Cookin' With Gas!

After almost two years without a real stove or oven, we have a working galley again. Three-burner propane Shipmate with oven, found it on Ebay.

A few weeks ago I'd picked up what I thought was a decent oven as part of a swap/salvage deal. Turned out to be very leaky, so I had an expert look at it. All the parts would have had to come from the UK and it would've cost about 3/4 as much as a brand-new one. So, I decided to go shopping.

Found this unit in Sausolito, California, for about 1/3 the cost of an equivalent new unit. It is now installed and temporarily plumber for the little camping bottles. I'm planning to upgrade it to a larger 10- or 20-pound aluminum tank with pressure gauge, regulator, the works. But! It works now! That's our first boat-cooked meal in quite a while: two nice ribeyes (on special) with mushrooms and onions. YUM!

Solar power!

We are closer to cutting the shore lines! The latest upgrade, SOLAR! Two Kyocera 135W panels, plus a 1500W PSW inverter and a 25A charge controller. We're getting there.



Oh, and dangling below it is the new dink "Serf." I tried selling "Vassal" and finally ended up donating it to a church with a sailing program for at-risk kids. So, we now have an excellent deflatable slung in the davits, solar panels on top, and new lift rigging (clean white lines for the win).

The Lone Dolphin!

We just got a visit from a dolphin, sporting around the boats here on K dock. One of the perks of living on a boat!

The latest home improvement project, turning the sun-tarps into a "Conestoga" type sun shield for the boat. A few scrap fiberglass rods, lots of experimentation with tying it down, and the end result is pretty decent:



Both can be rolled up and lashed to the deck for travel, and I'd say--now that I have the method--that they can be put up in under 15 minutes.

Taking (on) a Leak!

Well, the change in water temperature has opened up the leak around the raw water through-hull. This time it gets a permanent fix. I've put one layer of two-part marine putty around it, which has slowed the leak dramatically. I'll be putting a second round of putty today as soon as this storm passes. Then tomorrow, the final stage: glassing it over. I'm also going to teach Katie how to mix the epoxy and lay the glass!

Delivery, Part 6: Sag Harbor, Long Island, and Manhattan!

Our final sunset, over Butter Fish Hole south of Long Island. I know, sounds like a badly-thought-out Long John Silvers dish, the butter fish hole:



Our last day at sea, and my last watch is 0300-0600. Easy seas, mild winds, and the breakfast of champions:



We motorsailed into Long Island Sound, greeted by the remains of an old fort. I looked it up later, it's Fort Tyler aka The Ruins:



Finally, after 12 days sailing, we brought Sled into Sag Harbor, none the worse for wear. Here she is tied up to her new summer home in New York:



Coda!

The owner, David, met us at the harbor while we were hosing down the boat. Brought us coffee and bagels, really a super-nice guy. He then drove us to his home in the Hamptons where we had showers, watched deer, and set up flights home.

Jerry and Sherry got flights out the same day. We dropped them off at LaGuardia and then headed into Manhattan. Since I couldn't get a flight until the next day, the owner put me up at the Guest Apartment ( http://www.baeblemusic.com/theguestapartment/ ) at his Greenwich Village home/studio/office, a five-story building with a view of the Empire State Building from the roof:



I'll say it again, he was an amazingly nice dude. I hung out with his family and ate 2" thick New York Strip steaks, and in the morning he had "a car"--a Lincoln limo--drive me to the Newark airport.

Final note, USAirways will screw--I mean nickel and dime--you quite nicely. The ticket did not include the cost of...luggage! $25 extra, good thing I stuck a blank check in my passport. And! Just like Spirit Air, everything beyond basic pressurized air is extra. And! They lost my luggage; it arrived at the marina the next day.

So, thus endeth the journey, my first job crewing a yacht delivery. I think I'll do it again.

Delivery, Part 5: Open Seas, Animals, Strafing Runs

With Bermuda behind us, we set out on the second leg to Sag Harbor. We got into a hell of a squall shortly out, with sustained winds over 30 knots. At its peak, for an hour or so, we had winds at 40 knots, gust to 49, and seas up to 20 feet. Oddly enough, I was never scared. Nor was I able to get pictures.

I learned also that foul-weather gear is only semi-waterproof; it does not let the water back out. Here is my damp grumpy face the day after:



We saw all sorts of ocean life on this leg: lots of porpoises and Atlantic spotted dolphin; bluebottle jellyfish galore; a 12' bull shark that cruised by about 3' from the boat. The problem with photographing random encounters is that animals, generally, are very damn fast.

Supersonic jets, on the other hand, are not. This guy buzzed us about a day out of Long Island, a Navy F-18. He did a slow pass, rolled and gave us a wing-waggle, then pulled up almost into a stall--a Pugachev Cobra, I think--then dropped his nose, powered away...we heard him go supersonic shortly after that. There's a dot in the pictures that's the jet, I assure you:





To be continued!