Our First Friend Aboard

Our good friend, Maurice, joined us today for a great sail and to help Matt with some boat maintenance. We started the day by hoisting our captain up the mast to diagnose navigation light issues, went out for an afternoon sail (Maurice even took the wheel for the majority the time) and then wrapped up with the 1st oil change and relaxed over dinner and chats.

Volvo Ocean Race Gear ...

Straight from Sweden. Our friend Jenny, who works for Sony Ericsson, sent us a sweet backpack & shirt from her adventures in Marstrand (a port of call in The Volvo Ocean Race).

The shirt is that great wicking material & it just looks racy. I'm going to want to put Kaleo's rail in the water & sail fast every time I wear this. Though I do feel a little bad wearing this gear since I was cheering for team Puma, who took 2nd behind Ericsson 4, throughout the race.

Thanks Jenny for the great gear!

First Signs Of Trouble...

The first sign of a tropical depression in the Atlantic popped up on my RSS reader from the National Hurricane Center!

I am praying for a mild hurricane season. I just can't stand the thought of Kaleo sitting out a storm while we are stuck in Dallas.

Dinghy Decisions

I inflated the dinghy in the garage this afternoon to see what this little boat is all about. The dinghy is the like the car is to a house. It is our means of getting to shore from the boat when we are at anchor. Kaleo has a draft (in water depth) of 5' 6" so she can't pull up to the shore unless there is a slip. In fact, in our slip she sits in the mud at low-tide.

So the dinghy will be our means of getting around the neighborhood when we are our cruising. The one that came with the boat is a West Marine 8-footer. The decision I am trying to make is, hard or rigid-inflatable dinghy?

We are going to take the dinghy back down to the boat and give it a try for a few months. No doubt this decision, like so many in cruising will involve lots of research, lots of differing opinions and ultimately just going with whatever works out.

4th of July Fireworks at Anchor

We took on a new challenge this weekend and decided to anchor out to watch the fireworks for the Fourth.

We spent Friday testing the windlass, which needs some work, & doing general boat work. Afterward, I modified the Revere copper clad bottom pots we ordered from eBay and as wedding gifts. They have a rivet holding the handle to the pot and by drilling the rivet the handle comes off to nest within each other, taking up a lot less space. (A critical feature on a 34' boat.) We got this great idea from our cruising mentors, Kirk & Lisa. Thanks guys!

Saturday came & it was hot (about 100). We worked on the boat and I mounted a solar garden light on our piling so I could more easily find our slip after dark.

Our marina neighbor, Kevin, hoisted me to the top of the mast so I could try and figure out why the mast navigation light doesn't work. I was unsuccessful and ended up cutting my hand open because the bulb shattered as I tried to remove it from the socket. But I did meet our neighbor
and we agreed to trade his winching skills for my mast scaling ability. I plan to help him mount a block for a spinaker halyard next time we're here.

Th family came about 4:00 and we motored out to the bay. There was more vessel traffic than we'd ever seen. And that was just the beginning. We picked a spot & Christie did a fantastic job of piloting while her brother & I dropped the hook. Her dad BBQed chicken while I worried about other boats anchoring too close. We ate a great meal & then watched the fireworks from the best vantage point we've ever experienced! The fireworks were so close & powerful that they shook the boat as they went off.

By the time we pulled the hook after the fireworks, the bay was inundated with boats. We then began the two hour journey back to the slip that typically only takes about 30 mins.

We're heading back in two weeks and can't wait!