Print Story 0:21
Diary
By iGrrrl (Mon Dec 10, 2007 at 12:37:14 AM EST) (all tags)
So, um, where was I?


In a complete fit of the weather not cooperating, with my needs, it was dry today. We hadn't covered the boat yet, and it needed doing before it really starts to snow, so we went down last night, set up the frame and put on the cover today.

I needed to be working on the grant due today, for which the PI sent me twenty additional pages of badly-written text this morning (meaning yesterday, but it's not the next day until you've slept, so all of today may be Sunday in my head, despite the Monday-ness of it). So, I'm up late, and still have over 15 pages to, well, I don't have time to make it pretty, so I'll have to settle for it mostly making sense.

And guess what I'm doing this evening at 6:00 on Boston Cable Access Television? We're on a show called It's All About Arts. We were recruited months ago, before I took this project. Great. I get to be on TV with dark circles under my eyes and the damn zit that decided to grace my face this morning.

The boat cover is an amazing thing. It's 100 lbs of canvas, custom tailored to our vessel and the frame they provided, and it fits like a glove. But you have to do it just right. The major hitch this year was getting it from the ground up to the boat. It had to come all the way up over the lifelines this time, where other years we've come up over the transom and been able to drop the line. I was on the deck, husband on the ladder, and we would have been fine but for the last two feet. I had a moment of complete fear that he'd be knocked off the ladder, but that's probably what gave me the strength to hold on to the thing and flip it over the line. Leverage was not on my side.

Little K sat on the cabin top as we unfolded the thing, and just giggled as we rolled it down the frame and the sides came sliding down. It's like standing inside something that instantly becomes a very big tent. MJ seemed unimpressed by the whole thing, but he did draw us a great skull and crossbones while we were working.

The new cat spends a lot of its time on the guinea pig cage.

0:36

[ETA 1:26: NOOOOOOOOO! fifteen additional pages, and it is officially too long. Crapcrapcrap.]

[ETA 02:26: Copying your vendor's web page of self promotion is less helpful than information on what you're going to do with it.]

[ETA 04:18: toast, comma, crispy. sent last two or three pages to toxicfur to sort out when she gets in.]]

< Drugs. | BBC White season: 'Rivers of Blood' >
0:21 | 20 comments (20 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback
Hmmm by notafurry (4.00 / 1) #1 Mon Dec 10, 2007 at 02:26:22 AM EST
I can't decide whether I'm jealous or not.

On the one hand, my boat stays in the water all year. Puget Sound stays 55 degrees, within a degree or two, no matter what the weather, and the worst of the winter storms never does much to my sheltered marina. (Two mile long artificial barrier islands across the mouth of the river your marina lives in will do that.)

On the other hand, with the new baby coming, I haven't even driven down to the marina in over a month. <sigh> I miss my boat.



take baby sailing by iGrrrl (2.00 / 0) #2 Mon Dec 10, 2007 at 02:33:21 AM EST
We had little K out at 4 weeks. Okay, not sailing, but motoring around the harbor. Both our kids are growing up on boats.

But... the only time I've ever been seasick was while pregnant. Take this time as an anomaly, and don't let it become the norm. Next summer, put the sprout in one of the excellent life vests (which MJ field tested to great success and Mama's panic). [end: unsolicited advice]

"I don't have time for martial law, I have to get to the gym!" zarathus
[ Parent ]

Pretty much the plan by notafurry (4.00 / 2) #7 Mon Dec 10, 2007 at 12:41:23 PM EST
Maybe not at four weeks, but then again, maybe.

Our daughter already loves the boat. She was the only six-month-old I knew who instinctively knew how to sleep braced against the roll. We were out having a beautiful sail, she went down for her nap in the v-berth. Checked on her while we were on starboard - sound asleep, one arm braced out against the roll. Came about, steadied on our course, went down to check on her - and she was in the same position, other arm braced out, still sound asleep.

