Boat Yard Dogs

Well, he haven't gotten any pictures up for a while, but we went to Mumfest in New Bern last weekend. It was pretty cool, there was lots of fair food and a BMX show. The real show though was the stunt acrobatic plane. It was so powerful and light! Pretty amazing!!!

This weekend was spent moving on board and polishing hardware. Everything was corroded
and gross, so Kristen researched what to do to

clean it up... Sounds like Kool-ade has another use besides making kids tongue red and blue... the concentrate, full of citric acid eliminates corrosion! These green, nasty hatch bars cleaned up very nicely... Brass fittings did the best! Kristen really enjoyed bringing the old brass fittings to a shiny new state!

The picture to the left is a real prize!

As Kristen wrote, we are in the boatyard, up on sticks(boat sitting on props on the ground). We have gotten quite a bit done, but have lots more to do before we are ready. We got the hull cleaned up of all barnacles and growth today. We also replaced our cutlass bearing which the prop shaft spins on. It went really well, I think we got lucky. I have heard horror stories...

Kristen has been stripping teak all over the boat. But the real news that I am sure all of the people that actually read this are waiting for is pictures of the Skip-O-Vator. Here you go!

on the ground ready for take off...

checking out the view on the way up...

arriving in the cockpit waiting to be lifted out of his skip-o-vator!

Skippy said have a good night..he's going to bed & we'll write again tomorrow if we have time! We have a potluck...so we'll see.

)

On the hard

Hey,
We finally moved Wind-Borne from the water on to dry land across the creek at Sailcraft today. It’s really nice getting a chance to take a really good look at her underside to see what were up for work wise. We will be living aboard here in the yard for the next 3 weeks. People are really nice here too, so it seems like a great place to be!
After we got her set up on Jack stands in the yard we set up a really cool elevator for Skippy. It’s made out of an extra large plastic tote and we pull him up using pulleys attached to the boom, then pull him in & set it down in the cockpit. He got in the first time and just looked at us like “it’s about time. Lift me up! ”He just sat there looking around at the scenery as we hauled him up & wasn’t in a hurry to get out of it either. I think this is what he’s been wanting his whole life! Soo funny! We’ll put a picture of it on tomorrow!
We started right in working on the boat as soon as we got Skippy’s elevator situation figured out (and after a latte break) of course.:) Ben went to work down on the bottom looking at the cutlass bearing and scraping barnacles. He didn’t have the right tools for the job & a neighbor saw him & without asking just brought him over the correct tools and some advice. Later someone brought him a container of a new product that cut his barnacle work down quite a bit. I can’t even tell you how many guys came over within a few hours just to say that they were available to help if we needed a few extra hands or tools, or advice, or anything. I’m overwhelmed by how helpful & great everyone is here. It’s so nice! It’s like we are all old friends, but I’ve never met most of these people.
I went to work scraping all the teak on the topsides. I’m getting rid of the old yellowing varnish & re doing it. I’m really excited, but it’s a huge job! I got a heat gun & it’s helping tremendously! I just blast it for a few seconds & the varnish bubbles right up & scrapes right off!! There will be lots of touch up sanding, but I like working with wood & Wind-Borne will shine when I’m done! After I finish stripping all the varnish from the teak I will strip the varnish from the fiberglass inside and out. I still can’t believe the previous owner! It makes me laugh every time I look at all the drips and brush marks! The man painted whole lamps and laminate countertops, and cleats, and everything else you can imagine!! I think it may have looked better had he not varnished anything at all!!
We are feeling pretty ambitious right now since this is our first sailboat & we’re so happy with it!! I’m ordering my new sewing machine tomorrow & have plans to reupholster the settee. All the fabric in the boat is aqua right now. Lots of aqua! Ben likes it…but I think I want something a little more neutral. Not to mention the last owner let things get a little moldy around here & I had to throw out the old couch pillows, because they had black splotches all over them. I think that automatically calls for a reupholster job regardless of color. He was French though…. not sure if that has anything to do with the dirty state of the boat when we got it, but we’ve heard stories :)
All in all we are feeling really happy about Wind-Borne & our choice to purchase her! I’m looking forward to almost all my chores & it’s nice to have a set list to complete. I’ll have to admit that I don’t envy Ben & his chores though. He’s got the dirty jobs involving toilets & such. He’s so nice not making me do that one! (Although I’m assuming I’ll have to help)
We’ll try to keep you updated on life in the boatyard & adventures of fixing our boat.
We miss family a lot & wish we could see you more! Skippy misses you guys also! We think of you a lot!
Keep in touch!!!!
Xoxoxo Kristen
I’ll put pictures up tomorrow!!

