Haul Out 2012

Radeen under the bow of Island Spirit

Island Spirit gets a lift out of the water at Haven Harbour Marina in Rock Hall, MD, for the first time since June 2011. She has been in the water for 15 months so it was time to clean her up and get ready for her second trip to the Bahamas! Hauling out is a big deal and it also represents a lot of work. Once "on the hard," the term for being in the parking lot, the work can begin. Imagine waxing a tractor trailer and you can begin to feel the pain your arms and shoulders will soon be put through. You need a lot of Advil and other pain killers in order to sleep after a full day of holding a buffer at arm's length and moving it up and down and side to side. There is no easy way to accomplish this; you simply must get up on that platform and get it done!

Hayden waxing the boat via a ladder scaffolding

After waxing the beast, you then get the pleasure of rolling heavy, nearly SOLID copper-laden paint with a paint roller that is on the end of a broom stick. Yes, you keep the paint roller 4+ feet away from your body, which means you contort into all kinds of angles just to hold up the copper-filled roller and press it UP under the curved hull. Sounds easy, right? Well, next year or the next time we paint, come on down and we will LET YOU have a try at painting the bottom of the boat. I am not sure which is more difficult, rolling the bottom with Trinidad Paint (the highest copper paint on the planet), or holding a buffer at full arm's length. Each of these arduous tasks is what owning a cruising sailboat is all about. Lucky for most, this ritual is performed every one or two years, so it is forgotten about soon after the boat is back in the water!

Radeen helps paint the bottom, notice the stylish
cover ups!......nice!

Team Island Spirit is a TRUE team and always has been. We work on these jobs together with each of us doing our own various tasks. Yes, it would be much easier to simply write a check for this work, but the bid on waxing was $850.00 and the bottom paint was $1,000, so we don't mind doing it ourselves to save these fees. The real beauty is that we are NOT working, we are retired, and we have the time to do this prep work. All the while, we are dreaming about and talking about all the places we will soon travel to via this wonderful boat.

Living the "cruising life" has been a dream and it is far better than expected. We have now spent one full year living our lifetime dream and we are looking forward to the next year. These challenges and jobs of being on the hard are a small price to pay for a year of cruising south. Bahamas, here we come.....

Here are some various photos of the yard work...

The Haven Harbour Marina travel lift picks up the 17,500 lbs with ease.

Job one....a marina employee power washes the bottom to remove slime and barnacles.

The travel lift is driven across the parking lot via a WIRELESS REMOTE CONTROL.
Very cool to see. It is like a large video game!

Radeen always scrapes the bottom of the keel. She hates barnacles there, or anywhere.

Service job #1, remove the helm steering system for service.
Edson Marine wanted to see this helm after 12,000 miles.

We installed this system...so we removed it.
2.5 hrs to remove the entire steering system and shifter mechanism.

Bottom paint on day one. Day two, jack stands moved forward so we can paint those patches.

Trinidad Paint by Pettit, does this look like $300 per gallon? Copper has gone up!
Our boat needs 2 gallons of paint to coat the bottom.

To service the prop, we sanded it clean and re-coated it with 2-step Speed Prop.

Next, we sanded and repainted the boot stripe using a $5.99 can of Krylon Fusion Spray Paint in Navy.

Jobs COMPLETED in 4.5 days, time to go home and rest....

Next move, reinstall the Edson CD-i helm and below-decks steering arms, reconnect the shifter and throttle cables and get this girl launched, back in the water where she belongs. After that, share the joy with some good friends and load up, because we are SOUTH BOUND very sooooooon. Year #2 will officially begin at the end of this month. BAHAMAS, HERE WE COME......

Portland Pals

We had a lovely 5 hour drive to Portland and a delicious seafood lunch with my nephew and his wife who dropped us off on their way home to Seattle. Then we set off to make the most of our 1.5 days in Portland. After riding MAX, the light rail system, from our airport hotel to downtown, we used the street cars and found our way to one of the few stores open on Labor Day evening, Powell's Book Store, http://www.powells.com . This famous store covers more than a city block, is 5 stories tall and has a plentiful and incredibly helpful staff. An amazing place! This was followed by shots of drinking chocolate at the historic Heathman Hotel's Cacao, http://cacaodrinkchocolate.com   Books and chocolate - what bliss!

Radeen, smiling and clutching her map of the store...a true necessity at Powell's 

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Even on a holiday, the Portland public transit system ran frequently and flawlessly. 

On Tuesday, we were treated to a grand tour of the city by our Bahamas sailing friends, Larry and Phyllis of IP-40 "Lark." They bought a condo last year and plan to spend every summer here. We can certainly understand why they love Portland. It is very friendly, clean, interesting and has a great vibe. They find they don't need a car because the public transit system works so well. (Watch out, we'll be coming back sooner than you think!) 

We started the day meeting Phyllis so she could escort us via MAX to their neighborhood, The Pearl District. Larry amazed us with salmon and cream cheese omelettes and fruit salad with yogurt. Thus fortified, we started out on a full day of sight-seeing and sampling the city's famous fare, including infamous & scandalous VooDoo donuts.

