THE MAST IS UP!

We spent Tuesday night preparing the mast. We sorted out her lines and tied them up. We attached the new shroud, discovering that the eye pin was much larger than the older. With a hammer and a milkshake, Brett was able to coax the hefty steel into the tang. Luckily. We found a set of shrouds twisted and had to unbolt a piece of the spreader to untwist. All went well though and we were ready.

We came back just before dark and talked to some of our sailor friends about helping the next morning. John, Dan, Mike, Bill, Fred and Dennis. Fred and Linda had just bought a little fishing boat and Fred made preparations to have it ready to tow us over to the boat yard.

We worked on getting the boat ready that night and at 9pm headed back toward the camper. We were hot and tired and I suggested a swim in the pool we never have used. Brett agreed and we took a quick dip in the park's pool before a ton of kids showed up. We had never used the pool before. It's small and shallow but it felt so good!

I got up at 6am the next morning to get on the computer before we set off at 745am. We got out to the boat at around 730am and the boys started to emerge from their boats.

The weather could not have been more perfect. No wind and hot! It was absolutely perfect.

Fred was there at exactly 745am. Bill got into Fred's boat with him to help pull. John hopped aboard our boat and Dan and Mike drove around to meet us there.

Dennis let us know he would be at our slip to help catch us on our way back. We seemed to be covered at all angles.

We headed out, me with the camera in my hand and Brett at the tiller. John made sure all the lines were back on the boat and helped fend off the boats beside us. Dennis fended off the other side.

We were finally on our way. Benevolence was smooth as glass in her movements. She glided through the water like a swan. Brett had reattached the rudder a few weeks ago and she responded to it with graceful ease.

As we headed toward the first turn into the channel, we came upon the Texas Mariners Cruising Association yachts from Kemah that were staying the weekend in our marina. Their $200,000+ yachts gleamed in the sun. We cheerfully waved to the yachties and they waved back just as cheerfully. They seemed a nice bunch and I looked forward to someday joining there association when Benevolence was ready.

Just as we were making the turn out of the our Westside of the dock into the channel, Fred's boat died. After that, it died continuously and Benevolence just drifted slowly toward her destinations as Fred and Bill struggled with the engine on Fred's new boat. Apparantely there was old gas in the tank and it hadn't been run for awhile. But all went well and we safely drifted into the boatyard with Fred nudging us along when he could. Benevolence had coasted over to the boat yard, eagerly awaiting her long lost friend, the mast.

Mike and Dan were at the dock, ready to catch our lines. Everything went so smoothly it was amazing to me. God truly does bless us with this boat.

We were very early and as we waited for the crane operator, we talked. The boatyard manager and crew, Margarito and Terrel, were ready to help us pick the mast up with a fork lift and bring her over to the boat. It was incredibly generous for them to help us with such a big responsibility. They did it flawlessly.

The crane operator arrived with the crane right on time and the boys got ready. Charl showed up as well and helped Brett with the mast foot. Brett was shaking like a leaf during the whole process, nervous about our mast fitting properly.

With everything labeled and ready and a man on each shroud, the whole process took about 30-40min. While refining the lines, the boatyard started to put the travel lift with a boat back into the water while we were still there. We moved Fred's boat over by ours. It was a tight fit between us and the travel lift but everything went okay. I found it odd they didn't wait 20 min. for us to be done but everything worked out regardless.

At the end, they unhooked the crane's hook from the harness on the mast. The harness did not slip down, so up Brett went on the bosum's chair to retrieve it. Brett's first time up our mast. :)

John, I and Brett hopped back on the boat. Mike and Dan drove back to the park to meet us at the docks. Bill and Fred jumped back into Fred's boat and off we went again with a good push from the dock. Just as we cleared the dock backward, Fred's engine died again. Benevolence bobbed delicately in the glassy water as they attempted to restart the fishing boat. She sat their patiently, admiring her new appendage.

Finally they got enough oomph out of the fishing boat, they were able to pull us forward with enough momentum for us to start pulling them. The wind had picked up ever so slightly from the southwest. We turned into the wind toward the marina. I had realized there were no pictures of me so Brett snagged the camera and had me take the wheel! Oh, what joy it was to feel Benevolence under my finger tips! Without sail, she had no resistance and you could feel the smoothness of her hull lines. It was SO cool! I had Brett take the wheel back as we neared the turn into the dock area.

Fred was able to get enough out of his fishing boat to give us one last good pull/push toward the dock turn. We glided past the TMCA yachties again and waved again as Benevolence, with her yellowed windows and tacky paint, coasted by them. It was a different world in Palacios than Kemah. But sailors are almost all alike and they waved cheerfully at our success.

Brett gracefully turned the wheel and coasted her directly into her slip like he had sailed her for years. Her response to the rudder was incredible. We beamed at the prospect of our little boat's sailing abilities. Dennis was there to fend off as well as Dan and Mike. We had an abundance of help from our new friends and sailing buddies. It was awesome.

We spent all day, in the 100+ degree heat, gauking at her and refining her lines. The mast had gone up a little crooked. Brett compensated by adding another toggle to the new toggle we had just gotten and then tightened the portside shrouds. The backstay was questionable when Brett had put the stern pulpit on a couple weeks ago. We weren't sure where it should be and we were right. The stern pulpit was in exactly the position that the backstay needed to be. They had gone ahead and attached the backstay and now we were to fix it at her slip.

We decided on cutting the bottom bar of the stern pulpit out so the backstay could be moved back slightly. I was glad because I had thought that all along. After Brett cut out that bar, the backstay fit perfectly.

As Brett worked on the lines, I worked at putting the bimini (canvas top) back outside the lifelines so I could put it up for some shade. It took a great deal of work for me but with Brett's help I got it cleared. Although it was frustrating to figure out the pins, I was also having fun doing boat-things. Brett helped me and we got the bimini top back up and secured correctly so the boom would just clear her. We sat under the bimini in the cockpit and stared at our new mast. It was such an awesome experience and I couldn't have asked for a better set of people to help us do it...

