June 13, 2010 - hauling the boat out of the water

Right after our last trip out I noticed that one of the bilge pumps was running quite frequently.  I found out why.  One of the depth sounder transducers had been knock loose during the trip up the coast and was letting water into the boat.  The bilge pump is all that is keeping our boat from sinking!  I can't fix it in the water so the boat is going to have to be hauled out for the repair.

Since the decision was made to haul the boat, I have decided to take care of everything I can on the bottom side of the boat while it is out.  That means installing some new through hull fittings, replacing the bad transducer, having the props tuned up, checking the rudders and shafts, painting the bottom, etc.

I run the boat over to La Conner Maritime by myself and pull it into the boat lift. 

A view of the boat I hadn't seen before.  Waiting to be hauled out.

They get going on it right away.  Much to my surprise I see that we dragged a large piece of fishing net along with us when we brought the boat up from California.

The net that was tangled around the prop.  We were lucky it didn't damage anything.

After they pressure washed the bottom and put the boat on the stands I started checking out the bottom.  Not bad.  It definitely needs new bottom paint and the zincs should be replaced too.  I borrow a prop puller and take the props off so they can be set to a prop shop to be checked out.

The loose depth sounder transducer.  This gap let water leak into the boat.

Kathy helped me paint the bottom.  Two coats of Interlux Micron CSC.  This should hold us until just before we take off for Mexico in 2013.

Kathy applying the first of two coats.

This is a BIG boat.

After a lot of work, the boat was ready to go back into the water.  It was on "the hard" for almost 3 weeks.  What did we get done during that time:

• New bottom paint
• props tuned up and balanced
• two new thru-hull fittings (both related to the toilets)
• two new depth sounder transducers
• two new cutlass bearings
• shafts checked for straightness
• three blue underwater lights (LED) at the transom
• touched up the paint on the bootstripe (dark blue stripe at the waterline)
• buffed and waxed the bootstripe
• waxed the bos section of the hull because this is hard to do at the dock
• new teflon packing in the shaft packing glands
• new teflon packing in the rudder shaft packing glands
• new zincs
• repaired a few small osmotic blisters

Pettit Barnacle shield paint on props and shafts.  3 LED lights on transom.



Not a view you see everyday!  Those straps must be STRONG...

I motored back over to Shelter Bay and Kathy met me at the slip to help me tie up.  Now we can finally start using our new boat!  We bought it back in February and it is now the end of June and we've only been out once.  Next up is our annual 4th of July trip to Fisherman Bay for the fireworks.

May 30, 2011 - Kiket Island/Similk Bay

This is the first time Kathy and the kids have spent the night on the boat.  I have already spent 15 nights onboard (two 5-day trips to CA to work on it, and 5 days coming up the coast).  In some regards the boat is similar to our Bayliner 45, but in other ways it is very different.  I can't tell you how many times all of us have left the pilothouse and headed to the salon only to have to turn around and go back to the pilothouse and then down forward to the stateroom or the heads.  In our last boat, we would get to the staterooms and heads by going down to the salon first, then on down.  In this boat you can only get there from the pilothouse. 

We decided on a short and close to home trip for the first time.  We are going just a few miles to Kiket Island which is now part of Deception Pass State Park:

http://fidalgoweather.blogspot.com/2011/06/kiket-island.html

We motor over and drop the anchor in about 15'-20' of water.  It's a good mud bottom with great holding.  We've been here many times before in our Bayliner 45, and we are always amazed at the lack of people/boats here.  We don't really understand why this is off the beaten path, when it is in plain sight of that path.  It's a nice bay offering lots of privacy.  it is close to home.  The bottom is flat and has good holding power.  It is within sight of Deception Pass which makes it a strategic launch pad for an early morning passage through the sometimes dangerous pass.  Oh well, maybe this is our little secret?

We are spreading the word with my old boss Dave and his wife Lorainne.  They are heading over here to join us for a night in their beautiful Tolly 44'.  Dave was my first manager at Microsoft, and Ihe's one of the best bosses I ever had.  I guess that's why I want to stay in touch with him and get together from time to time.  I don't do that with any of my other bosses!



Daves first sight of "Therapy".  Soon to be "Adagio".  That's us in the dinghy.

We spend some time out playing in the dinghy, giving the kids each a turn to drive and gain some confidence on the water.  We also go check out the sunken sailboat that has been here for years now.  It's getting more and more beat up as the seas try to crush her with every storm.

Kevin making a nice wake :-)  He loves to drive the dinghy.

What NOT to do with your boat.  What a bummer.

We spend quite a bit of time onboard playing games and simply getting familiar with our new boat.  It's actually quite a project to take someone else's boat and make it 'feel' like your own.  Kathy and I spent many hours just looking at things and talking about what to do to make it 'our' boat.

Cindy and Kevin playing UNO on the pilot berth.

Zappa settled in right away.  What a great kitty!

We are enjoying the layout of the boat.  The pilothouse is a nice place to eat meals with it's U-shaped settee.  It's also a great place to play games.

Our first dinner onboard "Adagio"

This is a quiet boat.  It is also a lot more stable at anchor.  I guess weighing twice as much as the Bayliner plays a big part in the improved stability.  It is somewhat breezy here yet the boat doesn't move around nearly as much as we are used to.

Dave and Lorainne come over and visit for a few hours.  It's great to see them again and we will be seeing them again at Fisherman Bay over the 4th of July weekend.  They will be there again this year.

Kevin and Cindy playing on the ladder.

On Sunday we spend some more time in the dinghy.  We swap dinghies; the boat came with an older Avon with a tiller steer Suzuki 15hp 2-stroke.  I don't even know if the motor works.  Our nice dinghy is a pretty awkward to get onto the mounts on the boat deck.  I will have to rework  them to make it better for our dinghy.  Projects.  Everywhere I look I see projects!

So far we are liking our new boat.  We are still getting used to her, and we don't have much of our stuff onboard yet.  It was a little "rough" this time out, but it will get better soon.  We just need some more time to get supplies and stuff onboard, as well as starting to customize the boat to meet our needs.