happy birthday to BEN!!!

Well...yesterday (the 14Th) was his birthday, but I was too busy to write.
Ben had a pretty good birthday overall. We wired the money for the boat, but are still waiting for the bill of sale to arrive from Canada, so we can "officially" own it tomorrow, but we spent our first night aboard last night & slept like babies! We were dry & very comfy! (finally) :)
We cleaned yesterday getting it in move in condition. We are cleaning again today & moving all our stuff on tomorrow. We will be putting the boat on the hard on Friday at a boat yard just across the creek. We plan to spend 3 weeks or so getting it ship shape...or close enough, then putting it back in the water for some test runs/sailing practice.
Cleaning is proving to be a huge job!! I spent 3 hours yesterday on the galley alone!! You don't realize how many nooks & crannies there are until you start pulling things out & opening drawers up. It's spotless now though & I'm very pleased with it. I'm on a mission to start out on a clean mildew free vessel.
The last owner is quite possibly the worst painter I've ever seen. He varnished EVERYTHING!! not just the wood either... the lamp in the forward berth, the gas tank, the ceiling, the galley counter.... the cleats...you get the point. It looks like a 5 year old got loose with a paint brush in here! Luckily our broker says there are ways to remove it. We'll start that project another day.

Anyway, I should get back to cleaning. Just wanted to let you all know what we are up to & fill you in on the progress.

xoxxo Kristen

Wind Borne is ours tomorrow!

We went on our survey/second sea trial Friday after we got home from VA.
Everything went really well.
The boat is 20 years old, so there was a list of
small issues that came up as well as a few larger ones.
We need a new toilet,
the engine needs work(but is overall sound),
and there are a few other bigger projects
we need to take on before we
go anywhere. We will probably bring it to a boatyard and start working on it this next week.



We are so excited to be moving aboard!!! The tent is getting old. We had a neighbor move in with a hyper-active overly-vocal Jack Russel terrier. They just sit in the trailer and occasionally yell at "Jack" when he is tied up outside. We moved back to the no power sites where people use tents and don't watch TV.



But anyways it has been raining for the last two days and the mattress and pillows are getting
soggy. No fun getting back to camp and climbing
into a soggy bed... The truck is getting a little
aromatic too, despite our efforts to keep it clean.

Needless to say, moving on to our new boat is
going to be awesome!!! Can't wait!


We went out on our sea trial after the boat was hauled out and we had 20+ knots of wind again. This was our second sea trial, but the surveyor was along on this one. The boat sailed great and we had a good time. Kristen decided to see why the forward stateroom was not a good place to snooze while underway. She got tossed around pretty good, but came back smiling. We have decided the Galley is well designed with a good corner to tuck into on both tacks. We just need a good trash location. The Fridge seems to work great which is good! I can not wait to try out the Monitor windvane!!! It has been a dream of mine to sail with one for many years... Pretty lame huh?



Well, we are so excited to dive into this boat! I woke up at 1:50 AM and was thinking about the plumbing in the head... Had to get up and look online and figure it out along with a list of other things I needed to learn.

Luckily for us there is a great site online of owners of this type of boat who post help and advise.



I have to explain the pic at the top. Kristen had a nice piece of fried chicken breast and Skippy kept creeping up on her using intimidation tactics... Pretty funny.