We bought everyone pizza and pop and had a great lunch discussing sailing. Definitely one of the better days with our boat.

More pictures under my "My Pictures" link.

It's Been Awhile

Hi there. Sorry I've not written. I have had a multiude of problems with electronics lately.








In the last couple weeks, we have prepped the mast and boat for us to step the mast up. We painted her and bought her new wire and built new tangs. We re-riveted the halyard track to the mast. We finally got all the huge bolts we needed to bolt the chainplates to the bulkheads Brett built. Everything is ready and we are hoping to raise it on Wednesday!

Last week, we drove to Kemah, TX by way of Galveston Island. We spent the night at Galveston Island State Park. We ended up in 1 of 2 beachside sites and it was the same site # as we have at Serendipity! LOL

We spent the day driving around Galveston and hitting the Starbucks. Then we came back to the park and got our swimsuits on and I waded into the surf for the first time! It was muddy and WARM. I was nervous because I kept picturing all those darned shows with the shark attacks in this kind of water! LOL

As we are wading, we see 3 huge silver fish jump out of the water in the surf right by us. I decided that they were jumping out of the water for a reason and headed back to the beach. Brett stayed in longer until he saw a jellyfish. We learned later that it was Portugese Man O War jellyfish.

The next day we drove to Kemah for boat supplies (after stopping at Starbucks). We stopped at West Marine and got everything on Russell's list (a job that Brett is doing) and then went to go play at the Boat Resale Shop. Wow, what a COOL place! We found a lot that we could use for cheap cheap cheap. Especially a bbq grill, stove and refrigeration.

We then drove toward League City, TX down the road, looking for a bead shop I was told about. We passed by where it should have been 2 times and then headed back toward Kemah. We ended up a little lost and turned around. After driving about 20 minutes, we ended up back at the place where the bead shop was supposed to be! This was in the camper and it was very hot, mind you.

So we continued West toward I-45 and realized the blocks started over. We had not gone far enough to hit the bead shop and it showed up shortly on our left. We stopped and I picked up a couple things and then we headed home. It was a fun trip.

Yesterday, I put a second coat of varnish on one side of the rub-rails. The first coat was already wearing off from the UV rays. I am doing the other side today.

Brett has also been working on the vee-berth. He's bought some fir plywood (a rare commodity around here) and has built the tops of it. We decided to use fir since we couldn't find 3/8 Birch and it was going to be covered anyway. We are painting the fir white.

The boat is slowly but surely coming along.




I have been looking at fabric and stains for weeks now. I got some samples of ultrasuede after hearing from another boat owner that its the only way to go. brett and i have been looking at microfibers for awhile so it was good to know which one to get. ultrasuede is the best you can buy but there is a reason. its non-woven so there is nothing to stretch or get Benny's claws stuck into. My original color scheme was to be a plum like the outside canvas. but I got some samples of ultrasuede and have altered my design. it might even be "inca gold" (terra cotta) to match benny with burgundy, sage and possible plum colors. you wouldn't think it would look good but my samples look good together and they look great with the wicker we're using for the cabinets. I attached a picture of them. I ordered more sample of purple fabrics for a better idea. I think the multicolor will be great! i can't believe i am contemplating terra cotta for the main cushions but it will look good, be bright and blend right in with Benny' hair. Brett liked it too. I think I am definitely going to try and encorporate plum in there somewhere though.

Both cameras and the computers and my external hard drive have all hit the road. This last computer I got from Eddie froze up and quit working altogether. I don't know if it ended up with a virus or it had some windows error. I took my losses and recovered it completely. I lost some pictures and documents but it is working much better now... When my cameras both crashed, I almost had a heart attack. I just got my website back online and the day I did, the camera quit working... Then, yesterday, I dropped the cell phone off the bed and it landed in a pan full of water and sat there while I had to get down. luckily, the only thing affected was my camera. although, i used it all the time so i am bummed. but the phone still works.

I have decided to head back to Oregon at the end of the month for 2 months. We decided it would be good for me to get away and see the family and work back at OML for a couple months. I leave in 2 weeks. I am very excited but hate to leave Brett, the animals and the boat here for so long.. But he feels that I have been unhappy lately (I have). He thinks that when I am gone, he can get a lot done on the boat, too, because he isn't worrying about me.

I am taking the train back. It will be pretty along the way. I hope to get a lot of beading and reading done during my trip. I have a few transfers which make me nervous but I am sure it will be great. I am going to bring my electronics to Oregon and see if I can get them fixed (no where around here to do that). I am also going to get some medical check ups as long as I am in Oregon that I wanted to get done. I am also hoping to go see my dad, part of the reason I am going home. He is not doing well at all, and its been weighing on me that I am down here. This trip was needed and I am so glad Brett pushed me to do it. The park was upset because I was the only one in July that would be here... I felt absolutely terrible about it... miserable... I almost bailed on this idea but Brett convinced me that I need to do it for me. Actually, a lot of people said that I should do what I need to do for me. But I can't stand upsetting people and I upset them...

I am excited to see the family again. I am anticipating the many tasks I want to get done whil in Oregon. I have posted new pictures of our Galvestson Island trip. I'll post pictures of the mast as soon as I can.

Coming Along

The last two days we have been able to prime and paint the mast!! We had problems with overspray at the boat yard and hurried through the painting due to the weather but it will look much better and we'll get her up on the boat soon. We had some guests here at the park that own a machine shop and they helped us drill our chainplate holes. We need two 13/16" holes drilled in Brett's stainless steel plates. They brought them back yesterday and didn't charge us! It was very sweet.

We are so close to getting the mast stepped. We also talked to the crane operator yesterday who happened to be at the boat yard and the stepping up is cheaper than what we were told. So we are really excited at being able to step it up next payday.