[ Parent ]

didn't know you had one by iGrrrl (2.00 / 0) #11 Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 08:54:21 AM EST
That's a great story, and a good sign.

"I don't have time for martial law, I have to get to the gym!" zarathus
[ Parent ]

From the same day by notafurry (4.00 / 1) #13 Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 12:19:04 PM EST
Universally (well, throughout the family at least) known as the "Dad, have you tried the tiller? It's delicious!" picture:



[ Parent ]

cool by iGrrrl (2.00 / 0) #14 Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 01:19:03 PM EST
What kind of boat is it?

Cute baby, too.

"I don't have time for martial law, I have to get to the gym!" zarathus
[ Parent ]

That would be my *other other* baby by notafurry (2.00 / 0) #15 Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 01:28:34 PM EST
1971 Jensen Marine Cal 25, #1194. Firecracker.

No good pictures under sail, but there's this from when we painted her bottom this summer:

Obviously, tape hasn't been pulled from the waterline yet in the photo, and she's wearing an old sail cover (the dry-storage "work" location is not secure... note that the boat's on the outside of that nice fence with barbed wire.

25' LOA, 20' waterline, 6'+ beam, 4'6" draft. v-berth, kitchenette, and two pilot berths, with a nice, roomy cockpit. Surprisingly fast for her size, 7 knots under several points of sail, so competitive as a racer in her day and even now under PHRF.

[ Parent ]

that's fast for a small boat by iGrrrl (2.00 / 0) #16 Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 06:22:40 PM EST
We have a 1986 36' Mariner ketch (the US-built one, not the asian), sleeps seven very friendly people, four independent grown-ups, and a full galley with a propane range on a gimble, with oven. I've baked brownies at anchor and made coffee in 5 ft seas. But, I don't think we've done faster than 7.5 knots. She's beamy and solid, and a great boat in bad weather, but no speed queen.

"I don't have time for martial law, I have to get to the gym!" zarathus
[ Parent ]

These days by notafurry (4.00 / 1) #17 Wed Dec 12, 2007 at 12:25:10 PM EST
If it doesn't plane, it's considered useless for racing... at least, if you're one of the "serious racer" people like those on Sailing Anarchy.

Firecracker is a nice fit for a childless couple or a very small family, though the galley consists of a small single-burner alcohol stove, hand-pump sink, and an icebox. <grin> Overnight and weekend trips are more "camping on a boat" than anything else. It is nice, though, to be able to cruise a reasonable distance in a day. Especially in the Sound, where there are lots of interesting places to go, and relatively few boats to make them crowded... but summer winds are rarely over 10 knots.

The Mariner 36 is a nice boat, they're popular out on the coast here (lots of heavy weather). Our next boat is going to be a ketch somewhere in that size range; the Pearson 365 is popular up here, I think that's the most likely candidate.

[ Parent ]

camping by iGrrrl (2.00 / 0) #18 Wed Dec 12, 2007 at 07:42:44 PM EST
Yep. Our weekend trips are more like camping, which was why the Maine trip this summer was great. We had enough time to get the rhythm, with the caveat that they were all travel days. And as you know, needing to be somewhere makes for going out in weather you'd rather not... Our next long trip will have more built-in hang time.

I like the ketch for the variety of sail configuration. It gives us lots of options for whatever weather we find, and the roller furler makes a huge difference in controlling the amount of jib we have out.  We went to the NE Boat Show this year to look at things in the 40 range, and the only thing I really liked was from a Swedish boat builder at around $800K. Not any time soon on that one. I wouldn't have a current Jeanneau for free. Well, maybe I'd take it and sell it to get something else.

"I don't have time for martial law, I have to get to the gym!" zarathus
[ Parent ]

Agreed by notafurry (2.00 / 0) #19 Thu Dec 13, 2007 at 02:41:47 AM EST
I'm looking to go ketch because we're planning some long family trips, which means using kids and my wife as crew; a ketch is an easier sail plan to handle when there's limited upper-body strength available, and as you say it's extremely flexible for all sorts of different situations.

