Friends BoatShows Work

We are still re-building in the shed at Snead Island....

Broken B&G arrow
weighted tip

We have been having a great time with local boating friends, Island Packet Dealers, touring the local area, and working on the rebuilding. We are still going through the 650 photos taken at the wedding in Mexico and we will blog about that soon. Right now we are still in the middle of rebuilding this yacht and all the systems we tore apart for trucking. Soon, very soon, we will get the mast installed now that all the rigging is finished. Our B&G Wind Machine is broken and we are waiting for parts on that. If they do not arrive soon, we will raise the mast and climb up later to install the newly repaired wind instrument. We should have removed it from the boat for transport, bad idea to leave it inside the cabin.

We had both alternators rebuilt. 125 amp on left
50 amp orig 1993 on the right

Engine work is nearly completed with oil change and new filters and a rebuilt alternator. We are now working on a wiring glitch to the regulator, but that should be an easy fix. All the stainless steel rub rails are back on and so is the canvas and enclosure. The solar array has been rewired along with the various antennas. The sails are still below deck and are constantly in the way. The life raft has been repacked and needs to be picked up in St. Pete along with one boat buck$ for the service! The onboard network needs rebuilt and installed and we need to reset up the WiFi Bullet2hp rig. The stereo / DVD player died during trucking and needs to be replaced. We are shopping for a similar unit that will play DVDs, iPod, CDs, and Aux in for Satellite Radio. If you have any ideas, please comment and help out.

Radeen, Ed Whiteaker and Hayden

Ed and Debbie Whiteaker, owners of
www.WhiteakerYachtSales.com

We had a great time at the St. Pete BoatShow as we were invited to be guests of the new Island Packet Yachts Legacy Dealer here in the area. Whiteaker Yacht Sales has been named the new Island Packet Dealer for all of Florida and up to the Carolinas and more! Radeen and I were invited to spend a day with them at their booth and talk to IP owners and guests about sailing and cruising. WOW, that was really fun and we met several new IP owners. What a fun time and a gracious gesture by Ed and Debbie Whiteaker. We toured the show on Thursday and then we were with them all day Saturday. Thank you, we loved it!

Looking ahead this week, we are still hoping to get the mast installed, and then get some sails on and finish the wiring to the mast.

Willam, Ed, and Hayden
William is a Yacht Broker with Whiteaker Yacht Sales and owner of IP 37 Optimystique

Here are some great photos of the week.

Ed, Bob and Hayden visit at the Whiteaker Yacht Sales Booth
Bob is a good friend and IP Owner of IP380 Judith III

Eric Stone playing at the St. Pete Boat Show

Bob Bitchin, owner of www.CruisingOutpost.com,
hosted the Saturday Pizza and Beer party at the Boat Show

A visit to Burnt Store Marina to see good friends
Alan and Kathy of IP 420 Flatlander. Here are the girls in the beautiful kitchen.

Alan and Kathy's new home and pool deck

Bird of Paradise flowers around the pool deck at Alan and Kathy's place

Sunset at the boat on Sunday during a SNOW STORM in the Northeast

The final screws re-installing the stainless steel....in the dark

Radeen at the St. Pete Boat Show

Old Jib Sheet blocks....NEW Garhauer Blocks MADE IN USA

Our alternators rebuilt by B & E Electronics in Palmetto. Great job!
Now my spare will be onboard and not home in the garage!

8 loads of laundry, plus luggage from Mexico Wedding trip
What do we do with this on a sailboat? Toss it overboard?

Oil Change....done

Cooking eggs in motor oil.....NOT

Radeen, ocean sailor Girl.....if we ever get a mast installed.
I need to get the work done and motor out of this barn!

So there we are. Still working on da boat. Still rebuilding. The great aspect is that, as we said before, we have no schedule, no place to be but here, and no plans except whatever we do today. This is a great way to live, and we are loving it....

Thanks for following, please leave us comments, we enjoy hearing from our readers.

Greg Wins 100,000

Image of the 100,000th pageview....

We have a winner of the 100,000th Pageview Contest! Congrats to the proud former owner of IP-350 Eileen, #1 Golden Doodle Master, RV Road Warrior, and very good friend, Greg, who captured the exact moment of the 100,000th pageview of this blog. Thank you to Greg for participating in and winning this world wide contest :-). Your calendar or T-shirt will be in the mail shortly.

As for Island Spirit, she is progressing slowly. Some of this slowness was due to diverting to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, where Radeen and I enjoyed the beautiful wedding of Julia and Brain. Julia is the daughter of Anita and Mark, our good college friends of nearly 40 years. We were so happy to be included in this very special event. The Azul Fives resort was gorgeous and we enjoyed five days there, celebrating with their family and friends. More details to follow!

So, now we are back aboard and working on the mast rigging and cleaning and stowing every thing. Someday soon, we will be back to where we started, that being with a fully working perfect IP 35, just like we had in May when we ripped it all apart and trucked it to the factory!

The Current jobs are:

1. Install the mast
2. Install 3 sails
3. Install Bimini and Dodger and full enclosure
4. Wire up all antennas
5. Re-install SSB antenna and AT140 tuner
6. Wire up mast base connections for Radar, VHF, TV, B&G wind, lights
7. Change engine oil, clean engine room
8. Re-build alternator again with new parts improperly installed in Bahamas
9. Test radar and navigation system and GPS and AIS systems
10. Shake down and test drive train and all systems

Then, maybe then, we can move on and get cruising! Overall, we do not yet see the light at the end of the tunnel. We are simply working one day at a time, with no real schedule and no real place to be but here. Such is life on a cruising sailboat.