Last week, I had the mail deliverer ask me if I would work for the Post Office temporarily. I said the postmaster could call me. He called me on Wednesday and then again on Thursday. I told him I needed to talk to my husband. We decided I couldn't make the classes in Houston and couldn't drive to work since we have no car. It would be difficult to do. If we were here on a more permanent basis, I would have done it because it is a great opportunity!! But our goal is to sail in a few months. He said he would call back on Friday but I hadn't heard from him. He had stopped by to ask me about it too! I have never been recruited like that for a job! It was really nice and I really wanted to do it. But it just wasn't quite enough hours to do it instead of the park and I couldn't do both...But it was nice to be thought of.

I am really looking forward to the fall where I can start doing jewelry shows. Brett and I are going to try and do more boat work too. I want to clean boats and do woodwork. i think between the shows and the boatwork, we would make plenty to pay our bills. Brett has a big job lined up that will pay for a lot of the entrance fees to the shows so I can get them lined up. I miss my jewelry a lot. I may even start my website back up once I quit working for the park. I'll have more time to make Post Office runs.

I have been doing well on my weight loss. This lifestyle change has made a huge difference. I have lost... wow.. like, 20 lbs since February! Didn't realize it! Cool!

Hope everyone is doing well. Miss you all a lot.

Anyone out there?

I haven't heard from anyone lately. Hope all is well with everyone.

We were going to paint the mast this weekend but it looks like it is going to rain/thunderstorm so we might not be able to. .. It's going to be a busy weekend here at the park, too...

Kyla

Do you like the change?

I changed the blog template, let me know which one you like better (the old one or this new one).

This last weekend, we found out from the Coast Guard that the bill of sales have problems between the previous owner and the owner before him. Uh oh.... I was feeling extremely depressed and discouraged about it but we got the paperwork sent back in again quickly. I found an additional page of the Bill of Sale so hopefully they'll accept it... We have to have the documentation for the boat before we can get state registration. We have to have one or the other to sail. So I am feeling uneasy because it has been impossible to try and contact the previous owner or the owner before him, even. I was able to find an address for the owner before Jose, so I sent off a Certified letter to him, hoping that he it will find him and he can do a new bill of sale to Jose...

We also received our new wire for the rigging. We had to order one huge wire with a new turnbuckle and eyes. It cost over $200 but now we have the last wire replaced. All the other wires had been replaced at some point, this was the one that had not been. The turnbuckle had been missing a piece on the old wire and we noticed that it was stressed. So got a new one. Luckily it was our shortest wire to have to replace. The other ones would probably be over $300-400 each.

We are preparing to step the mast in a couple weeks. Brett got the chainplates done and everything else needed. Now we are ready to paint it. Unfortunately, our painting days run right into Memorial Day weekend. The park was wanting us to work on Friday due to the amount of arrivals. But they don't need us till the afternoon so we are going to try and paint in the morning. We'll see how it goes.

We are doing okay otherwise. It's getting difficult to live in this camper and I have the "home" bug bad. I want to fly home for a visit but know I really can't afford to. But I will try to focus on the boat and getting the mast up.

The park got a new internet service and the internet has been working great since. The new computer works well for the internet and has a beautiful screen. I still have not been able to get my external hard-drive of 149Gb of information on it to work. I don't know what happened... I hope that I can get it fixed and salvaged by a computer technician. (Ray, can you help?) :)

I need to head off to work. Hope all is well with everyone. Miss you all.

New Computer, New Pics

Hi guys!! I have gotten a different computer from a very gracious boat neighbor. This computer is way nicer and bigger. Smaller hard drive but everything else is the same or better. So very thrilled with my new baby. All he wanted was my old, broken computer to dink around with.

Anyway, I got my pictures downloaded from a couple days ago. See my link for MY PICTURES. Let me know if you can see the pictures from the link. Thanks!

Kyla

Progress On The Boat and Gracious Gifts

I've not written in awhile and need to catch up with all the great things going on with the boat. I have about a week's worth of information to share, I'm sorry this is so long but I hope you enjoy. I'm sorry I don't have photos. I do have some but I can't get my computer to read my camera once again. I am buying a card reader this next payday.

I have started helping Eddie with his boat, cleaning the interior and exterior. I will also be doing his woodwork. He wanted help and wants to pay me better than when I worked for Charl. I was happy to do it. I enjoy working on boats much more than in the office. It keeps me active and the boats look nice. I have found it hard to make time to do it but I am wanting to. So far I cleaned the interior last week and I scrubbed the deck this week. I tried getting some of the marrs off of it as well . Dennis had told me about this stuff called "Bar Keeper's Friend". He showed me a stanchion he used it on and it cleaned right up to a shine. So I got some and tried it on the mars on the fiberglass. Worked like a charm! Amazing stuff!!

Randy also asked me to clean his boat and open it up once in awhile. He is planning on selling it. He said I could take it off my debt for the dinghy! Wow, things are working out sooo nice.. We feel so blessed and spoiled by the generosity of everyone here at Serendipity... It truly is a Serendipity.

We have done a lot to the boat the last couple weeks. The rub/toe-rails are on and varnished with one coat so far. The hand-rails are also mounted and just need plugs in the screw holes.

Brett primed and painted the cockpit. What a difference it made! It needs another coat or two but it looks better than it did.

Last week we mounted the windlass and the cleats Mom and Dave had bought Brett for Christmas. Dennis called the new cleats, windlass and chocks "jewelry" for the boat. I thought that was cute. Brett also mounted the bow pulpit to the wood at the front of the boat. He also installed hinges and a latch for the anchor locker door. Everything looks beautiful in its shiny stainless steel sparkle.

We found out that stepping the mast onto the boat has been moved up our priority list. We made a list of things we needed to do to get the mast put on the boat.

Finishing the cockpit was one of the biggest priorities so we could get the mast on the boat. We got the truck/camper ready for travel to the storage unit. Brett had not started the truck since January and we were worried about its performance.

It took me about an hour to put everything away that had accumulated during these last 4 months. As we were getting ready to leave, Eddie came over from his boat and gave us some marine supplies he had lying around. He gave us a brass kerosene lamp, bumpers for the dock, several small sanders and much more. We couldn't believe the generosity of the people here we've met and become friends with. I promised Eddie I would clean up the brass kerosene lamp and show him it before we mounted it in the boat. It was so cool to get these things from Eddie and Dennis and others. We feel that these gracious gifts are now a part of our boat and our hearts will remember each person every time we use the item or look at it.

