Stays'l Tracks

Yes...there is a technical aspect of living aboard. It seems as though we are adding, subtracting, or modifying something on the Velvet Sky day. I should be recording the work daily and be taking lots of photos. I haven't really been doing either so there will be a bunch of catching up. I am excited to say...."WE GOT THE MAINSAIL UP YESTERDAY!" Being that Scott and I are the working crew no photos were taken of the process, but we will be getting photos of the sails up.

A Happy Sailor... New jib and Stays'l up and furled
The boom is waiting patiently to hold and carry the new Mainsail

Stays’l tracks...

We made a Stays’l sail handling change. IP Yachts come with a self -tacking boom that takes up a lot of room where we plan to store a dinghy. As part of the re-outfitting of the boat we had Carol Hasse of Port Townsend Sails survey all of our sails. Her staff found that our staysail was rotten. We commissioned them to sew for us a brand new staysail. We took the opportunity to refine the sail handling characteristics and free up deck space where we will store our dinghy. In consultation with Dan from PT Rigging and Hasse from PT sails we decided to install some t-track.

Port Side interior backing plates

Starboard side interior backing plates

T-Track (starboard side)

Cradle for life boat (through bolted with stainless backing plates inside cabin)

In order to do this task we drilled 7 holes into the cabin top on each side, a total of 14 holes (as you can imagine we had to be very mindful of how we sealed the holes as to not allow the rain to trickle into the cabin.). It turns out that one of the holes on each piece of track landed right in the middle of the reinforcement on the inside of the cabin which required us to use a g-10 insert ( G-10 insert is a super super hard piece of fiberglass rod that you glue in to the fiberglass substratet of the cabin roof) You then drill with #7 bit and tap with a quarter 20 tap for the fastener (insert photo). To make sure that you don’t have any leaks clean the stainless steel fastener with acetone to remove oil residue, and coat threads with sika 291 and tighten up. We used acorn nuts on the inside to hold the backing plates. The whole goal of adding the t-track on the deck was allow us to use stand up blocks to lead the sheet lines to the cockpit. The end result is more precise control of the staysail and made a much cleaner and safer foredeck and plenty of room to store our dinghy. In removing the old rigid boom we removed the pivot and replaced it with a solid aluminum pad with two fold down pad-eyes.

Custom design and made by Port Townsend Rigging

We can use that anchor point to hold down the bow of the dinghy and have a rock solid attachment point for our jack-lines (Jack-line explanation to follow).

Winch Servicing

My first "boat" knot

Winch servicing
step one: take a photo as to remember how it goes back together

Take the top off 

observe the gooey gears

disassemble

more disassembly

clean each part with a brush, dental pick, and paint thinner

begin re-greasing

this is a pall, in this winch there are four and
each one has a tiny spring and they have a
tendency to want to get lost in the mix,
these little dudes need to be monitored

The palls in place and gears greased and ready to be reassembled

The winch reassembled and ready for the casing.
Whoo-Hoo!  She works! This is number 7 complete.
I estimate one and a half hours per winch. Only one more to go
until next year about this time (it is an annual job).
I considered giving myself a badge of "Official Winch Servicer."
(At least here on the Velvet Sky)

Preschool for the Bucket

October 3, 2013
So much happens in just three days. Zayden started a Montessori based preschool on Wednesday. He loves it. When asked his name he responds with a handshake and “I’m Bucket.!” He will be learning to write his birth name and will likely find his nickname left behind soon. We will leave that up to him for a while longer, though.

We have been on the hunt for social activities for him. He will be attending preschool two days a week. Today we tried a dance class. He was so excited to go to a dance party he could hardly stand it. It is ballet for children 3 and older. The next class is offered when he is four, that is tap. The class today consisted of about 20 children, 19 of them were little girls. He had no idea that he was the only boy. He was there for the party! I am opting to wait until he can be enrolled in tap or hip-hop or maybe even karate. He showed no sign of being graceful, no floating on tip toes for the Bucket. He wants to jump, make big noises, and do ninja moves. Ballet is out.

Now I know many of you are saying, “We love hearing about the Bucket, and his adventures. What about sailing?” Big news! We got our jib sail today! This means we will be heading out into the big Ocean soon. Scott and I put it on and learned to furl it (that means rolled it up and secured it until ready to use). One step at a time, Matey’s. Our next step will be having a few sailing lessons with a pro. She will spend a few hours with us teaching us the ropes, so to speak. This will be taking place next week, likely.

And more good news, Scott has found help in setting up this website. This guy knows what he is doing and the page will be easier and more enjoyable to follow. Thanks for following us and hanging in there. I am still learning how to post photos and other cool stuff. Eventually, as per Shawn’s request, I will be starting a journal of then and now, and I will begin to tell of our sail boat adventure beginning with shopping for our boat.

Until next time,

Fair Winds and Oceans of Love,

Cindy, Scott, the Bucket

Zayden LOVING the beach!

                     

So this is our "Winter in Port Townsend" photo :)

Ooops! Another face plant in the sand....brain works faster than the feet.

One of the Kinetic Sculptures  (thinking about Jacob and Rose)

We supported "Boots and Bootie" in the 2013 Kinetic Sculpture Race
Go Collin and Amber!

Learning Ballet Fingers

You want me to do what?

My feet to my head?

Whoa....Lady!

Is this a wrestling match or ballet?

Oh...I see...

Nope...not doing it!

This is a cool sight on our way home from the "dance party"

At the stop sign...."hello dear"

September 29, 30, 2013

September 30, 2013

The weather here was fair, and there was no work to be done on the boat so we decided to venture out of Port Townsend to the nearest shopping mecca. Bremerton is about a forty minute drive. The Bucket was in need of a size bigger running shoe, a rain slicker, hat, and gloves. We found that Bremerton was not our town, but rather a town called Silverdale.

We found a Shari’s for lunch, JC Penny for running shoes, and a Sportman’s Warehouse for a hat. Most importantly we found a FISHING POLE! HOORAY!

Although we came home shorthanded of what was on our list (no rain coat or gloves), the fishing pole was a huge bonus.

September 29, 2013

We went to the beach today. Scott assured me that it was just like Mexico, only 50 degrees cooler. Well, as it turns out he was wrong. It was 40 degrees cooler and winds up to 30 miles an hour. No rain though, so it was a pleasant trip.

Today is Sunday. My idea of a good Sunday is lying around, eating “bad for you” food, and watching television. With a 3 year old lying around isn’t much of an option. Scott managed to find an antenna at our local hardware store so we have television. We get one channel, clearly, all the time. Blessing or curse? I haven’t decided. The station is called QUBO, it is cartoons and children’s television, all day, everyday. That hasn’t put a damper to my idea of a good Sunday. I can cook.

I made bread on the boat. We ate it. Divine!

Instead of lying around and watching television I began to sew window coverings. Yes, they are small and do not use curtain rods, and are referred to as portholes. Lucky for us I brought along a few yards of blue velvet and several yards of elastic. I have a plan. Photos later (if these covers are photo worthy).

Fair Winds and Oceans of Love,

Cindy, Scott, and the Bucket