Mast Goes IN

Seven weeks after re-launching, we have finally re-installed the mast as Island Spirit progresses through her refit. Our good friend, Carey, gave us a Silver Sand Dollar that belonged to his wife, Bobbi. We placed it under our mast along with a good luck penny from the Bahamas. With these two treasures under our mast, we are sure Island Spirit will enjoy many more years of ocean sailing and happy adventures. Thank you Carey for providing us with such a treasure to secure under our mast. You are a dear friend!

Installing a mast requires a crane operator to lift the 50 foot mast and all the rigging off the parking lot and out over the boat. With skill and experience, along with several people on the deck and down below, the crane operator lowers the mast into the deck and down into the keel. Below deck, with the mast a few feet off the keel, wires need to be pulled out of the bottom of the mast and fed through a small hole in the side of the mast. These wires are for radar, wind instrument, lights, etc. and need to be reconnected into the ship's wiring. Once the wires are led, the crane operator can then lower the mast down onto the mast base which fits over a matched raised base fitting. It is under here that our special tokens were placed and will remain as we enjoy the next decade of sailing. Stepping a mast is a big deal in the life of boat ownership. It is always exciting.

Once the mast in installed, the crane is removed and the new standing rigging wires are connected to the chain plates at the sides, the bow and the stern. These wires are tightened using turnbuckles as the rig is tuned to proper design loads. After the rig is tuned, the sails can be installed and the wiring at the base of the mast re-connected. This is the first time our rig has been removed since we first commissioned this boat in 2002. 

Now it is time to shake down and test out all systems onboard. Soon, very soon, we should be ready to begin cruising again. 

Here are some photos.... 

Carey and Hayden on the river to test the motor...running great!

Lucky Bahamian Penny

 Norseman fitting attaches the stay sail

The boat is a wreck with tools everywhere

Wiring at the base of the mast for the B&G wind instrument which steers the boat.

Old and new standard sheaves. The halyards run through these to raise the sails.

The boat is moved out of the shed ready for the crane and a mast

Our good luck items, Bobbi's Silver Sand Dollar and a Bahamian penny.

This is the mast base where the good luck tokens are placed

The large crane truck at Snead 

The new mast boot being installed

YAHOO....the Radar came back to life after wiring

Radar wiring under the floor at the base of the mast

Two Sails installed, one more to go!

Hot, Sunny Florida, 75 degrees, NICE!

If all goes will, we may be able to get out for a sail very soon....thanks for following along.....Merry Christmas everyone

December in the Boat Yard

Our 50 foot mast in the boat yard....

We are enjoying our time here at Snead Island Boatworks as we continue to upgrade and rebuild our 20 year old Island Packet 35. The Palemtto, Bradenton, Sarasota Florida area is fantastic and we are in no hurry to move out of here. So, we simply are enjoying the peaceful rebuild and visiting with good friends Craig and Debbie who live in Bradenton. They have returned from their USA tour , last week, and we have been visiting with them and sharing meals together and watching movies.

Craig mounted a 60" TV on the wall and we are being spoiled by the comfort of a beautiful Flordia Condo. With our mast in the yard, we have no TV antenna, no satellite radio reception (in the barn), no AM/FM antenna, zippo. So our only comms are Interenet via our cell phones and network. Imagine, no TV, radio for two months. Try it, you will NOT miss it!

 IP37 Optimystique in the boat parade

We enjoyed watching the Bradenton Yacht Club lighted boat parade where our Island Packet Friends, William and Judy and their family entered their IP37 Optimystique into the parade. What a great time with many boats fully decorated and well lit. Each boat paraded by the yacht club, one at a time, with the crowd cheering them on in the 20 knot winds! After the parade there was a cocktail party and buffet followed by fireworks. What a great yacht club. One more reason to enjoy this area.

Radeen may be turning into a dog lover as she has really enjoyed HOLLY, the pet of Debbie and Craig. This dachshund is a spunkie lively happy crazy funny dog, and we are always greeted with excitement when we arrive. We have never seen a dog jump and fly like HOLLY can. What a fun dog. Look, here is Radeen holding Holly! WOW, now that is FUN.

Note to "Our Dogs"
Hey LUCY and GRACIE....pay no attention to this picture. Aunt Radeen and Uncle Hayden love you two also, but you had to run off to the AZ dessert and leave us behind, so we befriended HOLLY.

Thank you JUDI for your great cookies

It is ALWAYS CHRISTMAS when our WASHINGTON family sends in the cookies. Judi always finds us no matter where we are and she always sends us the BEST homemade Christmas cookies. Judi is amazing,and Radeen has the fondest childhood memories of the arrival of Judi's cookies for the Christmas Season. THANK YOU JUDI.

Thank you Rhonda, Mike, Tammy and Mark

Then we also were surprised by a beautiful Harry and David basket and wonderful Oregon Wine from our Arizona Family, Rhonda and Mike and Tammy and Mark. We will savor these treats all Christmas week long. We miss you all, and will get together soon.

Thank you





MORE PHOTOS
Here are some more random photos of the week.....

Fantastic sunsets

Woody Wax really works great on the decks

Family Christmas Treats arrive UPS

Installing a NEW Balmar 614 Regulator

Here is the restored alternator, once again

Rewiring the regulator and the solar controller

Yes, the stereo died, so we installed a new one

WOW, that is WHITE.....West Marine had NO Black units

Cold Front arrived....Brrr it is cold, 65 degrees! Break out the fleece

We have a CHRISTMAS SQUIRREL! He jumps onto the deck, runs around lookign for treats.
This squirrel is so tame and friendly. I bet I could hand feed him, but have not.

So, that is what we are doing here as we look forward to a mast being installed today, if all goes well. If not, oh well, who is in a rush? Not us. We were planning on departing here December 4, one month after launch, but hey, here we are. We have no plans but NOW. The time is NOW and that is how we are living.....

Merry Christmas and Happy SNOW to our friends up NORTH....brrrrrr

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.