Fresh Paint

So We've gotten a few complaints that the blog hasn't been updated in a long time. Sorry! We were just so damn depressed that we couldn't finsh our project, we had to leave the blog alone for a while. But, we are back in fairbanks now, both working, and finally catching up from the California fiasco! We will keep up on the blog, although it woun't be much about the boat until we are ready to move her, but, we do have other adventures from time to time. So before we say aido to the boat completly, here are some pictures of her in fresh paint.

Capt'n Scupper sittin on deck surveying the new situation. "Aaarrrggg" he says "what arrrre ya doin?" I think it meets with his approval.

we ran out of paint and money before we got finished all the way, but we sure got close!

When I find the pictures of the window endevor I will post them. Then you can see why there are no more portholes!

doggie washing day

Who doesn't love to torture their pet with the imminent doggie washing day? Can you see the look on his face, impending doom!! Poor Scupper, he hates this day, but we have to do it. (some jackass ran across the street in front of the car, Jim had to slam on the brakes, and scupper got covered in coffee) He was a very sticky dog.

I try to tell him I love him and this will all be over soon.

But, I don't think he's buying it. "this is my angry face" he says

Just like all dogs after a bath, he gets his payback as he shakes the soapy water all over me. I guess he thought I needed a bath too!
Momma's poor little baby, he looks like a drowned rat. But I keep wondering, where'd my dog go, i thought he was a lot bigger than that! It's all fur! He's just so fluffy, I always think he's bigger. Oh well, he sure does smell a lot better!

the new deck

We are finally starting to make some real progress on the boat's decks! we found a really great 2 part epoxy paint that is made for the water! made by rust-oleum, and a real steal at $170 for 2 gallons. (each part is 1 gallon so we have to buy 2 gals at a time)

The first step is to grind off any rust. 

Then I scrub the decks down and wash them off. 

After that dries, (in like 2 seconds with this heat and infernal sun) 

I mix the wonderfully messy epoxy. one part is thicker than Elmer's glue and the other is as runny as snot with a sinus infection! 

Then I roller on the first layer real thick and super sticky.

Before the layer can dry (which again happens really quickly)

I sprinkle the sand on top. 

gotta make it nice and even!

Then most of the work is done for the day. I just let it dry over night. Then in the morning, I sweep off the extra sand, and hose down the deck. Gotta let it dry again and mix more paint. Then roller on another layer over the top of the sand to make it all shinny white again.

Then on to the next section. 

You all know warning labels on everything now say something along the lines of "this product is known to the state of California to cause cancer" (but only to California right?) anyway, the sand we are using for the deck is 100% natural playground sand made for a child's sandbox. There is a warning label on the sand bag that says this product is known to the state of California to be a carcinogen, and prolonged exposure to this product can cause emphysema and pulminary disease ! yeah ! have fun kids!

only in the state of California! would they sell sand for a playground and it causes cancer and what ever else. I am still dumbfounded!

a visit from family

Jim's brother Rex and his family came down from Oregon for a visit, so we took them for a  walk on the Golden Gate Bridge. It's a nice walk 3.8 miles, and windy as ... well you get the idea. 

This is Rex. 

This is me with my sister in law Lori. 

Here's the family, we all posed for this one can you tell who's who?

Rex on the far right, our niece Ambrelee in the front, me right behind her, Lori to the left of me looking at San Francisco, and our nephew Ryan beside her. And lots of other tourists to the left. 

In an earlier post, i mentioned the suicide rate of the bridge, so I guess this next picture is self explanatory! Sad but true.

This is the San Francisco sky line from the center of the bridge.  We stopped for a while to watch all the sailboats sailing around the bay. It was very cool to actually see how far a sailboat heels over. One day we will be out there too! The other bridge you see is called the Bay Bridge, it goes from just south of Berkeley across Treasure Island and on to San Francisco. 

The Leaky Mast ( ooohh thats a good name for a bar)

It all started one dark rainy dismal day. It was pouring so hard as soon as you stepped out side you were soaked to the bone. I thought it only rained like this in Kodiak but I was wrong, it rains harder in California than in Kodiak, and that's BAD!

This is a shot straight down the mast and into the hull. Now let me take the time to remind you that there is a hole in the middle of the bed that allows the mast to go from the deck into the interior through the bed and to the keel. As it is, our mast is hallow, and there are wires that are run in the mast to provide lights to the top of the mast and spreaders. Those wires run from the very top of the mast 40 some odd feet from the top of the deck all the way into the interior where they are hooked to the power source. So what happens is there is a hole drilled somewhere in the top of the mast to let the wires out to the lights and a hole drilled in the interior portion of the mast to hook to power. WELL, the rain water goes in the top hole, and where do you think it goes from there? right down the center of the mast. Then what happens? the mast fills up with cold nasty rain water until it reaches the second hole just above our heads as we are sleeping! And once the mast is full it proceeds to leak out of the hole and onto our heads and all over the bed! and starts to fill the bilge! So the bed got completly soaked and it's still raining and filling the bottom of the boat with water!

