Boat Show Time Again!

Strictly Sail Pacific

 

  For as long as we have been sailing (I think even before), we have been attending the Strictly Sail Boat Show in Oakland. It comes that time of the year, tax day weekend strangely enough, when we shake off the winter blues and dream, drool, look, and talk boat stuff with people who actually understand our obsession. It is the time when we talk to people about our plans, and instead of getting responses like "aren't you afraid of ...", or "what about ...",  and don't forget "well how will you ...", we get responses like "I know, we can't wait for that either",  or "we have this much longer until we cut the lines and get out there", oh yeah, and don't forget "we have this and this left on our to do list, and then we will be ...". And that is what makes the cruisers party so much fun. And this year we are poster children for the boat show guide, under the, wait for it .........., "Let's Party" section, with some fellow dreamers/cruisers we met last year. How kewl is that!

 We have met more people that I would call friends, even though they are mere acquaintances, in the short weekends of the boat shows and cruisers parties, than we have in 15 years of living in Medford, Oregon as a C.L.O.D (cruiser living on dirt). People who dare to dream, who aren't as concerned about being defined by our possessions, and who refuse to be the ones who look back from there death bed and say "I sure wish I would have ...". You don't see too many people that at that point say, "I sure wish I would have worked more", but a small percentage do have the desire or courage to break the trend, and live outside the box. 

  But wait ..., don't think for a minute that the boat show is not also drooling, fondling, fiddling with, and just plain messing around with all things sailboats! You just gotta love it! Dreams just fill the air. And here is where a transition is beginning. Where we once were attending the boat shows just for kicks, and to see all the cool stuff available, not to mention reassure ourselves that we are not the only whack jobs out there willing to get rid of all their worldly possessions, and throw caution to the wind. But we are now at a point in our own plans to begin researching the gear and equipment we will be outfitting our own ocean going vessel with, to carry us safely to distant shores, and that is the stuff our dreams are truly made of.

Pre Vaca visit

March 16th, 2013
     Wow, it seems like Forever since we've been down to Napa to visit Cerridwen.
         Boy was she a mess. Climbing up onto her in the dark Thurs. pm. you could totally feel the grime.
     Friday morning Cap'n Carey started her bath. Wow, you just don't realize how much bugs and dirt get into places that you didn't even know were there. And the bugs came out every time you moved something. 
     We/Cap'n noticed the bilge was full of water, and the 'auto pump' wasn't 'auto' because the batteries were dead. After we plugged into the power, everything was fine. Cap'n Carey is so awesome about figuring stuff like that out. The rain water coming from the anchor locker is where we 'deduced' >haha< the water was coming from. We washed out the anchor locker with the spray nozzle , and realized the tube that was supposed to be like a snorkel, wasn't so snorkel. It was flush with the 'Gypsy' anchor winch. There wasn't a snorkel!! So we pulled the whole winch. That was a biggo chore in itself. The 'auto' bilge os working awesome now. We let the locker dry out and shop~vac'd it out, then put the bolts back thru the holes and siliconed them back in.
   We scrubbed her down from one side to the other. You can tell she is lovin' the attention. She is so bright~n~shiny now. Friday night we watched 'Captain Ron', it was fun.
     Today we did alot of wrap~up stuff. Stuff to help us be ready for our VACATION!!!  And make sure she is totally safe when we aren't here. The siliconed bolts are dried, and the plug is tightly in place, so no water will be going down that hole!! Now to find a windless to fill our locker. =]  
     It was so nice to have the canopy off. You could see everything. We cleaned all the insides and outs of all the canopy windows. It felt so good.
     The board Cap'n made from the template, that fits under the fridge, fit perfectly, now we need to make one for under the stove. The Cap'n sealed all the beams with "wood rot" stuff that makes the wood hard again.
     So tomorrow before we leave, we need to get some measurements on stuff for the boat show, April 11th thru the 14th.