So back to our survey... We hired the most thorough surveyor around and it sounds like we have got ourselves a pretty sound boat. He is notoriously picky, and he went through every

portion of the boat very carefully. He definitely came up with a long list of things, but most fell into the "C list" as he called it. A few major things though. Overall he said it was above average for this boat. We didn't want to waste much time and the seller didn't seem too eager, so we called the broker that night and said we would take it if he dropped the price a little. The next morning we heard back and he took it! We need to wire the money on Monday and we should have it! We already bought a ton of cleaning supplies as this is the first task... Never been so excited to clean a bilge!



Kristen looks pretty happy about her new Yacht don't you think?

Hope everyone is doing well! sounds cold back home...

Virgina

Hello from the road!

We went to Virginia to see our friend Rodney & had an amazing time!! He put up with us for 3 whole days.

We met some awesome people & went fishing yesterday on his friend Scott's boat! We were spot fishing, and I think I win the most unusual catch contest!

Everyone was pulling up fish (of course) and I pulled up fish, a crab, and an oyster.....on my hook.

We all got to pull crab pots as well...and everyone got crabs (of course) and I got two fish in my crab pot.... not sure what was going on there..but it was pretty funny. I think Jordan hooked a crab on his line as well.

The picture where I'm making a crazy oops face is where I was trying to save my fish that came up in the crab pot from the bucket of crabs it was emptied into & I had to fight them off with pliers (those little suckers pinch soooo hard!!) I finally got it out & the picture was taken just as I accidentaly dropped it back into the bucket & had to rescue it again. ...The fish lived & now has some crazy battle stories to tell his friends.

We got a huge amount of crabs & 10 fish to eat for dinner. The picture at the top shows the feast. Not only was our captain an awesome fisherman & one of the nicest guys we've ever met, but he was a great cook as well. (His mother was nice enough to fry the fish for us!) Definitely one of the best meals I've had!

Thanks Rod for having us over, taking us out & showing us a good time!! Come down & see us soon!

And thank you Scott for taking us out on your boat & showing us all the sites. I can't believe how much you know about the history of the area you live in.If we're around in November we'll definitely come back up to take that fishing trip. We had so much fun! Come on down anytime & sail with us. Thanks so much again!!

leave us a comment & let us know you guys are still out there! We love to hear from you!

-B & K

outer banks

Hey guys,
We've done a lot since we last wrote! Time for an update! I actually had so many pictures & so much stuff to put on here that I separated it into 2 posts. We'll try not to go so long next time.

So, first we went to the outer banks! If you haven't been there you really should go!! It was amazing!! Luckily we got there in the off season, so it wasn't crowded. we had the beaches practically all to ourselves! We started off driving from Oriental to cedar island, then took the ferry across to Ocracoke island. (That was our favorite place) The little village was so cute & they had tons of art galleries, good places to eat, camping, friendly people, perfect beaches, and best of all an amazing latte!!!
The only downfall of Ocracoke was the ridiculous swarms of mosquitos in our camp area. There were huge visible black clouds of them near the showers and water faucets, so we had to take sun showers on the beach instead. .and word to the wise.... eating an entire box of Tabasco flavored cheese-its between us for dinner was not such a good idea!! We both spent our first night on Ocracoke terribly sick!
moving on...
We drove up to the ferry that took us to Hatteras Island. Really cool place!! Also had amazing beaches!! The sand is so fine. The houses were really cool . Way different than anything we have at home.
Everyone on the islands fish religiously, so of course we joined in. The picture below was not of Ben with a fish he caught, but with a bait fish!! They use fish the size of ones we usually catch to eat in Washington & the biggest hooks I've ever seen (7/0). I put a picture on of a typical truck in the area. Complete with 20 fishing poles, cooler, and bait buckets on the bumper.
Skippy enjoyed hanging out on the beach with his own private shade umbrella. He gets really excited when he gets in the water & has actually been running alot! We took him for a walk the other day & he took off running & we could hardly keep up with him!! I think he liked the outer banks as much as we did!
Well, that's all for the outer banks, Check out the next post on Virgina!

xoxox Kristen & Ben