We went to storage and grabbed the teak floor boards and slatted seats for the cockpit as well as a bunch of other gear to mount to the boat. We ended up grabbing all the hardware for the deck, the teak and all the lifelines. We looked them over and discovered that there were no bases on the stanchions. We flipped through pictures and looked at the boat. Brett decided the stanchions had been embedded into the hull.

I resisted this theory as the lifelines would be too short. Dennis remembered stanchions with bases in his "magic" storage shed full of boat goodies. He, graciously again, offered us the stanchion bases for us to have. They were just the right type of base we needed! We looked up in West Marine catalog and found new bases to be $70 each. We needed 8 and couldn't believe that Dennis had what we needed. We gladly accepted them and Brett set to work at prying them off the old stanchions. We were able to mount the bases onto the deck using odd and end bolts and three different methods of embedding them into the hull.

The cables of the lifelines were in excellent condition. I am borrowing Tom and Dana's idea to spiff up the lifelines by wrapping white duct tape around the old cables. It gives them a clean, bright appearance and softens the feel of them. I didn't even know their lifelines were wrapped until they had told us.

While we were mounting everything, I struck up the conversation again about the paint for the boat. We thought for days and decided that white really is the best color for Benevolence. Her lines and her contrasting, striking wood colors would really be set off by white. And then Brett let me pick a color for the pinstripe and bootstripe that I couldn't believe. I decided the small stripes should be dark purple-Eggplant! NO ONE has purple on their boats. They don't even make the color for boats! I am going to mix navy with red to get the color for the stripes. Brett actually liked the idea! I even hinted to re-making the dodger, bimini and covers in the Eggplant color. He liked that too. Then I got carried away and mentioned purple fenders for the sides of the boats! LOL. He didn't say much about that.

So I think we're picking White with a dark purple stripe for the boat's color. I'm excited. They even make Sunbrella (marine, outdoor quality fabric) in Eggplant. She'll be really beautiful White. I didn't want to do white because it was so common but her lines really do beg the classic color. The Purple Heart wood rails will really "pop" with the white hull, too.

This weekend, we've been working on the mast and mounting the lifelines. Brett got the stern pulpit mounted and the port side of the lifelines mounted. I cleaned off the rest of the tape on one side of the mast.

Earlier, I had added up our finances and discovered that we could step the mast in about three weeks. This was helpful motivation for us to get done what we needed to. Today, I cleaned more tape off the mast and then we figured out what we needed to replace the rivets in the main halyard track of the mast. The external track was popping off! We counted and found we need to do about 200 new rivets. Brett's hand will get tired! ACE didn't have enough so we are ordering them online. After we get the track re-bedded, we can sand and paint the mast. It will be almost ready to put up after that. There was one piece of hardware that Brett needs to re-make. Someone had not used stainless steel for a "spreader tang" and it was all rusted. So he took it off and is re-fabricating it. Then Charl will weld it for us since it is stainless steel. We also have to get the chainplates drilled at a machine shop. We need 1 HUGE hole of 13/16" in each at the top and then Brett will drill 6, 1/2" holes in each one.

Today, Eddie came over and offered us his older Icom VHF radio which is extremely nice. The only thing he wanted for it was for Brett to install his new one!! Whoa! What a generous offer! Then he offered something even nicer. He has a multi-media computer that is much nicer than this one and is offering it to me if I give him this one so he can fix the monitor. He has a lot of computers and wants to share the nice one with me.... I can't believe it... I am trying it tomorrow to see if I like it.

Since Brett went up Tom and Dana's mast a few weeks ago, several times, he has had many of the marina people ask him to also go up their masts. He went up one briefly to run a line through a block and the boat-owner gave him a quart of his famous, Canadian maple syrup! Sweet! Someone else has asked him to go up their mast as well. We'll see how it goes. I think he is planning on doing it tomorrow. We are also helping Eddie get his new radar and VHF radio installed.

I had my writer's meeting last night. Didn't want to go but always glad I do. I just brought my last blog entry to it and it was a disaster. I don't write very well but I am determined to try. I meet with Sharon Ragle (a writer who sailed around the world), a very nice gal, Kalaya and Truda, my boss here at the park. I haven't worked on my book in awhile, been focusing on the boat more.

After the meeting, about 1030pm, Brett and I went outside so he could smoke a cigarette. He had been very upset with the day. On top of it, the electrical went out in most the camper last night. We were talking when we heard movement on one of the boats. I asked Brett what it was, and he said that our marina neighbor who was staying on his boat that night.

Now I don't think I have ever explained the guy next to us. He ownes a smaller boat next to us that Jose also owned in addition to our Wauquiez. Jose had lived on it and sold it to this guy before he left to England. (Long story). We met him and found out quickly that he was an alcoholic. Always was drunk. Only came to the boat for nights he was fighting with his wife (girlfriend?). We haven't had too much of a problem with him except he was throwing his cigarettes butts into the water and we complained to Dennis about it.

He quit doing that but we kept our distance from him. Well, last night, he decided to come out of the hatch half-way and... PEE! He peed from the hatch all over his boat and on the finger dock between us and him and on our lines. I asked Brett, "Is he peeing? Is he... peeing on OUR boat?!"The guy looked over at us in the dark and then slowly stumbled below deck. Brett took a flashlight and headed down to the finger looking at where the guy had been peed. Indeed, he went to the bathroom on our lines and it splashed onto our boat. Brett was furious and stomped up to Dennis' house at 11pm at night. Supposedly the guy had been warned before about peeing outside in public! So they told his wife that they had to leave by Sunday. We contemplated moving our boat last night after that crazy scene!

It's funny, Brett said, "Some people shower us with gifts and others shower us with pee." hee hee. Yikes!!!

But all in all, we are feeling so blessed by everything with the boat. This seems truly meant to be for us to be on this adventure.