Our friends' condo with a wetlands park in the middle of the city .

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We enjoyed a guided tour of the lovely and surprisingly spacious Lan Su Chinese Garden.

www.lansugarden.org

This tram car is yet another mode of public transportation in Portland.

We enjoyed a stunning view of Mt. Hood in the distance and shared great stories on an outdoor terrace.

A walk in the afternoon took us to interesting old neighborhoods of NW Portland, followed by dinner with their son and his girlfriend. We enjoyed one of Portland's famous brew pubs, Widmer's Gasthaus and Brewery on the east side of Portland, across the Willamette River. http://widmerbrothers.com/

Saying good-bye at the MAX station. Thank you, Phyllis and Larry, for a wonderful day together! 

Oregon Family Visit

Custom Red Cedar Home Built by Radeen's Brother

Destination Southern Oregon for a visit with Radeen's family. Lee, Radeen's brother, hand built this beautiful red cedar, post and beam home, over the last 4 years! Beginning with a set of plans and two other men to help when needed, he set out clearing the 5 acres of brush and sagebrush while preserving every tree as his property borders the National Forest of south central Oregon. The rest of the family drove in from California and Washington states sharing stories, photos, gifts, and fantastic meals ranging from venison to antelope to fresh caught salmon, with delicious desserts, including home made ice cream and wine/berry sorbets.

We toured Crater Lake, one of the most beautiful places on earth! Another day, we rode on a jet boat 36 miles into the Hellgate Canyon. Further highlights were shopping the beautiful towns of Ashland, home of the Shakespeare Festival, and Jacksonville, a gold rush town. We were constantly interrupted by the many wine tastings these towns offer!

Oregon is such a beautiful state, with only 3.8 million residents which is less than half the population of New York City! The peaceful vistas, massive mountains, and lush valleys make exploring the countryside breathtaking and very enjoyable. Such a contrast to exploring by boat and on the ocean. Thank you, Lee and Judith, for a dream visit and a wonderful family reunion. We look forward to many more!

Photo Essay of our Oregon Family Visit 

Radeen arrives in Oregon

Lee and Radeen on the interior balcony, overlooking the living room
Notice the beautiful red cedar interior walls!

Hayden and Lee in the front driveway

The back, SW view, where the upper deck and patio overlook the valley and off to the mountains

Lee is one of 3,000 licensed Falconers in the United States!
This is his trained Harris Hawk named Gaff.

Lee feeding his Harris Hawk with the bird on his leather glove.
Look at the tallons on these birds.

The bird will fly out for a loop, then return to his raised hand.
This bird is flown out into the wild to catch rabbits and wild prey!

Our jet boat ride into the Hellgate Canyon where there are rapids and waterfalls

Lee and Hayden at the outdoor lodge in the canyon

Lee, Judith, Radeen and Hayden...front row on the jet boat ride...very cool....very fast, 40 knots!

Lee and Judith have every bird imaginable, here is their pet hummingbird at a hanging basket

Radeen and Judith overlooking the valley near Crater Lake

A common valley scene with towering pines, a river and waterfall below

Crater Lake National Park....beautiful!

Wizard Island in the side / center of the lake

Crater Lake is 1,990 feet deep, the deepest lake in the USA!

Hayden and Radeen, at Crater Lake, Oregon

Crater Lake was caused 7,700 years ago when the volcano erupted.
The ash volume would cover all of Oregon  8" deep if spread out evenly over the state!

No photo of Crater Lake does it justice....it is far more beautiful than these photos show.

Crater Lake and Wizard Island
That far peak is the upward slope of the original mountain

Back home, this is the interior balcony of Lee and Judith's home.
Beautiful! Notice the beams, steel brackets, and red cedar walls.

Darren and Jeanette, Radeen's nephew and his wonderful wife

Hayden and Lee set up "FORT FRANKIE" for Lee's Granddaughter, Frankie.
She read us a fireside story and we toasted s'mores.....fun!

"Willie" the famous pack rat and chipmunk hunter. He is also used to flush rabbits for the hawk

"Pip" the bloodhound who is really great at chasing down  coyotes and rabbits.
These dogs work in tandem with the Harris Hawk.

Radeen, Tanya, and Judith, a great "girls" photo

Frankie Lee and Darren..."PaPa loves Frankie"
Frankie is a fantastic reader and did a great job with our fire pit stories....Thank you, Frankie Lee!

Hayden, Tanya, Jeanette and Lee after another wonderful meal and delicious wine.

Frankie Lee and "Willie" the great hunter

Frankie Lee, Darren, and Jeanette...beautiful...smart...positive...happy family!

The "BEAST" ... a diesel tractor that is used for all the heavy lifting, snow plowing, sagebrush cutting, and more

S'mores anyone?

S'mores at "FORT FRANKIE" and story time by the expert reader herself.
Thank you for a wonderful visit.....WE LOVE YOU ALL....