What I've done

I had the chance to chat with some really cool people at work yesterday.  There was a group of four who were biking from California to Maine.  It was so fun to speak with others who have similar dreams to go out and face the odds and travel long distances on their own. One of the girls even had her own blog which was really well done.  It really inspired me to keep on working towards my goals.  I'd love to do a biking trip, but the boat trip is at the forefront of my mind right now.  I've had my doubts over the months, but when I think about how far I've come I can't help but keep going.
I guess this is as good a time as any to sum up what I've done in the process here.  So following will be a list of chores I've done and rough costs put into this venture.

• Find and purchase my Bristol 24                          $1,800 plus tax.
• Transport it to Sheboygan
• Paint transom                                                      $20
• Remove rotten floor in the cabin               
• Purchase random saws, drills, and other tools      $150
• Clean out ice box
• Clean out marine head (toilet)
• Replace floor with makeshift bunk boards
• "Install" carpeting                                                $10
• Sand all of the woodwork to bare wood             $16
• Varnish all the wood with 3 coats (sanding between coats) $25
• Paint cockpit
• Re-Seat stanchion bases                                    $15
• Buy anchor and chain                                         $55
• Paint bottom with anti-fouling paint                     $150
• Buy sails                                                            $1,200
• Pay for slip at the marina                                    $1,200
• Install propeller shaft seal
• Launch boat                                                      $262
• Raise mast with improper rigging
• Buy new turnbuckle                                          $80
• Get new shrouds made                                      $475
• Raise mast again with new shrouds
• Buy stay adjusters cause shrouds are too long   $107
• Jury rig the mast                                               $15
• Put name on the stern                                       $77
• Buy dinghy, oars, and dolly                               $310
• VHF radio                                                       $90
• GPS                                                                $95
• New compass                                                 $215
• Portable running lights                                      $20
• Repaint waterline
• New dorade vents                                           $90
• Stove and propane                                          $30
• Fenders                                                           $90
• New halyards, sheets, and blocks                     $260

So all in all I've spent around $7,000 on my little home that I plan to travel in.  I guess it really is true what they say: "A boat is a hole in the water you pour money into."

A brief ray of sunshine

It's my day off.  And it was tolerable weather.  Sound unlikely for me......yeah.  OK although the afore mentioned statements are true, it wasn't exactly perfect.  Despite being my day off I had to go in to work (twice) in order to keep appointments with clients.  (If in the future after I am an amazingly successful cruising sailor and I have to get a job on land I hope that they will read this and see my awesome work ethic).  I only stayed at work a total of 3 1/2 hours, but I sold 2 cars, so it's ok.  As for the weather, it's been kinda depressing.  A couple Sundays ago it was up in the 70's, and then this last weekend we got 3 inches of snow!  It just came out of nowhere, and covered everything in slush.  I had hoped that I would be able to start varnishing, but with all the changing weather and moisture in the air I've decided to hold off for a bit.

I completed a few tasks on the boat though.  I taped off and repainted the waterline, I put on the boat registration stickers, and finished sanding the woodwork. I took pictures of all this today, but forgot to bring it over here so I could upload them.  I'll do that tomorrow.

I checked out the slot that had been cut to drain any excess water in the keel, it was pretty much dry.  I decided it'd be a good idea to make sure there was no water next to the ballast on the other side of the keel. So although when you think of boat maintenance you usually think of patching holes, not drilling new ones, that's exactly what I had to do.
I drilled into the side of the keel and a bit of gritty black goop came out followed by some water.  I drilled 8 other holes along the keel to drain any moisture I could.  I'm still a bit worried about all this water that has been in there for who knows how long, but I'm pretty confident in the structural integrity of the Bristol.

I found out that the rig I have (from a Columbia 26) has a roller reefing boom, so I don't need to add reefing point to the sail if I need to make the sail smaller in a storm.  It's gonna be nice to just wrap it around the boom and not have to worry about folding it.  I've heard that the roller reefing systems weren't that good, and that's why no one does it anymore.....I guess we'll see.

After sunset I went to Home Depot to get some Frog Tape (way better than the blue painter's tape most people get), some more sanding blocks, some gloves so I don't ruin my skin with the anti-fouling paint, and some tack cloth so I can varnish properly.  Then I bought some rubbing compound and wax to make the boat's hull all slippery and shiny.

It's gratifying to see things coming together over the last couple of weeks.  I've had a list of things to buy, and things to do which wasn't changing at all over the winter months.  I had to get insurance, pay for the slip, get anti-fouling paint ($126/gallon).  Now all I have to do is buy some sails.

An old guy came up to me today and told me about some sailing stuff he was selling.  He had a new sail that didn't fit his boat he was gonna sell for $400, and a roller furling unit for the Jib.  It might not fit, but I'll see how cheap I can buy it off him.

