s/v Kaleo

Saturday, March 26th, 2011 / Christie & Matt

… but none we can make.Yet.

First thing Saturday, we moved a little more north along Long Island to Thompson Bay and found ourselves a deep and sandy spot to secure our hook.

Christie and Mili headed in to town to explore the local farmer’s market, check out the grocery store and hike across the island to beachcomb along the Atlantic side of Long Island. With the gals off the boat and with room to work (visualize tools everywhere and our home in disarray), the guys excitedly jumped into the watermaker install.

Matt working to hook up the pump motor

After hooking up the pump motor and a few calls with the factory, it became apparent there was a problem. Our power source, a Honda 2000 generator, couldn’t start the motor even though the watermaker is designed for this exact generator. Joined by Ken, a certified electrician from a neighboring trawler,” Barbara”, we double checked our wiring, ran multiple tests with different generators and none solved the problem.

In the meantime, Christie and Mili had hiked in a few extra miles all over Salt Pond (the town) tracking down parts that we ultimately wouldn’t end up needing. Frustration started to settle over “Kaleo” as we had hoped this would be a near-seamless install. But, who are we kidding. It’s a boat project after all.

Matt talked with the company’s co-founder a few times and was assured that they are willing to do whatever it takes to get it up and running. The only problem is that shipping a new motor out here is much more complicated than simply making a parts exchange back in the states. It’s a multi-week ordeal involving air freight, customs, duty fees, etc. Not to mention the time it will take for all this to happen and we’re not keen on returning to George Town to wait again. The builders are looking into how we might fix it out here and we’ll go from there.

Ted and Matt discussing the install

Frustrated at having waited in George Town for an extra few weeks and now still without a watermaker, we cleaned up then joined Ted and Mili aboard “MG” for dinner and a distracting game of Mexican Train. “MG” said they are happy to make us water anytime and we truly appreciate what a blessing they are to us. The dinner, game and company were the high points of the day but we returned to Kaleo exhausted and still a bit deflated.

N 23° 31.09 / W 75° 08.04

Category: Anchor, Bahamas, Boat Life, Friends, Gear, Refit Leave a Comment

Looking Forward While Celebrating 2010

Tuesday, January 04th, 2011 / Christie & Matt

As we look forward to what 2011 has in store for us, we reflected on our blessed-beyond-belief 2010. This has been a year of big changes, new beginnings and celebrations galore.

Looking forward to a walk like this soon

The first part of our year was filled with starting more projects than we finished on Kaleo, learning as much as we could aboard, as well as through Seven Seas University courses, and spending a few freezing weekends planning for warmer weather projects.

Spring brought warmer weather, some great sailing in Galveston Bay, the wedding of our dear friends, Amy & Jeph, and Christie’s parents’ 35th wedding anniversary in April.

May was a landmark month as we became officially debt free, gaining financial freedom. We also moved from our 1,400 square foot townhome to a 650 square foot studio apartment to better prepare for our life aboard Kaleo. And, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary at The Joule, were we stayed on our wedding night. Of course, we spent a few weekends completing some boat projects along the way.

With the Texas summer heat came lots of family and friends visiting the boat, marina BBQ’s, and more boat projects. And in June, the “Cyclin’ Sailors” geared up for our 4th annual Urban Assault Race in Austin!

The Fourth of July was shared with the Wilborns by sailing and watching incredible fireworks shows while anchored out in the bay. Then, we jetted to Coeur D’ Alene, ID to celebrate the newest Butchers, as Matt’s brother Jeff married his bride, Meloney. We topped off the trip to the Northwest with an incredible experience of sleeping 50′ off the ground in the boughs of a giant, old Washington Red Cedar Tree at Cedar Creek Treehouse and touring Mt. Rainier National Park. Of course, we spent a few weekends completing some boat projects along the way.

While the summer heat continued to bake us, we enjoyed a shakedown cruise to Galveston with the Kryzaks and a sailing weekend with The Powers. Of course, we spent a few weekends completing some boat projects along the way.

