So some people have asked why we have not updated the site in a while. Here’s the story.

So last year we brought Norman up to Ted’s place so that he could work on the carpentry more easily – wood shop right at hand, no need to drive the hour+ down to West Falmouth… we were nervous about having the boat so far away, but he offered to store her for free, so we thought it’d be a good deal for everyone. But immediately things started to go… well not wrong, exactly, but not completely according to plan.

The boat movers were unable to put the boat up next to the barn where we wanted her – Ted was going to build a sort of “boatport” extension off of the wall of one of his outbuildings. Instead, we ended up with a sort of “tarp on a frame” covering. Ok, but not ideal.

Then, of course, winter came – and Ted found out that you can’t really heat a steel boat outside in the winter in Maine. Not much got done – too cold. By January, work had ground to a halt.Ted promised to start going again, though, and we paid a couple of weeks’ effort so he could invest in some better heaters, and we thought we were back in business.

Well we weren’t. A nightclub in Portland offered Ted some work rebuilding their bars. No problem, it’d be part-time work, and could sustain Ted through the worst of the winter, we thought. Well that turned into full-time work. Ted said he’d be back on our project by March. Which became April. Then May. Then June. Then for sure he’d be back on the job by August.

Well we got him back in October. Lost the whole summer. It was a real disappointment, but I understand – it was good work, and quite frankly, they were paying him more than we can afford to. But so frustrating – Norman had been up in Pittsfield where I can do nothing to help her for a whole year, and nothing had gotten done.

But hey, water under the bridge. Ted is back on the job.

New fixed ports

The new fixed ports came out looking much nicer than the original ones did. Finally, the boat is nearly waterproof – from the top, anyways.

Fancy new rope clutches

The Garhauer rope clutches and deck organizers are in, as are new handrails, solar vents, all of the hatches, and the stanchions.

Instrument panel

New backing plate for the instruments. There’s going to be a lot more teak above decks than there used to be. Oh and look at our pretty dorade boxes!

Dorades

More to come.

Not a great picture, but here’s where she’s going to sit for the winter:

That’s at Ted’s house. She left the barn last week. By the end of the month, she’ll be covered in a shelter and will have her windows back on – then it’s back to work: carpentry and systems. I hope to start spending some weekends up there doing wiring and plumbing, and I’m looking for someone to finish the engine alignment (Michael S. was able to get the shaft in but ran out of time to finish the job). So onwards and upwards. Next spring! Next spring! Next spring!

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I’ve finally done it – The Crusty Seamen’s Choral Society should have its first shanty sing within the next couple of months. If you know anyone who is interested, point them to www.crustyseamen.org

An Ides of March resolution? It’s not quite then yet, but a March 12 resolution seems fairly odd. Chinese Arbor Day resolution? Mauritian National Day? There must be something significant to tie this to… in any case, once again, I’d like to try to start updating this site on a regular basis. The Sea Muffin project is progressing rapidly, although it’s unclear what it is now. The boat isn’t called Sea Muffin, and I don’t think we’re going to be sailing around baking muffins – and it’s not clear we’re even going to be able to circumnavigate.

But we’re going to have a boat, and she’s the kind of boat you’d want to sail around the world in! Ted’s got the floors all in, and the bulkheads, and I’m hoping to see the thru-hulls in now and maybe get an idea from his welder as to how we stand on reconfiguring the stern. I’ve got him working on bedding deck hardware, too, and I’m hoping his welder can flatten out our stanchion bases so I don’t have to buy new ones.

This weekend I think I’ll finally get the bilge pumps in and start figuring out how to plumb the tank vents and head. I need to drop a note to Neil, too, about working on the engine again and whether he can get us the transducer for the depth sounder he scrounged for us.

Still, even though the boat is coming together, I feel like the dream is slipping away. I have no idea how we’re going to get a cruising kitty together – the added expense of my… condition? Disease? I never know what to call it… just feels like it’s put it over the edge. We can’t be sea gypsies, sailing for a while, working for a while – because if I don’t have my medicine, I will die. That sounds so melodramatic, but it’s true. We need to have our ducks in a row – or at least I need to have my ducks in a row – in order to make it.

So what’s the solution? Do a little bit of cruising at a time? I just hope we don’t end up living our lives along, staying here in Maine, with our boat at the mooring, and then we wake up one morning, and we’re 60 years old, and complications have started to kick in and I can’t sail anymore.

Start playing the lotto? Sell our side business? Sell the house? I don’t want to sell the house; I worry we’d never make it back into our wonderful little neighborhood. Well anyways, these are the things that get me stuck.

Ted sent us this picture on Sunday:

It looks like a boat inside!

Hooray for our new carpenter, Ted Morse! He’s doing some fantastic work, and I hope to be posting some pics of the progress he’s making by the end of the week. Yay!

Helped deliver Zora back down from Camden over the weekend. Nice to be out on the water, even if it was in a tropical storm. Thanks, Neil!

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