Whirlwind Work Weekends

Lack of activity on the blog certainly isn’t reflective of lack of activity on the boat, as we have been hard at work over the last 4 weekends. In fact, we spent more time aboard in the last month than the two previous months combined!

Our whirlwind work weekends began on May 14, when I headed to the boat alone, as Christie was traveling for work. The plan was for her to fly into Houston and join me for our anniversary weekend. (Yes, I have a committed wife because she agreed to spend our anniversary aboard.) Unfortunately due to flight cancellations she wasn’t able to make it to Houston. I drove back to Dallas where we had a fantastic celebration at Hotel Joule, the place we stayed on our wedding night.

But before I left I was able to:

• Unpack the Cape Horn self steering
• Become completely intimidated by the installation process
• Attend the annual Kemah swap meet to sell and score some boat gear

We returned on May 20 for a great 4-day Memorial Day weekend and to celebrate my birthday. While there we managed to:

• Remove the old name (Fiona) and polish the transom
• Sand and re-varnish the forward cabin handrails
• Celebrate hard work, being debt free and my birthday with champagne
• Get the neighbors and family involved in deciding how to mount the Cape Horn
• Measure and drill the test hole in the transom for the Cape Horn
• Enjoy some family time at the Legend Point Craw Fish Boil
• Prep the boat for a new bottom job and drop it off at South Texas Yacht Service

The next weekend aboard began by returning Kaleo to the water where she belongs. We also:

• Had Casey, Christie’s brother, aboard to help strip and sand the coaming tops. Thanks Casey!
• Remeasured the mounting location of the Cape Horn (to be sure), then drilled a 2 1/2″ hole in the transom
• Test fit the Cape Horn and fiberglassed the interior supports inside the lazzerette

And finally our most recent weekend aboard allowed us to complete the longest ongoing boat project yet.

• We finished installing the cowl vents on the dorades, which were rebuilt last summer. On this note, do not deal with Blue Water Hardware, as Scott, the owner, took our money, didn’t deliver the product and will not return emails or calls!
• Matt spent more time in the lazzerette working on the Cape Horn and the install is now about 60% complete
• Attended Christie’s cousin’s graduation at Dayton High School

We’re taking a break in Dallas this weekend, but we’ll be back aboard this summer for more projects, family time, friends visiting and of course, sailing!!