Well I am sure there is a lot more to add but I've taken Benedryl for my allergies and am drugged up now, not able to type. LOL

I hope you are all doing well. Love you.

Kyla

Contrail is Home and Boats are Playing Pinball

Dana, Tom, David, Arthur and Oliver sailed their boat back to Palacios from Port Oconnor last week. They drove from Austin and picked us up so we could drive their van back to Palacios from Port OConnor. We had dinner with them at Los Cucos once again and drove to Port OConnor. It was after dark when we arrived. They unloaded their gear and we bid them farewell until they got back the next day to Palacios. We drove the van home with their utility trailer and on the way, the tailgate fell off the trailer while we were on the highway!! It was crazy! Luckily, no one was behind us. Brett found it and tied it to the trailer.

They arrived on the boat the next afternoon. The kids loved it, except David had gotten a little ill on the way. They unloaded the boat the next two days into the van. They asked us to watch their boat and to run the engine once in awhile and offered Contrail for us to use when we want. I will miss all of them greatly as they head toward Deleware soon. I consider them great friends and will miss them a lot.

The next day they had gotten back, one of the larger boats in the marina went out for the first time of the season. We watched from across the marina as he attempted to pull back into his slip with high winds pushing him. He attempted to make a wide turn to make the slip and stopped dead in his tracks while I was snapping a picture of him. It wa s a beautiful Hans Christianson type boat. His lifeline had caught on Bi Frst's anchor! It snapped the 45' LOA boat back into Tom and Dana's boat while they were out to dinner. There were about 6 people on deck of the Hans Christian boat and only one was trying to fend of the 50,000 lb boat with an aluminum pole. Fred hurried down to try and help the boat as she bounced of two other boats and was slipping past her slip into another boat. Brett ran over there and I stood staring. Brett barked orders as they tried to back her up and into the slip without hitting more boats. The owner of the boat was at the helm, steering while his passengers ran around on deck looking helpless.

They finally wrestled the boat back into the slip. We later found out he had ripped a stanchion out of the toe-rail on Bi-Frost's anchor. He had damaged Tom and Dana's propane base that Tom's dad had painstakingly built and had also ripped off their flag pole. The owner of the Hans Christian hurried to pay Tom for the damages.

Luckily the only damage seemed to be to Tom's boat and the Hans Christian. He was very elderly and was the only one on the boat that knew anything about sailing. But with Fred, Brett and D'na, they were able to get her back into the slip. I stupidly stood there across the marina just watching instead of jogging over to help. I felt stupid.

The guests of the large boat quickly fled the park and the poor old guy was left to clean up the mess of his beautiful boat by himself.

Well we are are going to go work on the boat today. We have outlined some tasks to do in order so Brett felt a little more structured on what needs to be done on the boat- He was feeling very overwhelmed at the projects so we wrote them out and came up with loose plans on what to do when. Last week we mounted the starboard side of the rub/toe-rails and rebedded the track. That was quite the process! I helped a lot last weekend. The Portside of the boat, the track and rails took him about a week with a little help from me. The starboard side took us two days together! We did end up with a problem with the tracks leaking, we had forgotten to push calking down into the drilled holes for the bolts on the forward track so they leaked a little. We will need to take the huge bolts out and do it again. Very frustrating and expensive. But we want t done right.

Today he is sanding the rub/toe-rail which are Purple Heart and prepping the cockpit to paint primer on it. Dennis (the park manager) had graciously given us 2 gallons of Epoxy Primer to help us and thank Brett for his help on his boat. It was about $200 in paint! So Brett wants to prime the cockpit today and sand the wood on the rails. I will begin varnishing them this afternoon. When we are both done, we'll probably head over to the boat yard where our mast sits and start prepping her for paint as well.

The boat yard has recently switched hands and it is not going to be good for us. We have about 2 months to remove the mast from the yard before they start possibly charging us $200 a month for storage.. We also found out that hauling out will no longer be $15/day. It will be $15/day for the first week (plus $300 to haul out) and then $50/day after that!!! We need to be hauled a for about a month or even two! So we are feeling very stuck on what we're going to do. We may just haul out for a week and attempt to replace the prop, strut for the shaft and some of the thru hull fittings. We may end up painting her after we leave to cruise and haul out somewhere cheaper... Very disheartening... We weren't planning on hauling out till around September but this boat yard is closing soon and moving to another location and open to only large ships.. I am trying not to feel discouraged, I am just trying to figure out what we can do...

Well I better quit writing so I can go start working on the boat.

Hope everyone is doing well.

(PS- I noticed a lot of spelling errors- this computer is not working very well and is lagging when I type- sorry.)

Sorry I've not written

Wow, its been awhile. Brett got home safely. They ended up driving from Port OConnor and had left the boat there. We walked to PMR (Palacios Mexican Restaurant) and talked and talked and talked. He had the most amazing story.. I'll write more about it later.

We've been working hard on the boat. I've been down lately, my new computer's monitor is broken. Benny jumped on it and I had left the mouse in it so the screen munched to the mouse. I was devestated, we just bought the computer... But I can still see part of the screen which I am using right now...

Anyway, please go check out my pictures in my album of the newest progress of the boat. We rebedded the other side of the boat (the track) and attached the rest of the toe-rails. We also (Brett) got on the cap rail of the cockpit and the back part of the rub-rail. It looks awesome. We also put on the hand-rails and one of the Mahagony bases for the winches.

Hope everyone is doing well.

I'll write more when I can...

Kyla

Brett called! Such weird circumstances to follow...

I finally got to sleep earlier tonight at about 12am. The phone wakes me up and I barely answer it. It's Brett!! They must have made Florida! He asks me how I am doing and then slowly tells me that he is in Port Oconnor which is at the mouth of the channel here below Palacios. I am so tired and feel like I've been sleeping for hours and don't say anything. He asks me if I hear him. I go out side to sit on the steps in my jammies. "Huh?" I groggily try to pinpoint Port Oconnor from here. "I'm just try to figure out where Port Oconnor is" I sleeply say as I visualize the little town below Port Lavaca SOUTH WEST about 40 miles of us and no where near Florida.