The fall brought a trip to Minneapolis to celebrate Grandma Butcher’s 90th birthday, visit with family and to Trader Joe’s to stock up on our favorite snacks. The realization that we were now within one month of tossing the docklines helped us get a lot of boat projects wrapped up almost every weekend.

October was a big month as Matt took his leave of absence from work, Christie resigned from her job, we moved out of our land home and aboard Kaleo full-time, sold a car and put another one in storage along with our belongings. We soaked up treasured time with loved ones and were given three outstanding Bon Voyage parties. We also got to celebrate the marriage of Ben and Carly (Matt’s cousin) and spent time with family in San Diego. Of course, we managed another trip to Trader Joe’s for more provisions.

November 8th marked the beginning of our cruising life. Before leaving the dock, we met up with some cruising mentors, The Sittons, and celebrated Christie’s birthday with family and a dear friend, Crystal, aboard. The month was filled with a host of new experiences – from adjusting to life aboard to overcoming unknown challenges and navigating new waters to connecting with new friends along the way. We topped it off with a roadtrip from Mississippi to Texas to spend Thanksgiving with family.

The year wrapped up by crossing the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and into Florida. It was on those passages that we learned to love the open ocean, more fully appreciate warm days and spent time digging our toes into our first white sandy beach. Christmas with shared with family and friends in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida and we were back home aboard Kaleo on New Year’s Eve.

We welcomed the new decade with the most unusual of celebrations for us at this time of year. The clock struck midnight as we pushed two carts down the isles of a 24-hour Walmart. We laughed and shared a little “Happy New Year” smooch in the canned goods aisle and continued provisioning in preparation for the Bahamas and beyond. Yes, really. Oh, the cruising life ;o).

Thank you for joining us as virtual crew along this adventure. It means a lot to us. We wish you peace, blessings and togetherness in your new year!

We’re ready for 2011 and believe the best is yet to come. God has even more amazing things He wants to do in and through our lives so we’re straining to what is ahead. (Philippians 3:13-14)

Category: Alabama, Boat Life, Coeur d' Alene, Cruising, Education, Family, Finance, Florida, Friends, Galveston Bay, Inspiration, Louisiana, Mississippi, Passage, Provisioning, Refit, Resources, Sailing, Seattle 2 Comments

It’s Go Time!

Sunday, November 07th, 2010 / Christie & Matt

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity, all in effort for tomorrow morning. The must-do preparations have been crossed off the list (either completed or deemed not truly a must-do) and we’ve enjoyed some treasured time with family and friends.

Kaleo staged for departure

Tomorrow morning, we set sail on the dream we’ve been pursuing for the past few years. We’re going into it with a lot of excitement, a little trepidation, and genuine wonder. But above all, we are thankful. First, to the Lord for a dream becoming a reality, to our families for all of their help and for lifting us up to reach this dream, to our friends for their encouragement and to our marina neighbors, who have become friends, for their advice, tool swaps, and making the marina feel like home.

To help us remember what has been a blur and to share with you what’s been going on since we left Dallas, here are a few highlights:

Our friend, Maurice, joined Matt aboard for a week to finish re-wiring the boat, mark the anchor chain, rig the reef lines, make a fender board, etc.
Survived some cuts, bangs and bruises as we worked in every nook and cranny of Kaleo
Installed a hot water heater (Kaleo now has almost all the luxuries of a modern home, just on a much smaller scale)
Finished loading and organizing provisions aboard
Spent a rainy night discovering a leaky gasket in the v-berth hatch (poor Matt awoke to water slowly drip, drip, dripping on his forehead)
Sold Christie’s car and tucked Matt’s truck in storage along with the rest of our land life belongings
Made about a million and one trips to West Marine, Home Depot, Target, Walmart, and a host of other stores for final stock-ups
With the help of Christie’s dad, installed the chart plotter, loaded the safety locker (holds the liferaft, life jackets, safety harnesses, and EPRIB) and built a shelf for the dinghy gas can
Got to celebrate Christie’s birthday with her family (thanks for treating us to a celebratory dinner at her favorite local Mexican restaurant, Mas Amigos! and for having us as house guests for awhile)
Continued the birthday celebration with a visit from our friend, Crystal, for a dinghy ride to have dinner at Opus Bistro near our marina
Enjoyed a little send-off with our marina neighbors and received some great books, a set of Pardey cruising how-t0 DVD’s and lots of helpful advice
Received a visit from some fellow cruisers, The Sittons, who have their boat in a marina close to ours and have recently cruised the Bahamas. They generously shared their experiences with us and gave us a special super absorbent towel for drying off quickly and a conch shell they brought back from the Bahamas for us to return when we harvest our own.
Started adjusting our plans to the shorter days of Daylight Savings Time (sunrises at 6:30, sunsets at 5:30!)

