Day 20: We're Home!

We moved on to our boat today! She's in the water and all of our things are on board.

It is a lot like living in a floating dorm room that has an engine.  I have to say the roommate situation is a lot better than when I lived in a dorm though!  

It almost didn't happen.. Again... Just when we were moving the boat to the water, the sky opened up and poured. The guys moving the boat worried that their boss might make them stop if there was lightning.  We had a long, tense moment as the boat went in the water and Tyler checked the stuffing box for leaks.  The rain continued and Cyrus, Zander and I hid (soaking wet) in the rental car while Tyler went over the boat in detail. Eventually the rain stopped and we were able to all get onboard and start unpacking.

Cyrus made a wonderful analogy as he realized that he's never lived in a home other than our home in CO, "it's like getting new shoes and at first you're like, gee- these sure feel weird- but then you get used to them."  Such a great kid. 
 

Day 19: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

With a little luck, the boat will be in the boat...you guessed it...tomorrow! 
We have been negotiating issues with the dingy outboard and trying to wax and buff the hull of the boat.  With some luck, we will be in the water and moved in this time tomorrow.  I feel like we've been saying this for a week...we have...but this time I mean it.
Tyler, Cyrus and I are all very anxious to truly live aboard and move on with the bigger task of learning to sail our home.


Hermit crab friends at the marina

Day 18: More technical difficulties!

The screen on my iPhone has become possessed- the bottom portion of the screen is not functioning at all and the colors are psychedelic... this is making taking and posting pictures and blogs more difficult...boo.
Fingers crossed- the boat will go in the water tomorrow.  The stuffing box replacement is complete and we are 3/4 finished deep cleaning the interior and buffing the exterior.  We purchased new kitchen items, towels, storage containers and misc. items today and hope to fully move aboard our boat and begin to make it our own!

Amazing moon over the ocean tonight

Day 17: Wheels!

jellyfish!

A good dingy is a very important part of living aboard a sailboat.  The dingy allows you to moor (anchor) the boat (without having to pull up to a dock and pay a fee) and then travel to land to buy groceries, sightsee, etc.
Our boat came with an older dingy, but we decided that having very reliable transportation was essential- so we purchased a new dingy. 

Trying it out was quite an experience- we have no pictures because Tyler and I were both convinced that we would capsize and dump everything in the water.  We did NOT capsize, however, we did almost beach the dingy on a field of (boat-shredding) sharp oyster shells, and the motor quit half way home- so we (Tyler) had to row us back to the boat launch.  I guess you could say that we tried out all the capabilities of the dingy on the first voyage...  So much to learn!

Cyrus is hunting for hermit crabs

Day 16: what's wrong with this picture?

 This is a fuel pump.  

Fuel pumps are not designed with sand inside them.

This may be part of the reason the outboard on the dingy wouldn't run well.

Thank goodness Tyler is a "bad-s" with tools and mechanical systems.

Day 15: Boat Paint

Boat paint is awful, nasty, caustic stuff. Tyler spent the day painting the bottom of our boat and with a little luck, we will be able to move aboard by Thursday evening.  

 
 

 

 

Day 14: Barnacles

Cyrus, Zander and I spent some time at the Lighthouse Point dog beach this morning: field research for a barnacles project.  Did you know:  barnacles are crustaceans (related to crabs and lobsters), barnacles have the largest penises in the animal kingdom (this fact is not a part of Cyrus' power point project), the brown adhesive they secrete in order to attach themselves to a hard surface is being researched by the dental industry for it's adhesive properties, the barnacles pictured below are called acorn barnacles.