Deciding where to mount the manual back-up pump.
Installing the waste hose.
Helping our marina neighbor load up his dinghy to be repaired.
Family stopped by for a fun visit and brought BBQ lunch for the crew.
Archive for the Category »Refit «
Sunday, September 06th, 2009 / Christie & Matt
Saturday, September 05th, 2009 / Christie & Matt
We spent this Labor Day weekend with one of our 1st major refit projects aboard Kaleo. September is dedicated to all things plumbing so we started with upgrading our manual-only toilet to an electric / manual back-up, Lavac. The 1st step was to have the holding tanks pumped out and rinsed followed by removing the old toilet. The greatest challenge was engineering a hose run that involved an electric pump, a manual back-up pump and a downhill run to the tank – all within the confines of the space below the v-berth.
We’re happy to report that with the help of Christie’s dad, Craig, the install was a success within “plan a” and without any sacrifices. We now have the convenience of an electric head with a manual back-up in case of power failure.
Saturday, August 29th, 2009 / Christie & Matt
Our Seattle weekend continued as we started Saturday with a visit to Pike Place for breakfast at The Crumpet Shop and to pick up some flowers to bring to Matt’s mom.
We then hit the road for a 5-hour road trip to Coeur d’ Alene to visit the family and celebrate Ken’s birthday.
Before heading out for Ken’s birthday dinner, he and Matt reviewed the test companionway doors and talked through their final design. We’ll leave the materials and plans in his good hands to be built. He even offered to build us an overlay for the bathroom countertop from some scrap granite he’s collected. It means a lot to us to have his craftsmanship aboard.
The boys taking a break while dad takes Jeff’s new bike out for a spin.
Category: Cockpit, Coeur d' Alene, Family, Head, Refit, Seattle
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Friday, August 28th, 2009 / Christie & Matt
We took full advantage of a long weekend in Seattle with a date night staying at The Edgewater and seafood dinner at Elliot’s, a refitting gear quest across some premier and cost-effective suppliers, and a visit with the family in Coeur d’ Alene.
- We started our sailing supplies’ gathering with a visit to Fisheries Supply (think Toys-R-Us for boaters). There we picked up epoxy (marine glue) for the companion way doors that Matt and his dad are building, our new electric Lavac Marine Toilet and some electrical wiring for the toilet pump. Through Matt’s exhaustive research, we chose a Lavac for its unparalleled reputation for simplicity and longevity among blue water cruisers. Earlier in the week, we ordered the necessary hoses from Defender Marine Outfitter.
- We then marveled at all the other treasures there and even picked out new LED lighting fixtures (but that’s in our October budget & refit plan so we jotted down the part #s and headed to our next stop).
- From there we headed to Crosscut Hardwoods to pick out some teak planks to build the companionway doors and a shower bench.
- We wrapped up a productive day with a romantic dinner at Elliot’s on the Bay and a nice night at The Edgewater.
Category: Coeur d' Alene, Defender, Family, Fisheries Supply, Imtra, Lavac, Refit, Seattle
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Saturday, August 08th, 2009 / Christie & Matt
The crew woke up to a great, yet hot, day with nice 12-15 mph winds. Some defining moments from Saturday:
- Started with a hearty breakfast
- Matt watched his wedding band slip of his freshly sun-screened hand and go kerplunk in the murky, muddy water at the slip! We assumed it was gone forever and made peace with the loss.
- Discovered new marina neighbor, Steve (who Christie coincidentally had met while running boat errands a few months ago and who happen to have bought a Pearson 365 that we looked at before buying our beloved, Kaleo!)
- Our surveyor (who we highly recommend if you need the best) and sailing friend/mentor, Drake Epple, stopped by to say hi. It’s always a treat to see him and we look forward to him joining us for a sail soon.
- Explored the treasure trove, Boaters Resale Shop of Texas, near our marina
- A great sail in the Bay with enough heel to make us all a little nervous, spotted lots of jelly fish hanging out and kicked back with lunch, fun chats and discovered our new favorite sailing channel on Pandora
- Saw a freshly sunk boat just outside of the channel with the captain still aboard and coast guard just arriving
- Jeph spotted a net to which he suggested dredging for the lost ring. On the 6th shot, Jeph nonchalantly announced, “this is the one guys”, Matt said a little prayer and the next thing we knew, Matt was spraying water through the mud to discover his ring the net! The pictures show Matt’s excitement and amazement.
- The guys spent the rest of the afternoon fitting the test companionway doors while the girls took a nap below in the cool A/C.
- We had a great dinner at Skippers, and then we went for a night motor (our 1st time to leave the slip after dark & navigate out of the channel). It was also our 1st time to see ocean phosphorescence lighting up the waves light underwater fireflies!