I've recently joined a www.cruisersforum.com which has been great!  The combined knowledge of hundreds of sailors from all over the world helping me trouble shoot my way has been invaluable.  It's also nice to see that I'm not the only one who's starting small and trying to make due with as little as possible.  I know I seem naive to many, but I feel like I could get to Europe just on will power at this point.

Erased Entry

OK so I just wrote a big huge blog entry, and right as I was coming t the end of it I must have typed to fast, because it erased everything!
    "Let me explain.....No there is too much.  Let me sum up."

Day off: spent some money.  I went to Sears to buy tools, and then to Home Depot to get some adhesives.  My project for the day was reseating the stanchion bases.  Stanchions hold the lifelines up, which in turn hold me on the boat if I lose my footing.
I wanted to reinforce them, so I took them off, used some Loctite Joining compound to seal it back down.  I went to a hardware store to buy bigger washers, and longer bolts to use.  I'm hoping now that the lifelines will be much safer, although I must admit I enjoy the wider decks without them there.
I finished reading my two cruising books.  The authors seemed to contradict each other.  Some say that the smaller boat is safer.  Others say that a 55 foot boat is small.
As for me, I like my choice.  It will allow me the most freedom.  That's the great thing about sailing, it can free you from all the problems of the modern world.  You only bring with you what you want to.  You must learn patience because once you're out there, no amount of whining and crying will make the wind blow any harder.  There is the escape from social obligations, from employment, and many others.  Sails are quiet, and the wind is free.  The sea does not discriminate.  The nice thing is that most of the earth is water.  On every other vehicle or mode of transportation you must either be strapped into a seat, or confined to roads, rails, or predetermined routes.  I love the idea of the freedom out there; the opportunity to see who you really are when everything else is stripped away.  But then again I'm speaking as if I had already been out there.  These are just ramblings in anticipation.

I did find out that someone does own the land that my boat is one.  I hope I don't have to move it.  I guess we'll just wait and see.  I've also gotten a few price quotes.  Kelly-Hansen sails seem to be the most affordable right now.  We'll see what JSI can offer me.  I'd love to go with North Sails, but they are just too dang pricey.
As well a trailer custom built for my Bristol 24 would only run about $5,000.  But when you consider I only spent $2,000 for the boat, it seems a bit out of whack.  It all depends on money at this point.  I can always make due with bare bones, but there are some things that can't be skimped on.  Like safety.

Well thanks for reading, and clicking around.

A good day's work.

Today was my day off of work at the dealership, so I slept in a little bit.  I had a few delays in the morning (being called in to sell a car when they didn't end up buying it, voting, eating etc.)   After I was finally all squared away and ready to work I stopped by Home Depot to see what kind of painting supplies they had. I could see all sorts of tools I'd like to have, and that I would put to good use but I had to limit the amount of money I spent today.  They didn't have the right kind of paint, so I went to a local boat repair shop to get  some.  The stuff I was looking for was $41.00 per quart!  I can't wait till I have to buy the anti-fouling paint for the hull.  I was able to find some green paint that I thought would match the hull pretty well for $31.00/quart.  I bought that and headed over to the boat.  After a quick sample on the transom I decided that it didn't match properly, and that I wanted to have a white transom after all to contrast the dark green hull.  After returning the paint to the marine shop I headed to the north side of town to Menards to see what they had there.  I found the people in the paint department very helpful.  Obviously they didn't carry marine grade stuff either, but I was able to find a hardcore primer that bonds well to fiberglass, and some hard wearing paint to put over that.  I know it might now be the kosher way to do it, but for right now I just want to get the old patched up stern looking good again.
A quick pit stop at Subway, and a few minutes later and i was back on my boat.  I sanded, taped, primed, waited, sanded, primed, waited some more, and then got one coat of paint on the transom today.  Tomorrow morning I want to go clean up the lines a bit, and put on two more coats of paint.  Instead of being bored sitting around I decided to go to work ripping out the cabin sole.  I did as much as I could with the hand saw that I bought, and a piece of bar stock steel as a makeshift crow-bar.  Now the starboard half of the floor in the cabin is out; which is good cause it was squishy plywood not strong enough to support me.  The fiberglass underneath is solid.  I need a circular saw to get the port side floor out so I can level the fiberglass, and build a new sole.  One nice thing about this project is that I can make the floor a couple of inches lower so I have better headroom inside.
On board someone had left some WestMarine Teak Oil.  I went to work oiling up some of the woodwork.  I was planning on varnishing all the wood, but in Blue Water the author says he oiled all of his wood cause it's less maintenance, and repels water just as good.  The pieces I did are a bit darker than I would like, but it's ways easier to just dump some oil on wood and wait for it to soak in, than it is to varnish, sand, varnish, sand, varnish, and then know that I'll have to do it all again next season.
All in all I'd say it was a pretty good day.  Things are coming together on the restoration part of the boat, soon it will be the outfitting of it all.
Thanks for reading, feel free to explore the rest of my blog, and leave comments.