cold cat

We are in for a bout of snow, sleet and freezing rain here in Hood River, Oregon.  Temps in the teens.

Can't wait to get this cat into warmer waters.  She's a fish out of water.

sea trials on the Columbia River.

A friend of mine took this picture from the bluff of the Washington state side.  Too bad I look like a moron with my fenders still down.

We raised the Jib and sailed a little bit on a light east wind.  This allowed me to check out the roller furller as well as the low water alarm!  I found that the Hood River sand bar fans out further than I had thought.  Motoring along, the Garmin depth sounder began to scream out loud and we were lucky that the default depth alarm had been preset to 5 feet. I immediately put the boat full astern .....I now know that in an emergency, I can motor in 3 feet of water

a short boat building break

The local paper.

a story

Skipper Everett Ocean

Those formative years of video games have prepared Everett Ocean to drive the boat.  We had a nice motor cruise down the Columbia River and Everett Ocean (6) drove the boat all the way home while Jenny and I hung out on the forward trampolines.

On the water.

"Mariana" at home in the Columbia River Gorge,  Hood River, Oregon.

She's in.

The launch went well. Started at 4:30 this morning and ended with lots of good friends sharing stories and beer.

She is riding nice and high on her water lines.

she's out!

launch checklists.....

so many things to remember.....

Loading up the mast for transport

With the help of a good friend and a "Grade All" fork lift, I was able to load the mast onto the urban assault vehicle. ( Yes, it's the same year bus that they used to film "Speed" )

Now I've got to figure out a way to strap it down so it doesn't fall off onto the Highway when I drive it down to the Columbia River.

Friends

Its nice to have a friend.  It's even nicer to have ten friends to help move a 56 ft mast out of the shop so that it can be lifted onto a bus.  The 1972 GM coach will serve as an the urban assault vehicle / mast transportation unit.

Anchor shackle ; USA or China?

At the risk of hurting the feelings of China, I decided to forgo the shackle that West Marine had.  I found a US made shackle from Fastenall that was rated at more than twice the strength.  Shame on West Marine.  They should offer the better quality US made shackle. It was only a couple of dollars more online.

She's alive....

Yanmar 3YM20 marine diesel. ( one of two )

in the following movie, I mislabeled the introductory text as "starboard"  I really meant "Port" (port is left side when facing forward )

I noticed water in the bilge and immediately panicked but after further investigation, I found that the heat exchanger body had a drain tube that was open. ahhhhhh a simple fix.

Port side engine run test

I filled up a big container with water so that the cooling ports could pull water into the engine.

a thankless job.

Painting the bilge is a lonely, thankless job but in
the future, it will make it easier to clean.

In this case, I'm using a two part epoxy pool paint. It has lots of body and produces a really slick surface when cured.

Titanium links, synthetic stays and carbon chain plates

So much for being in the age of sail.....

Todays materials have changed but the basic principle of dead eyes and lashings hold true.

turning rigging link pins on the lathe

carbon side stay, titanium links, Colligo distributor and Dyneema lashings

the synthetic stays

stays out of the box from Colligo Marine

A few morning shots

Bow netting

The bow netting is now laced into place.  This knotless dyneema netting offers very little windage and will not hold a wave if one were to roll across the bow.

trampoline netting

I chose to use knotless dyneema netting for my tramps.  This stuff shows very little stretch.  I am using fiberglass tubes along the edges and will lace them to the boat with 1/4 inch dyneema rope.

a pile of netting

one inch squares

the shape of the trampoline

lacing the edge tubes

an electric rope cutter

after cutting

the opening

port side net area