous owners had left behind in the workshop. I had spent hours sorting and organizing screws and bolts and their ilk, but then got distracted when faced with that cabinet and whatever was lurking in the toolbox. We got to work clearing it all out, sorted things and Mike took a ton of stuff up to the car to toss later.

With the bench cleared off, I could finally remove the ugly and worn out work surface. This stuff was pretty old, and I have no idea what it was made of. But it came off in one piece.

The first cheap trick was replacing this with a softer vinyl surface that will dampen sound, be easy to clean, and also cheap to replace. At Hancock Fabric I bought some soft backed heavy vinyl for 5$ a yard in a shade of pale blue that matches the rest of the interior. Why should Mike’s man cave be the only ugly place on the boat? I bought enough to make a covering for the teak table in the salon so that we could use it as an extra work surface without damaging the wood. I cut a piece to fit Mike’s bench, using double sided carpet tape to seal the deal. I love that stuff because it keeps things in place but it isn’t permanent. The kind we have has the consistency of flat rubber cement. You can re-position and remove it without trouble. I used the scraps from this piece of vinyl to line the shelf in the cabinet. More sound deadening.

My second cheap decorating trick is happening in the aft head. Readers with good memories will recall that I recently had to strip off the old wallpaper in this cabin because I couldn’t stand it anymore, knowing there were old mold stains hiding back there.

Here’s a reminder of what we had to work with.

Like every boat owner I know, I get weary of having to pay ‘marine’ prices for stuff like paint. I see no reason why I should have to use marine paint for this surface. After scrubbing with bleach water and sanding the walls lightly,  I used a Zinsser product I had at home to prime the walls and seal them to prevent stains from showing. Then I went to Lowes and for 3$ was able to buy a 7.5 ounce sample of paint in the color of my choice. On boats, the surfaces are small so having to buy an entire quart or gallon of paint just doesn’t make sense. I love that Lowe’s offers this sample service.  I chose a color called ‘Sweet Mimosa’ and got started on that room today. Here’s what we have so far.

Yum! The color of sunshine, blue skies, and warm breezes.

I’m feeling so much better about this room that I’m going to add some additional colors to this wall to make the color richer, less flat. At 3$ for about a cup of paint, I can go crazy layering colors until I get the effect I want. This cabin is totally coming together with the colors in the aft cabin. I get excited about things like that. Really, I’m so easy to please.

So our third cheap trick is one I’m really happy with. Eventually we hope to find a way to remodel our aft cabin giving us a queen berth where we can both sleep as one. Until then, however, we’re enjoying it the way it is. Except that the mattress I was sleeping on had to go. It was old, worn out, and had mildew stains on the edge. I wanted a new mattress but good quality foam is very expensive, and then you have to cover it, adding time and labor to the process. There had to be a better way.

I measured the footprint of the berth and compared it to standard mattress sizes. I found that the ‘double’ I was sleeping on was actually only slightly wider than a standard twin XL mattress. (Why this berth would ever be considered a ‘double’ is beyond me.)  In terms of length, because the space isn’t square, it was shorter in only one area. Armed with this knowledge I turned to the source for all things that you want delivered in two days: Amazon. They may be the evil empire, but I was about to turn their evil to good.

I found a twin XL mattress that would come in a vacuum packed roll for $139.00.  It got excellent reviews, and a lot of them. Many people were using these in their RV’s. Add to cart. Then I knew I would want a memory foam topper because I am spoiled by our comfortable memory foam bed at home. I found one for $61.99. Add to cart. One click ordering. They make it so easy. Two days later…

Excitement in a tall box!

At the boat, Mike removed the mattress that had seen better days. I unrolled the vacuum packed mattress and it expanded quickly. The workmanship and materials are high quality, and it is made in the USA! Who knew? It fit like this:

You can see that one corner needs to be trimmed.  OOH, and there’s that fabric. See how it matches the aft head now? Scroll back up to that photo of the aft head… I’ll wait. Shiver!

With my trusty sewing scissors, I opened up the cover to reveal the foam inside. There were two layers of thick egg-crate-type foam, and a covering of batting and fabric.

Opening up the corner, preserving the covering and the welting.

Opening up the corner, preserving the covering and the welting. The trimming has begun.

Using a razor blade, I trimmed the foam back a bit at a time, fitting the mattress into place several times to be sure I didn’t trim off too much and got the right angle. I wanted a snug fit. When the foam was trimmed, I pulled the cover around the edge tightly and pinned it in place, flipped the mattress over, and sewed the cover in place along the bottom, using strong thread and a heavy needle.

Bottom of mattress with cover pulled tight around the edge and pinned.

A metal thimble is a must for this kind of sewing.

