June is almost gone

June has slipped by so quickly and we are making steady progress toward our goal of living aboard.  Kay is officially retired, the container is safely placed at Paul’s homestead in Westford, VT, and the owners of our rental, Stan and Liz, are making progress back from their sailing adventure toward home.  

There are medical matters to get squared away (medications, immunizations, etc.), a few loose ends with insurance, and finishing our packing.  All should be completed by the end of July.

We are finishing up a few repairs on the boat (main furler rebuild, some electrical issues and head repairs) but that should all be squared away by the end of the week.  Kay and I should be ready to move full time to Atalanta by mid August and depart New England waters by the beginning of September. 

In the meanwhile, we are hoping to get some great sailing in with friends in some of the most beautiful sailing grounds on the east coast.  This weekend Tara and Chad will join us.  For the fourth, we are looking forward to joining Blue Moon for a long weekend celebration. 

More to come.

Weekend in the Narraganset

The weather has not been cooperating lately.  This week brought more rain than anyone deserves.  Nevertheless, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday relented and gave us a wonderful weekend aboard with our good friend John.  While the winds did not make Block Island an ideal destination, we did find Newport and Potter’s Cove to be beautiful anchorages.  Once in Newport, a port that John had never been to before, we went on long walks and visited The Breakers and The Elms, two magnificent mansions of the Gilded Age.  While it is great to see such magnificent architecture and art, they also remind us of how our history has and may always be defined by the distance between those that have too much and those that struggle to get through each day.  It is clear that one cannot exist without the other.  Each owes to the other for their quality of life.

We also went to the Newport Shipyard to look at some of the most spectacular yachts in the world.  This is a yard designed to accommodate super yachts, mostly sail.  They had just put together their new travel-lift that took 8 tractor-trailer loads to bring to the site for assembly.  It can lift a mighty 500 tons!  We have never seen a lift with this capacity.  This lift can pull two hundred foot sailboat, rig out. 

Our preparations for traveling south are now focusing on packing up our belongings and placing them in a forty-foot trailer that Paul has so graciously allowed us to place on his property.  Load by load, we will be packing our possessions.  As we are packing up, Stan and Liz, our landlords are in the middle of a five-day sail to a U.S. port after two years in the Caribbean.  We wish them a safe journey and fair weather. 

More to come!

Memorial Weekend

Memorial Weekend was a challenge weather wise.  When sailing, the best made plans are always weather dependent.  While we had plans for a cruise to Block Island or the Elizabeth Islands, stiff winds, high seas and lots of rain kept us in the Narraganset for the weekend.  Fortunately, we were able to share good food and drink with our friends, Dennis and Sue, visit the Herreshoff museum (pics below) and catch Leo in the Great Gatsby.  Monday showed itself to be a better day.  After a sail in the Bristol area, we wandered over to Potter's cove for lunch on the hook.  What a difference the sun makes. While we are off the boat for the next week to be with the kids, we are looking forward to John joining us as our first guest of the season.     The pics below are some of the classic yachts on display at the Herreshoff Museum in Bristol.  An amazing display of design, engineering, innovation and just plain beauty.

On the Sailing Community

Kay and I are still waiting for summer weather to come to RI.  We have been living on board each weekend but still unable to tackle some of the outside painting/vanishing tasks.  As we put Atalanta back in order for cruising, we are looking forward to our Memorial Weekend cruise with Dennis and Sue on Blue Moon.  Initially our plan is to sail east toward Cutty Hunk and the Elizabeth Islands.  If the wind is out of the NE we could land up changing plans and heading toward Block.  Time will tell.

As we begin this sailing season, it is clear that there is a floating community out there.  Without looking out for each other, many of the challenges of the water would prove more risky and more difficult.  As we have needed support others have offered to help.  As others have needed help, we have offered our time and ability.  It is interesting that this strong sense of community exists where there is such movement and transiency.  Nevertheless, it is evident.  Without this sense of connection, it is unlikely that we would find time on the water as satisfying as it is.  

