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Set and Share Life Goals
Saturday, March 20th, 2010 /

A big part of our dream, and any dream for that matter, is writing it down and setting steps to achieve it.

We’ve recently found a web service that helps us jot down, track our progress and share these dreams as they come so we can make room for even more. mySomeday is designed to help you achieve those goals and dreams you’ve always said you’d get to ‘Someday’. It even goes a step further by letting you share and connect with others that may have similar dreams.

Twitter response from MySomeday upon creating our MySomeday

Features:

  • Record your life goals
  • Share your goals with friends and family
  • Receive encouragement to achieve your goals
  • Similar tools: GoalBot, 43Things, GetGoaling and stickK
Category: Cruising, Inspiration, Resources, Sailing  Tags: , , ,  Leave a Comment
A little work and a long overdue sail
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 /

Over the past few months our time aboard Kaleo has been spent working on the boat, measuring for parts and anticipating our first sail of spring.

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This past weekend we got the best of both worlds by getting some projects checked off the list and getting to go for a great sail in Galveston Bay. We both were able to take Friday off, drove down Thursday night, and had three full days aboard. Friday was spent finishing the install on the head (bathroom) sink counter, setting the actual sink in place and hooking up the water lines. We also picked up our dinghy from Triad Marine, where it had been repaired.

Saturday we had hoped to go sailing but the tide was far too low to get the boat out of the slip. During the winter a strong North wind blows and forces a lot of the water out of Galveston Bay. This gives exaggerated low tides and our keel is literally sitting in the mud, so we can’t go anywhere. Nevertheless it was a beautiful day so we fit the companionway doors, cleaned up the mess left from rebedding the chain plates, finished up some misc. projects, took the dinghy for a test row, visited our broker Carolyn at their new office and got the boat ready for her first sail of the year.

Sunday turned out to be a perfect day for sailing so we made for the open ocean (really just Galveston Bay) at first light (really about 10:00). The wind was 6-9 knots and blowing from the East. In fact the wind was blowing from exactly where we wanted to go. We had decided to make for Houston Ship Channel #59, the best entry point for pleasure craft headed to Galveston Island. It dawned on Matt that this was the first time we have ever had to tack Kaleo to a destination. All the other times sailing her we just went at the best angle to the wind with nowhere in particular to go to. This was good practice for us as you can see below the track we recorded on iNavX, an iPhone navigation app, turned out the be pretty spot on. We also practiced our two bearing fixes for coastal navigation.

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Our tack path to Marker 59 & back

Category: Dinghy, Galveston Bay, Sailing  Tags: , ,  One Comment
Refit-To-Date Wrap Up
Saturday, March 13th, 2010 /

Part of the fun of boat projects is crossing them off the list and we are finally seeing some big progress in getting some crossed off. Over the last few months we got quite a bit done, though it was all planned to be done months before that. One of the details about refitting a boat that we’ve learned is that every project “costs twice as much and takes three times longer than planned”. Boat friends had warned us of this reality but it didn’t really sink in until we started experiencing it.

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Matt installing solarvent above head

Often times what takes so long is waiting for parts. Matt makes an order and sure enough they get delivered the Monday after we had already been down to the boat for the weekend (we travel 4 hours each way to work aboard Kaleo about every other week). Along with waiting for parts to arrive comes the truth that every project takes longer than planned, no matter if you plan in extra time for it. That means there were quite a few Sundays we leave the boat with projects partially done. And there are of course the times we have all the parts and all the time but weather (too cold or too wet) manages to get it the way to see bigger progress.

We’ve even dropped the car keys in the water (not unlike the wedding band a few months before) but luckily had the Davis Key Buoy on the keychain, which floated the key to the surface just as promised.

Over the last few months we’ve crossed of the following (but there’s still plenty of work we’re in the middle of and ahead):

Head

  • From hand-pump low quality to bluewater-worthy Lavac electric toilet
  • Waste tank monitor
  • Granite counter top
  • Faucet
  • Shower head
  • Shower head cabinet

Galley

  • Double sink
  • Pressure water faucet
  • Sea water and fresh water foot pumps & faucets
  • Water filter
  • Sink fillers
  • Reglued galley drawers

Salon/V-berth

  • Upgraded to LED lights
  • Nav station R/W LED light
  • V-Berth fan
  • V-Berth mattress from Riverside Mattress
  • Cleaned A/C filters
  • Removed old velcro from salon cushion backs
  • Hang photos

Deck

  • Find chain stripper
  • Weld chain stripper
  • Install Solarvent
  • Re-hung shore power cord
  • Had dinghy repaired
  • Re-bedded chain plates
  • Re-bedded whisker pole holder
  • Replaced windlass footswitch
  • Replaced mainstay tangs
  • Replaced dorade box tops
  • Cowl vents (on order)
  • Proved the Davis Key Buoy will float keys to the surface

Category: Refit  Tags:  One Comment
Some Gear That Keep Us Going
Sunday, January 10th, 2010 /

We’ve certainly started more projects than have finished lately. It seems that in the boating world parts take longer to arrive than the time it takes to do the actual project. We’re currently waiting on the delivery of items such as dorade cowls, a finished bathroom counter top & revamped companionway doors.

So while we have less completed project updates, we do have a few tools that we’ve started relying on time and time again. The first is a custom screwdriver called a Picquic.

Matt first read about this at Navagear and I (Christie) got him the Mariner for Christmas! It’s especially handy because it was custom ordered with the bits we need most (e.g., a square bit because our Canadian boat was built with square screws).

A second tool that sees a lot of use is the Power8 Workshop, basically the most common power wood working tools combined into one flexible unit. Another holiday gift (it was a good Christmas for Matt), this makes it easy for him to handle projects and fabricate parts that he would normally have to pay someone to do. A bonus for boating life is that it packs into a small case and is powered by batteries, meaning it can be used in remote anchorages or when away from a power source.

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Category: Gear, Resources  Tags: ,  Leave a Comment
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