The first of the firsts

The first trip to Napa after the move up river was pretty exciting for us and full of firsts. This was the first trip directly to Napa to see her in her new spot, on the hard looking over the vineyards and fields where we will grind away our time and money over the next couple of years while she makes her shinalizing transformation. Our first trip to skip the Bay Area and take a right turn to Napa just before the real madness starts "YES". The first time aboard the boat without any meetings, surveys, or business negotiations with anyone. The first time to be on the boat when she is OURS! The first time to dig in and throw shit away! Wow what you find in a 35 year old boat, ... besides mold. Let alone a boat that was lived on by a Family of four, for eight years on the Delta and then bought by a military man turned special agent thats wife hates boats so it was basically a bachelor pad for the next seven. It was our first time to make her ours and that is the best first of all.
  We got to get a feel of her on the water and prep her for the hauling out and now prep her for the real task at hand. Kind of like an alcoholic or drug addict, you have to break them down and then build em' back up. We have started breaking her down which may sound sad but we have been ready to dig in and start prepping our cruising boat for 4 years so it feels great, and the learning has begun. You can't get to that step without going through this step. We have already pulled all of the cabin and cabinet doors along with much of the cosmetic brass hooks and hangers to be sanded, varnished, and polished at home.
  The next trip will involve disassembling the galley and more of the head to gain access to the deck fittings on top. We want to see if there are any major leaks on the starboard side (right) and get an idea of what will be involved to drop all of the headliner to see where all of the moisture on this side of the boat is coming from and causing the mold problem. The head and the galley do have a lot of moistures involved but we think there is more to it. We will also be getting the diesel engine winterized and ready to be stored for the long period of time that she will be down, including draining the fuel tank. If this is not done much damage can come from a diesel left to sit with dirty oil and fuel in it. We will update more after the next trip and then we get a weeks vacation to really get some work done.

  For the non boaters I am going to do a little segment over a few posts about "cruising", what it is, what it takes to do it and why the hell someone would want to go through all of this for it ... oh yah and why it is not for everybody.