As you can see Jim is not very happy about this situation. But really what makes it even worse, there's nothing he can do about it because he can't fit his arm in the mast hole. Larissa to the rescue. sort of. I could barely fit my arm in the hole. love that expression! I had to make it as I squoze. so I had a piece of duct tape attached to my fingers and was trying to cover the hole to get us through the night. my poor arm hurt for the next few days, and the tape only covered part of the hole.

After lengthy hours of revolving all the cushions in front of the heater, we are finally sleeping on a dry bed again. and the rain still hasn't stopped! you should see all the duct tape we've been using. we also found out several of our port holes leaked and so did the main hatch. Well, were all sealed up again at least until the rain stops and we can fix it the right way!

a day off in San Fransisco

Jim had a day off from work so we thought a trip to San Fransisco's fisherman's wharf would be fun. It was finally time to explore our new surroundings.

This is the famous Golden Gate Bridge
the toll to cross the bridge is up to $6.
But its so exciting to go into the big city! (golden gate fact #1 approximately 50 people a year commit suicide by jumping from the bridge) and yes some survive!











pier 39 is quite an interesting place. full of people and shopping and tourist
activities. this is the out side of the bay aquarium.

















here is Alcatraz. we'll take the tour one of these days. today was just to get a feel for the place and see what all it has to offer- quite a bit. it took several hours just to walk the wharf and pier, not to mention all the museums and food and shops and cruises and submarines and the fishing and sea lions.
















phew, after all that we had to stop and rest with an ice cream. jim shared some of his cone with the pigeons. it was funny. they were sitting on his lap and taking food from his hand.

the new member of our crew aka the sea urchin

Welcome aboard!

It's a boy!
12 lbs 2 ozs
18 ins. long
4 furry paws
and a tail!
this is our salty sea dog Scupper. he is a pug schitzu mix (pug-shit)


our 1 year anniversary is comming up soon so for our present, we went to the local animal shelter and got a dog.

aaaarrrrrrgggggggggggggg..........he's a wee bilge rat!

he seems to have made himself home all over the boat where ever there is a comfortable spot to sleep. a little shy with people but he's not afraid of any dog no matter how big. he's got the big dog attitude in his wee little body.




we took him for a hike atop Mt. Tamalpias a few days ago. (Jim says-mt. tamalpias is the birth place of the mountain bike) see how happy he is? he just loved it. we were a little worried about him keeping up, with his short little legs and all, but he did fine, infact, we had to keep up with him, except any up hill parts, he didnt like those! but hey, who does right?








as part of the crew he needed a job so we offered him "dog watch" which in nautical terms means the extra left over watch shift at the end of the day. he took it graciously, and as you can see, he's a natural. he just loves the cockpit float cushions any thime there is one available for him! he really is a spunky little dog in is awake time- barking at all the strangers that pass by the boat and playing attack our feet under the blankets.

little smokey

this is jim

jims mission of the day is: get the engine started

meet perkins aka: little smokey
a 40hp perkins diesel

watch out engine here he comes!

nothin yet

then all of the sudden out of nowhwere comes the plume of success!

ohhhh yeahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

it wafted its way throughout the entire harbor and by the end of the day, everyone in san rafel was commenting to us
"i see you got your engine started"

rust and steel boats

so i guess it all started one day with a "you want me to what?"
but i did anyway-

the boat has a few really bad rust spots that are covered in putty, but the rust is seaping up through the cracks in the putty. so we have to chizzel the putty away, clean the rust spots and then reprimer and paint.
so here i am with my hammer and chizel ready to enjoy a beautiful sunny january day in california. throw on a tank and roll up the jeans and get started-

What do you mean "the whole boat?"

hours and hours later and many ibuprophen for the sore back, i got through 2 big spots. there has got to be a better way to do this.

Welcome to San Rafael Yacht Harbor

here are some of the regular views around the san rafael yacht harbor
where we have the boat docked.

this is the crane, thats built on the barge, that dredges the harbor, that matt built.
the harbor master matt never sleeps and is always working on something.
the crane is currently parked to the aft end of our boat and is our morning coffee view.

this is our neighbor steve, a great guy. but maybe we're
just partial because he's from alaska too!

This is gary, gary has a great boat. he almost bought our boat before we got here,
but decided on this one instead. built in 1928, and still floats,
the boat, not gary!

here is matt's son. we dont know his name but he is a regular boater around the harbor.
I think he's about 8, and handles his carolina skiff like a pro.

this is the concrete boat across the dock from us. its a bit deep in the draft for
low tide. we're pretty sure one day, its gonna break the dock in half!
you should hear the creaks as it settles.