Today Kaleo got a much needed bath, we painted the registration numbers on Squeak (our new dinghy), ran a few final errands (thanks Mike for letting us borrow your truck!), secured the dinghy on deck and are now off to get some much-needed rest. We feel a bit like kids on Christmas Eve with anticipation for what tomorrow will bring.

As we get underway, we want to point out a feature that’s now on the blog, our live track map. Click the GLOBE ICON in the upper left-hand corner of the site and you will see a map featuring the last position report from our SPOT tracker. It’s a new feature, so please contact us if you experience any technical trouble.

Category: Cruising, Dinghy, Family, Friends, Inspiration, Refit Tags: Cruising, Dinghy, Family, Friends, Inspiration, Refit 2 Comments

Preparation By The Numbers

Friday, October 15th, 2010 / Christie & Matt

The tallies are in and we’re in the home stretch to setting sail. There’s still plenty of work to do (as always) but soon enough the tally on lines tied to the dock will be zero.

4.5 – Hours each way from Dallas to Kemah, Kemah to Dallas
9.25 – Hours spent in the car with each other, each trip to Kaleo
323.75 – Total hours of drive time so far!
19,320 – Miles traveled between Dallas and Kemah, to date, since we bought Kaleo
1 – Trip to go before we set sail!
.5 – Average trips to Sonic per weekend
95 – Average summer temperature in Kemah (projects got started early in the morning and our A/C got a lot of use)
0 – Trips to the ER (though Christie tried to get us there at least twice)
6 – Overnight guests aboard Kaleo so far (awesome crew!)
5 – Trips going aloft (up the mast)
5 – Stories high (the height of the mast!)
2 – Times ran aground so far (been able to free ourselves without help – so far)
1 – Tows back to our marina slip (engine overheated in the Bay, was certainly worth having insurance)
2.5 – Average trips to West Marine per weekend
2 – Average product return/exchange trips to West Marine per weekend
5 – Immunizations (just to be safe)
20 – The most frequently asked questions that we happily answered here
24 – Hours we’ll be spending together each day in our new Huck Finn lifestyle
2 – Potentially crazy (in love) people aboard

Thanks to Windtraveler for this ‘by the numbers’ idea.

Category: Inspiration, Refit Tags: Inspiration, Refit 2 Comments

A Chart Plotter Worth The Wait

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 / Christie & Matt

Today Matt picked up our new chart plotter, a Lowrance HDS-8M (displays marine maps, our location and programmed destinations). This was no impulse purchase as months of exhaustive research and navigation system design were key in deciding on the 8M. After several months of monitoring and bidding on eBay, we finally secured the chart plotter at a great price, saving over $600 off retail. As a bonus, the eBay seller is located in Dallas so we were able to save on shipping and ensure it was in new condition before buying it.

Chart plotter ready to be installed

Category: Electronics, Lowrance, Refit One Comment

Working To Get There

Tuesday, September 07th, 2010 / Christie & Matt

We have so much to share about preparing to cruise but with working 100% at our jobs and 100% on or sailing Kaleo on the weekends, we’ve had little time to blog about it.

We’re excited to say that Kaleo is closer than ever to being cruise ready!

In the past couple of weeks we’ve:

Solidified our initial cruising route. Details to come.
Learned a ton about provisioning (SSU Provisioning course) and have started building our master provisioning list.
Taken a cruising first aid course, and with the help of Matt’s paramedic/firefighter brother decided on our ship’s medical kit, the Marine 1000.
Completed the design of Kaleo’s electrical system (which needs to be redone) with help from Scott at SLTF Marine.
Chosen the best anchor chain (5/16” G40) and length (200 ft) to replace Kaleo’s current rusted chain and rope rode.
Decided on our integrated communications setup after watching Communications Alternatives for Cruisers on Seven Seas U. We are forgoing a satellite phone, and starting out with a WiFi extender, international cell phone that accepts local SIM cards, Skype, the SPOT tracker, SSB receiver and of course VHF.
Learned more about the optimal fridge/freezer setup through another SSU class. We’ve decided to test our current system out for a few months before re-insulating the fridge.

There is still much to learn and a few final decisions to make, like settling on our chart plotter and solar panels.

We’re also still debating (and exhaustively researching) a hot water heater and watermaker. Any guidance or experience you’ve had with or without them is always welcome.

Category: anchoring, Education, Electrical, Refit Tags: Anchoring, Education, Electrical, Refit 2 Comments

Heat Exchanger Issue Resolved

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 / Christie & Matt

If the last post left you hanging, don’t worry. We returned to Kaleo last weekend to fix the unresolved heat exchanger issue. Earlier in the week, I took the original rebuilt heat exchanger to the cooling place that claimed to have rebuild it. After a quick pressure test, it proved to be faulty, which is why we dumped all the coolant and overheated coming back in from the night sail.

I found a replacement through Mr.Cool, who had a new one rush built and shipped to our marina by Friday (for less money than the original rebuild). Jim, from Mr. Cool, was very helpful and I would highly recommend them. While waiting for the heat exchanger to arrive, I replaced all the fuel filters (our motor has 3) and the raw (ocean) water impeller, which had 4 of 6 vanes broken. Our engine is partially cooled by raw water which runs through the heat exchanger to cool it. But that same water is also corrosive which eventually caused the failure we just experienced.

Matt in the engine room (room in a misnomer, it’s more of a very small box)

After getting everything put back together, Christie’s parents joined us to hoist me up the mast. I spent almost 3 hours up there, got a nasty sunburn, but installed the new Garmin wind sensor and OGM tricolor/anchor light. Upon returning to sea level, I discovered only the anchor part of our tricolor light doesn’t work. Oh well, something else to add to the infinite project list.

We then took the boat out and motored fairly hard to test the cooling system and she worked like a champ. We’re ready for a trip to Galveston next weekend with friends!

Category: Engine, Refit Tags: Engine, Refit Leave a Comment

Whirlwind Work Weekends

Saturday, June 12th, 2010 / Christie & Matt

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!!

Category: Boat Life, Family, Haul Out, Maintenance, Refit Tags: Boat Life, Family, Haul Out, Maintenance, Refit 2 Comments

Companionway Doors Complete!

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 / Christie & Matt

As Christie and I are learning, boat projects always take much longer than anticipated. But that means it feels even better when a project is finally complete. We crossed another item off the list with the final hanging of the companionway (a boat’s front door) doors.

This project has been a cross-country build as:

We bought the teak wood in Seattle last summer
Matt’s dad completed the construction in Idaho
Matt sealed the wood in Dallas with Bristol Finish
Finally they were hung on the boat, providing a much easier way to close, enter and exit the companionway

These will provide a more pleasant living experience when we are anchored or in easy sailing weather. For rough weather we will use still the drop boards as they provide better protection against boarding seas and heavy rains. I really enjoyed this project in particular because I was able to work alongside my Dad, learn from his experience and have his craftsmanship aboard.

Category: Boat Life, Family, Refit, Seattle Tags: Boat Life, Family, Refit, Seattle One Comment

A Big 0 Means We’re 1 Step Closer

Monday, May 03rd, 2010 / Christie & Matt

We recently had a red-letter day in pursuing the cruising dream! As of April 29, 2010 we officially own Kaleo and no longer owe the bank a dime on it. More importantly, it was a red-letter day in life – We are officially debt free! We don’t owe a dime to anyone. No ifs, ands, or asterisks involved.

Screen shot of our loan account

Not only is it great to have paid off the boat, it feels even better because we did it earlier than planned (thanks to the payback of a generous interest-free loan we gave the government last year – aka our tax return) and a dedicated savings plan outlined by Crown.

Since before our marriage we have both been following the biblically-based Money Map (which is available for free right now) from Crown Financial Ministries. Following its steps have guided us to this liberating day of being debt free. The Money Map outlines specific steps to not only becoming debt free, but achieving true financial freedom (being able to use the resources we’ve been given to help others and live enjoyably).

Of course, our intention is to stay debt free as we follow the remaining steps of saving for a future land house, our future children’s college funds, and … well you’ll just have to order a Money Map to find out!

Obviously, we’re big fans of Crown, their Money Map and the daily money management tool we use, Crown Mvelopes. Whether you’re 6 or 60, Crown has advice, tools and live counsel to help you easily manage money successfully.

We are shifting our boat payment into the cruising fund and will build it up as much as possible before we take off. Now we just need to keep working on all the boat projects!

Category: Cruising, Finance, Inspiration, Refit Tags: Cruising, Finance, Inspiration, Refit 2 Comments

A Step Closer & Staying On Course

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 / Christie & Matt

The presence of wind powered self-steering is one of the surest ways to tell if a sailboat is used for passage making (sailing for extend times to different destinations). And Kaleo will soon enough be among the ranks of those boats. A wind powered self-steering system uses the wind to steer the boat on a steady course and once set, doesn’t require anyone to be at the helm. When sailing somewhere more than a few hours away, hand steering can be tiring and it’s hard to stay on the correct course after hours at the helm.

Cape Horn – Integrated Self-Steering System Schematic

We recently ordered our Cape Horn self-steering system and are now in the 6-8 week build window, anxiously awaiting its arrival. We did a lot of research on self-steering gear (in fact Matt read up on this topic before we even owned a boat) and considered many brands and types – Monitor, Hydrovane, self-made. We ultimately landed on the Cape Horn for three reasons:

Its reputation among the blue water sailing community
Its integration into the hull structure
A recommendation from an Aloha 34 owner who sailed with it to the South Pacific

Custom made for each vessel, the Cape Horn is built in Canada and will arrive via UPS in the next few weeks. Expect some pics of us unwrapping the system and a post or two detailing the install.

For the crusing inclined, read on about our reasoning for going with a wind vane over an autopilot. There are advantages to both systems and since they both cost about the same we chose the wind vane because it:

Requires zero power
Functions no matter what the boat systems are doing (important if you’re offshore for extended periods of time)
Requires crew dilegence in monitoring the wind and course (There is potential that an autopilot gives you an excuse to be lazy)
Doesn’t involve a computer. After all, part of going cruising is to get away from daily dependence on computers :)
It makes the boat look like a true blue water cruiser, which is very important for your in-port credibility!

Lastly, I can’t say enough about how great Yves Gélinas, owner, designer, and builder of Cape Horns was during the research and order process. Matt had so many questions that Yves answered and he even had numerous phone calls with Matt to talk him through the measurement and optimal install for Kaleo.

Category: Cape Horn, Cruising, Gear, Refit Tags: Cape Horn, Cruising, Gear, Refit 3 Comments

Alternative Energy Sources?

Tuesday, April 06th, 2010 / Christie & Matt

Our vessel, as with most cruising boats, is powered by 12-volt batteries that hold enough electricity to run the boat systems for 2-3 days without a charge. Many cruisers use alternative energy sources (i.e., solar or wind power) to help charge their batteries. We’ve been discussing the pros and cons of both for the last few weeks and are reaching out to other cruisers like you for advice. Do we need solar panels, a wind generator or neither?

Solar panels or Wind generator?

The pros/cons of solar panels:

Pros

Self-managed system
Works on sunny days, with wind or without
Acts as extra shade installed on the bimini

Cons

Operates only 8 hours at best
Overall less efficient than a wind generator
Big installation on top of the bimini

The pros/cons of a wind generator:

Pros

Generates more electricity than solar
Operates 24 hours a day (when the wind’s blowing)
Doubles as a water generator when sailing (DuoGen)

Cons

More expensive than solar
Noisy (compared to solar)
Large installation on the transom

This decision is informed in part by our cruising destinations of which the first season we’ll be sailing the route from Florida to Trinidad. And for our comparisons we are assuming two 90-watt Siemens solar panels or the DuoGen wind/water generator. We have a 90 amp alternator on the motor which would need to run for about 1 hour per day to keep the system charged without any alternative energy source.

Thoughts?

Category: Electrical, Refit Tags: Electrical, Refit 13 Comments

Water Pump Weekend

Sunday, April 04th, 2010 / Christie & Matt

This Saturday we wrapped up the fresh water system refit that has been ongoing since last summer. Matt installed the fresh water pump and accumulator tank, which now supplies water to the recently installed galley double sink and bathroom sink and shower.

We also managed to wash and scrub the entire deck, cleaning it of winter grime and dirt. Scrubbing 34 feet of boat deck took the better part of the morning but Kaleo shined like she hasn’t in a long time. Christie finished the to-do list by installing one of her Valentine’s Day presents, a new stainless throttle handle.

All this work was capped off by a great sail in Galveston Bay, where we saw Captain Kidd, a two-masted schooner. The sail also reminded us of how well the Aloha 34 is designed as she balanced herself (stayed on a course without any input from us) on the tack out and back in. The sail was capped off by the best slip-parking job to date, if only they all went that smoothly there would be a few less scratches on the hull.

On Sunday, we spent the afternoon at Christie’s grandmother’s house celebrating the most important date in history, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Everyday we thank Him for our talents, abilities and the desire to pursue this dream.

Category: Galley, Galveston Bay, Head, Plumbing, Refit, Sailing Tags: Galley, Galveston Bay, Head, Plumbing, Refit, Sailing Leave a Comment

Refit-To-Date Wrap Up

Saturday, March 13th, 2010 / Christie & Matt

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.

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: Refit One Comment

From Single to Double in the Galley

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 / Christie & Matt

Our original single-basin sink in the galley.
A little caulking romance.
Casey brought me to meet up with Matt while he was working on the new sink install. Looks like he found Kaleo to be pretty relaxing amidst the minor construction. The original single-basin sink in our galley was too shallow & small for any real dishwashing so we went on the search for the right double-basin. After months of research & an exhaustive search for an affordable option, we finally found one on eBay that fit the bill.

After a few weekends more than planned Matt got the old one removed, the counter cut out & the new one in place. In between all that, he managed to add fresh and salt water spigots (for greater water conservation), a new sprayer faucet, and plumbed all the necessary hoses. A now we have a fully functioning sink and an experience Matt hopes to only do once.

Category: Cruising, Galley, Plumbing, Refit Tags: Cruising, Galley, Plumbing, Refit Leave a Comment

If Only They Could All Look Like This

Saturday, October 10th, 2009 / Christie & Matt

It’s official. Today marks the LEAST amount of money we’ve spent at West Marine to date. That’s right, the decimal is in the right place … we spend a whopping $0.39 on 4 fasteners for the shower install.

Category: Cruising, Head, Plumbing, Refit Tags: Cruising, Head, Plumbing, Refit Leave a Comment

Sailors Like To Be Clean Too

Saturday, October 10th, 2009 / Christie & Matt

We spent the weekend getting a few new parts installed for liveaboard necessities. For some reason the former owner removed the shower system, but no worries Matt was able to install a more space and water efficient design that works perfectly for us.