He told me that those SE winds and N winds we just had actually blew them almost to Mexico! They couldn't beat up it- He said that Tom and Dana realized how long it would take and decided to head back here since their parents were waiting for them to get to Florida.

So TOm, Dana and Brett are in a motel room tonight?!.... In Port Oconnor. About 40 miles from here.... ummm. My brain is reeling right now. He said they are going to try and be back here tomorrow afternoon but they are having engine trouble so they may not be back tomorrow.

I don't even know what to think or how to think or what possibilities could be at play right now... This is about as unexpected as you can get. huh. There are always new dimensions of possibilities with sailing, I"ll tell you what!!

I will be so happy to have Brett home although many projects didn't get done that I wanted to work on after work. But I think he'll understand. And the camper will be nice and clean for him when he gets home. Tomorrow afternoon, I have a huge rally coming into the office and will be super busy.. I want to ask Linda to cover me tomorrow but don't have the heart to ask her...I guess we'll see what happens.

THis was an excellent experience for Brett with monohulls and the Gulf. I feel bad that they went backward but they gained a huge experience out of this. I hope Dana and Tom are not shyed away from sailing because of this setback. You know what? I don't know what to think. I have about a zillion thoughts in my head and its the middle of the night. I keep thinking I was dreaming.

I need to go back to bed... But that is the scoop, hot off the press! whew- Never a dull moment, I'll tell ya!

The day is almost over

Well I wrapped up work an hour later than normal. It was a terrible afternoon but in the end, I think everything went okay. Mrs. Carter brought me over a beautiful dinner of catfish and potatoes. It was awesome. I never thought I would like catfish but I am finding it to be one of my favorite fish! 2 years ago I wouldn't touch fish. Now I crave it.

I didn't have a great day and I started to tell myself that it was the worst since we got here. But it actually wasn't. I quickly remembered harder times earlier and told myself to knock of the depression quickly setting in. I told myself to remember that I didn't get much sleep last night or the last few nights.

Those who know me know that I tend to be negative. Tonight I was feeling pretty negative till I talked to myself about it. I need to keep in mind all the positve, great things that have happened to me in my life recently, not just bad.

Great things to remember:

I do feel blessed about working at the park, it is a very difficult job for me, I get stressed out at the mistakes I make but I also feel that I am doing okay at it and I end up meeting the nicest people!! I think if I would relax a little bit (a lot), I would be better at it. I like working with Truda, too. She and I seem to get along pretty well.

I always remind myself what a gift I have floating in the harbor, too. Benevolence will be such a grand boat when she is finished. I cannot wait to see what we do with her the next few years. Some of our plans will have her cruising and even maybe racing again? :)

I am doing fantastic at getting fit. I am not starving myself or even depriving myself, just moderating. I get a lot of physical activity around the park too which helps a lot. I am feeling really good about my progress.

The bills are getting paid and paid on time.

And the greatest thing: Brett seems to be much happier here with the boat. He has finally been able to be in his element. I have never seen him so happy. Through all the nasty crap in his past, he has fought-fought well and come out winning in the end. I am so proud of my husband and all that he has accomplished this last couple years.

Good night and sweet dreams. Think good thoughts.

No word and its a windy bugger

I didn't go to bed last night until 230am. Then I got up at 7am. Might be why I am tired. I got a lot done in the camper but now I have to go work from 3pm-6pm to cover Linda while she goes to Houston.

I noticed when it was raining that the front window by Brett's part of the bed was leaking again. When I pulled the sheet up to wash it, I noticed 4 of the little blankets along the wall were wet. I pulled up the mattress and found the corner by his pillow's head all wet! The mattress was moldy, too. I washed everything, even the down comforter. I struggled with the heavy mattress and put it down in the main part of the camper to air out so I could put the heater on the wood. It's very very wet and moldy. Ick. It will be good to get this dried out but I am not sure how to fix the window. Well. I know what I need to do- I need to pick out the old caulking and put in new silicone caulking. I haven't done a project like that by myself before so I am unsure if I should do it while Brett is away so he won't come home to a wet bed or if I should wait till he gets back...

I got the rest of the camper cleaned up. Much easier to breathe in here without the dust and cat hair everywhere. Almost everything on the camper list is done but I haven't really done anything on the boat list. I think I will work on it tomorrow after work. I want to at least get the boat cleaned up before Brett comes home. I want to get my wood samples stained too before Brett gets home and I would LOVE to get the mast done before he gets home. But mostly I just want him to get home.

I got some Advantage ordered for Benny. Whew. He'll feel so much better soon. The varnish didn't have water spots. But it did have dust on it. I have to do more coats so I'll just have to sand it off. The Mahagony has dust speckles too. I guess that is the best I can do when I am varnishing in the middle of a very dusty boat. :)

It's very very windy today. Now it is coming out of the North. I just pulled up my Marigolds and Allysum yesterday so I could plant Coleus (less bugs?) but I am not sure they'll make it. They are getting hammered by the wind...

Well I should go get ready for work. I count the days we can leave here and be on our way, free from obligations again. I just need to keep in mind the possible bonus at the end of summer and to pay off bills before we go sailing.

I'll write again soon.

Haven't heard from them since Wednesday..

It is 130am on Saturday morning... I've not heard from them and the weather has been bad- Very windy and now it is pouring rain.

I got the hand-rails re-sanded and varnished today. I did some cleaning in the camper and I cleaned out the cab of the truck, too. Still didn't get much done. I got up after 9 and then poked around and had meals with the park employees all day. I did get some stuff done though that I had wanted to get done.

I forgot to latch one hatch and tighten up the opening ports. I think I got my varnished hand-rails more wet coming into the boat than they would have gotten wet from the windows. Ugh. I plugged in the electrical without thought to the wetness of it but it didn't have a problem. I put the shopvac inside too. Everything including me was already wet. I wiped down the hand-rails a little, they seem to be firm already, thank goodness but I am so worried about water spots...