The only new-construction boat I've personally seen that was worth the money was a Gozzard 37; beautifully built, solid construction, real wood for the sole and trim and furnishings instead of pressboard and laminates. Pity they're not built for families. It also cost a bit less than a Hunter 50 I walked through that used 1/8" fiberboard for all the trim on the interior - and this was a boat show boat, for showing off to customers. A friend swears by his Hallberg-Rasse 40, and since he sailed it across the Atlantic from the factory, I'd imagine he'd know about the quality.

Long-term plan is to end up, in 6 years or so, with a 50'-range boat, tentatively a Formosa 51 or a Columbia 50 in a ketch rig, buying something that badly needs a refit and doing the work ourselves. (It wouldn't be my first project along those lines.) At least one cruise per year up through the San Juan Islands or up along Vancouver Island in the "intermediate" boat. In about 9 years, with a fully refitted boat, do a triangle route (Seattle - San Diego - Hawaii - Seattle) over the summer to try the boat and family out, and if all goes well, leave the following summer for a little trip from Seattle to Seattle with a few stops in between. The milk run through the tropics - no rounding the Horn for a family trip. Kids should be old enough to appreciate it and young enough to be able to break ties to go, and be back before the oldest starts high school; three years seems to be about the average for the cruisers that take the time to enjoy the areas they sail through.

[ Parent ]

ahem...new? by clock (2.00 / 0) #3 Mon Dec 10, 2007 at 10:08:23 AM EST
this feels like news...am i wrong?  did i miss a meeting?


Clock is right. [nt] --vorheesleatherface

[ Parent ]

sounds like... by iGrrrl (2.00 / 0) #4 Mon Dec 10, 2007 at 11:35:16 AM EST
fluffy is joining the club

"I don't have time for martial law, I have to get to the gym!" zarathus
[ Parent ]

Errr... by ana (2.00 / 0) #5 Mon Dec 10, 2007 at 11:42:50 AM EST
notafurry.

Power up your flaming yo-yos already! --StackyMcRacky
[ Parent ]

whups by iGrrrl (2.00 / 0) #10 Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 08:49:32 AM EST
I plead sleep-deprivation.

"I don't have time for martial law, I have to get to the gym!" zarathus
[ Parent ]

Hmmm. Thought you knew by notafurry (4.00 / 2) #6 Mon Dec 10, 2007 at 12:35:40 PM EST
Yeah, our son is due at the end of January. 14 month separation between daughter and son.

And, NO, that wasn't planned. You know those ads that say birth control is "over 99% effective"? Yeah. "Over 99%" is a ways from "100%".

[ Parent ]

PLZPSTBABYRGSTRYK?THNX by Horatio Hellpop (2.00 / 0) #8 Mon Dec 10, 2007 at 08:40:00 PM EST

"You can't really know something until you ruin it for everyone." -some guy who used to have an account here
[ Parent ]

close is good, imo by iGrrrl (2.00 / 0) #9 Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 08:49:08 AM EST
Ours are 20 months apart, and I'll be honest, and this is something I hear from others in the same position: The first years is hellish, with two altricial offspring, but after that, they can play together and be less work than two more spaced.

"I don't have time for martial law, I have to get to the gym!" zarathus
[ Parent ]

More or less what we're expecting by notafurry (2.00 / 0) #12 Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 09:56:00 AM EST
We have a niece and nephew who are 18 months apart, and they're juuuuuust getting past the "why oh why didn't we abort the second one" stage. (Younger one turns two in a month.) We decided that my wife is going to be a stay-at-home Mom until the youngest is at least past that point, which helps a lot - and we have lots of relatives and friends locally who like to help.

[ Parent ]

hello star- by moonvine (2.00 / 0) #20 Thu Dec 13, 2007 at 09:14:26 AM EST
how did your show turn out? what about the arts did you discuss?



0:21 | 20 comments (20 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback