Day 18!!??

Our boat is blue!

Day 18!!??

First coat

Day 18!!??

Second coat....

Day.....?

The thru holes are done!! Now we paint.

Getting closer

I took saturday off to celebrate the first anniversary of my 35th birthday and to give some very sore muscles a break. Chad came to help drill & clean blisters and joined us for birthday dinner & drinks.

Sanding is done for the most part..a little touching up to do after filling in all the blisters. The transom (back of the boat) is all ready for new paint and her new name! I taped the boot line and we cleaned the whole bottom of the boat. We put the rudder back on and today we fix the 3 thru holes and sand blisters and tomorrow we paint! (We hope)

Day 10

The days are passing in a dusty haze. We've sanded 3/4 of the boat. I (Dominga) will finish the last bit of sanding even if it means I never lift my arms above my shoulders again! Though with all this physical work I've found I can eat whatever I want without gaining an ounce!

On a funny note...we discovered lastnight that our dogs are not eating more than usual, but sharing their food with a giant raccoon James saw open the dog food bag and help himself.

Spaghetti noodles for arms

Day 1 of the hardest part began. With the help of our friend Ediee we started the difficult and slow process of sanding all the paint off the bottom of the boat. James removed 2 of 5 thru-holes that need to be replaced. We got the rudder off and parts ordered and after a couple of cups of much needed caffeine we are back to the 'grind'.

PS
We need help! Any volunteers for a shift in sanding would be greatly appreciated and rewarded!

Temporary home

Haul out

Early this morning we finally got our big ass boat outta the water. She's currently being preasure washed and then she'll be tucked up on the hard.

Finally have a haul out date of September 12th. I only have the two days after that, off work. But I know the work is going to take longer than that. We will be living on the boat while it's on the hard (dry dock). Not sure how long, but with the amount of work we need to get done it could be awhile. We need to clean and paint the bottom, change 5 thru-hauls and fix the rudder post. This all could take 4 or 5 days or 2 to 3 weeks. Depending on many factors. If anyone is free to help I'll give you a good education on boat maintenance! ;) I hope to have pictures of the work on the blog as we go. The other thing we are working on now is where the dogs are going to live while we're working on the boat.  

Working on getting out of here!

July 17th 2012 and we're still in Berkeley working on getting the boat ready for our cruise. Dominga is a Baresta at a cool little family owned coffee house called Kefe Cafe and I am Club Manager of OCSC Sailing. The boat projects are numerous and not going as fast as we would have liked. So far we have:
1) changed the head from the energy sucking electric head, which never worked well, to the standard pump action. Works much better and uses no electricity.
2) Replaced the old stantions and added netting to keep the dogs on the boat while we sail.
3) Bought and installed a new marine propane BBQ
4) Replaced the sail slides and fixed the track so the sail will raise easier.
5) Added a fresh water flush for the engine
6) Replaced curtains with homemade curtains made by Dominga.
7) Replaced bilge pump