I am not doing well tonight. Feeling weird about a lot of different things. I do know that if it wasn't for Brett, I would NOT live in a camper by myself. He makes things bearable even though the same things drive him nuts sometimes, too. I would definitely still do the boat thing but living in this camper with the animals and mess is driving me nuts sometimes.

I wanted to bike to the vet today and get Benny some flea medication but it was drizzly today and the vet was a LONG ride... Poor Benny, though. The fleas have started and it is driving him nuts and he is driving me nuts. I did just see an ad for Advantage Multi for Cats on tv tonight where it treats fleas, heartworms, round/tape worms and ticks! Once a month just like Advantage! I definitely want to try it but right now I just need to get SOMETHING right now.

I am able to get the internet up here in bed so I am typing while watching the weather channel. Not looking good for Brett, Tom and Dana... They must be EXHAUSTED.... I hope Dana isn't still seasick....

I heard from the boat tonight!

I got home today and had a voicemail on my phone. I was set up to redo my message to say , "If you are a solicitor, you are costing me money, not saving money. Do not call again" because I thought it was yet another new solicitor on my voicemail. Apparantly my TX sales tax permit opened the door to solicitors. ugh.

Anyway, it was Brett! He had called at 4pm to let me know that they could call and that they were in dead calm right now. Dana was sick and he wasn't feeling good himself. They had covered about 115 miles the night before.

I called back the number he called from (Tom's cell) and at first it wouldn't go through and then I heard Tom pick up the phone. He heard me say, "Tom?" and he said, "Here's Brett". Brett told me that last night they had to double reef the main and roll up the jib because of the wind. Even with a double-reefed main, they made 6 1/2 knots!! That is a lot in a loaded down mononhull! Then today, they lost the wind and are now bobbing around the washing machine of Gulf Of Mexico.

I have NEVER heard Brett sound quite so sickly about sailing. He said they were doing fine but were all feeling exhausted. I told him he still had a LONG way to go!

He went to go eat dinner and rest up before the next bout of wind hit them. I let him know that a cold front with winds and seas were coming in about 3 days. He appreciated the forcast. He said he would call me again when he could. It seems the oil rigs have towers on them!! Wow! I have been telling people ALL day that I wouldn't hear from him till Florida because cell phones wouldn't reach that far. So I can't wait to tell everyone.

I ran to Linda and Fred's trailer and told them. Then I ran out to see Rod and see where he has been and then I went back to Linda and Fred's trailer. Then I saw Dennis driving around so I stopped him and let him know about Brett.

I had been trying to take the dinghy out now for about an hour for my first row in weeks. I finally broke away and jogged to the dinghy. As I got closer, I saw it full of water! I grumbled as I emptied it out with our little bucket. I had just enough light to make a half hour row! It was a perfect night for it, warm and clear and very calm. The dinghy sat very low in the water but I went anyway. The dinghy has a crack all the way around the centerboard casing in the liner so water gets into that crack and then water-logs the whole inside of the boat between the hull and liner. We need to someday cut out the bottom of liner and drain/dry the poor thing and then re-glass the bottom (that would be Brett- not "we")

Anyway, I started rowing and came across our old friend, Bill. I talked to him about 10 minutes and ended up rowing about 20 min. I noticed the water had gotten a little more into the boat since I'd left. I tied up the boat and went to shut up our big boat that I had opened up earlier. Then I went to the camper and walked Benny around outside for a little bit. I ate dinner and walked down to the dinghy withy a smidgen of light left. MORE water. It looks to either have a leak or the water inbetween the hull and liner has seeped out. We'll see tomorrow... I am going to have someone help me drag it out of the water I guess and drag it up to the camper to dry. New project while Brett is gone.

What a gorgeous night though... I was being eaten by bugs but it was so beautiful and calm and warm. I called Mom and talked to her for a little bit.

I am SO happy to have heard from Brett. Really made my day. I know he knows what he is doing but with a boat he hasn't been on before, the first day is always the toughest. So now that I hear they are dong okay, I feel better.

I have a TON of projects to do tomorrow, I am excited. I am staying on track with my eating too, today, which is really important to me while Brett is gone. I usually would pig out on bad stuff but I am determined to pig out on fruits/veggies instead.

I'm going to go finish the day watching tv (Something I RARELY do anymore).

Good night.

Brett has left the building

Tom, Dana and Brett departed today at 1130am. Very light winds, a little fog and a lot of sunshine. Very warm today, too. Couldn't have been better weather (maybe a little more wind). They came into the office where I was working and said good-bye and left a bottle of wine for Dennis and Truda. Then Linda came over and let me see them off. I and Barb Arthur and Ed, Mrs. Carter and Dennis saw them off. Charl wasn't there... D'na, the Woods, Sonja and others were waving at the end of the center dock and the point near the Bayhouse. There are so many lovely people here at the park.

Eddie Sacco took Doug Tyson with him and they followed Contrail (tom and dana's boat) out in his own sailboat. Too light of winds, so they were both motoring down the channel.

I wish I could have gone with them....

Their boat, the Contrail, looked so loaded down. She looked good though. Everyone did an EXCELLENT job preparing her for this voyage. Charl graciously offered his liferaft and EPIRB for them to borrow to Florida. We lent them our radar and sewing machine to put a reef in the main sail. I am so excited for them. You can see more pictures in My Photo Album link under My Favorites.

Linda and Jo pulled me into the soup lunch in the Rally Hall and I had some great soup and bread with butter with some great people at the park. They will take care of me while Brett is gone.

I'll try to write more tonight after work.

Changes

My great-grandmother passed away yesterday, on Easter.... I somehow knew she would pick Easter day when I heard she wasn't doing well... I am very sad I cannot be with my family right now.

Brett is leaving today to take the sailboat to Florida and I work a 12 hour day in the office.

I don't know how I am feeling yet, its so early right now.

I'll write more tonight.