I then flipped it over again, trimmed the batting on the top to fit, and whip stitched the top to the side to prepare for the welting.

Whipping the top batting into place.

Finally I covered the seam with the welting and sewed that into place.

Start to finish took about 2 hours.

And now, it fits:

A perfect fit.

I am very pleased with the results. If you have priced custom marine mattresses, you’ll know that about 200$ doesn’t buy you much. This bed is quite firm, and I am happy to have bought the memory foam topper. In addition, because this is basically a twin mattress with the corned cut off, I will be able to use regular bedding. Because this mattress is mostly rectangular in a trapezoidal space, there is a gap between the mattress and the side of the boat at the head and on the side. My plan is to have colorful pillows that match the fabric I’m using in this space. It will make a lovely, comfortable area for lounging and sleeping. The best part is that this was dead easy. I won’t hesitate to do this kind of thing in the other cabins as needed.

My other project, the cushions in the salon, is coming right along. This is making a huge impact in that cabin and as a whole, we are feeling more and more like this is ‘our’ boat. Mike made the comment that when he came down into the salon, it felt like a different boat. I liken it to something finally coming alive.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that the gods are all pleased with us and that we will actually complete part one of this Little Cunning Plan by bringing Galapagos home next week.

 

 

Small Things and Alcoholic Beverages

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“Hey, it’s the lighthouse on Cape Disappointment.”, I commented, calmly, serenely, getting out my camera.

Mike, at the wheel of Galapagos, looked up.  “What? Are you kidding? Really?” he queried in his surely-you-are-a-crazy-woman voice.

I was amused. Seriously. Mike always amuses me, but generally it’s on purpose. Was this his brilliant attempt at dry humor? Did he think I was being ironic? I mean, we were in the middle of the damn Columbia River bar. What cape did he THINK we would be passing?

“Yeah, that’s Cape Disappointment over there.” I said, pointing my camera to the north and using the voice of extreme patience because clearly this man was confused and yet he was steering a 40,000 pound vessel across waters known as the Graveyard of the Pacific. My life was in his hands. I didn’t want him having some kind of a mental health moment just then.

He looked at me. Perhaps his eyes puddled up, or maybe that look meant he was coming down to earth from wherever he’d been.

“Melissa. You know what that means?”   Was I supposed to answer that? Was this a trick question? Maybe rhetorical in nature?  I could only shake my head in mute anticipation.

“It means we’re really doing this! We’re really doing it!”

Whew. Yes, of course. We. Are. Doing. It. This man has been so micro-focused on completing tasks, on doing what needs to be done, the fact that we are actually ready to bring Galapagos home was lost on him. Sometimes it’s the small things, like seeing a light house, that brings the entirety of the whole info focus. Crossing the river bar for the first time is a small symbolic victory, in spite of the fact that we chose our time carefully and it was calm and uneventful. Whoop de doo. Still, there was a decided thrill of excitement as Galapagos galloped out to sea, hoping to turn left.

Measuring the wind speed with the cool little Vaavud wind meter for smartphones. We love this thing!

This was the second day in a long and eventful weekend during which we checked many small things off our ‘to do’ list. It started with getting fuel for the first time. Let’s just say this: gone are the days when 12 gallons fills our tank. We put in 50 gallons for now. We don’t have a clue how much fuel the new engine consumes. It’s supposed to be very efficient. Keep a good thought on that.

Our goal of the day was to find an anchorage and hopefully do some sailing. The last time we went sailing was when we delivered Moonrise to her new owners. It’s time to check ‘sail this bloody boat’ off the list. I breathed a sigh of intense relief as we exited the marina without drama.  With the wind behind us, we put out the head sail and before long we were getting 6-7 knots on the GPS, against the current and tide. Galapagos is a heavy boat. We were well pleased with this.

We love it that this boat will move under headsail alone. We did have about 15 knots of wind, but we were going against the current and the tide, so we’re still pleased.

We tested out the anchoring system and spent our first night at a lovely anchorage just north of Tongue Point. The windlass works smoothly, although there is work to do on the electrical switches at the bow. The cockpit switch works, making the repair of the bow switches something that we can put off until we are in Puget Sound. We hardly know what to think that we are now people with an electric windlass. Somehow, that seems out of character.

Being able to anchor out is mission critical.

Workaholics that we appear to be (we really have you fooled on that one!) we though we would accomplish a couple of things while at anchor. We accomplished much. Mike accomplished a long and deserved nap in the cockpit. I whiled away the afternoon doing a little thing called ‘READING A BOOK’.  Oh joy!

While there we did actually measure our mast. Let’s just put it this way: that Port Townsend cut with its bridge clearance of 60 feet is no longer an option for us. We are at 59.75 feet from the top of the mast to the water, plus a couple or three feet for the antennae at the top. And Mike checked out our running lights and anchor light. Check!

This 100 foot tape measure came in handy for measuring the stick.

Mike made a delightful discovery as we whiled away the hours at anchor. He kept looking at the GPS display and noticing that our batteries were more than fully charged and had remained that way even though we had been using electronics and the fresh water pump inside. Because we don’t yet have refrigeration on the boat, we figured we had a pretty low energy draw. That is true, but still be should have been seeing some kind of decline in the charge, especially over the course of many hours. I mean, we did use the electric windlass and that surely uses some kind of power. The only answer was that we must be getting extra charge from somewhere and that was, in fact, the case. Apparently the solar panels, which we thought needed replacing, are still working! Who knew? What a pleasant surprise that was.

I thought anchoring out was probably enough of a goal for one weekend, but Mike had other ideas. He wanted to cross the river bar and get out on the ocean. After early morning coffee in the cockpit (have we mentioned lately how much we love this cockpit?) we pulled up anchor by 9:00 Sunday morning so we could motor down to the bar and cross at slack tide. Having a few years of sailing experience helps when anticipating stuff like this. This area of water is dramatic and treacherous, leading to many stern warnings about staying safe. Only two days before there was loss of life, again, in that passage. (They were in a small, open boat, Mom.)  Rather than focus on what not to do, we prefer to focus on how to do what we need to do safely, then follow directions. So we timed it and crossed at slack water and it was completely uneventful. The view of Cape Disappointment, flying pelicans, sea lion buddies, and millions of seabirds were more interesting than anything going on with the water beneath the hull.  We will do our best to be that lucky next time.

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Once Mike realized we were in the clear in terms of water turbulence, he was chomping to get the sails up. We had not even cleared the bar when he decided I should take the wheel and he would put out the head sail. Um. No.  I know ‘oh captain, my captain’ and all that, but it seemed to me that we could get out past the coast before tooling around on the foredeck and adding more to the steering equation. And thus it came to pass. We cleared crab pot alley and then put out the headsail. And it was glorious! Our plan was to sail as close as we could to the wind and try to go northwest. HAHAHAHAHA! Silly fools. That will never work.

We were hoping to avoid the usual motorboat ride up the coast of Washington State, thinking maybe we would tack way out into the ocean and then back. But there is southbound current and then the wind is almost always from the north as well. So those two forces of nature together conspired to the point where, after three hours of sailing, we were no further north than we started. It was sort of like having one of those lap pools that allow you to swim constantly but still get nowhere. That will teach us. At least it would be easy getting back to the coast at the right time.

Cape Disappointment, aptly named I’m sure. 100% rock.

So we took a break, pulled in the sails, and christened our vessel on the sea. We had denamed her previously, and she’d been patiently waiting for the renaming ceremony. We recorded it for our own amusement, but we share these raw, unedited videos with you here for yours. Yes, those champagne flutes are glass, and no, we are not drunk in the videos. That’s just how it looks when you are balancing on a heaving deck with bottles and glasses and papers everywhere. This was a serious occasion. Try to be respectful, will you?

One sip for Mike, the rest for Poseidon.

One sip for Mike, the rest for Poseidon.

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And the final chapter. Watch while Mike hits his stride, his Southern Baptist origins beginning to show, presence of alcoholic beverages not withstanding.*

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So she is well and truly named, the Coast Guard paperwork is filed, and we are on target to leave Astoria over the 4th of July holiday, now that the gods have all been appeased, we hope. Next weekend we will have a Coast Guard safety check, just to cover our bases, and finish up small projects such as locating the source of the smell in the engine room. Hint: we fear it is plumbing related.  More on that as things develop. Other projects that may or may not be addressed as time allows include a new mattress in the aft cabin (file this under cheap boat tricks), paint in the aft head, and more cushion coverings. And that’s just my own list.

Live long and prosper?

In other news, today is Mike’s birthday and I’ve been dribbling presents to him for a couple of days now. Of course, the best present was this weekend’s successful venturing. But he’s also, so far, received a sailor’s palm and very cool leather thimble, and a picture of his grandpa Hiram Boyte who was called ‘Red’, to hang in the engine room. We’ve named the Beta ‘Hiram’ after him. “Red’ Boyte was a steady and reliable influence on Mike when he was growing up. We like that in a grandpa, and also in an engine.  More surprises await Mike at his birthday dinner tonight. Nothing like stringing this thing out.

‘Red’ Boyte behind the counter at a diner in Chicago, circa about 1935.

*In spite of how it looks in the photo, we are not fans of drinking and driving, whether it be on boats or in cars. We don’t do it. Period. Be assured that the gods of the sea and wind had most of both of those bottles of champagne. I hope they liked them.