Dennis at the Top of Blue Moon

The 2013 Season Begins

Finally, after a month of preparing Atalanta for launch she is in the water.  Springtime in a boat yard is a wonderful time of the year.  The yard is full of sailors working on their boats.  Best of all is the day it culminates in the launch.  After doing this my whole life I still get "the feeling" on launch day.  The crew at Bristol Marine do a great job handling your boat as is transitions from land to water.  Mike and his crew move 35,000 pound boats like their toys.  Atalanta successfully launched once the tide was high enough to give her five and a half feet in the launching well.  Once in, we checked all the through hulls, sea cocks and the stuffing box for leaks.  All was well.  We commissioned the water system, engine, generator, and heads for the year.  Now all thats left is putting her in order, making the interior livable, and enjoying.  Here's to the new year.  Hope to see you onboard.

Almost In

After a great deal of preparation, Atalanta is now ready to launch.  The hull is polished, the bottom is painted (thanks Chad) and the interior is on its way to being livable.  While there is a great deal that needs to happen to commission Atalanta for the new season, being in the water is a big step.  We hope to be in the water by the 25th.  Once in, we will need to commission all of the systems including water, engine, generator, water maker, refrigeration, and more.  Each year, Atalanta becomes better with small (sometimes not to small) upgrades and refinishing.  We need to do more varnishing to get her in shape.  Fortunately, Richard finds this therapeutic.

Planning for "living aboard" continues.  Kay and Richard visited the UVM travel clinic to get immunizations for areas that we anticipate visiting.  Yellow Fever, Malaria, Hepatitis A, and Tetanus all needed to be considered.  After being poked with lots of needles, we are good to go.  Last in this regard is to consider areas that have Malaria and figure out how long we will be in those regions.  Based on this calculation, we can figure out how many pills we will need to protect against this disease.

More to come once we are in the water.  Stay tuned.

Biistol Harbor

Launching in two weeks!

April showers bring ……..   It’s time to prepare for launching the week of April 22^nd by getting jobs that must be accomplished “on the hard” taken care of.  These include preparing the shaft and maxi-prop (lubrication, checking the cutlass bearing, cleaning and painting with anti-fouling paint), sanding and painting the bottom with two coats of Pettit Ultima 60 and cleaning and polishing the hull.  These jobs will take about four full days.  Before Atalanta is launched we also need to check the through hull fittings, seacocks (9), and hoses that could allow water to enter the boat. Most everything else can be accomplished once the boat is afloat.  There is still plenty to do to get Atalanta sea-ready but Kay and I can do most of the work with a little help from our friends.  If you have a burning desire to engage in manual labor, be sure to let us know.  There is nothing like being in a boat yard in the spring. 

This past weekend, Chad and Richard were able to make major progress with the pre-launch preparation.  They completely sanded the bottom, painted two coats of Ultima 60 (thank you Bisbee Hardware for shaking this unbelievably heavy paint), finished painting the shaft and prop, removed the winter cover and erected the cockpit dodger and bimini.  Bristol Marine has checked and lubricated the prop and all through hull fittings. 

We just have to polish the hull and we are good to go for launch!  Soon the real season will begin.  

There is light at the end of the tunnel they call winter.

Hoppy Easter

We spent Easter weekend in Bristol, RI noting plenty of sunshine, daffodils, and people wearing T-shirts. These signs of spring (not yet visible in VT) reminded us that boat launching is not far off.  Atalanta's 30th birthday is this year and we have spent a good many winter hours scraping, sanding, and polishing away 30 years of tarnish, varnish, and other unwanted effects of aging. The numerous hours Richard spent refinishing the teak and holly sole paid off in smiles when we laid them in place. They look amazing!   An $18 bottle of Collonite Metal Wax became my new best friend upon discovering that replacing the brass latches would cost over $50 . . . that's per latch! Adding the generator, freezer, and watermaker will make life aboard much more comfy but I am mourning the resulting loss of storage space. Almost every closet or cabinet I peered into contained some sort of additional required component for our new "accessories." I think this may negatively impact the number of shoes I am able to bring.

 Richard will be headed back to Bristol to paint the bottom and I will be figuring out where to put all this stuff that is currently piled - floor to ceiling- in our stateroom!

Happy spring! K