100K Pageview Contest

Aug 2002, Radeen christens Island Spirit...

Team Island Spirit 100,000 Pageview Contest opens today. Who can capture the 100,000th page view?

How will this work? You need to take a PRINT SCREEN of our blog web page on the day the page view count is exactly at 100,000. This could happen in the next 3-5 days!

Email this print screen to IslandSpirit35 at gmail dot com.

The FIRST person to do this will be given a FREE 2014 Island Packet Sailing Calendar or an IPYOA t-shirt, your choice!

Let the games begin....

Reloading Week and more

Boxes of tools, gear, and safety items....

This week has been the reloading week where we have been moving car loads of boxes and gear out of out 5' W x 4' D x 8' H storage rental and back onto the boat. It is a amazing how much storage there is on these Island Packet Yachts. We have a locker of tools, one for spare parts, one for safety, one for wine, another for gallons of oil, and another for hurricane dock lines! These all go into spaces that are not mainly used. Then we have tons more space for food and paper products. All of this was removed and boxed and stored for shipping the boat to and from the Island Packet Yachts factory for our refit.

Condo #3, Anna Maria Island

As we do these jobs, we have been lucky to use time share condos and sleep away from the boat, after a full day of working on the boat. We also have made sure that we get to the condo pool at the end of the day, and also get to the beach for the beautiful west coast Florida sunsets. We are really enjoying the West Coast of Florida from Tampa Bay to Bradenton Beach, to Sarasota Bay. The beaches of Siesta Key, as well as Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island, are very beautiful. We are taking time to enjoy the beach every day around 5:30 pm which is sunset time. After that, we walk back to our condo and enjoy a relaxing dinner at "home."

Here are some photos showing the diversity of this time...

Condo #2 Siesta Key, 1 bedroom, kitchen, dining & 2 full baths

Our walk to the beach on Siesta Key

A wedding on Siesta Key, how romantic

Teak varnish coat #5, waiting to apply final coat #6

Radeen painted the lockers and also her HAIR as she was upside down in the bilge

Radeen is a Pisces,and love to SWIM....yes, we can go to the pool again!

Radeen with a post-swim Mohawk on the beach for sunset, FUN

IPY Friends, Kathy and Alan, IP-420 FLATLANDER, stopped by for a visit, very fun

Rebuilding the solar array with 4 panels, a junction box and wiring

Post sunset skies are most interesting to me

The storage locker nearly emptied, just pillows, blankets and seats, plus a 15hp Yamaha

How to make your own motor bracket support via Home Depot stuff

Plywood, paint, an aluminum kick plate for a door and snips
This will hold the Yamaha 15hp

New Motor Mount ready for our Yamaha 15 HP

Make your own outboard motor hoist at Home Depot with a conduit bender. Thank you!

So....we have been busy! It isa ton of work, but it has somehow been fun at the same time. Sure it is frustrating not having my shop or knowing the local area. Yes, I question rebuilding systems that were just fine like my solar array, but it still was worth it. We did under estimate the time and work of tear down and rebuild, but now Island Spirit is like a BRAND NEW boat, and that is really wonderful. More reloading and soon the MAST will go in....

2014 IP Calendar

The 2014 IPYOA Calendar is released....

I have enjoyed making Island Packet Yacht calendars for the last 11 years. The images I use are actual photographs that I have taken of Island Packet flags and logos. The IPY factory has granted me approval to create these calendars.  I like to focus on Island Packet Yachts sailing, anchored out or in interesting harbors. Owners from around the world submit images to include in the calendar. This year's edition covers from Scotland to New England to the Exuma Islands of the Bahamas. If you would like to buy a calendar or other IP gear, please see my online store...

http://cafepress.com/ipphotos

Here are the 13 images in the 2014 calendar. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Jan: IP 370 Midnight Sun Cruising Sea of Champlain

Feb: Sailing from George Town Exumas to Long Island Bahamas

Mar: IP 350 Kismet sails a code zero off Long Island Bahamas

Apr: IP 40 Navigator, Warderick Wells, Bahamas Land and Sea Park

May: Time to check the anchor, Kidd Cove, Bahamas

June: A puffin watches over IP 380 Touche, Outer Hebrides, Scotland

July: IP 38 Holiday with flags flying, Block Island, RI

Aug: Island Packet Maine Rendezvous 2013

Sep: SP Cruiser CATRYN, Scottish Hebrides sailing to the Faroe Islands

Oct: Skyway Bridge, Tampa, FL after IPY Factory Refit #1

Nov: IP 380 Judith III anchored off Cumberland Island, GA

Dec: IP35-145 Serendipity Reaching for St. Augustine, FL

The digital file folder that houses the 2014 edition includes 93 files in 22 folders and over 535 MB of data. It took approximately 20 hours to create, proof and edit this calendar. The proceeds of $5.00 per calendar are used to pay for the web servers, SQL database server, domain names, software, apps, and licenses to serve and manage the two Island Packet web sites I created: www.IPphotos.com and www.IPYOA.com. The IP factory does not pay for any of these services. The fees are paid by me and by donations from IP owners and by the sale of these calendars. Thank you!