Family is what you make it

This has been a great summer on the SV Clarion. We have been treated to the company of many friends and family onboard. Many of those that Carrie and I are now counting as our family did not start out that way but have in a short time graduated to that lofty status. We had a great time this year with our next door (boat) neighbor, Richard as well as the rather recently found friend Alan "Harley." These, along with the host of friends who have already been afforded family status like the illustrious Sam from Louisville, have rewritten what we thought we knew about what and who family was.

Last night as the girls were preparing to get on todays plane and fly back to Louisville we had an impromptu family reunion to say goodbye. Richard was there (He's actually ALWAYS there but it was more than that at the time) and we were also joined by Harley. It turned out to be a great night. If it weren't for the fact that Carrie and I had to leave to get her finicky iPhone synced in an hourlong marathon session on my computer at work I think we would have all been singing "Kumbaya" by the end of the evening. As it went the boys took watch over the sleeping Riley (whom they claim as their own anyway) and we got to do the update on our own schedule.

I know that I have talked about some of these new family members at some length in this blog but I think it is remarkable the degree to which they have become so nicely woven into the life Carrie and I have on the boat and in the rest of it all too.

I feel that I have seriously gotten the big piece of chicken with these folks. From Sam, the fierce and amazing friend to Harley who can do anything and has, to Richard who, among other things is a dyn-o-mite skating rink king, they are all people who will and have changed our lives for the better.

Onward!

Riley goes into the swimming biz

One of the things that we usually try to avoid here in the pacific northwest is going into the water. This year however, there is this strange orb in the sky that is drying things out and making things very warm. This orb has made it very hot and uncomfortable to be on deck. Riley decided that she had had enough and escaped into the water! Look at her go!

A Duck!

So there are now a bevy of new faces around the marina. They are young, spry, and full of energy. I am talking about ducks. The new crop is in and they are very cute. Carrie and I were eating on the back deck when she spied one of these wandering hoards and started tossing small tidbits in their direction. Soon the whole mob was on us. In the video below you can see the little tykes. I am very fond of ducks, having grown up with them always in the yard. It was almost like living on a farm. I loved growing up with them and I found that I still love having them around.

Dishes etc.

Sometimes it is the little things that can tell you the most about how you will react to living aboard a boat. Carrie is used to it. Tiny spaces are like old home to her. She thrives there. I am happy in them but my use of them is not as natural. Case in point. Dishes.

Both Carrie and I do the dishes on the SV Clarion. I do them when I am in the galley, She does them often when I cook, which is often.

When I do the dishes I do them in a way that is familiar to me from having a bigger space. I put everything in the sinks and clean in small batches to clear space in the drying sink for the clean items. When there is a lot of stuff to clean, I can get pretty buried.

Carrie, on the other hand, uses all of the space in the galley. The companionway steps included. I would never have thought of this. It keeps the counters clean for drying excess and allows more storage of the dirty stuff. her way is clearly better.

These are the differences that make a job easier on a boat. They are small but they are powerful.

I am happy to have such a good teacher.

Here are some videos to make you feel like you've been here

Yes. Nothing tells a story about something like moving pictures. Here are a few I have shot from my new phone. They give you a small idea of what it is like aboard the Clarion. We are indeed very lucky to be here.

This first is the belowdecks area:



This is the video of the abovedecks area:



And finally here is the neighborhood we live in:



Hope you like them!

Getting an incomplete...

This time it is not me that is getting an incomplete on my homework, it is my contractors.

I currently have two jobs that are in the operational phases of the process and have been for weeks and weeks. I started the canvas project and the furnace repair projects on nearly the same day just after Carrie left for 7 weeks. Now, not only is she BACK but she has been for two weeks and there is still no progress on either of these. I have nearly given up on the canvas guy and I think the boatyard (Lake Union Yacht Center) has totally given up on me. I don't think I can recommend either of these outfits for future work based on this current timeline. If you are thinking about hiring these guys I would say don't bother.

Updates from the last month or so

It has been brought to my attention that there are some people who are actively encouraging me to blog more. I like this. It means that there are more than one of us who likes to hear me talk. I thought I was the only one! Finding that there are others is like discovering a gold bearing oil field in your back yard. (As I have no back yard, that analogy still doesn't quite work for me but you get the gist...) Anyhow. Onwards!

There has actually been a ton of stuff going on aboard the SV Clarion over the past few months. I will try to sum up as well as I can remember all of the projects.

Furnace is being repaired.

It is always being repaired so this is not news. The fact that it broke down when it was not actually needed is. Actually, the people at the yard came and took away the furnace the day before my last post. They said it would take a week. It has been nearly two months. I have heard nothing. I will pay nothing till I find out what they did. (if anything) The fact that I have to call the yard to get anything done on the time scale that they promised is also not news. Sadly that seems to be the way of things with my yard. Perhaps I will try to find another yard...

The canvas came off and is all being replaced!

This is not being done by me but it is going to make the boat look and feel like new and I can't wait for it to be done. The guy who is handling it is Mike Straub from Freestyle Canvas. He is very inexpensive and the quality is great the only downsides are his odd hours and the fact that we are now around 3 weeks overdue for a job that was expected to be over in less than a week. As the old adage goes: you can have it cheap, good, and fast. Pick two. Cheap and good I like. Fast is a "nice to have."

The brightwork is nearly all stripped and revarnished!

I cannot tell you how much of a difference that makes on a boat with such a tiny amount of wood showing. It looks fantastic. This I did do myself. It took a pretty good amount of time even though there was not too much of it, mostly due to the weather. I had to wait to get through the rainy parts of April and early May. Looks like a million bucks now though. Captains Spar FTW!

New deck hardware for the halyards!

I spent the late part of last evening at the marine store (WARNING! WARNING!!!) looking for and eventually buying a new deck organizer and two new blocks for the base of the mast to run the halyards. It was quite an installation, but now that it's done, I feel that the running rigging is in good enough shape to go for a good while longer. I was running into end-of-life issues with the older blocks. We had one explode on us while we were attempting to lower the mainsail a few weeks ago and I have since looked over the replaced blocks and found that they are nearly all near failure. Whew!

Now, there's girls on the boat!

Yes after all of my boat bachelorhood, my honey has returned. This time she brought along our little girl to boot! I am thrilled to have a little bit more girly-ness on the boat these days. It just seems a bit more like home than it did with nothing but smelly guys on board. Riley and Carrie have been loving the boat as well and adding to the overall shipshape quality of the belowdecks. It looks fantastic down there! Riley is a deck swabbie from the old school. She is never as happy as when she is scrubbing the decks of the boat. I don't even have to suggest it. She ASKS to do it! What more can a skipper want?

I still have a few things to get done above before we start to get some rain this year. There are a few dings that need filling so we don't get de-lamination of the glass, but these are things that may be very easy especially with the help of our next door (boat) neighbor, Richard. He is a guy who seems to know how to do everything having to do in any way with boats. I am always thankful for his assistance in my various projects.

That brings me to this... Richard may be shipping out to Alaska to work on a charter fishing boat for the summer! Alas! I am in many ways hoping he does not go as he has definitely become a very big part of the family but on the other hand I wish him well up there if he does go, as he will be able to pay off the small debts he has to the marina and still come out way ahead. He would be missed if he goes. Both Carrie and I are conflicted about his leaving, but wish him well whatever.

So that's it. Update made. Hope you all are having a great late spring. Enjoy the weather and just remember that you can always contact me if you want to come sailing. Comment here and we can set something up!