Sailing to Florida DELAYED

We got up this morning to news about weather turning bad here today- Gale force winds, high seas and a lot of cold rain. Tom, Dana and Brett decided to wait until tomorrow or Monday before departing on their 7 day sail to Florida. I am a little bummed- I was hoping they would leave today because this is my last day off. Hopefully someone will cover me so I can bid them farewell tomorrow or Monday... It's so cold and rainy out there right now... I'm trying to get laundry done and all of Brett's things together for the trip. I am having to go to the store (walking or biking) but don't want to in this nasty icky weather.

Yesterday I hung out with them as they stocked the boat and installed more items. I helped watch their youngest boy, Oliver, while Dana tried to put things away inside the boat. They took us to dinner with their parents at Los Cucos last night. Good food as always. Oliver was zonked and Arthur and David were itching to go home. It was a pretty good day. So beautiful a day compared to this morning. What a difference.

I hope it isn't raining at home in Oregon, my aunt, uncle, mom and stepdad are all trying to work on my aunt and uncle's new pump house and carport today.

I guess I will work on cleaning the camper today. I have been feeling very lathargic today and yesterday, I think because of Great Grandma not doing well, money and Brett leaving. It's also the anniversery of my brother's death today. I thought it was Monday but I just looked at the calender and it is today... Too much today.... I will try to do things that I like to do today.

Bugs and Flowers and Sailing to Florida

We discovered very weird bugs here the last few days!! On our MARIGOLDS of all flowers! These really weird, wormy things collect the petals from the allysum and marigolds and then adhere them to their back so they are camoflauge!! weird! I was hoping my aunt could tell me what they are. Never seen them before! We also saw a really weird moth over at the bank the other day on a palm tree. It was about 4 inches long and was white with black streaking all over it. VERY odd. The picture above was the closest I could find, called a Leopardskin Moth. Our moth actually was more of connected black lines rather than dots.

The flowers and the bugs are so different here than in Oregon! I might pick up a flower journal I saw over at the dollar store and collect some specimens to show Debra. They are so different! Indian Paintbrush is abundant along the roads here- But it is lighter color and bigger than Oregon's Indian Paintbrush. Little pink flowers are ALL OVER! I can't really find good pictures on the internet. But they are so pretty and so different!

Brett leaves in a couple days to help sail a boat to Florida. I am not scared or nervous for him, he is an avid sailor but I have not been away from him that long before so I am more nervous about that. I love his company and he takes care of me. I wish so much I could go with them but I have no one to cover me in the office and no one to take care of the animals... Very bummed about this... But I guess we do the best we can do...

I have stacked up some projects for me to do on our boat while he is gone so I am preoccupied and staying active. I think I will try to work on my book, too. Find things I can work on in the evenings such as my book and my scrapbooking. And jewelry.

I am so happy for him that he gets to do this, nothing makes him happier than sailing. It will be an excellent learning experience for Tom and Dana who own the boat and even for Brett as he is more used to multi-hulls than monohulls. I wish I could go for the experience too but I will have lots of practice soon enough on our own boat. I will miss Tom and Dana. I really enjoy their friendship. They, and their kids, are the nicest people.

I have been watching Jack (the bird) this morning a lot. He ACTUALLY was picking at a piece of lettuce I left in his cage. He almost died at Christmas. At 23, he shouldn't have survived his illness. But he is actually doing better than he was at home. He is chirping again, bathing which he hasn't done in a long time, eating veggies (he almost NEVER does that) and gaining weight again. He always amazes me with his resiliance. I cannot believe he survived this winter.

Benny, the cat, is doing good. He is shedding right now, so the hair situation is double-worse in the camper. We take him out on his harness/leash a lot and he loves that until someone closes their RV door. Then he scrambles to the screen and claws it open to get back inside. He is still very timid outside. That's a good thing though. His favorite spot has become the bed right where you get up into it or laying in front of the screen door. He is so big that he takes up half the camper no matter where he is. If I can't see him, I look for him. And there he is. Sprawled out in the opening of the bed above me. He sleeps a lot now. He loves his paper though!

I am worried about my family lately. A lot of them are in poor health and I haven't heard from a lot of them either lately... I pray everyone is doing okay and just trying to ride out the cold weather to summer...

I have stocked up some projects to work on the boat while Brett is gone. I am hoping to try and stain the bulkheads so they don't rot and I am hoping to finish varnishing the hand-rails and wood trim underneath the winches in the cockpit. I have 7 coats of Ephines varnish on it and am putting another one on. Brett is concerned about my sanding of the woods, he does not think I am sanding them well enough. I hope I can do better today so I have these projects to work on before he leaves, possibly tomorrow. I am working on preparing the mast, too, so we can step it back onto the boat! There is very old tape stuck to the mast every few feet that needs razored off. It is a big project and should take a bit of time. He wants me to use the dremol on the engine, too, to peel off the old paint and spray it with new paint. I might wait on this, though, till he is home.

I am hoping to do a bit of cleaning as well to the boat. The outside desperately needs a bath!! So filthy!

Well I need to go get started on things. I'll write again, soon!

Coast Guard Documentation First Steps

I found out all our paperwork for the boat and sent it off for Coast Guard Documentation. It was extremely exciting to finally start the ball rolling on that stuff- It seems like if we can get the documentation it will be truly our boat with our new name on it. The situation was very complicated but I just keep praying we had enough documentation/paperwork... Today I saw they cashed the check so we now know at least that they are looking at it...

We haven't worked on the boat for days, we've both been working hard for others. But we have decided our next big task will be to get the mast raised back onto the boat. Brett is rebuilding the chainplates and I am prepping the mast for new paint. It costs a lot to have a crane lift the mast onto the boat so we are saving up.

The mast is the heart of the boat so it is very exciting to see it coming so close to being put back on the boat. I believe the boat has been mastless for years. She is coming back to life though. :)

I'll try to write when I have more about exactly what we have done. it's been a while now and so its a long story and I haven't had time to write. Soon, though.

Sailing is our dream

We are finally on our way toward our dream of cruising the seas.

We finally feel at home on sailboats...

New Beginnings Have Begun

I have finally been able to setup my blog. I hope to write in it every day. In September we left Oregon in search of a sailboat to cruise on...

The pelicans are most entertaining and my friends.