- Deck Schwab RedBeard even entertained us with a little recorder performance.
Category: Friends, Refit, Sailing
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Thursday, August 06th, 2009 / Christie & Matt
Today the first parts of our data network arrived, two Furuno FI-50 displays. These will be the primary displays for critical information in the cockpit.
The one on the left is a three-line digital display that will show water depth, speed, water temp & various other bits of navigation data. The one on the right will show the wind speed & direction relative to the bow of the boat. This will be great because right now we have to look at the windex on the mast to tell what direction it’s blowing, which makes for a sore neck by the end of the day.
Category: Electronics, Furuno, Refit
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Monday, August 03rd, 2009 / Christie & Matt
I got the garage cleaned out from the move and am building a workbench. That way I can “work” on Kaleo while in Dallas.
First projects slated to hit the bench: rebuilding the watermaker and building companionway doors from teak.
Category: Refit
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Sunday, July 12th, 2009 / Christie & Matt
I inflated the dinghy in the garage this afternoon to see what this little boat is all about. The dinghy is the like the car is to a house. It is our means of getting to shore from the boat when we are at anchor. Kaleo has a draft (in water depth) of 5′ 6″ so she can’t pull up to the shore unless there is a slip. In fact, in our slip she sits in the mud at low-tide.
So the dinghy will be our means of getting around the neighborhood when we are our cruising. The one that came with the boat is a West Marine 8-footer. The decision I am trying to make is, hard or rigid-inflatable dinghy?
We are going to take the dinghy back down to the boat and give it a try for a few months. No doubt this decision, like so many in cruising will involve lots of research, lots of differing opinions and ultimately just going with whatever works out.
Category: Cruising, Dinghy, Refit
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Thursday, July 09th, 2009 / Christie & Matt
We took on a new challenge this weekend and decided to anchor out to watch the fireworks for the Fourth.
We spent Friday testing the windlass, which needs some work, & doing general boat work. Afterward, I modified the Revere copper clad bottom pots we ordered from eBay and as wedding gifts. They have a rivet holding the handle to the pot and by drilling the rivet the handle comes off to nest within each other, taking up a lot less space. (A critical feature on a 34′ boat.) We got this great idea from our cruising mentors, Kirk & Lisa. Thanks guys!
Saturday came & it was hot (about 100). We worked on the boat and I mounted a solar garden light on our piling so I could more easily find our slip after dark.
Our marina neighbor, Kevin, hoisted me to the top of the mast so I could try and figure out why the mast navigation light doesn’t work. I was unsuccessful and ended up cutting my hand open because the bulb shattered as I tried to remove it from the socket. But I did meet our neighbor
and we agreed to trade his winching skills for my mast scaling ability. I plan to help him mount a block for a spinaker halyard next time we’re here.
Th family came about 4:00 and we motored out to the bay. There was more vessel traffic than we’d ever seen. And that was just the beginning. We picked a spot & Christie did a fantastic job of piloting while her brother & I dropped the hook. Her dad BBQed chicken while I worried about other boats anchoring too close. We ate a great meal & then watched the fireworks from the best vantage point we’ve ever experienced! The fireworks were so close & powerful that they shook the boat as they went off.
By the time we pulled the hook after the fireworks, the bay was inundated with boats. We then began the two hour journey back to the slip that typically only takes about 30 mins.
We’re heading back in two weeks and can’t wait!
Category: Family, Refit, Sailing
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Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 / Christie & Matt
We jetted down to Houston for Easter weekend with The Family and had a chance to spend Friday night aboard Kaleo. Staying on the boat was exciting but I kept getting up in the night to check our dock lines. Even though they’ve held un-watched for the last month, I was still nervous about them. I also added to the project list as the foot of the v-berth needs to be extended as the top of my head was right on the edge.
If I could choose one word to describe the experience it would be “silent”. The whole evening was so quiet and we were still in the middle of a city. I can’t wait to hear (or not hear anything) when we are on the hook (that means anchored out, surrounded only by water).
Saturday we spent some time messing about and received an excellent house warming/wedding gift of a new Kuuma grill for the aft rail. This was a gracious gift from Craig, Christie’s father. We plan to get it installed next time and give it a try.
We also motored out to the mouth of the Kemah cut then turned around (Christie had to get back for a spa appointment). It was lots of fun, or so I thought until I saw the pictures that Christie’s mom took. I look stressed out! Yet backing out of and pulling into the slip went superbly, I must still have some beginners luck on me. We tied her up and once again were sad to leave.
Category: Family, Refit, Sailing
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