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.

it's ours!!!!!!!!!!

after all the hassle and all the waiting and all the fees, we recieved the boat title in the mail today! what an event! we started this whole process in october and its january now. time to bust out a bottle of bubbly!

boat 4 sale

a few views of the boat-these are the pictures we saw online that made us
decide she was the project for us.

here is the helm. its an edson worm gear steering system. (read-bulletproof, stout, hefty, etc.) this looks aft, she's a double ended sailboat (pointy at both ends)

this view shows the galley on the left, the doghouse in the center,
and the door to the head on the right. the green square is the companionway.
this is looking aft inside the boat.

this has got to be one of the most pathetic looking bathrooms i have ever seen, and i travel a lot. this is also the first thing we changed on the boat-mostly because it doesn't work in this picture.

a view through the open doghouse. a perkins diesel. a great little engine that doesn't currently run! but soon.....we do have the best mechanic in the world living on board.

a better view of the galley.

this is the forward V berth. and a view of the ten seater wrap around settee(read-couch). the table is a wonderful addition, as it is from an old trailer, or maybe one of those hotels you rent by the hour.









this boat was designed by a kiwi (read-new zealander ), named hartog. and built by nice boat yard in san fransisco. she was never finished and her interior is all plywood and primer-yummy.
we saw nothing but potential in her and are soon on our way to making her the exact boat we want her to be.

the first post

here is our boat! up until now, we have just been calling her the ugly duckling. We found her online for sale and decided, she was the one for us! similar to a steel boat we had plans to build, she put us 1 step ahead.

But alas- we were in alaska and she was in california. so we packed up all our stuff and shipped it all to california, and hopped a jet to the big world of the lower 48.

after months of lost paperwork, missed calls, and general bs, we got to take the tittle in to the dmv and register her in our names! wow! finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

finally after long hours of searching and many months of traveling-we own our boat-Mjolnir.

we're just getting started, give us a little time!