Busy

Wow, I haven't updated in a while!  I don't have pictures at the moment, but the boat is still there, and we've been working on her often, giving her lots of love.  I balanced a pumpkin on her cap rail for Halloween, but was too busy to carve it.  Oddly enough, it stayed there through a lot of windy nights, so I think she liked it.
Thank you for all your well wishes, and I'll try to update again with more pictures.  :)

To La Conner

 Here are some pictures from the move last week.  We figured we'd leave at around 1pm, but for the first time, the starter batteries were dead.  After getting them charged, we ended up leaving at around 4:30 and made it to La Conner just as it was getting dark.  Some of the photos are a little blurry, sorry, I'm not the world's greatest photographer.

Hope Island.

Hope Island from the other side.

Our tugboat is actually towing something!   Ben's christened it "Dinghy Thingy."  (Notice Mt. Erie and blue sky in the background.)

Dad. 

My favorite kind of weather.  I spent a few minutes dancing on the aft deck in the rain. 

Starting up the ditch into La Conner.

The above is the best picture I could get of our dock that night.  My little camera was having trouble focusing.  On a clear day, Mt. Baker makes faces at us from underneath the Rainbow Bridge.  The view is amazing, I cannot believe our luck!

Canada, Coziness, and La Conner

 Around this time of year, when the daylight starts to wane and the skies are dark and grey, my head starts feeling dark and grey as well.  It saps my energy and makes it difficult to do anything, regardless of any good going on in my life.  So, I will write about sunnier moments.

On the last day of summer, as a belated birthday present to Ben's mother, we took her to the UBC Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver.  I love North coast Native art, and local history, and there was much of both there.  Seeing Bill Reed's Raven and the First Men was as impressive as seeing the portrait of Genevra de' Benci by Da Vinci in DC, and even more wonderful.
The photographs taken by a student at the St. Michael's Bay Residential School were heartbreaking, yet mischievous and surprisingly hopeful.  There were sharpies set out, so that any visitor who might know faces could put a name to them.  The testimonials on the wall however, were rage-inducing.  I hadn't realized that a Truth and Reconciliation Commission regarding the residential schools was happening in Vancouver that very day.  They were called boarding schools down here.  I wonder that we have no such commission.
It was a short trip to Canada, and it made me wish for more, so I rode home with a smile in my heart planning future trips and thinking about the healing of old wounds.  It is a strange thing to need a passport to drive up the coast for a day.

The next day was the equinox and Ben and I spent it hanging out on the boat, still at anchor in Cornet Bay.  A storm was expected and we thought we'd keep her company.  But Cornet Bay was so sheltered we didn't get much more than rain, and wind gusts.  The day instead, was the very definition of cozy.

Randy lent us his ancient Stanley thermos so we could have blood orange and cranberry tea.  Check out the cork!

The radio we thought was dead wasn't.  Ben was able to tune in to a classic rock station in Victoria.

Spent some time working on steering and getting the rudder angle indicator to cooperate.

Farley Mowat, good chocolate, and knitting.  

The big compass in the wheelhouse doesn't have a cover so I am knitting one.

Now a week later, the Boat is in La Conner, finally moored to a permanent dock, and snug as a bug in a rug.  We moved her yesterday.  It was gorgeous little cruise, but I am tired so pictures will have to wait.

Finally there is sunshine in my head.

Up Saratoga

On August 28, the day after we put her back in the water, we moved the boat up Saratoga Passage and into Cornet Bay.  Here are pictures of that day.

Fueling up in Everett.  My dad was along for the ride.

There was a bunch of wild American Vetch growing near our dock, so I picked a couple and they sat on the galley table all the way north.

The wheel wasn't working that well, so we steered mostly by jogstick.  

Ben tested the controls on the wheelhouse roof and found out they work, so we can steer the boat up in the sun.

The pressure of the last couple of days was done.  It was quite a relief.

Cama Beach, Camano Island

The Center for Wooden Boats at Cama Beach.

Dusk was just upon us when the Deception Pass Bridge crept into view. 

She is now anchored in Cornet Bay while we wait for moorage in La Conner.  We've been checking on her every day and she is doing well.

This past Monday, I got my first lesson in electrical wiring, on top of the mast replacing the socket for the anchor light.  Ben doesn't like heights.  Nor does he particularly appreciate the large spiders that live up there.  I love heights, and have now discovered my favorite boat job.

Yes, the flag is a size bigger than it needs to be for a boat of our size.   I had to tie Old Glory in a knot in order to do any serious work up there.  Oh, and the halyard isn't a halyard.  It's an extension cord.  I love this boat.

On the Hard

Monday, August 26.

The main reason we had a haul out was to have a survey done.  

Most marinas won't allow you to moor there if your boat is uninsured, the insurance company wouldn't give us a quote, unless we'd had a recent survey, which the surveyer wouldn't do unless she was hauled out.  We also just happened to have 8 gallons of bottom paint that came with the boat, so we figured what the hell, we were going to have to do it sooner or later.  

Seeing other boats hauled out in a travel lift didn't prepare me for this experience.  Ben was obviously more familiar with this process than I, but he too was extremely nervous.  She is after all our girl.  I can't speak to exactly what was going through his head, but I felt nauseous, and my swearing got steadily more creative throughout the morning.

The whole travel-lift is controlled by a dude and his lunchbox. 

The rest of the day was taken up by the survey, so we didn't start painting until the next morning.  The boat had to be ready to go in by 1:00 pm so we started at early.  Wouldn't you believe it, we were done an hour early, thanks in a large part to help from my mom, Allegra, and Ben's dad, Randy.

 My mom is a speed painting master,  I can't believe I didn't know this before!  Ben and I figure she painted almost a third the boat herself.  

It was a busy morning, without much time for frivolous things, like grooming, or eating properly.  One o'clock rolled around and we got her back in the water.  Next time I post, I'll talk about our trip up to Cornet Bay.